Standard Disclaimers -

These characters, and boy, are they ever characters, are mostly the property of Renaissance Pictures, Universal MCA, and whoever else owns stock and interest in Xena: Warrior Princess. This fiction was written for my amusement only, and not in any way, shape or form for profit - and it is not intended to infringe on the copyright holders of the characters.

Some of the characters are mine, and the story ideas.. well, who knows where they come from? Must be one weird place, that's for sure.

Specific Story Disclaimers:

Violence - this is a Xena:Warrior Princess story. This is not Teletubbies. Even though there are some rumors of similarities. Some of the violence is graphic, but we try not to dwell on it.

Subtext - Considering that the TV Series just aired an episode establishing Xena and Gabrielle as eternal soulmates, any disclaimer of subtext on my part is really kind of goofy in the extreme. The two characters are in love with each other, and have been for years. You can choose to see them as just friends, but then you might not want to read this fanfic, in case it changes your mind or anything like that.

Emotional Content - this is not one my more comedic efforts. There are moments of humor, however.

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Dark Comes the Morning - Part 1

By Melissa Good

It was that early hour, just before dawn breaks, when the world is silent. Mostly. No birds sang yet, and the wind had died, leaving the trees still in it's wake, as though everything was holding it's breath and waiting for the first ray of sun to color the eastern sky. It was warm, this fall morning, humid with the promise of a later rain, and the air moved sluggishly aside to admit the passage of a soft, rhythmic drumming.

The sound of boots on soft, dew rich dirt that vibrated gently, and the quiet brush of green leaves against at moving body that slipped through them, barely leaving a trace on the path, which climbed steeply upward towards a high ridge overlooking a fertile river valley. They belonged to a tall, dark haired woman dressed in a sleeveless, brief tan tunic who was running along with steady, purposeful strides, her movements' light, and very powerful, with a sense of barely contained energy that prickled the senses.

The steps changed their rhythm slightly, heading up an even steeper climb, then the quiet, even breathing paused. "Whaddaya say… you wanna race the sun?" Xena half turned her head, and cocked an eyebrow at the alert, round face of a small baby tucked into the pack fastened securely on her back. "Hmm?"

"Bck." Dori replied, tugging on a lock of her hair, poking a tiny lower lip out.

"All right.. let's go then." Xena agreed solemnly, turning her head back towards the path and picking up speed, her legs pumping powerfully up the steep incline and scattering moist clumps of leaf litter in her wake. "We gonna make it?" She called back, feeling the pull on her dark locks, and hearing the giggle. "I don't know.. I think your pony's slowing down here..

"Boo!!" Dori warbled.

"I'll try.. " Xena promised, racing along the ridge, leaning forward and heading toward the summit. Her body responded to the effort pumping blood in a powerful beat as she felt the rush of energy sweep over her. "You ready??" She warned, picking up speed effortlessly despite the steep incline.

"Boo!" Dori bounced a little in her pack, waving a hand.

"Okay… hang on." Xena laughed, as she bolted the remaining distance, her long strides eating up the path and creating a stiff breeze that blew her hair back. She made for the summit, and went the final distance, seeing the clouds break and the sky brighten as she exploded up and over the ridge, launching her body sky ward into the morning air to meet the first wash of sunlight, that bathed her soaring form as the dawn wind whipped by them.

They flew in glorious silence for long seconds, traveling down the other side of the ridge, before Xena twisted her body into a lazy flip and landed running, taking the impact on her knees and bouncing a little before she bounded into the small plateaus of waving grasses that sat just below the peak. "How was that, huh?" She asked her daughter, who was squealing with delight. "You liked that, didncha?"

A fierce tug on her hair. She knew what that meant. "Oh, so you want to upside down, huh?" She launched into a forward flip, eliciting a peal of laughter. "More?" She did another flip, then launched sideways, and twisted, whirling them both in mid air, then landing on the soft earth.

Dori laughed again, and she laughed with her. "Okay… let's watch the birds come." She trotted over to a favorite tree and tossed herself onto the ground next to it, unhooking the pack from her back and swinging it around so she could see her daughter. "Hi there." She greeted the child, unstrapping the harness that held her securely in place and letting her loose.

Dori's snub nose wrinkled up at her in delight as she scrambled free of her nest, and the sun caught her pale eyes in clear detail as she watched Xena's face in absorbed fascination. "Boo." She pointed at the warrior.

"That's me." Xena agreed, reclining on her side and propping her head up on one hand, extending a finger for the baby to grip. "Ooo… you're getting so strong." She told the child, who at eight months already had a decided personality of her own, including a stubborn, willful streak that Xena was convinced she'd gotten from her mother, to go along with the dark hair and golden skin tone contributed by Xena herself.

Of course, Gabrielle insisted the stubborn streak came from her partner, and she was backed up by Xena's mother Cyrene who delighted in telling tales of her offspring's childhood, and how much the infant Dori resembled her at that age despite the tall warrior's vehement protests to the contrary.

And despite the baby's sunny smile, which was all Gabrielle, and her gently mischievous nature which was also her mother's image, Xena did have to admit Dori shared more than a few of her own traits. Some good, like her fascination with horses, and a precociously growing coordination of her tiny body, and some not so wonderful, like her absolutely inexhaustible supply of energy and her tendency to effortlessly get herself into more trouble than an eight month old infant really should be able to.

That, at least, Xena constantly argued, was not inherited from her, as she'd stated last night at dinner, and spent a quarter candlemark listing the situations that Dori's fair haired mother had, with the same effortlessness, gotten them both into. Now she watched indulgently as the infant carefully got to her feet, balancing unsteadily and toddling through the grass. "Hey.. you stay close now." She warned Dori. "Don't make me come chasing after you."

Dori stopped, and looked back over her shoulder, studying her tall caretaker seriously. Then that mischevious grin took over, and she bolted, rambling unsteadily over the ground with her newly developed and much loved skill of walking.

Xena sighed, chuckling. "That's my kid." She grinned in self-acknowledgment and gathered herself up, coiling her legs under her and leaping over the baby's head, to land on all fours before her. "Ah hah!"

The green eyes widened. "Boo!" The baby blurted, stopping and swaying a little, as she pointed accusingly at her. Then she turned and toddled in the other direction, heading for a small outcropping of rocks.

Xena pounced again, landing in front of the rocks, and keeping the infant back from them. "Oh no… not those again.. you got your foot caught the last time." She warned the baby.

Dori stopped again, and scowled, her tiny brow wrinkling in severe displeasure. "Bck." Her tiny tongue stuck out, making her expression so like one of Gabrielle's that Xena started laughing despite herself. Dori decided to play tag instead, and made a rush at Xena, holding her hands out with clutching fingers. "Goo!"

Xena hopped out of the way, grinning.

Dori stopped, and swayed, pouting, then headed in the new direction, after her dark haired bunny buddy.

The warrior hopped out of the way again, leading her daughter slowly back towards the tree. After three or four more hops, Dori had had it. She stopped, and put her tiny hands on her hips. "BOO!!!!" She wailed in frustration.

Xena laughed gently, and sat down, holding her arms out. "Okay, cute stuff.. c'mere."

The baby looked at her suspiciously, then toddled forward, bumping into Xena's body and whapping her on the chest with both hands. "Bck." She clucked, then gurgled when the powerful arms closed around her and picked her up, as Xena rocked onto her back, setting the infant on her stomach and hugging her. "Hmm…" Dori warbled happily, returning the hug as much as her small arms were able, quiet for the moment.

Xena relaxed, and let the warm sun soak into her, enjoying the peace of the early morning as she studied the tiny fist wrapped in her shirt. Dori had long fingers, like hers, and equally long arms and legs, though it was kind of hard to tell against the chubby baby body. "That taste good?" She inquired, as Dori chewed on a button, hiccupping a bit.

"Bck." Her daughter answered, squirming into a more comfortable spot and reaching for the lace that held Xena's tunic closed.

"You been watching your mommy?" The warrior asked, with a faint chuckle, as Dori stopped and regarded her solemnly. "She does that, you know."  The baby's eyes, for a long time a murky blue, had recently lightened into a pale shade of green, much to Xena's delight. Now they winked at her as the baby blinked. "You're gonna be so pretty." She murmured, tickling the snub nose.

Dori giggled, her tiny face crinkling up into a familiar smile, and snuggled back down, returning her attention to the button with childish absorption. Xena crossed her legs at the ankles, and lazily enjoyed the sun, after their early morning jaunt.

Back in their cabin, her soulmate was probably just now stirring, as the morning light leaked into their home and spread across the large bed they shared. It had taken a while, but they'd worked out a routine that was good for both of them, and she'd been taking Dori out with her on runs since the weather had turned nice several months' back.

Now that harvest was here, and the weather was getting cooler again, she'd have to come up with something else to occupy the baby's time and energy, but she determined she would, since she'd noticed the hours it gave Gabrielle to pursue her own activities in the morning made the bard a much happier person.

They'd developed a pretty good system, she thought. She woke early, as did Dori, and she'd started taking the infant with her on her runs, or to 'help' her do her indoor exercises in the barn if the weather was bad. That rid both her, and the child of the restless excess energy they were both prone to, and Xena had found herself very much enjoying the private time with her daughter as well. After that, Dori would 'help' her do her chores, and tack up whatever horses she was working with, then near lunchtime Gabrielle would appear, and claim the tot, to give her a bath and make sure she got to eat. After lunch, Dori joined the twins, and the triplets at what they called the Amazon playpen, where they picked her up after dinner and got her settled down for bed.

Usually. Sometimes the playpen wasn't quite active enough, and Xena had to engage in a few rounds of 'catch the warrior', but it generally worked out.

It had been a wonderful, sometimes aggravating, occasionally frustrating eight months, but here she was at the end of it, finding herself surviving, and happy, loving her new daughter and enjoying an unexpected deepening in an already complex relationship with her soulmate. They had known each other a long time now on an emotional level, and a slightly shorter time on a physical one, but lately they'd been exploring a newly found intellectual facet, as Gabrielle hesitantly had started to discuss questions of philosophy and science with her.

Last night they'd talked about the sun, in fact, and Xena had found old dusty, half forgotten questions she'd asked herself as an adolescent stirring around again, brought up by her soulmate's persistent curiosity. Maybe, she sighed, that would distract the growing restlessness she'd been feeling lately, one that she'd masked with taxing herself physically, increasing her morning runs, and adding to the strength and flexibility routines she'd developed to replace her sword work.

Those, at least, had done their job. She acknowledged, glancing down idly and regarding a body that was in better shape than it had been in quite some time. Working with the horses and her training had added additional muscle to her long frame, and she'd recently dropped the extra layer of softness she'd picked up over last winter, when worrying about Dori's baby colds and her soulmate's frightening bout with the coughing sickness had kept her firmly entrenched at home, taking care of what was really important.

She felt really good… healthy, relatively relaxed, and lacking the gnawing at her guts that had plagued her for such long time, compounded from guilt, worry, dark memories, and the need to constantly refresh the stain of blood on her hands. A little restlessness seemed like such a small price to pay for that.. for this sense of quiet peace that allowed her to get a taste of what normal life was.

She found herself cherishing that taste, absorbing the simplest of things like attending the harvest festival with her family, which was tonight, or celebrating her mother's birthday, or learning how to properly mash edible items so Dori could successfully ingest them.

Drinking in the wonder of watching Gabrielle's face light up when Dori's first, stuttered 'mama' reached her ears, and ruefully sharing her bubbling laughter when they both realized the baby's repeated uttering of 'boo' meant, for some reason, Xena herself.

Boo. How in the heck did that kid get boo from Xena? Nothing she was even remotely called came close, not even the most goopy of Gabrielle's pet names for her. The warrior sighed, hoping her beloved soulmate didn't take to calling her that in public, and hoping Dori would gain a larger vocabulary shortly.

"Bck." Dori sat up and bounced on her, causing the warrior to glanced up fondly at her small daughter.

"You ready to go play with the horsies?" She asked, with a grin. Dori knew what horsies were.

"Boo!" Dori threw her hands up and tumbled off her perch, waving her arms and legs as she hit the grass.

"Oh.. you wanna fly some more. " Xena sat up and pulled her pack over, grabbing her active offspring and stuffing her back in her harness. "Okay.. we can do that. C'mon." She shouldered her pack, and headed back along the ridge.

************************************************************************

Gabrielle allowed the morning sun to fully cover her body before she opened a lazy eye, and regarded the window benignly. "Pretty." She commented sleepily, as she stretched her body out, enjoying the feel of the clean, soft linens against her skin. There was only one problem with the picture, and that was the empty space next to her, but life, she'd discovered long ago, was a series of tradeoffs.

She got to sleep in, and that meant waking without her soulmate's presence, but also without the morning chore of changing and caring for Dori who was probably halfway across the nearby ridge racing squirrels or something by now.

Sometimes, she reflected, she felt like getting up and joining them, but she knew her partner cherished her time with their daughter, and she was sensitive to the warrior's unspoken need for it.

They both adored their daughter, but while Gabrielle found herself adapting to the changes in her life with relative ease, there was still an aura of wonder about Xena when she held Dori, as though it were some kind of miracle that might disappear like a soap bubble when the warrior least expected it to.

Gabrielle smiled quietly. They were so cute together. Dori was mesmerized by her tall, quiet soulmate and strongly preferred her as a playmate, which irked the bard sometimes. But she'd eventually resigned herself to it, since it was a trait she herself shared. How could she be mad at Dori for that?

Contentedly, she snuggled back under the covers as a cool breeze blew in, ruffling her hair. It was still early, the rays of light were almost flat as they entered the eastern window, filtered as they were by the trees outside, and she closed her eyes for a few minutes quiet reflection.

Had it been almost a year already? It was hard to believe.. but sure enough, Winter Solstice was only two months away, and that marked a year for them at home.

A year. Gabrielle gazed around the familiar cabin, shaking her pale head in disbelief. A year of trials, as they both adjusted to being parents, and arguments, over the best way to do things for Dori, and learning to be part of a stable community. A year of wonder, as they watched their daughter grow, and of peace, where she'd seen her soulmate gain at last a sense of family, and of belonging that had been denied her for so long

A year of healing, for both of them, and for her to finally get a handle on all the things that she'd lived through for the previous three. She'd grown up, she knew. She looked a life in a different way now, conscious of the choices she'd made, and the direction she was going in. It seemed strange, though, that she'd had to go practically to the ends of the earth and beyond, just to end up in a small village, not far from where she was born, living a quiet, peaceful life.

Gabrielle stifled a yawn, and decided it was time to get up. She scooted out from under the quilted covers and padded across the wooden floor, ducking inside the snug bathing area to wash quickly before she slipped into a sleeveless white linen shirt, which tied off below her ribcage, and a knee length skirt in colorful bands of fabric. She set her short boots on the bench nearby, before she grabbed a comb and ran it through her pale hair, glancing at her reflection in the mirror.

Well. She blinked at her image. A little soft around the edges, but not bad. She mused. She hadn't gained a lot of weight with Dori, and what there was had started to come off, when she'd gotten sick after that long spring rain.

That had been two weeks of not eating, and she'd pretty much ended up mostly skin and bones and weak as a kitten. It had been a slow rebuilding process after that, until Xena had eventually allowed her to resume her normal activities

The weather was still awful, though, so Gabrielle managed to coax her soulmate into teaching her some of the concentration forms she used in her own workouts, to rebuild her strength and regain the stamina she'd lost both due to her illness, and from her pregnancy.

Gabrielle discovered she really enjoyed the exercises. In fact, she'd concentrated on those, and on working out the kinks in her body rather than going back to her staff and she was pleased with the results, keeping to them even when she started working with her weapon again.

And though she still participated in the Amazon hand to hand tussles, she reserved her quarterstaff work for Xena alone, enjoying the scientific preciseness of her partner's form, and preferring to learn the subtleties of it from her, rather than whomp on her Amazon cohorts. It had become something comforting, and very relaxing between them, a pleasant way for her to keep fit without the tension of competition that was always present with the other women.

In a way, she realized, it seemed to remind them both of the long days they'd spent alone on the road, just the two of them, relying on each other, and spending their days and nights in constant interaction. Their lives here were busy, and she loved home, and her family, but there were those moments….

Gabrielle sighed, and nibbled on her comb. She wondered if Xena ever felt like that… if she ever looked up at the stars over head and remembered those long nights, as soft voices whispered out of the firelit darkness, naming the shapes as owls hooted overhead.

Then she chuckled at herself. "C'mon, Gabrielle.. you always romanticize that.. you forget to add in the freezing cold, and the heat, and the rocks under those bedrolls, and bugs." She grinned at her reflection, and pulled her hair back, tying it with a thin leather thong to keep it out of her face, then she pulled on her short boots and headed out the door, collecting Ares as she did so. "C'mon, Ares.. let's go get breakfast."

The wolf trotted at her side agreeably, though he'd been hunting earlier, and was still miffed that Xena had told him to stay behind that morning. It wasn't his fault, Gabrielle reached down and scratched his ears. Dori loved to maul the poor animal, and she usually ended up crawling all over him, chewing various parts of his body. Last night it had been his ears, which were looking a bit tattered, and Xena really just wanted to give him a break from their rambunctious daughter.

She was halfway across the courtyard when she heard a familiar voice call her name, and she turned, peering up the road leading into the village. Two figures were approaching, with the unmistakable feathers and swagger of Amazons. One had curly blond hair and a slim build, the other shoulder length dark chestnut locks and a heavier, more muscular physique. "Hey!" She reversed course, and headed towards them. Ephiny and Eponin returned her wave and grinned, as they broke into trots for the last short distance.

"Wow.. I didn't expect you guys until this afternoon.. you made great time." The bard laughed, as she hugged first her regent, then the dark haired weapons master.

"Yeah, we had good weather." Ephiny agreed cheerfully, holding her at arm's length. "Glad we had the excuse to come on down.. it's great to see you." The Amazon regent was dressed in her traveling gear, with a thick, fur covered pack hoisted over one shoulder. Her companion wore a darker set of leathers, and more weapons, but also had a pack strapped across her back. "You know we never miss a party, especially not one around your birthday."

Gabrielle rolled her eyes. "Oh no. I've got a deal on with Xena… I don’t' get surprised, she doesn't get surprised." She slid an arm around each of her friend's waists and steered them towards the inn. "Otherwise, that'd just escalate until it got way out of control."

Ephiny laughed. "Where is tall, dark and dangerous, anyway?"

"Out running with Dori." Gabrielle answered, with a grin. "You interested in some breakfast?"

Ephiny and Eponin exchanged cautious glances. "Wow.. the last time we were here, she was just learning to walk." Eponin muttered, impressed.

Gabrielle stared at her a moment, then burst into laughter. "Oh, come on now… did you think she was… no.. gods… Xena has a backpack she carries her in." She tsked at them. "Good grief, people.. she's eight months old."

"Well.. " Ephiny chuckled. "Considering who her parents are, nothing would surprise me." She gave Gabrielle a friendly squeeze. "You look good…it's great to see you so happy, my friend." She paused. "How's Gran doing?"

The bard sighed. "Better…I assigned one of the younger Amazons to help her out… Toris is sweet, but he so clueless.. I sometimes have to really wonder if he and Xena are related." A warm presence washed over the edges of her senses, and she paused, glancing back towards the slope on the far side of their cabin. "Ah… speaking of which… "

Ephiny turned and looked where her eyes were, spotting a leaf edged path, it's length dappled in sunlight. As she watched, the patterns shifted and moved, covering a large, moving form that picked up the tinted sunlight, and resolved into Xena's distinctive features as she cleared the end of the path and entered the village.

The regent studied the running warrior, then gave the bard a wry look. "She looks great, Gabrielle." She commented quietly.

The green eyes were fastened on the approaching figure, and a tender smile crossed the bard's lips. "She does, doesn't she?" Gabrielle replied contentedly. "It's been so good for her to be home.. for both of us, really." She lifted a hand in greeting. "Hey.. look who showed up?"

Xena slowed to a walk, then paced over, her light, sweat dampened tunic clinging to her body and moving with her steady breathing. "Well well… you guys are early."

"Mama!" Dori had spotted her target, and they all smiled, as Xena unbuckled her pack and removed it, loosening the straps and getting the wriggling, squirming body free.

"Hold on.. hold on, ya little tree frog.. " The warrior laughed, as she extracted a tiny foot from a strap, then handed her over to her mother. "Here you go.. "

"Mama, mama." Dori managed to get both arms mostly around the bard's neck, then kissed her enthusiastically.

"Aww… " Ephiny laughed. "That's so cute."

"Y'know.. " Eponin mused thoughtfully. "They say kids just copy what they see."

Silence, as they all looked at her. Then Gabrielle blushed. "Oh gods…Pony!!" She giggled.

"What?" Eponin looked puzzled, while Xena covered her eyes, and Ephiny just burst out laughing. "Oh!" The weapons master said. "That's not what… oh, Artemis' boots.. " She groaned. "I didn't mean it like that!"

Dori turned in her mother's arms and looked at them, putting a finger in her mouth, then she smiled shyly at them, looking up through long, dark lashes.

"Damn, Gabrielle… she's going to be a heart stealer, you know that?" Ephiny regarded the child affectionately. "Hi, cute stuff." She laughed gently. "She looks just like you when she smiles, Gabrielle."

"Yeah.. so I hear." The bard's eyes twinkled. "C'mon…let's go inside… I'm starving."

"Some things never change. "Xena remarked dryly, her eyebrow lifting. "I'm gonna go wash off… I'll catch up with you guys." She turned and trotted off towards their cabin, with two pairs of green eyes watching.

"Here… let me hold her." Ephiny tickled a tiny foot, which scooted out of the way. Dori gave her a scowl, but didn't object when she lifted her gently out of Gabrielle's arms. "Ooo… you're such a cutie…"

Dori blinked, then clutched a the boar's tooth necklace Ephiny wore, lifting it up and chewing on it.

"Um… " Gabrielle patted her non existent pockets. "Listen.. can you take her inside? I forgot a scroll I need for my meeting."

Ephiny gave her a look, then she smiled and shook her head. "No.. go on.. we'll meet you in a few minutes." She bounced Dori a little. "C'mon, tyke… let's go get some eggs."

"Ggs." Dori sucked on the tooth as they turned to enter the inn. At the door, Ephiny paused and watched Gabrielle break into a jog, catching up with her taller partner quickly and looking up at her. "Some things never change." She remarked to Eponin, who grunted, and shook her head.

************************************************************************Xena heard the footsteps, and she slowed, letting Gabrielle catch up to her. "Thought you were hungry?" She commented, lifting a brow.

"Oh.. yeah, I am.. " The bard responded. "I just forgot something.. I need a scroll… "

"Oh." Xena paced up the steps to the porch and crossed it, pulling the door to their home open and standing back. "G'wan.. I don't want to slow you down." She waited for the bard and Ares to go inside, then she followed them and closed the door. "Good to see Eph and Pony." She remarked, as she set her pack on the table. "I don't.. oh.. hi."

She found herself with an armful of bard, warm and real, that wrapped itself around her with a contented sigh. "Hey.. c'mon.. I smell like a pig." She chuckled wryly. "What's that for?"

"Since when have I needed a reason?" The bard mumbled softly. She breathed in her partner's distinctive scent. "And you don’t smell even remotely like a pig." She tickled her soulmate's belly through the fabric, and felt the soft chuckle. Then she sighed, and released the taller woman, walking over to her desk in the corner and retrieving the scroll that listed their merchant taxes. "I have to fill in today.. Josc is sick."

Xena turned, her tunic off and draped over her hands. "Again?" She asked, concerned. "That's twice this moon."

"Mm." Gabrielle responded softly, her eyes wandering up and lingering on the tanned body moving in front of her. "I know… I'm worried about him." She turned the scroll over in her fingers thoughtfully. "Isn't there something you can do?"

Xena didn't answer for a moment, as she ran a wet cloth over her body to take the sweat off. "It's hard." She finally said, exhaling. "I think it's his heart… and there's not much you can do for that, Gabrielle…really, just rest, and take it easy." She put the cloth down and pulled a clean shift out, settling it over her shoulders before she donned her working gear, with it's padded sections. "Things just wear out, after a while." She added softly. "Happens to everyone."

Gabrielle wandered over and fiddled with a buckle on her soulmate's outerwear. "You can't tell from looking at him, though."

"No." Her partner replied, tightening her belt with brisk, efficient movements. "It's like when bugs attack a tree, I guess… looks fine on the outside, but then you pull a branch, and it just crumbles."

"Ugh. That's a pleasant thought." The bard winced. "Thanks, Xena."

The warrior smiled a bit. "Sorry." She apologized. "At least Josc had the sense to name you deputy reeve…gives him a break, too." She patted the smaller woman on the back. "You do a good job.. and I think you enjoy it."

"Mm." Gabrielle murmured. "I do…yeah… and that's good, I mean, you enjoy what you do here, right?" She glanced up at the angular face.

"Yeah." Xena answered, adjusting a last buckle, and turning to face her. "I do." Her head cocked to one side. "Why?"

Gabrielle hesitated, then smiled. "Just asking… it's just been so different for us here…the days go by so fast, you hardly realize it." She paused. "It'll be a year soon, won't it?"

Pale blue eyes studied her. "Yes." Xena agreed, drawing the word out. "It's hard to believe." She thought about it, then about her pensive soulmate. "You miss being out there." There was no question in her tone, just quiet observation.

The bard laughed it off. "C'mon, Xena.. what's there to miss? Rain? Snow? The hard ground? Being attacked every other day?" She scoffed. "I'd be nuts to miss all that."

A solid, gentle hand cupped her cheek. "I miss it too, sometimes." The warrior replied, honestly. "So I guess I’m nuts too."

The sunlight filtering through the window caught golden sparkles as it dusted Gabrielle's pale eyelashes, which flickered as she peered sheepishly up at Xena through them. "Do you know what I miss the most?"

Xena shook her head. "No.. what?"

"This is going to be strange, coming from a chatterbox like me, but I miss the silence." The bard paused. "We've been to places so quiet I could hear my soul breathing…where all I had to do to concentrate on something was close my eyes." She sighed. "I can't do that here… it's too busy, there are too many people.. so many things I have to do… even without Dori."

"It does get crazy, sometimes." Xena agreed, hesitantly. "But at least it's not Athens, or something."

"No, I know…" Gabrielle put her hands against Xena's stomach, wanting the contact. "But sometimes I feel like…well, like I'm losing touch with part of myself… like I get so busy, I forget all about stuff like… " She let her words trail off, unwilling to speak what she knew was the truth. "Maybe it's all a part of just growing up…you can't look at the world through a child's eyes forever." Her shoulders moved, as she took a breath, then she looked up into Xena's worried eyes. "I guess what I'm saying is that I don’t dream anymore." She paused awkwardly. "Like I used to."

A faint tremor ran through the warrior's body. "What do you mean?"

Gabrielle dropped her eyes. "I don’t really know, myself." She shrugged a little. "I just remember being able to look around me, and have ideas and thoughts just…bubble up… I guess… and now, that just doesn't happen." She plucked idly at a strap. Truth time. "I sat down yesterday and tried to come up with a poem, and I couldn't." She shrugged again. "It's not that I have to have that, Xena…I love living here, I love Dori… the gods know I love you, and that's enough for any human being, isn't it?"

"No." Xena replied seriously. "It's not."

It was as though the words alone worked a magic, as if the mere acknowledgment from her partner that what she was feeling was important made her step back, and see how silly, and how selfish she sounded. "Yes it is." She gave her soulmate a tiny smile. "I probably just wasn't trying hard enough, or I was distracted… that used to happen to me all the time." She laughed a bit. "I'm not even sure why I mentioned it… kinda silly."

Xena lifted a hand and played with a curl of her hair. "Because it bothers you." She replied, her voice a little husky. "And if something bothers you, I wanna know about it." She exhaled. "Maybe we can take some time out… take a trip somewhere for a few days… Dori's old enough to stay with grandma."

"Just you and me, huh?" Gabrielle felt a smile coming on, and she let it.

"Just you and me." Her soulmate confirmed.

The bard leaned forward and hugged her, reveling in the solid warmth of their connection. "I'd love to do that." It felt so good to hug Xena.. there really wasn't anything she could think of that came close to how happy it made her to just feel what she was feeling right now. Even holding Dori, which she adored doing, just wasn't the same.

Her life was getting too busy. She needed to remember to take time out for the really important stuff, like this. "Mm." She let her eyes open, and drift up to Xena's, and felt her breathing catch. The warrior had her own eyes closed, and there was a look of utter contentment on her face, which matched the slow, even beating of her heart against Gabrielle's cheek. It took a moment before the dark lashes fluttered, revealing crystal blue eyes that peered at her in gentle startlement.

"Um.. listen, you've got stuff to do, I.. " Xena released her, and ran a hand through her hair. "Guess we should get going."

A trip with just the two of us. Gabrielle gave her an affectionate pat. That's a damn, damn good idea…. For a lot of reasons. "Okay, tiger… c'mon over and get some breakfast with me."

"You got it." The warrior agreed, pushing the door open and holding it. "C'mon Ares."

**************************************************************

The table was noisy, with all the Amazons, plus the six children being passed around. Xena was in her favorite chair, leaning back with one foot braced against the table trestle, watching in amiable bemusement as the fuzzy triplets tried to climb their way up her booted legs. Dori was sitting by Gabrielle, regarding her mother seriously as she consumed everything Gabrielle offered her in the way of edible food.

"Hey honey.. slow down." Gabrielle chastised the baby. "It's not going anywhere… c'mere.." She wiped the baby's face and tried to take back the bit of carrot Dori was chewing.

"Bck!" Dori protested, snatching her hand back, then stuffing the carrot into her mouth.

Gabrielle sighed, then gave her soulmate a sideways look. "Not one word." She warned, out of rote habit.

Xena's eyes twinkled, and she put a comforting hand on the bard's back, rubbing it a little. "Nope" Tiny Xena junior, whom everyone called Butterbean tugged on her hem. "Hey, kiddo."

"Pick" The tot insisted.

Xena chuckled, and picked her up, seating her on her lap. "So.. what are you up to?" She asked the baby, conversationally. The tiny forest dweller blinked soft, golden eyes, and wrinkled her snub nose. "Goo…baba yada."

"Really?" The dark haired woman bounced the tot a bit, getting a giggle. Then Butterbean spotted Ares, resting under Gabrielle's chair, and she scrambled down, heading for the wolf with ill concealed glee. "Uh oh."

Ares's eyes widened, and he huddled behind the bard's legs, whining.

"You big chicken.. she's just a baby." Gabrielle gave the wolf an exasperated look.

"With half inch long fangs, my bard." Xena reminded her, with a wry grin. "Take pity on the poor animal."

"Butterbean…be nice. Nice." Gabrielle patted the wolf's head.

Dori decided she was being ignored, and she looked around, spotting her favorite playmate and gurgling. She twisted out of Gabrielle's grip, and crawled across the table, launching herself into Xena's arms fearlessly. The warrior caught her, then caught the knowing look from her fair haired mother. "Not a word." The warrior growled.

Gabrielle smiled mischeviously. "Nope."

"Boo." Dori settled down in Xena's lap contentedly, and played with the buckles on her shirt, receiving a look of fond adoration from her doting parent.

"She's going to be a terror." Ephiny observed, her arms folded across her chest, and a grin on her face. "Just wait till she gets older.. she's going to run you ragged, Xena."

A wry look from pale blue eyes. "Oh.. I don’t doubt it." Xena agreed. "She already tugs on my hair to get me to go faster when we run in the morning."

They laughed, and the warrior relaxed into a warm smile as Dori curled up on her chest, and started mouthing a button, blinking sleepily. "Mama" She warbled, holding a hand out imperiously.

"Oh, one of us isn't enough?" Gabrielle laughed, as she nibbled a bit of  her sandwich. "In a minute, honey."

Xena cocked her head, though, as she heard an alert from the watch outside. "Uh oh." She handed Dori to Cyrene, who was sitting next to her, and stood, listening. "There's a wagon coming in… some kind of trouble." She headed towards the door, getting three or four steps towards it before Gabrielle and the two Amazons joined her, and they headed out onto the large, shaded porch.

"What's up?" Jessan came from around the corner, ambling towards them as the boards creaked under his weight. "Trouble?"

"Dunno." Xena put her hands on the porch railing, and waited, focusing her vision down the long road the lead into the village. Gabriele slid up next to her, folding her arms across her chest and leaning against her partner's shoulder. The bard glanced up at her in question. "There've been a lot of refuges lately."

Xena nodded. "I know… that last bunch… their entire village was burned out."

Pale green eyes studied her face, unnoticed. "Does it sound like things are getting more organized?"

"Hard to say." The taller woman murmured. "The raids have been scattered.. but… " She straightened a little, as she spotted the incoming wagon, pulled by two exhausted nags who dragged at the patched leather traces with an almost desperate plodding. "Damn."

"Wow." Gabrielle ducked behind her soulmate, then trotted down the stairs towards the wagon, with her small entourage following. The driver of the wagon was so tired, he didn't even react to being greeted by a bard, two Amazons, a warrior princess, and a forest dweller.

Neither did the horses.

"Welcome." Gabrielle greeted them ,quietly, noting the huddled figures in the back of the wagon.  "My name is Gabrielle."

The man gazed down at her. "Melchek." He answered quietly. "This is what's left of our village." He exhaled. "This is Amphipolis?"

"That’s right." Xena laid a hand on the back of one of the horses. "How far have you come?"

"Fourteen days travel." Melchek answered, glancing at Xena, then back to Gabrielle. "We heard this might be far away enough to keep out of the way of the warlords… is that true?"

Gabrielle exchanged looks with her taller partner. "They don't usually come here, no. I'm the deputy reeve… will you come in side, and tell us what happened?"  She noted that Ephiny and Eponin had moved around to the rear of the wagon, and were speaking quietly to the inhabitants. "We have some hot soup… and we can take care of your horses."

"That would be a blessing of the gods." Melchek nodded wearily. "I hate to throw ourselves on your charity, but we've really no option… Edgar back there has two broken legs, and his wife's heavy with child."

"We've got several healers." Gabrielle told him, reaching up and catching his arm as he climbed down. "Come on inside… you look exhausted."

"Aye." He looked up, finally, and blinked, as Jessan loomed over him. "Great Ares!"

"No no… flattery will get you nowhere." Jessan responded, with a wrinkled muzzle. "I'll take the horses." He paused, as the man hesitated. "To the barn.. not to the kitchen. Relax.." The forest dweller added wryly. "I'm housebroken."

"It's okay." Gabrielle told him, pleasantly. "He lives here." She guided the man towards the inn. "Xena will take care of your friends… "

"Xena?" The man repeated, startled, looking behind him. "The warrior?"

"Yeah.. the tall, dark one with the blue eyes to die for." Gabrielle told him, with a smile. "Just take it easy." She put an arm around his shoulders, as they headed up the steps. "She'll make sure your friends get taken care of."

Xena watched her partner lead the driver away, before she joined Eph and Pony at the back of the wagon, leaving Jessan to unbuckle the horses. "All right, folks.. take it easy." She counted silently. The man and his wife, four kids, two older women. "This is it, huh?"

The man grimaced. Both his legs were splinted inexpertly. "Bastards… we didn't have a chance… they didn't even ask us to trade our lives for our goods.. they just rode in and took everything.. killing right and left." He glanced up at Xena, his eyes pain filled. "I got between a lance and my wife."

Xena's lips tightened in sympathy. She signaled some of the villagers, who came over. "All right.. he needs to go to the healer's… how far along are you?" She asked the woman.

"Six moons." The thin, pale haired woman whispered, her eyes sliding curiously to the two Amazons. "Are we safe here?"

Ephiny smiled at her. "Safer here, than just about any place I can think of that's not a walled city." She assured the woman, as three or four more villagers showed up. "Come on.. let's get you and the rest of these folks inside… it's warmer there, and you can rest up while Gabrielle works out where you'll end up."  She exchanged grim looks with Xena, as they all started to move out of the wagon, and towards the inn.

*********************************************************

Gabrielle wiped her hands off on a piece of linen, exhaling softly as she watched the small group settle down in the rough, but dry cabin near the back part of Amphipolis. The children had been sent to different families, but the two older women and the young man and his wife had elected to remain together.  Renas had set the man's legs, and he was resting comfortably, his pain half eased by a healthy dose of herbs, and she had assured them they were welcome to stay, that Amphipolis only asked that they be as productive as their natures allowed.

Whether or not they would… The bard sighed, as she regarded the battered, grim faces, who watched warily as the villagers tried to get them settled in as comfortably as possible.

Xena entered, exchanging a glance with Renas, and crossed to the injured man, kneeling at his side.

The room watched her, avidly, and Gabrielle watched them, seeing the look of spooked awe as her soulmate's low, powerful tones echoed lightly in the room. Even after a year in retirement, love… you're still the warrior princess to them. She mused pensively, her eyes steady on her soulmate as she rose, and brushed her hands against her thighs, then swept the room with a pale blue gaze, to see them all looking back at her.

Xena's eyes dropped, and she hunched her shoulders a little, then stalked out, shutting the door behind her, giving Gabrielle a dark look before she left.

A hand on Gabrielle's arm startled her, and she glanced at the older woman she'd been giving some lunch to. "Are you all right?"

"Yes…" The woman's eyes went to the door. "That was the warlord Xena, wasn't it?"

Oh, what a complicated question. "Not quite." The bard told her. "She was… yes, but she gave that up years ago, and now she lives here, just like everyone else."

"Mmph. Maybe this is a safe place then. " The woman stated gruffly. "With the likes of 'er here."

With a sigh, Gabrielle gave her a pat on the arm, then slipped out the door to find Xena standing near the well outside, one foot braced against a stump as she regarded the surroundings seriously. Gabrielle joined her. "Hey."

The pale blue eyes blinked, then turned to her. "Hey.. they all settled?"

"Yeah." Gabrielle leaned against the well alongside her. "They've had a rough time. "

The warrior nodded. "I know."  The refugees had told a horrible story, which had  sickened even the battle hardened Amazons and Xena herself. "That makes twelve villages we've heard about destroyed in the last three months." She shook her head. "It doesn't make sense, Gabrielle…raiding, yes, that I understand, but wholesale destruction? What does that get you?"

"Well." The smaller woman folded her arms. "It doesn't get me anywhere.. but if you meant where does it get a warlord.. I don't know.. maybe it makes sure there's no opposition?"

Xena shook her head. "No…villagers aren't opposition unless you make them that way…you cut off your supply if you make it impossible to live."

Gabrielle exhaled quietly, wondering if her soulmate realized just how detached she sounded when she spoke that way. "I don't get it then.. what's the point?"

The tall ex warlord contemplated the horizon. "Unless they're preparing the ground, so to speak."

Green eyes watched her, uneasily. "For what?"

"For something a lot worse than they are." Xena answered quietly, then she shook her head. "Or maybe they're just bastards." She shifted, and brushed her shirt off. "I'm going to go see if those horses got settled in right." She started walking towards the barn, and Gabrielle fell into step beside her.

"What if they aren't?" The bard asked.

"What do you mean?" Her soulmate replied.

"What if they aren't bastards.. what if they really are trouble… if they're starting something really bad?" Gabrielle persisted. "We can't just ignore the warning."

Xena's jaw tensed. "You think I should go do something about it?"

The tone of her voice rang alarm bells in Gabrielle's head, but she also knew she had permission to go places no one else did with her sometimes touchy, often tempestuous partner. "That's not what I said."

"Everyone else does." The warrior bit off her words. "They conveniently forget my hearing." Her jaw muscles clenched.

"Xena." Gabrielle consciously lowered her pitch, and put a hand out, touching the taller woman's arm comfortingly

"I haven't touched a weapon in almost a year, Gabrielle…do they think I'm just looking for an excuse?" Xena stopped, and rounded on her soulmate, her breathing a touch ragged. "Is that what you think?"

"Whoa." Gabrielle held a hand up. "Hold on there, partner…that is not what they think, and that's not what I think, and you know that."

Sullen, resentful blue eyes regarded her.

"What I do think is that everyone knows… and you know, Xena.. that you're the most experienced military mind we've got in this place, and they, and I, are looking to you for good advice on what to do about the problem. No one's saying you have to charge out there and start fighting."  She stepped closer, ignoring the prickly signals almost exploding off her soulmate, and very deliberately pressed her palms against Xena's chest. "I think the one who expects that of you, is you."

Xena stopped breathing for a long moment, staring at her, then she expelled a long breath, and dropped her eyes. "That’s.." She felt Gabrielle's fingers move gently against her body, a touch as familiar to her as her own heartbeat. Did she? The warrior sighed, and ran a hand through her dark hair. "I have no desire to go back to killing."

"I know that." Gabrielle gave her a comforting pat. "Xena, don't you think I know how happy you've been the past year? Don’t you think that's made me happy, too?" She studied the troubled face. "But we both know ignoring trouble doesn't make it go away.. and you also know you're the best one to evaluate just how dangerous the situation really is… everyone trusts your judgment implicitly, honey."

She's right. Xena kicked a small rock in an oddly adolescent gesture. "Yeah, I know." She admitted. "Maybe I was just trying to convince myself I'm not capable of that anymore." Her eyes blinked as she looked up at Gabrielle. "And I know it's not true."

Gabrielle gave her a hug.

"I guess I could take a little scouting trip… see what the deal is." Xena sighed, then found herself being regarded by soulful green eyes. "Gabrielle…"

"You said she was old enough." The bard stated evenly.

Xena considered arguing, then realized leaving her soulmate behind was the last thing she wanted to do. "That's true." She agreed. "I guess we get our little trip sooner than expected."  She slowly lifted her arms, and rested them on Gabrielle's shoulders, lacing her fingers lightly behind her soulmate's head. "I have one condition."

Gabrielle regarded her warily. "And that is??? "

"We both ride." Xena leaned forward and touched her forehead to the bard's. "You can't give me that story about you being afraid of heights anymore."

The bard scowled. "Xena… well, no.. I'm not afraid of heights, but.. "

"C'mon, my bard… we'll make better time, and if we've got to get out of someplace fast, we can." Xena told her sternly.

Gabrielle gave her an endearingly grumpy look. "All right.. but you have to promise we can walk them sometimes… my knees ache after a while otherwise."

Xena smiled. "You're on." She slipped her arm around Gabrielle's shoulders, and steered her towards the inn. "C'mon.. let's tell everyone, and get the screaming, yelling, ranting and raving over with."

Gabrielle smiled in agreement, and returned the pressure around her partner's waist. An ill wind, she reflected contentedly, that didn't bring someone good luck, and she considered a chance to wander alone with her soulmate quite a piece of that.

She tried not to wonder if Xena felt the same way.

*****************************************************

The bonfire in the center of the market square roared, sending showers of sparks up to the stars as the logs in the middle slowly collapsed. A band was playing nearby, accompanied by the solid stomp of dancing, and the smell of roasting meat floated gently through the fall air.

"Wow." Gabrielle tucked her hand inside her partner's elbow, as they strolled along. "There are a lot more people here than last year.. I guess it's a definite success."

"Oh yeah." Xena agreed, as she slowed beside a merchant selling lamb shiskebab. "That it definitely is." She purchased two of the grilled items, and handed one to the bard. "Here…"

"Mm." Gabrielle accepted the offering with pleasure, and nibbled a piece of pepper off the top. "I think you like these festivals just for all the weird junk food they're always selling."

The warrior considered the thought. "Ehh… that's one of the reasons." She admitted frankly. "And you get to see things you don't get to normally… like that." She pointed at the fire eater. "And everyone's usually in a good mood."

They wandered over to the stage, and watched the fire eater swallow a thick wad of burning cotton, holding his mouth shut, then relighting the small torch he was carrying by breathing out.

"That's incredible." Gabrielle murmured.

"Eh." Xena shrugged. "Not really…I can do that." She commented, nibbling on her lamb. "Now, if he really wanted to be original, he'd light that torch from the other end."

Gabrielle's brows knit. "The other end? What would the end of that stick have to do with … " She thought the idea through. "Oh." She made a face. "You mean his other end, don't you?"

Xena chuckled.

"Please don't tell me that's one of your many skills." The bard gave her a wry look. "Xena, that's gross."

The warrior laughed. "Well, to tell you the truth, I've never tried it… I did see a guy do it in Athens once, though… it was pretty damn horrific."

Gabrielle had to agree on that. The laughter rose around them, and rhythmic clapping from the dancing square indicated that the villagers were having a really good time. "Hey… let's go over there."  She tugged Xena gently towards the music.

"Okay.. but don't blame me if you get duped into some stories." Xena reminded her, as she followed. Gabrielle was wearing a new, teal colored blouse and a pair of loosely fitting dark blue leggings, which the warrior found appealingly cute on her. She had her pale hair braided back into a cluster of knots at the base of her neck, leading Xena to reach out and tickle her a little.

"Yah.. " The bard jumped a little, then turned. "You punk."

The punk in question smiled, a flash of white against the firelit darkness. "I see that much skin, I've gotta take some action." She drawled,  as they reached the dancing square, which was ringed around with trestle tables. It was crowded, and the servers were hurrying around trying to bring out large wooden mugs of ale and wine, and platters of simple foods.

Xena and Gabrielle found a spot near the edge of the square and claimed two seats, as the band started up again, and the empty space quickly filled with dancers, moving in shifting patterns to the upbeat music. The bard's foot started tapping, and she gave her partner a sideways glance.

Xena turned from ordering them both a mug of ale, and saw the look. One eyebrow rose, and a faintly reckless grin crossed her face. "Something you want, my bard?"

"Mmm…. I think I'd like to dance." Gabrielle drawled. "Know anyone that would like to join me?"  She got out of her seat, and held a hand out invitingly, her eyes warming in admiration as she studied her soulmate.

Xena stood as well, tugging her soft, golden hued shirt straight. It draped neatly over her body, and contrasted nicely with the snug woven leggings in deep black that outlined her powerful legs. She had her hair free, and it waved around her face, picking up deep highlights from the torches, fluttering in the breeze. "I think I might know someone." She allowed, in a low purr.

They made their way to the open space, and joined the dancers, moving together in an instinctive rhythm, that paid tribute to their years together. The dances were simple, but energetic, and Gabrielle found herself enjoying  the activity immensely as she dodged and stepped around her soulmate's taller form.

Xena seemed to guess her every move, and matched them, reaching over to catch her by her waist, and whirl her around, making the firelight swirl around her dizzily. "Whoa!" She laughed, as she was set back onto her feet, and Xena took her hands, pulling her into close contact as they joined the rows of dancers promenading around the square.

The crowd started clapping as they slowed, and broke up, most of the dancers going back to their seats for a breather and a drink of ale. The band started a slower tune, though, and several couples stayed, moving closer.

Gabrielle found her hands captured, and she stepped willingly into Xena's arms, slowing her steps as they kept time to the soft, gentle music. She could smell the warrior's distinctive scent, and it made her smile as she laid her cheek against Xena's shoulder

They finished their slow dance, smiling back at the friendly words from the couples around them, and wound their way back to their seat, where cold mugs of ale were waiting. Xena took a long swallow of hers, and snagged  a platter of sweet bread and fragrant butter, which she set down beside her soulmate and offered to share.

"Silly question." Gabrielle cut off a piece and added butter to it. "Where to next?" She glanced across the area. "Oo… they've got some nice looking furs over there.. and we need new ones for the trip."

"Mmm… tell you what.. you go have fun with those, I'm gonna wander over to wrestling pit." The warrior commented. "Meet you over there?"

"Try not to get completely covered in mud, okay? "  Gabrielle gave her a poke in the thigh. "We've got to get an early start tomorrow."

"Try not to buy out everything in the market." Xena retorted, returning the poke. "We're only taking two horses."  She laughed at the bard's poked out tongue, then leaned over and kissed her, ignoring the looks from around the table.

"We're scandalizing the village." Gabrielle murmured, as they parted, and gazed into each other's eyes. "Deputy reeves are supposed to set a good example."

Xena laughed. "That is a good example." She nibbled the bard's nose. "It'll be great for the population."

****************************************************

Gabrielle stifled a yawn, as she tucked a last few items into her travel bag, soft and worn but very familiar to her touch. The festival had turned out to be a blast, ending with her finally wandering over to a large, packed area, filled with hooting and yelling men, women and children.

Being short, she'd long since realized, could be a pain in the butt, and it had taken her a little while to work her way up to where she could see what they were all looking at. At that point, she was recognized, and pretty much bodily hauled up front, to see her beloved soulmate facing off against what looked like a reincarnation of Goliath, including all the hair.

"What on earth?" She whispered to a neighbor, as Xena dodged neatly out of the way and dropped, spinning and tangling her legs with the behemoth's, causing him to crash down on the earth with an audible rumble.

"Shh…"  The woman's eyes twinkled at her. "He raised a challenge…Xena couldn’t turn it down."

Of course. Gabrielle had turned, to watch the tall, dark haired woman gleefully pounce on her larger opponent, mauling him about as though he was a sack of grain. The larger man was strong, and he was determined, but he was outmatched, and the grin on Xena's face told him that.

They ended up with the warrior pinning him in a hold that Ares himself probably wouldn't have been able to get out of, and he slapped the ground in defeat, cursing under his breath. Xena released him, and stood, dusting her hands off.

And then Gabrielle had turned to the woman standing next to her. "So.. what was the challenge over?"

The crowd had started laughing, then. "Who'd go home tonight with the prettiest woman in the festival." Josclyn told her, with a twinkle in his eyes.

Gabrielle had stopped, and thought, and groaned. "Oh." Then she'd put her hands on her hips and regarded her soulmate, who was closing in on her, covered in mud and dirt, with her hair disheveled and her blue eyes sparkling in the torchlight. "Well, you both lost." She'd announced, surprising everyone.

And she'd taken Xena's arm, and stuck her tongue out at all of them. "I won."

She laughed softly now, thinking of it, and shook her head, glancing up as familiar footsteps sounded outside. The door opened, admitting her now clean partner, carrying their daughter, who was sleepily clutching Xena's shirt. "Hey there, sleepy girl."

"Mama." Dori burbled softly, reaching for her.

"Heyy…." Gabrielle gently took the baby, and cuddled her, smiling broadly as Dori giggled, and tugged her hair. "You're getting so big…I bet you're going to be twice the size when we get back, huh?"

"The way my mother feeds people? Probably." Xena remarked wryly, as she went to the low table near the window and closed up her own pack, hesitating a moment as she regarded a locked chest pushed against the far wall. After a moment, she dropped her gaze to her hands, and sighed.

Gabrielle felt the change, and crossed to Dori's cradle, tucking the baby inside it and pulling up the colorful, almost garish tiny quilt that had been a gift from Salmoneus. Then she straightened and went to her partner's side, putting a hand on her back gently. "Hey."

Soulful blue eyes looked down at her. "I was just thinking about…." Xena hesitated, then shrugged. "No sense in taking weapons… I'd probably cut my own arm off after all this time." She attempted a faint laugh.

Oo. Touchy subject…. If I agree, she'll get insulted, if I disagree, she'll argue. Gabrielle mused silently. Finally she released a breath. "Well….to be honest, Xena.. I think it would make you feel better to have them packed, at least." She told her troubled soulmate. "If nothing else, I can use them to scale fish, right?"

That got a sudden, unexpected chuckle. "Yeah." The warrior uttered, softly. "Maybe you're right."  She tried to ignore the faint prickling of her skin at the thought of the familiar, sculpted hilt that had been custom crafted for her hand, or the sharp, clean feel of the chakram, it's inner edge nestling between her thumb and palm. "We could find some really tough rabbits out there, after all."

Gabrielle smiled, then reached up and undid the clasp on her necklace, sliding a small, but solid brass key off of the chain and handing it to her partner. "Here."

Xena slowly took the key, and examined it, then closed her fingers around the metal and nodded, her eyes thoughtful. She crossed over to the chest and knelt, hesitating before she firmly inserted the key and turned it, hearing the soft click as the lock released. She lifted the cover and peered inside, breathing in the soft scent of leather and metal that rose to her nostrils.

Inside, on a pair of old, patched furs rested two weapons. A brass hilted sword, it's pommel worn shiny with use, and a round, gleaming chakram. Even resting there, in the dim candelight, they spoke to her, being the defining tools of the person she once had been.

Xena exhaled, and let her hand drop down to the leather sheath, lifting it up and resting the weapon across her knee, then allowing her fingers to return and curl themselves around the chakram. She felt her heartbeat speed up as her body recognized the feel, and she stood, tucking the sword under her arm and closing the chest back up.

Half of her resented the feeling. The other half, the dark half that had been sleeping so peacefully all this time woke, and licked it's lips, urging her to fold her hand around the sword's hilt, and draw it, wanting to feel the familiar weight, and the edgy slice as the metal passed through the air.

What, and cut your damn foot off? You probably couldn’t even lift it. She scoffed at herself, as she determinedly tucked the sword into her gear, fastening it firmly to the back of her bag. The chakram she slid inside a front pocket, hiding the gleaming metal, with it's cobalt blue gems from view. "Okay. " She turned, to find Gabrielle sitting on the edge of their bed, watching her. "All set?"

The bard nodded. "All set… "She stood, and handed the warrior a cloth shift. "Here… let's enjoy one last night in comfort, hmm?"

Xena smiled, gently discarding the shift and capturing her soulmate instead. "I don't need a night shirt for that." She teased, inclining her head and kissing her partner. "And neither do you."

"Oh yeah?" The bard slipped soft hands up her shirt, and tugged the belt free.

"Yeah." Xena slid her grip up to fasten around her soulmate's waist, then lifted her up and laid her down on the bed, amidst a gentle cloud of harvest flowers, and the smell of fresh sheets.

*****************************************************

It was a cold dawn, with a damp mist rising from the ground as Xena paced across the courtyard, heading for the kitchen to pick up some supplies. Gabrielle was already there, handing over their irritated daughter, who was grumpy she was missing her morning run, and confused at the activity and bustle around her usually calm home.

Xena flexed her hands, and tugged her cloak a little closer, feeling a little ambivalent about the trip. Not that a change wouldn't be nice. It would. Not that she didn't relish the opportunity to get out, and spend some time with Gabrielle,  she did. It was just that…

The warrior sighed. She'd miss the little tyke.

The door opened as she got to it, and she ducked inside, giving her brother a glance. Toris was yawning, and obviously had just gotten up to see his sisters off, and also to pick up the tiny bowls of cereal for his two sons. "Morning."

"Morning." Xena replied, giving him a slap on the side. "How's things?"

"Busy." He bumped her back. "How long will you be gone?"

Xena shrugged. "Three.. maybe four weeks." She told him. "Ten days out to where they're raiding, a couple days to figure out if we need to get ready for them, then ten or so days back."  She gave her mother, busy near the work table a wave. Gabrielle was standing nearby, rocking Dori.  "All set." The warrior told her soulmate, who smiled back.

"Okay… now, Dori.. you be good, all right?" Gabrielle told her daughter seriously. The pale green eyes peered back innocently at her. "You listen to grandma."

"Grama.." Dori obediently repeated, then she pointed. "Boo!"

Xena smiled, and walked over, tickling a small foot. "Hey, spikey." She ran a hand over the baby's thick, dark hair, which tended to bristle at times. "You be nice to your grandma… or else."

Gabrielle laughed gently. "I can't wait until she's old enough to ask you "or else what?"" She smiled at the warrior. "Here.. say good bye.. I've got to get some parchment." She handed Dori off to her soulmate and picked up her pack, which she slung over one shoulder. "Be right back."

Toris wandered over. "Good luck, sis.. take it easy.. don't take chances, okay?"

Xena was disentangling her dark hair from a curious fist. "I don’t intend to." She gave Toris a nod. "Don't get into trouble while I'm gone, all right?"

Her brother gave her a brief hug. "We'll try." He picked up the bowls and ducked out, leaving Xena and Cyrene alone.

The older woman leaned against the table and regarded her daughter, who was tickling Dori and evading the swipes of the baby's uncoordinated hands. "You all set?"

Xena looked up. "Yeah… just need a few more things… " She paused, regarding her mother. "I'm surprised you didn't give me an argument about this."

Cyrene put out a finger for Dori to clutch. "Actually.. I'm glad the two of you are getting away for a few days. I think Gabrielle needs that."

Xena regarded her in mild surprise. "What are you talking about.. she loves it here. You know that."

"Oh.. she does.. I know.. " Her mother agreed. "But I think she also misses not spending more time with you…I mean, honey.. she was used to having your undivided attention all day, every day, for a couple of years.. I think she feels it."

Xena felt like she'd been hit by a cart. "B…" She looked down at Dori, who peered interestedly up at her. "But I… "

Cyrene put a hand on her shoulder. "I'm not criticizing you for spending time with Dori, honey…any new mother would do that.. and she has two very devoted ones."

"Goo." Dori agreed, mouthing the string that held Xena's cloak closed.

Xena regarded the baby. "I love her." She said softly. "Aren’t I supposed to want to spend time with her?" There was a touch of plaintive bewilderment in the warrior's deep voice.

"Xena, of course you are…" Her mother reassured her. "I'm not saying you're doing anything wrong.. you're not… I'm just saying that it'll be good for Gabrielle to have you all to herself for a few days, that's all."

"Mm." Xena bounced her daughter a few times, getting a giggle. "Yeah.. I was kinda looking forward to that myself." She admitted, with a wry smile. "It's been a while."

Cyrene smiled back and gave her a pat. "Good girl."

Dori pointed. "Boo!"

"Yeah.. yeah… listen, you behave." Xena warned her offspring. "Or no presents."

Dori scowled at her, then threw her arms around the warrior's neck, and nuzzled her, letting out a contented sigh so much like her mother's that both Xena and Cyrene laughed. Xena gave the baby a hug, looking up as Gabrielle returned. "Okay.. say bye bye to your momma… we've got to get outta here."

The bard took her daughter into her arms and gave her a hug, getting a tiny fist tangled in her pale hair. "Hey.. take it easy there.." She kissed the hand, then smoothed Dori's dark bangs back. "Be good." She whispered, peering into eyes the color of her own. "Okay?"

"Opay." Dori whispered back, enjoying the game, and giving her mother a sweet, babyish smile. "Mama."

"I love you, Dori… okay?" The bard told her daughter.

"Wuv." Dori giggled, tugging Gabrielle's hair. "Wuv mama."

A big smile creased the fair haired woman's face. "Oh.. did you hear that? What a good girl." Gabrielle gave her a delighted hug. "Xena, did you hear that?"

The warrior put her arms around her, and gazed over her shoulder. "I sure did. Good girl, Dori.. I'll bring you back something nice just for that."

"Boo." Dori warbled, reaching over her mother's neck to fasten a hold on Xena's shirt.

"Yeah, that's your boo, huh." Gabrielle gave her one last hug before she turned her over to the waiting Cyrene. "Thanks for watching her.. I hope she's not too much of a handful."

"Relax." Cyrene advised her wryly, giving her tall daughter a look. "I've had lots of practice."

"Hey!" Xena protested. "That was a long time ago."

Cyrene and Gabrielle exchanged mock sympathetic looks with each other, causing Xena to snort.

"I'm gonna go get the horses.. " She shook her head and stomped off, muttering, leaving behind a gentle laugh from her partner.

Outside, she was halfway across the courtyard when Ephiny swooped in beside her, the Amazon's short, fur lined half cape putting a gentle hint of herbs in the air. "Morning." Xena greeted her. "Thanks for sticking around while we're gone."

"Xena." Ephiny pushed blond hair back from her forehead as they reached the barn, and went inside. "I've got something I need to discuss with you." Her voice sounded serious.

The warrior was a little surprised, but stopped, and faced her. "What?"

Ephiny poked out one strong finger, and prodded the taller woman in the chest as she spoke, forcing Xena backwards. "You. Listen. To. Me."

Xena blinked, truly startled, as her back hit a support post.

"That kid of yours has got your energy, and Gabrielle's ability to get into trouble." Ephiny told her, fiercely. "And.. if you do something stupid, and I have to raise her, I'm gonna petition Hades, and I will find you, Xena.. I will find you, and I will rip you limb from limb.. you got me??"

Oh. The warrior closed her hand around Ephiny's, and squeezed it. "We'll be careful, Eph. I promise." She told her, solemnly. "I wouldn't do that to Pony." Her eyes twinkled gently. "Honest."

Hazel eyes glared at her. "You promise."

"I promise." Xena agreed.

"I'm gonna hold you to that, Xena."  Ephiny warned, sternly. "I mean it."

Xena nodded. "I know.. this is just going to be a quick scouting trip, Eph…that's it. I'll get back here, and then we'll decide what we need to do, if anything."

Ephiny studied her, then nodded. "Okay." She exhaled, then let her hands drop to her sides. "I still think we should go with you." The blond Amazon added, stubbornly. "Pony thinks so too."

Of course Pony did. Xena leaned back against the post and considered. "We'll be all right." She finally said. "I'd feel a lot better knowing you were here, keeping an eye on things."

Ephiny scowled. "I won't feel a lot better, though."

Damn stubborn burr under the saddle Amazons. "And.. um… " Xena played her trump card. "I'd like some time alone with Gabrielle."

"Oh… " Ephiny's entire demeanor changed. "Well.. I um.. yeah, I should have… thought about that.. sorry." She gave the taller woman a sheepish look. "Now, that makes sense." She admitted. "Why didn't you say so in the first place?"

Xena shrugged. "The raiders are reason enough… this is just an added benefit." She cleared her throat. "Now, if you're done yelling at me, I've got some horses to fetch." She moved around Ephiny and secured the bridles of Hercules and Iolaus, the two young horses newly saddled, and ready to go. "C'mon, boys."

Ephiny picked up the small bag Xena had been carrying and trudged after her, in thoughtful silence.

*******************************************************

Gabrielle walked out as she heard the soft approach of horse's hooves, and shouldered her bag, trotting down the stairs to meet Xena as she came closer. "Okay… we're all ready." She gave Ephiny a hug. "Bye, Eph… see you in a few weeks."

"Be careful.. and keep an eye on her, all right?" Ephiny whispered.

"I will." The bard promised. "Hope everything's nice and quiet while we're gone."

Ephiny gave her a pat, and released her. "Well, the tornadoes usually follow you, so it should be very peaceful here." She told her friend, with a teasing smile. "Take care."

Xena looked up, to see Gabrielle taking her last farewells from Ephiny, and she gave Jessan a nod. "We wont' be long.."

The forest dweller rocked on his heels. "Take care, my friend… we'll keep things safe here." He leaned forward. "You sure you don't want company?" He added, in a whisper.

Xena shook her head. "Oh no…last time I took a troupe of assorted 'helpers' with me, I ended up regretting it.. no offense." She vaulted up into Iolaus's saddle, and gentled the restive stallion, holding his brother's bridle as Gabrielle gamely mounted. "You all right there, Gabrielle?"

"Let's not go there." The bard  firmly wrapped the horse's reins around one hand, and settled her knees. "You couldn't have picked a nice, slow, fat mare for me to ride, couldja?"

"Hey." Xena laughed. "C'mon… it's a great opportunity to get these guys used to the trail… and they're sweethearts, you know that."

Hercules shied, as Ares trotted under his belly, and snorted.

"Oh yeah." Gabrielle gave her soulmate a dour look. "I reserve the right to end up walking."  They both waved as they started off, the horse's hooves sounding loud in the quiet dawn, as the village started to wake up around them.

They were both quiet as they moved down the road, until they reached the first turn and by common, unspoken consent, they paused and turned, regarding the gray and brown village tucked into the morning fog. Gabrielle rested her elbows on her saddlebow and glanced at her taller companion. "Well, here we go."  A gentle tickle of excitement rose in her, as the first rays of sun peeked over the horizon, and warmed her face.

Xena gave the village a quiet nod, then nudged Iolaus on. "Here we go." She agreed, giving her partner a smile. "Let's see what's out there."

They resumed their outbound ride, as the sun rose over the river valley, and laid stripes of gold and rose across the landscape. The fog trickled through the horse's feet, retreating before the light, and the freshening breeze brought hints of wood smoke, and the river to them as they ambled along.

"Beautiful morning. "Gabrielle commented, looking around in appreciation. Then she glanced at Xena. "Did you remember to put out the fire in the cabin?"

Blue eyes regarded her in mild insult. "What kind of a question is that? Of course I did." The horses walked on a few paces. "Did you remember to give mother Dori's special blanket?"

"You'd hear her screaming by now if I hadn't." Gabrielle replied, smugly. "Though I think she's going to miss her 'boo." She kidded her soulmate gently. "She likes you better than that blanket."

Xena fiddled with her reins, and reset her boots into the stirrups. "She'll be fine." She observed mildly.

They walked on further, starting down the gentle slope towards the bridge, which would take them out of Amphipolis. "I'll miss her." Gabrielle finally said. "She's become so much a part of us."  She reached behind her and took out an apple, turning it around a few times before selecting just the perfect place to bite into it, and doing so.

The warrior thought about her mother's parting words, and considered the past year. "That's true.. she is.. and I'll miss her too." She allowed, choosing her words carefully. "But there's a part of us that just you and me.. and it makes me feel good to be visiting that part right now."

Gabrielle stopped in mid chew, regarding her with blinking, pale green eyes. She swallowed hastily. "Really?" She nudged Hercules in the ribs, to get closer to her soulmate.

Xena relaxed into her saddle, and smiled, reaching out to pat the bard's knee. "Yep.. really." She was rewarded by an almost shy smile that lit up Gabrielle's eyes, and mentally chastised herself for being so damned unobservant.  Of course they're lives were busy in Amphipolis. Of course Dori took  up a lot of time… she was a new baby, and that was a given. Look at what Toris and Granella were going through, for example. But….

But, Xena, you idiot, mother's damn right.. she's been too quiet lately. She'd thought she was doing Gabrielle a favor, disappearing with the baby in the mornings…. Now she wondered if the bard didn't really miss waking up together, when they'd spend just a few moments indulging in nonsense talk and sweet affection.

"Xena?" Gabrielle's concerned voice broke her out of her self chastisement.

"Uh?' She looked up, as the bard's hand touched her wrist. "Oh.. sorry.. I was just… "

"You were muttering to herself and scowling, honey." The bard told her. "What's wrong?" She offered Xena a bite of her apple. "Did we pick the wrong road already? I know we only had two choices so far." A hint of teasing entered her voice.

"Ha ha. "Xena bit off a chunk of apple and chewed it. "No.. I was just mentally reviewing some options." She cleared her throat. "Looks like we'll have good weather today…if we keep moving, that'll bring us up to the big crossroads by nightfall… so we've got two choices."

"Okay." Gabrielle settled back, reassured by an old, familiar game. "What are the choices?'

"We can stop in Spiros… you know the inn there's not bad, though I hope the food's improved, or they're gonna have to start putting up warnings."

"Uck." Gabrielle poked her tongue out. "That's the place that has the goats, right? The one with the little store that sells goat everything? Goat milk, goat cheese, goat hooves, goat coats, goat…"

"Yes." Xena interrupted. "That's the place… you were going to get that ram's horn last time there."

"And you wouldn't let me.. I remember." The bard informed her. "Okay.. so what's my second choice?"

"Well… " Xena mused. "Just north of that is this… little spot I know of… or at least I did.. .it had some nice trees, soft grass, a spring fed lake…" She eyed her soulmate, who had started to grin. "No soft beds, no hot water…and I'll have to catch everything we eat."  She warned.

"Sounds perfect." Gabrielle told her happily. "Will there be stars?"

Xena tipped her head back, and regarded the cloudless sky. "Oh yeah."

"Spiros can keep their goats." The bard laughed. "C'mon… let's go faster!" She kneed Hercules into a canter, surprising Xena, who burst out laughing and joined her. The happy sound trailed them as they thundered down the road and over the bridge, leaving home far behind them.

****************************************************

Continued in Part 2

Standard Disclaimers -

These characters, and boy, are they ever characters, are mostly the property of Renaissance Pictures, Universal MCA, and whoever else owns stock and interest in Xena: Warrior Princess. This fiction was written for my amusement only, and not in any way, shape or form for profit - and it is not intended to infringe on the copyright holders of the characters.

Some of the characters are mine, and the story ideas.. well, who knows where they come from? Must be one weird place, that's for sure.

Specific Story Disclaimers:

Violence - this is a Xena:Warrior Princess story. This is not Teletubbies. Even though there are some rumors of similarities. Some of the violence is graphic, but we try not to dwell on it.

Subtext - Considering that the TV Series just aired an episode establishing Xena and Gabrielle as eternal soulmates, any disclaimer of subtext on my part is really kind of goofy in the extreme. The two characters are in love with each other, and have been for years. You can choose to see them as just friends, but then you might not want to read this fanfic, in case it changes your mind or anything like that.

Emotional Content - this is not one my more comedic efforts. There are moments of humor, however.

********************************************************************

Dark Comes the Morning - Part 2

By Melissa Good

The wagon ahead of them was throwing up a tiny cloud of dust, and Gabrielle willingly slowed Hercules down as they let the caravan get ahead of them. It was well after lunch, and her legs were beginning to feel the strain, but she kept her mouth shut, determined not to let a word of complaint pass her lips.

Any amount of aches were worth it, she decided as she pulled another apple out of her bag, and passed it to the quiet woman next to her. Xena was apparently enjoying the ride, a faint flush on her skin from the sun bringing out the dusky highlights in her tan, and the stiff breeze blowing her dark hair back, exposing her sharp profile to Gabrielle's appreciative eyes.

"Thanks." Xena half turned her head, and gave the bard a grin. "Ooh… you're gonna need the aloe tonight, my bard." She glanced at her soulmate's light, pale blue shirt and the soft riding leggings she wore. "Good thing you decided not to wear that traveling gear of yours."

Gabrielle grinned, feeling the skin tighten painfully around her eyes. "Yeah.. it feels like it… do I look like a lobster?"

Xena set her apple down between her thighs, and reached behind her, pulling out her healer's kit. She rummaged inside it, then came out with a packet of something, which she opened and smeared on her fingers. "C'mere."

The bard nudged her stallion closer, feeling the heat between the two horses as she closed in, and leaned over to let her partner spread the sharply scented lotion on her face. "Mm…I love the way that smells."

Xena gently traced her cheekbones, with a fingertip. "I know… and you're just a little pink, that's all." She informed her. "But it's hot out here in the open.. I'm glad we made Ares stay home."

"Mm.. I bet he isn't…Dori's probably chewed half his tail off by now." Gabrielle straightened, and moved her horse away a little, patting his damp neck. "They're being really good…I'm surprised."

A dark eyebrow lifted. "You are? Even knowing I trained them? Gabrielle, I'm crushed." She retrieved her apple and crunched into it, letting a spray of juices fly into the air, then straightened, allowing the tightly woven fabric of her tan shirt to strain across her shoulders and relaxed, resettling her boots into Iolaus' stirrups. The snug leggings she'd chosen to wear kept the stallion's new tack from rubbing, and she felt a surge of animal well being, as she looked around the rolling countryside. "We've made good time."

"Mm." Gabrielle agreed. They'd passed through six towns so far, on the road northwest, all of which seemed peaceful, and untroubled. They'd heard rumors of trouble far to the north, but most people were focusing on the here and now, and letting the future worry about itself. Which was silly, she thought No trouble ever cured itself if you just left it fester.

"You want to detour to Potadeia?" Xena asked quietly.

Gabrielle considered the question soberly. Though her mother and sister had visited a few months back, things were still a little prickly between them since they'd gotten a first hand view of the complications in her life. Not that she could blame them, really… people and animals around her hometown had suffered, and there was no way for her to not take responsibility for that. "On the way home." She finally decided, glancing at her soulmate. "I got a letter from Lila last moon… things are okay."

"Okay." Xena responded mildly. "I thought you might just want say hello…give them a chance to wish you a happy birthday." She cleared her throat gently. "Since it is today."

The bard let out a short, surprised breath. "How do you always remember that so accurately? I have to think about it, and count days six times, and take a star reading." She complained, more to give her a moment to think than anything else. "But thank you, for reminding me."

Xena shrugged. "Anytime." She let the silence rest between them for a moment. "So… you want anything special for your birthday, since you nixed a party this year?"

"Oh…. " Gabrielle exhaled. "Let's see…salmon would be nice." She waggled an eyebrow at her now grinning soulmate. "And if you find fresh berries, I'll stuff the salmon with them… and if you're really, really good… I'll get out the raspberry pastries mom gave me before we left."

"Is this a present for you, or for me?" Xena laughed.

A yell up ahead drew their attention, and they glanced up the road, spotting the caravan that they'd been following at a halt. "Uh oh." Gabrielle murmured. "Looks like they broke down.. let's go see if we can help."

Xena guided her horse after her soulmate's. "You know, most people would just go around them, Gabrielle… wagons break down every day."

The green eyes peered back at her. "Yes, but we're not most people, Xena… in fact, I think you could consider us… um…. "

"Busy bodies." The warrior completed her sentence wryly. "C'mon." She kneed Iolaus into a trot, as they approached the stopped caravan, aiming for a group of men standing in a semicircle yelling angrily at each other.

"Listen you idiot.. I told you that wagon was too heavy.. now look! You've broken the axel.. what are we going to do?"

"Shut up, you moron… it's not my fault..it's all your crap in that wagon, and you can start taking it out, and carrying it yourself!"

"Excuse me." Xena relaxed in her saddle.

Both men glanced at her. "Mind yer own business, lady." The first one snapped, then turned back to his partner. "You can kiss my hairy butt, Ellis… I'm not moving a gods be damned thing off that cart.. it's your fault for buying the thing from that tart of yours in Potadeia."

"Excuse me." Xena tried again.

The second man, who was closer to her, turned. "Look, lady.. he told you.. mind your business, and get out of here!"

Xena booted him hard in the shoulder, and sent him flying against the wagon. She waited for the birds to stop flying over his head, then cleared her throat. "Number one, you don't have a broken axle, you've just lost the wheel on one side. And number two…" She leaned over and gave them both a steely eyed look. "I'm not a lady."

Gabrielle had taken the opportunity to dismount, holding onto Hercules' saddle while she slowly straightened her back and legs out. "Oof." She muttered, wincing. "How did you let her talk you into this, Gabrielle? You're supposed to be the talker, remember?" She limped around the side of the horse, holding onto his bridle, to find her soulmate kicking the daylights out of one of traders. "Well… some things never change, do they?"

She quickly walked forward, and handed Xena the reins to her horse. "Hi." She got between her glowering partner and the men. "My name's Gabrielle… is there something we can do to help?" She asked, calmly. "I heard you mention Potadeia.. I'm from there."

The man who'd been kicked stood up and brushed his clothes off, giving Xena a dark look. "Only if you can tell us a direction to go that doesn't lead towards those thieves on horseback." He told her, gruffly, then looked up. "Unless you're one of em, that is."

A dark brow lifted. "I'm not." Xena drawled. "They don't usually travel in packs of one."

"Hey." The bard gave her a look.

"One and a half." The warrior replied, with a faint grin. "Sorry."

The other trader relaxed a little. "Where are you from.. Potadeia, you said? I don’t' remember seeing you in the village." He watched Gabrielle's face suspiciously.

"No.. well, I'm from there originally" Gabrielle explained. "But I live in Amphipolis now…has there been trouble on the roads? That would explain the problems some of the merchants at the festival were talking about, Xena.. " She turned to look at her soulmate, and missed the looks from the two men.

"Xena?" The second man started, backing up a step. "Not the Xena?"

Blue and green eyes met in puzzlement, then the warrior glanced at him "Well, I'm the only one I know." Xena replied, slowly. "Why?"

"Great Hera… we thought you were just a legend…you mean you're actually real?" The first man stated, in disbelief.

Xena's dark brows knit fully. "Of course I'm… what in the Hades are you talking about? What legend?" She glared at Gabrielle, who lifted both hands in utter bewilderment.

"Don't look at me.. I've been home in Amphipolis the last year.. not out spreading tales about you, partner." The bard protested. "I admit I did my share before that, but.. "

The two men came closer. "It's all we've been hearing, in the areas where those damn bastards are killing things out… the folks there say one day, Xena'll come riding out of the sun, and drive them all back out of the land, and into the sea." He turned to his companion. "Right?"

"Right" The man agreed. "And look.. here you are.. heading that way!"

Xena stared at them, then expelled a breath, shifting in her saddle as she tried to figure out a way to scream without actually making a sound. "Son of a bacchae." She finally muttered. "They've turned me into some kind of.. of.. "

"Hero." Gabrielle supplied, biting back a grin. "Imagine that."

"Don't start." Xena pointed a finger at her. "I am not some kind of half assed folk hero." She glared at the men. "Where did you hear all this ?"

The two men glanced at each other. "It's.. " One started.

"Everywhere.. really.. all over the northwest… we didn't stop hearing it until we hit these parts." The second finished. "We thought it was… I mean…it seemed so…"

"Yeah." Xena exhaled, obviously troubled. "Well, you want help putting your wheel back on or not?" She asked, brusquely. "And you can head on back southeast.. it's quieter there."  She kicked her feet free of her stirrups and slung a leg over Iolaus' neck, sliding down his tall side and landing on the ground with an audible thump.

They helped the two traders fix their wagon, or to be more precise, Xena got her shoulders under the axle, and braced her legs, taking the weight of the cart long enough for Gabrielle to help them wrestle the wheel back on, then tap the hub cap into place. "There." The bard told them. "Xena's right.. if you head off back towards Amphipolis, I think you'll steer clear of the worst trouble."

"Thanks, lass.. " The older of the two nodded at her. "And thank you, ma'am." He gave Xena a respectful nod. "We'll take your advice.. c'mon, Adric."

The wagon creaked off, leaving the two women standing in the roadway. Xena put both fists on her hips and let out an aggrieved sigh. "Ma'am?" She gave Gabrielle a plaintive look. "Tell me this isn't happening."

Gabrielle rubbed her jaw, and leaned against her soulmate. "Honey… " She patted the warrior's belly gently. "Look.. people make stories up when they're in the worst problems… maybe it's all they have.. this notion that someone's going to come swooping down and save them."  She hesitated, seeing the storm of emotion swirling around Xena's face. "That's what I did."

Slowly, ice blue eyes fastened on her face.

"It's what kept me going… just imagining something better." The bard said, quietly. "And what do you know? " She lifted a hand and stroked the angular cheek. "My dream came true."

Xena blinked, and her lips tensed. "I can't make theirs come true, Gabrielle.. I'm not that person they think I am." Her voice was faintly hoarse.

The bard put both hands flat against her partner's stomach, and leaned against her. "I think  the person you are is more than capable of figuring out what to do about the whole thing."

Xena's gaze turned inward for a long moment, then she put her hands on Gabrielle's shoulders. "Think so?" There was a touching note of insecurity in her voice, one which the bard knew she was the only person who would ever hear.

"I know it." Gabrielle smiled warmly up at her. "C'mon, hero… we've got a lake to find.. and maybe they were just exaggerating.. you know how that stuff starts." Privately, she didn't think so, but saw no reason to further rattle her soulmate. She gave Xena a swat on the behind. "Besides.. you owe me a massage big time.. my legs are killing me."

Nothing like a little nudge for sympathy to snap Xena out of her anxiety, and it worked. The warrior scowled at her. "Why didn't you say something?"

Gabrielle smiled sheepishly. "I didn't want to get yelled at." She admitted. "Can we walk for a little while? I think it'll help get the kinks out."

Xena gave her a speculative look, then she sighed, and nodded, grabbing her horse's reins and starting down the road at a slow amble. "You and your kinks." She muttered. "Gabrielle, after all this time, you should know better than to sit there, and suffer for no good reason."

The bard winced silently, as her thighs protested the motion, and she watched the ground, avoiding her soulmate's eyes. "You know, for a minute there, I kind of felt like that kid you hooked up with outside Potadeia." She commented quietly. "Remember that time…"

"Going up the mountain in the storm." Xena finished for her. "Yeah… I was so mad at you I could have spit Argo's shoe nails halfway across Greece." She unconcoiously eased closer to her partner, so that they were between the horses, side by side, and slowed her steps, to a familiar rhythm.

"Why?" Gabrielle felt the ache start to lessen a little, as the muscles stretched out.

"Why?" Xena repeated, gazing ahead thoughtfully. "I was angry that you hurt yourself…angry that you felt you couldn't tell me if something was really bothering you." She paused. "Angry at myself… really…for being such a bastard that you couldn't even talk to me."

The bard sighed. "Xena.. it wasn't that… not really.. it was just that I so wanted to be like you.. I wanted to prove to you that I wasn't a burden.. that I deserved to be able to stay with you, I guess." She shrugged. "But you know all that…I was so desperate to not give you a reason to send me home."

Xena kicked a pebble down the road. "I know.. I realized that when I sat there watching you sleep, after I bandgaged your hands all up." She replied. "I.. um.. I'd never had anyone who wanted to stay with me before… it was…scary."

"Scary?" Gabrielle took a breath, and relaxed, enjoying the sun again. "Why scary?"

Xena let the silence go on a bit, as she considered. "As long as you…" She stopped, and rethought her words. "As long as I thought of you as something that was temporary.. it was easy to excuse treating you like… " She paused. "Like I did." Her voice trailed off, lamely. "But that night… I realized you really wanted to be there… despite me."

"Because of you." The bard corrected, gently. "You weren't horrible.. just.. practical, Xena."

Blue eyes looked directly at her. "You talk in your sleep, Gabrielle." Xena told her, with a little tensing of her lips. "And you did, that night."

A journey of revelations. Gabrielle marveled. "I did? What did I say?"

"You pleaded with me.. not to send you away." Xena reached out and put a hand on her partner's shoulder. "And you said you really didn't mind be being so nasty, honest."

A gentle blush colored Gabrielle's skin. "Oh." She exhaled. "Well… I know I didn't mean it that. way… and besides, I was sleeping."

The warrior chuckled a bit. "It's all right… it was true, and I knew it… I just had to find the guts to let you be the friend you wanted to be." She glanced at the thoughtful bard. "We've come a long way, you and I."

Gabrielle felt an irrational sting of tears. "Yes, we have."  She welcomed the warm arm around her shoulders, and wrapped her free arm around Xena's waist as they walked along, kicking up tiny clouds of dust. "And there's no one else I"d rather have made the journey with."

Xena kissed her head. "Same here.. best friend."

They continued down the road, in peaceful silence.

***************************************************

Gabrielle curled up on her side, and rested her head on her hand, chewing the end of a quill with a sense of utter contentment. Their furs were spread on a patch of soft, springy grass, and a small, but powerful fire was crackling, shedding warm, golden light across the twilight lit campsite.

Nearby, the two stallions were cropping grass, and just beyond them, the sparkling surface of the small lake Xena had promised glittered, catching the very last rays of red sunset across it's rippling surface.

The breeze was cool, and rich with the green smell of the forest, and the tang of the lake, and she put her pen down, to roll onto her back, and simply revel in the sensations that bombarded her from every side. "Mm." She closed her eyes and spread her arms out, feeling the warmth of the sun that the ground held, and indulging in a lazy yawn that made her jaw crack. She let herself lie like that for a moment, then she rolled back over and took up her quill, studying the blank page of her diary in front of her.

It's nice to have something interesting to record for a change.

Wow. I just went back and read that.. it sounds so awful, but really, outside of the bad storms, and little things, there hasn't been much to record lately. Just my thoughts, and observations, like how Dori's growing, and a new trick Xena taught the colts that day.

Now we're out on the road again, and it feels wonderful. I"d forgotten how much I really enjoy the end of the day, when we've stopped for the night, and are just relaxing. I feel like a little weight's been lifted off my shoulders, and I'm not sure if I should feel good, or just guilty about that.

A little of both, I guess.

Today was nice. We rode for a long time, and we just talked, like we used to.. it was strange, how fast things sort of shifted back into that pattern, but I liked it. I've missed just having the time to chatter on about whatever I felt like, though I'm sure Xena doesn't quite feel the same way, since she's never been much for idle chatter.

Mostly she just listens. I remember the days when I was sure she didn't even do that, until she turned around and quoted me on something I'd said weeks earlier, and I realized, yes, she most certainly did listen. It was a weird feeling, it was almost like realizing I mattered to her beyond just being something she was responsible for.

She's a good listener, though. She has these little sounds she makes, which I've come to know mean things like, really and go on, and boy that's a toughie.. she doesn't even really have to say anything to communicate with me, just that and her expressions.

It took me so long to be able to read those, and now I'm so used to them, talking is almost an afterthought. And she has this one expression, where she sort of almost smiles, and tilts her head a little, and looks at me, that I know means I love you.

It's my favorite one. I know I must have one back, because when she does it, and I look at her, whatever my face is doing makes her start smiling all the time. It's like a dance we do with our bodies, that sometimes we don't even realize we're doing.

Weird.

We were talking about fish later on during the day, I guess because I was getting hungry, and it was on my mind, and I was asking why fish can hold their breaths so long. Xena said, she didn't think they did.. she thought they breathed in the water. That is so amazing.. because water is so thick, not like air at all. I thought it would be like when I was sick and the air felt like I was breathing in honey.

Then she told me not all fish breathed water.. there were some that actually breathed air like we do, and if they stayed underwater too long, they'd drown.

I thought that was incredibly dumb, since they lived in the water. Like it would be if we could only breathe water, and lived on the ground. But she said she'd show me one the next time we got to the coast.

I miss Dori. I do, I miss her, and I know Xena does, but I have to put this down too, even though it makes me seem like such a selfish person.

It feels really good to have Xena all to myself. I feel like a greedy child with candy saying that, but it's true, and I'm honest enough with myself to admit it. It's not just Dori, either, it's everything. We're so busy at home, we just don’t' spend a lot of time with each other, not like we do when we're traveling. I know for some people, that would be terrible, but that's how we got to know each other, and I miss it.

It's not that she doesn't pay attention to me at home, she does, and even after all this time, all it takes is one look from her, and…

Wow.

But I guess I was spoiled, living like we did for so long, and now part of me looks back and wants that again, even though other parts of me love our new life a lot more.

You always want what you can't have, I guess.

She thoughtfully chewed her quill, and reread the entry.

****************************************

The water was cool, but not freezing, and Xena simply floated in it, her nose barely above the surface. She could feel the current in the lake, which was really more of a widening in a stream, and it rippled by her bare body, washing off the dust of the trail.

In a moment, she'd attend to her task, that of finding dinner, but for right now, she allowed herself a few moments just to sit, and enjoy the peaceful water, and watch her soulmate scribe industriously into her diary.

How many times have I sat and just watched her? Xena rested her chin on a smooth, mossy branch hanging half in and half out of the water. It smelled of the lake, a rich, pungent scent that made her nostrils flare. How many nights, how many campfires.. how many potluck dinners, for the two of us?

The purpling light warred with the warm gold of the campfire in outlining Gabrielle's gentle features, her jaw moving a little as she concentrated and the very tip of her pink tongue showing from between her lips.

For someone who had been through all that Gabrielle had, she still appeared to be barely an adult, her face only lightly touched with the lines of experience that Xena knew her own had in plenty. With her pale hair pulled back, only the firm set of her jaw, and the confident pose betrayed a knowledge beyond her physical years that very few people living had.

Every day, I fall more and more in love with her. Xena reflected, in quiet amazement. I wonder if she realizes that? With a sigh, the warrior turned, going still in the water as she sensed the life around her.

Hearing tiny trickles, as liquid's passage was broken by a fin, or a slim, muscular body. Feeling them.

Sensing their presence, as they got used to hers, and flowed past her unafraid of the large, warm body that stood so still in the water.

Xena closed her eyes and listened, bending forward a little as she caught a hint of a larger movement, waiting for it to come closer.

Closer.

Without conscious thought, she moved, striking through the water with both hands, towards targets she could sense were within range. Her fingers caught against smooth scales, then tensed, grabbing powerfully around two wriggling bodies, that threshed frantically, trying to get away.

With a soft chuckle she straightened, bringing two gleaming fish with her, struggling against her grip to no avail. "Gotcha." She warbled softly at them, wading out of the water and climbing up onto the soft, muddy bank.

The fish gasped, and she smacked them both against a tree, before she ambled up the short slope that lead to their campsite. As she approached, Gabrielle sensed her presence and looked up, her grin and appreciative eyes making Xena straighten a little in pure, human reflex. "Dinner" She held up the fish. "How do they look?"

Green orbs almost cinnamon colored in the firelight took on a glint. "Gorgeous." Gabrielle drawled, looking her right in the eye.

The warrior smirked, accepting the compliment with a faint, gracious nod, before she knelt and laid the fish down on a flat rock, and turned them over to her soulmate. Gabrielle leaned on the rock with both hands, then gently kissed Xena's shoulder, closing her eyes and rubbing her cheek against the warrior's skin with a soft sound of pleasure. Xena felt a warm flush of shivery excitement travel through her and she nuzzled her partner, breathing in the hickory tinge in her pale hair with a sigh.

The bard turned her head slightly and brushed her lips against Xena's, then slid a hand down her bare side and made a serious, more insistent contact.

Xena's touch found it's way up along the bard's shoulders, and cupped her face, pulling her closer until the soft fabric warmed her water cooled skin and Gabrielle's hands were moving, sliding across sensitive spots as familiar to her as her own breathing.

Whoa. Xena's alarm system weakly warned her, and she broke off reluctantly, hearing the bard's quickened breathing and feeling the soft, warm air against her neck. "Easy…" She stroked the bard's back.

"Mmm… don’t wanna go easy." The bard murmured, nibbling her collarbone. "Whooo.." She tilted her head and gazed up into the crimson tinged blue eyes. "You have my toe hairs curling, hon."

"Oh, really?" Xena murmured, playfully sucking on a tasty earlobe. "Been a long time since I've had you all to myself… I think I like it."

"Ungh. " The bard answered incoherently. "Really?"

Xena circled her waist with one arm, then straightened fluidly and leaped for their bedroll, setting the bard down gently, and crouching over her, grinning at the surprise on her face. "Oh yeah."  She flexed her arms and lowered her head, grasping one of the laces holding her soulmate's shirt closed in her teeth and tugging at it playfully. She felt a hand wrap itself in her damp hair and chuckled softly.

"Isn't this a little dangerous?" Gabrielle murmured, rasing her head and capturing a pair of warm lips.

"Yes…" Xena answered, deep in her throat. "Very dangerous…." She pulled the last lace free and peeled the shirt down off one shoulder. "You wanna stop?"

Gabrielle's hands slid across the muscular body suspended over her, tracing the familiar contours, then pulling her down and closer. "No."  A prickle of excitement shuddered all down her body.

"Good answer."  Xena grasped the other sleeve and pulled it down, then lowered her head and started nibbling every inch of exposed skin with gentle, teasing nips, murmuring softly as she heard the soft sound forced from her soulmate's guts.

The fire crackled cheerfully, as it cast idle sparks up towards the brightening stars, painting shadows over a celebration of two souls.

****************************************************

Gabrielle reached out lazily and turned the fish on their stick, then leaned back into her very warm, and very comfortable nest of warrior. Xena was wrapped around her with her eyes half closed, and she resettled an arm across the bard's stomach as she resumed her spot. "That was pretty crazy, Xena." She slung am arm across the warrior's hip, wriggling a little closer in the process.

"Mm… yeah.. a little.. but we got away with it." The warrior answered, a touch smugly "That smells great, by the way."

Gabrielle grinned. "Thanks… those were very tasty berries you found.. I almost felt bad about putting them in the fish instead of eating them. "

"There's more… we can have those for dessert." Her soulmate offered..

"We have pastries for dessert." The bard reminded her.

"We can have these as dessert for the pastries." Xena drawled.

'Xena." Gabrielle gave her a look.

"Hey, it's your birthday… we can celebrate." The warrior protested. "C'mon.. you know you want to." She settled her arms more snugly around her partner's body, and nuzzled the back of her neck, eliciting a soft sound of pleasure from the bard.

"Mmm." Gabrielle let her eyes close in sensual bliss. "You are in a mood tonight, aren't you?"

A tanned chin rested itself on her shoulder, and she could feel the soft warmth of Xena's breathing brushing against her ear. "Is that all right?" The low, sexy rumble was so interesting, she almost didn't register what Xena had said.

"It's wonderful." The bard murmured, turning her head a bit so she could see the soft blue eyes regarding her. "It makes me feel wonderful… just to look into your eyes and see how you feel about me."

Xena simply watched her, letting her gaze roam over the firelit face with quiet intent. Something was bothering her soulmate, she could see it just behind the pretty, green eyes, and knew enough quiet would usually coax it out of her.

"When I was over at the inn the other day, I was listening to some of the women talk.. you know how they are." Gabrielle smiled wryly.

The warrior lifted an eyebrow in agreement.

"And they were all complaining about their partners.. about how they never felt like being close, or that they were ignored. It was kind of sad." Gabrielle paused, leaning her head over and resting it against her soulmate. "And it's never been like that with us…I never feel like you do this out of obligation, or because you think I expect it."

Both dark eyebrows lifted, almost out of sight into Xena's hairline, and her blue eyes opened up wide. "Gabrielle…I never knew how incredible it felt just to hold someone.. just like this.. until I met you. " She paused, searching for words. "This close… I can feel how you feel about me."

Gabrielle lifted a hand and covered her soulmate's rubbing the fingers gently, visibly pleased with the words.

"Most of my life, I spent in a very dark… very cold place." The warrior continued quietly. "Being with you now… " She shook her head slowly. "Every moment is a gift."

The bard nodded. "Yes, it is." She agreed softly. "For both of us."  Their eyes met in complete understanding. Gabrielle swallowed a little, and shifted, a touch awkward. "I.. I   feel very close to you tonight." She murmured softly.

Xena half grinned, then let her eyes skim over both of them. "If we were any closer, we'd be inside each other's skin, Gabrielle." She reminded her partner, sensing the sudden change in her mood.

"Hmm.. that's an appealing thought." Her soulmate answered. "But.. you know what I mean." She fell silent.

The warrior waited, then realized further prodding was going to have to come from her side. Xena blinked slowly, the firelight catching in her dark lashes. "Yes, I do." She agreed quietly. "Maybe because we haven't been as close lately." Her eyes met Gabrielle's squarely. "Is that what's bothering you?"

The bard didn't answer for a long moment, but Xena could see the emotions flashing across her expressive face, and hear the faint sounds as she swallowed a few times. Ah.

"That's not…" Gabrielle started, then stopped. "Xena, I…" The bard stopped again, then shook her head, and buried her face into her soulmate's shoulder, with a little groan.

The warrior raised a hand and stroked her hair in mute comfort and waited, knowing the smaller woman was struggling to express herself. . Finally she heard a soft sniffle, and felt the pressure as Gabrielle turned her head to one side.

"It feels so selfish to think that way." She murmured softly. "I mean… gods… I have everything.. I have a beautiful home.. and a wonderful partner.. and the most adorable child… what in Hades is wrong with me, Xena?" The bard sounded miserable. "Why do I feel like I'm losing part of myself? Like…something precious is trickling out from between my fingers and I can't stop it?"

Oh boy.  Xena felt herself truly at a loss. Mother was right... and I missed it. She remained silent for a bit, thinking hard, her hands unconsciously gentling her soulmate as though she were a nervous filly. "I… I didn't know you felt that way." She admitted softly. "I thought you were happy, Gabrielle… I swear it." The warrior sighed. "I should have known… I know  you better than that." She felt the shift, and knew Gabrielle was looking up at her. "You ran away from that life."

"And I know you…. " The fair haired woman responded, in a whisper. "You really are happy there, aren't you?" She studied the warrior's face intently.

A moment of quiet, then Xena closed her eyes. "Yes." A breath. "Yes, I am."

They were both silent, as fragile shards of truth dusted them. Then blue eyes slid open, and met pale green gazing back, and two souls exchanged a simple understanding.

"You would give that up for me." Gabrielle stated softly. "Wouldn't you?"

"You would give up your dreams for me."  Her soulmate replied, just as softly. "So of course I would."

They both smiled, in sad knowledge, of each other, and the realities of life. Gabrielle put her head back down, and they simply sat for a while, letting their connection wrap them in a net of warmth. "I'm sorry." She finally murmured sadly.

"Don't be." Xena answered ."I don't want you to ever feel like you can't tell me something, my bard."

"Even if it hurts you?" Pale green eyes studied her.

"Especially then." The warrior confirmed. "Because the truth usually does hurt, and you and I learned the hard way what happens when we try to protect each other from that."

Gabrielle nodded slowly. "Yes, we did.. but Xena, I want you to know that you were mostly right." She traced an idle pattern on the soft skin under her hands. "Most of the time I'm very, very happy."

Xena's lips tensed into a brief, regretful smile. "Most of the time, so am I." She admitted. "But there are times when... " She paused, reluctant to admit it, even to herself. "I don't think I miss the killing... Gabrielle.. at least, I hope I don't.. but.."

The bard curled her fingers around one of Xena's hands. "You miss the fighting."  She felt the warrior's whole body slump in defeat. "I think you dream about it."

"No..I.. "

"It's all right." Gabrielle rubbed the arm circling her. "You do.. I can feel your body twitching at night.. all up in here.. " She smoothed a touch over the strong shoulders. "And here." Her hand dropped to Xena's thigh, giving it a pat. "Xena, it's what you spent most of your adult life doing... I think that's natural."

The warrior sighed. "I tell myself that." She confessed. "But it's like you said.. I ask myself what's wrong with me? I've got everything...why do I need that?"

Gabrielle turned the fish a few times, then exhaled. "So.. what do we do?" She felt better, curiously, just for having said something, as though that had relieved a tension she'd hardly been aware of.

Xena considered the question. "We compromise." She answered thoughtfully. "We're out here looking for trouble now, aren't we?"

"Mm." Gabrielle agreed."That we are.... do you mean to say we've got to do that more often?"

"Mm... something like that." Xena replied. "And when we get home… I'll give up that afternoon session.. you give up that late class, and we make that time for just us." The ex warlord mapped a plan. "How about it?"

The bard fluttered her lashes, tickling Xena under the chin. "My brilliant general."

"Stop that." The warrior scowled engagingly. "I was serious."

"So was I." Gabrielle replied mildly, as she removed the fish from the fire, and neatly placed them on two plates, to which she added roasted vegetables before handing one to her partner. "Xena, you are brilliant, you are a general, and you certainly are mine." She lifted her soulmate's hand up and kissed the fingers, then rubbed them against her cheek. "Thank you for listening to me.. and not thinking I was some selfish, ungrateful shrew."

Xena tousled her hair, then tugged her closer  and kissed her. "I'm glad we got that out." She admitted, gently removing the last traces of tears from her soulmate's skin. "Thank you for not thinking I was some half crazed fighter that's been hit in the head one too many times."

Gabrielle snuggled closer, tangling her fingers in her partner's shirt.  "Mm... we make quite a team." She felt a smile twitch at her lips."How's your fish?"

Xena ignored the fish and stole a kiss instead. She broke off after a few moments, and looked Gabrielle in the eye, their noses almost touching. "I do miss this." She said. "I miss spending hours and hours and hours just with you."

The bard felt like a warm blanket had settled over her, and her world had spun firmly back into it's proper place. She curled up against Xena's body and broke off a piece of the warrior's fish, offering it to her. "Me too... now, c'mon.. finish... there's a lot of stars up there waiting."

And after a while, the fire burned low, sending up the occasional crackling spark, as two low voices blended together, peacefully shaping dreams in the canopy of stars overhead. .

*****************************************************

It took five days of traveling, before they left the pastoral, rolling hills and started up into the harsher lands further up into the range of craggy mountains that surrounded their part of the world. The morning sun slanted down onto the rock strewn road they were traveling on the sixth day, casting their shadows behind them, and giving welcome warmth after the chilly night.

"Are you vegetable, mineral, or animal." Gabrielle was asking, idly kicking a pebble out of her way. They were walking side by side, their horses ambling after them, as Xena didn't like to ride on roads with so many small, sharp rocks. She took a deep breath as she waited for her partner to answer, and let it out, watching the frosty puffs of fog form in the cool air.   After five days her body had reacclimated itself to traveling, faster in fact than she'd dared hope, and she felt great, despite a week of sleeping on the hard ground, and the vagaries of the weather. "Hmm?"

Xena had been studying the ground, and now she took two steps, hopping up and snagging a branchful of nuts and pulling them down. She offered several to the bard and munched on one herself thoughtfully. "I'm an animal." She announced.

"Hmm.." Gabrielle opened a nut with neat white teeth. "With a tail, or without?"

"With." The warrior replied.

"Long or short."

"Long."

"Furry or not."

Silence. "What?" Xena laughed.

"Furry or not..c'mon, Warrior Princess of sneaky tricks.. I remember when you got around me with that aardvark." Gabrielle poked her in the side.

"Oh... all right. Furry." Blue eyes glinted at her in mischevious amusement.

"Nice and soft and furry.. or that nasty, almost hairy kind of furry?" Gabrielle persisted.

One perfectly shaped dark eyebrow lifted. "Gabrielle, what is with this sudden fascination with my tail?"

Gabrielle let the words percolate through her mind, then almost snorted her nutmeats out her nose as she convulsed in laughter. "Oh gods.. Xena.. don't do that when I'm swallowing." She gasped, as the warrior took her arm in a firm hold and smacked her between the shoulderblades, dislodging a bit of the stuff that had gotten caught in her throat. "You know.. ." She composed herself, and studied her soulmate, who was watching her warily. "You'd look so good with a tail."

Xena stopped walking, and got bumped in the butt by Iolaus, who didn't see her stop. "Wh.. yow… Iolaus, cut that out."  She put a hand on her hip. "What?"

"No no.. you would." Gabrielle took her arm, and lead her forward. "Really.. I mean, think about it…you could use it kind of like whip…" She lashed her hand from side to side. "Or even like monkeys do.. you could hang upside down by it… swinging from tree to tree…"

"Gabrielle…"

"It would be nice and furry.. dark, of course… " She went on, fully engaged in her imagination. "Or maybe with stripes… yeah.. rings…"

Xena watched her face, seeing a faint disassociation that rang a sweet, familiar bell. "What would I do with it?" She asked. "Wouldn't it get cut off pretty quick?"

"No way… " Gabrielle shook her head. "No…I think you'd… " Her head tilted to one side. "Hey..yeah.. that's it…you could use it to grab wrists… hold them… or I bet you could figure out how to…" Her eyes flickered with interest. "Just think, Xena…there could be stories about how you used your tail to unlock doors.. or let it dangle down to rescue a baby stuck in a hole or…"

"Those would make pretty good stories." The warrior agreed. "Almost makes me wish I had one."

"Yeah… " Gabrielle nodded, absorbed in her thoughts. "I'd start off with two feuding families… both of them don’t' like each other because they have just.. little differences..let me see… okay, one has dark hair, and one has light hair… they think that's what's important, not the inside, but the outside… and then one of the light haired people's child falls down a well… they can't help them, and they' won't ask the dark haired people for help… " She started ticking off points. "That's conflict.. and I can see a moral… okay, then we have you show up…"

"Mm." Xena murmured encouragingly. "With my tail."

"Right..right..and you have dark hair, too… but you insist on helping them, and you do… you let your tail down and the child is able to climb up it." The bard went on.

"I hope it's a strong tail." The warrior commented mildly.

"It's your tail.. how could it be anything but?" Gabrielle smiled. "So then, you show the light haired people that it's what's inside a person that counts… not what they look like." She glanced up. "What do you think?"

"I think it's a great story." Xena smiled at her. "As long as you put you in it… and I get to kiss you at least once."

"Tch… Xena." The bard laughed easily. "Yeah.. okay…that just reinforces the story.. because I have light hair…. Hey.. that's not bad.. " She turned and dug in a saddlebag, pulling out a folded parchment and her quill case. "What should I call it?"

"How about…. 'A Warrior's Tail." Xena supplied, holding her partner's horse's reins while she scribbled furiously, stopping suddenly as the words penetrated.

"Oh. Xena… that's perfect." She gave her soulmate a big, wholehearted grin. "Let me just get the details down so I can….."

Her words stopped, as her steps slowed, and she came to a halt, staring at her quill and parchment for a long, wondering moment before she lifted her head, and regarded a quiet, smiling Xena, who had halted next to her. "Wow."

"What's wrong?" The warrior asked, knowing perfectly well what was putting the stunned look on her partner's face. "Did you forget how to write?"

"No…. "  Gabrielle savored the moment, listening to the crickets that surrounded them in chorus. "I remembered how to dream."  Slowly, she let her hands drop to her sides, as she turned in a circle, drinking in the world with newly reopened eyes. "Gods.. I'd forgotten how wonderful that felt."  She came full circle and let her gaze fall on the tall, dark haired woman at her side. The sun formed a golden halo behind the warrior's head, throwing her face in a half shadow, only her sparkling eyes, and the flash of her grinning teeth standing out. "A Warrior's Tail, huh?"

Xena's smile broadened. "I bet if I did have a tail… it'd spend most of it's time wrapped right around a certain fair haired bard I know." She settled her arm around Gabrielle's shoulders instead, and touched her head to her partner's. "Doncha think?"

Gabrielle exhaled happily, and allowed herself to be gently guided back down the road, scribbling as she walked, and trusting Xena to make sure she didn't trip. A tail. Hmm..  If she really concentrated, she could almost feel it's pressure,  wrapped around her waist.

Yeah.

**************************************************

They heard the fight long before they saw it. Xena's hearing caught the faint sound of angry yells, and she turned her head, to catch the breeze, almost visibly cupping the air with her sensitive ears. "Hmm."

"What's up?" Gabrielle finished taking a drink from one of their water bags.

The warrior shook her head. "Trouble up ahead." She vaulted aboard Iolaus, who shifted a little, but was quickly taken back under control by Xena's experienced touch. "I guess we'd…" She stopped, forcing herself not to hold out a hand to Gabrielle to pull the smaller woman aboard. "Um… "

Gabrielle patted Hercules' neck. "I know…it's busybody time." She efficiently mounted the stallion, gathering her reins up and nodded. "Okay.. .let's go."

They cantered down the road, cresting the long, banked turn to see a group of mounted men scuffling with what looked like either travelers or traders, two wagons packed with bundles and boxes, pulled by bleating oxen.

Xena urged her horse into a gallop, and felt the wind pick her hair up and blow it back, aware of Gabrielle's presence not far behind her. A faint, familiar tickle of excitement traveled up her spine, and before she could stop herself, a smile followed, baring her teeth as a soft chuckle forced its way through them.

It took the raiders a moment to realize they weren't alone, and the closest to them, a tall, rangy man with a  beard turned towards them and pointed. Two more looked up, then dismissed them, concentrating on dragging the two older men down from the wagon.

Xena dropped her boots out of her stirrups and clamped a good hold down on Iolaus' sides, letting one hand go free to unstrap her long whip from her saddle ring. As she got closer, the tall man waved her off, yelling something unintelligible. He turned and thrust a hand back into the wagon, pulling out a shovel and hefting it.

The warrior didn't hesitate. She uncoiled the whip and sent it snaking out, wrapping it's end about the man's arm and jerking back hard. He stumbled forward, then swept the shovel sideways, towards the hard charging stallion.

"Oh.. you wanna play rough?" Xena released the reins and leaped from the saddle, letting her momentum take her crashing into taller man, and relying on sheer weight to take them both away from the still running horse. They rolled up against the wagon and she bounced off the wheel, getting to her feet and ducking his clumsy blow. Her smile widened.

Gabrielle pulled Hercules up to a halt and flung herself off the tall back, untying her staff as she did so and letting it fall into her hands. Two women and several children were dodging behind the wagon, and she got between them and the raiders. "Get back!"  She yelled, ducking a piece of flying wood. One of the raiders came at her, and she felt her body respond in pure instinct, her booted feet sliding wider for balance, and her shoulders shifting as she swiveled to meet his attack, slapping aside his club and swinging her staff around to catch him at the knees, dumping him to the ground. "If you're smart, you'll stay there." She advised him, a little unsettled at the eager thrill of excitement brought on by the fight. By old habit, her eyes flicked over his scrambling body to find her soulmate, and she winced as the warrior nailed one of her five opponents with a savage elbow to the jaw. "Ow."

Xena grinned, as two men rushed her, crouching and sending herself skyward and slamming a boot into each man's chest, the impact flipping her backwards and knocking them both down. She rotated in mid air then landed, ducking under a wild blow from the third man's pike then catching it and twisting hard, flipping him over onto his side.

Damn, it felt good. Xena felt a little guilty, but not enough to ignore the wild pump of blood moving through her, from her toes to the tips of her fingers, and the surge of almost shameful joy that came with it. She grabbed the now recovered kick victims and slammed them together, then ducked under their flailing arms and dove for a hand stand, kicking back and sending them flying forward. Then she rolled forward and got to her feet, facing her last opponent.

Uh oh. Cold eyes, and cold steel faced her, a double handed broadsword that made her teeth itch just to look at. She sucked in a breath and settled her shoulders, spreading her arms out a little as he circled warily towards her.  Her palms twitched, and she just barely kept herself from closing her hands on a phantom hilt, half of her regretting it's absence, and half of her knowing that after a year, it would probably be worse than useless.

A pang of regret hit her in the gut, as she circled with her opponent, her eyes taking in his stance, and the steadiness of his eyes, and knowing she was possibly in trouble. A sharp crack caught her attention's fringes, and she saw another man go down,  two others being held at bay by her soulmate.

The fourth, however, was aiming a crossbow at her.

He raised it, and Xena felt a cold hand of fear grab her, as she realized she had no confidence at all that she could even make an attempt at deflecting the bolt, much less catch it.

Damn. She dove for the ground as he fired, glad beyond measure that at least no one had been behind her. The bolt tore over her shoulder, ripping away a bit of dark hair, but she rolled with the impact and came up onto her feet, only to see the bowman collapse under a wicked reverse sweep from Gabrielle.

It made her angry. Here she was, facing a pack of mangy rats who couldn’t have even tied her bootlaces a year ago, and her partner was protecting her. She turned her attention to the swordsman, who was now circling closer, the sun reflecting off the long blade.

The rage built, and she let it, slipping forward and dodging his slicing blow, and ducking inside his guard. He slammed back the other direction, and caught her in the side, then shoved her back, and stabbed upwards, missing her only because she dropped to a knee, twisting as she went and letting the blade slip past her ribcage inches from her heart.

She caught his arm, then simply shoved off against the ground, crashing into him and sending them both sprawling. His sword caught under the wagon wheel, and she pounced on him, slamming a fist into his jaw as he tried to sit up.

He tried to grab her hand, but she slugged him again, and again, enjoying the feel of her fist crunching bone, and at last he slumped under her and went still. Footsteps closed, and she glanced up, to see the last of the raiders coming at her, and a rattled looking Gabrielle climbing to her feet. Alarmed she scrambled off the prone man and picked up his dropped sword without thinking, swinging it to meet the oncoming pike and shearing the tip off with an awkward stroke.

The man stumbled forward, and she nailed him in the side of the head with a kick, slamming him against the wagon and knocking him out.

Then, for a few breaths, it was quiet. She unclenched her hand and let the heavy sword fall to the dirt, as Gabrielle came up beside her. "You all right?"  She turned and studied her soulmate anxiously, lifting a hand to brush bits of straw from her shoulder

"Fine." The bard exhaled, glancing around. "Just lost my footing for a minute.. it's muddy there." The wagon had been overturned, and the travelers were hiding behind it, the older man's head now peering up and over at them timidly. "It's okay." She reassured them, then glanced at her soulmate. "Are you okay?" She asked, in a low voice.

"Yeah." Xena tasted the word unpleasantly. "I’m fine." She kicked one of the groaning men. "You've got sixty seconds to get your stinking self out of here."

Two of them picked up her tall opponent, and started dragging him off. The remaining two glared at her. "Lady, you don’t' know what you just started." One spat, wiping a trail of blood off face. "We'll be back." He grabbed his mate, who had a hand cradling what looked like a broken jaw and stalked off.

Gabrielle sighed, as she leaned against her staff. "Okay.. you can come out now." She called, giving the small group of people who emerged hesitantly a smile. "It's safe." The bard added, giving her partner a little pat on the back. "Right?"

Xena nodded, her guts still in turmoil. She watched as the family timidly came out, the older man bleeding a little from a cut on his shoulder, and the younger man limping, his ragged trousers torn and stained crimson. "Everyone all right?"

The man nodded shakily. "Thanks to you two… " He answered. "That was a very brave thing you did… we're very grateful."

"Glad we could help." Gabrielle smiled at him, then she glanced behind him to the women and grubby children watching them with wide eyes. "Hi there…" Her eyes twinkled a bit. "My name is Gabrielle… " She held a hand out. "Has there been a lot of trouble like that on the roads?"

The man took it, and gripped it gingerly. "Nice to meet you.. and…er .. " He glanced up at the silent warrior. "My name is Reynald… "

Xena held a hand out. "Xena." She supplied quietly.

She was used to reactions to her name. Most often they were not good ones, though lately that had modified to at least a grudging acceptance. Occasionally, perhaps with someone who had heard of her recent good deeds, or been in a village she'd helped.. the reaction was more positive.

Round eyed, slack jawed, awestruck wonder was not a reaction in her mental catalog. She only just barely kept herself from patting her head, to see if she'd grown a pair of horns.

Or patting somewhere else to see if she'd grown a tail. Instead, she drew her hand back and let it rest on her hip, as she regarded the man warily. "You get hit in the head or something?"

The younger man sidled up and blinked at her. "Great Hera…I can't believe it… you are real."

Xena darted an alarmed glance at her soulmate, who studiously avoided her eyes, as she scratched her jaw and fiddled with a bit of the wrapping on her staff. "Of course I am… what kind of nutball remark is that?" She asked testily.

The woman and two children peeked from around the wagon, edging closer and watching her in fascination, and the smaller of the two youngsters worked his hand free and came trotting over, standing at Xena's knees and staring up at her in awe. "Wow, mama….it's like the stories say…ain't it?" He turned and peered back at his mother.

Gabrielle sensed that her soulmate was close to the boiling point, and she mercifully broke in, giving the boy a pleasant smile. "What stories are those? We've been off the road for a while… I don't think we've heard them."

Reynald cleared his throat. "Never thought I'd…. " He stopped. "We was running out of the highlands.. it's been bad there, very bad… raiders like this lot roaming at will.. we thought we'd gotten clear of them, but they spotted us as we come down out from the pass there." He pointed.

Xena nodded. "You've seen this bunch before, then?"

"This bunch.. or ones so like em it's no mind." The man shook his head. "We came through Brecias a week past… a whole pile of them there. They'd finally caught up with that storyteller.. what's been telling everyone about you… um… " He peeked up at the warrior's intimidating blue eyes. "He got away, though."

"Storyteller?" Gabrielle's ears visibly pricked. "Who is he?"

"Dunno." The younger man winced, as he examined a long scrape down his side. "Bit of a thing, he is.. but he sure could tell a tale… I'd say they were the only thing what's been keeping a bit of spirit up through the whole thing." He paused, awkwardly. "Everyone wanted to believe… there might be someone out there like he told stories about… a lot of us just… "

"Thought they were stories." The bard finished quietly. "Right?"  She was aware of the unsettled feeling in her guts, that she knew was coming through her connection to Xena, and she stepped sideways, letting their shoulders brush in silent comfort. A warm hand settled into the small of her back in response, and she exhaled. Someone else telling stories about her partner? The sudden jolt of possessive jealousy stung, and she swallowed an unpleasant taste in her mouth.

"Well… yeah." The man admitted, in a mutter. "But here ye are." He stared up at Xena. "Ye're real, cept you don't got no weapons nor armor." He paused, as Xena's face went quiet and still. "You sure didn't need none, though." He concluded, with a sheepish grin. "I never saw nobody pick up and smack people together like that before."

Gabrielle saw the stormy look, and she interrupted smoothly. "Listen… where are you headed? Isn't there a town just down the road here.. we've been traveling for a while."

Distracted, the men turned and regarded the sadly upended wagon, and their goods spread out across the road. "We were headed on to Dumae, yeah… I guess we'll just take what we can carry." Reynald sighed. "C'mon, Elly… let's pick the stuff up, before it ruins."

"Xena, can you do anything with the wagon?" Gabrielle gave her sullen soulmate a nudge. "Reynald, if you're headed that way, maybe we can travel with you… how about it?"

They turned in surprise. "Oh… we couldn’t ask ye to.. " Reynald started back as Xena brushed by him, kneeling to examine the wagon in silence. "Er…I'm sure we kin… "

The warrior ran a practiced eye over the wood, using the time to settle her composure. Right now, she knew, she didn't have time to think about what might have happened, or bemoan a decision she herself had made a year past. There would be time later for that, and time to figure out what to do about her sudden, startling notoriety. "All right, listen… this is just bent… if we can get the wagon back up, it should last until we get to town." She told them, resting a forearm on her knee, then sucking in a breath as she put pressure on ribs sore from the blow she'd gotten, which would have normally been partially deflected by her leather armor.

Idiot. She mentally cursed herself.

"Well… " The man cautiously edged over, and peered at the axle. "Sure.. but.. how can we… oh, you can just pick it up right?"

Pale blue eyes fastened on him. "No." Xena answered crisply, as she stood and pulled a coil of rope from the tumbled supplies. "I let my horse do the heavy work."

She fastened the rope to Hercules' saddle rings, then backed the fidgety stallion up, urging him with a soft voice as he pressed his weight against the straining rope, his nostrils flaring in protest. "C'mon, Herc… " She muttered into a flattened ear. "If those cattle can pull it, you can just roll it upright."

The stallion snorted, then bucked a little, but managed to right the wagon, to the cheers of the watching family. They helped pick up the supplies, and get everyone settled, then they all started off down the road, with Xena riding a little apart, and Gabrielle walking alongside the wagon, with the younger man, and the woman. The children rode in the wagon, and Reynald drove the oxen, who stirred the dusty ground with their slow, even steps.

****************************************************

The town was sad looking, Gabrielle decided. It was ragged, and beaten… even the wood of the building walls looked dog eared. The people watched them come in with furtive, wary eyes, which lingered on the wagon, then on her partner's angular, distinctive face as Xena studied the surroundings with a cool gaze.

The village was set in a rough square, with a small, decrepit looking inn on one side, and a half collapsed stable on the other. The huts that made up the rest of the place had patches in their walls, and one was merely a burnt out shell, with a scent of scorched straw still lingering over it.

The bard fingered her staff, and watched as an older man came towards them, a worn leather apron tied around his waist, and his gnarled hands picking at the knot nervously. "Hello." She kept her voice low, and pleasant.

The man gave her a nod, after glancing at the rest of the party, and letting his eyes skitter over Xena's icy visage. "Afternoon… you folks coming from the north?"

"Well… yes and no." Gabrielle answered, after no one else did, apparently content to leave her as a spokesperson. "These people here were… they were attacked on the road." She leaned on her staff. "My partner and I were coming up from the south." She held out a hand. "My name is Gabrielle."

The man clasped her hand in reflex, then he nodded. "I'm Estefas… m'wife runs the inn, what's left of it there. You're welcome to what little hospitality we have. They haven't left us  much."

Reynald climbed down, and dusted his hands off, then extended one. "Greetings, sir… my family and I left the highlands….we were hoping to find more peace down here, but it seems you've seen the same treatment as we have."

"Aye." Estefas agreed, with a sigh. "Been a half dozen raids in the last month… don’t know what they expect us to have left by now… last time they just burned the old widow's hut, and didn't take a thing." He nodded at the women, and gave the children a tired smile. "Ye're lucky you got past them."

"Well.. we didn't." Elly could barely keep a grin off his face. "They found us on t'road.. but they didn't get to t'finish us up… we had Xena here come t'rescue us." Now he did beam, and turn his eyes towards the warrior, who had dismounted and was fiddling with Hercules' bridle. "They saved us."

"I'm going to go take care of these two." Xena broke through the rising buzz of excited comment, her eyes meeting Gabrielle's. " You want to get us a room?" She took the bard's brief nod as an answer, and captured Iolaus' reins, leading the two stallions away from the gathering crowd towards the sad looking barn.

"She.. um.. " Gabrielle found herself the center of very interested attention. "Doesn’t like a fuss.. you know."

"That's really Xena?" The elder asked in wonder. "Are you Gabrielle the Bard, then?"

It felt…  Gabrielle pursed her lips and exhaled. "Yes.. that's me." She murmured, letting the title settle over her like an unexpectedly warm cape. She'd been so busy being other things, like a mother, and a reeve, and an Amazon Queen in residence, that it felt strange, but good to resume an identity that had captured so much of her spirit.

"The gods preserve us… I can hardly believe it." Estefas shook his head. "You are welcome, aye, more than welcome here… for all the stories we've heard, I never did think to see you with my own eyes." He cleared his throat. "All right… back up a little there.. let the lady breathe.. " He wiped his hands on his apron. "M'daugther here will show you over to the inn…we've not got much, but you're welcome to all we can muster."  A murmur of enthusiastic agreement rose around him, and Gabrielle could hear her name being whispered across the crowd's noise.

"Thanks… um.. " First, however, there was a very upset, and very unsettled warrior to attend to. "We've been traveling for a week.. let me go get things arranged, then maybe we can all sit down and talk.. I'd like to hear about what's been going on."

"Gabrielle… " A middle aged woman put a hand on her arm. "If it's… I mean, later… could you.. um… maybe tell us… one of your stories?"

Definite surge of excitement. "Ah… sure… " The bard was taken aback by the reaction, but felt flattered nevertheless. "Sure… I'd be glad to… maybe after dinner?"

"That would be great.. we've heard so much about you from Devon, it'll be grand to hear it from the source, so to speak." Estefas clapped his hands. "G'wan with ye… let the lady be… meet back at t'inn tonight, and we'll have a treat."

Gabrielle found herself being led gently towards the inn by a tall, auburn haired girl, not much younger than she was. After a moment, she looked up at her. "Who's Devon?"

The girl smiled. "He's… well, most people say he's a troublemaker, but what he does is tell stories… he was just here last week.. he's going to be so wild when he finds out you were here, and he didn't see you."

The bard nodded. "What kind of stories?"  She asked. "And what's your name?"

"Anabela" The girl replied promptly. "What kind of stories? Well… all kinds of tales about Xena, for one thing… amazing things we knew weren't true.... about giants, and centaurs, and defeating armies… fantastic."

"Ah." Gabrielle replied. "Well, we've met giants, and centaurs, and armies, so… " She pulled open the ragged door and entered, wincing at the smell of old, stale bread and musty wood. "Where is this… Devon?"

Anabela eased past her. "Mama!" She called, then smiled. "He's out and about.. always keeping out of the hands of the raiders.. he was here two weeks ago."

An older woman limped into the room, peering at Gabrielle through the dim light. "Hello."

"Hello.. " Gabrielle put her curiosity aside for the moment. "We'd like a room for the night… my partner and I."

"Mama, this is Gabrielle the bard." Anabela broke in, excitedly. "And she's here with Xena!"

Old, tired eyes regarded her. "Gwan with you." She told the girl. "Take your stories outside, and let me tend to business." She shooed Anabela out, then turned back to Gabrielle. "Now… a room is it?"

The bard smiled. "Yes…we've been sleeping rough the last week."

The wrinkled face moved and shifted, as the old woman chewed that over. "Only gots one room, only gots one bed." She finally stated gruffly. "Two dinars, and gets ye dinner, w'bread and ale for breakfast."

Ordinarily, the bard would have dickered furiously at that.. given the state of the inn, and what she smelled of the food, but she could see the pall of hopeless exhaustion in the older woman's eyes, and she merely smiled. "That sounds fine." She removed her pouch from her belt and handed over the two coins. "Here… and.. " She counted out a third. "If we can get use of a tub…and some towels."

The innkeeper stared at the coins, then flipped them over, studying the distinctive stamp on one side. "Amphipolis." She looked up at Gabrielle. "Ye're from there, then?"

The bard nodded. "Yes….we both are."

"They be saying it's safe there… what's  your business in going to these wastelands?" The woman asked, curiously. "Tis dangerous times, lassie."

Gabrielle smiled. "I know….thanks for the warning." She gave the woman a nod. "I've got to go get our stuff settled….be back in a while." The intense gnawing in her guts was getting to much for her to ignore, and she slipped out of the inn, heading for the stable with purposeful strides. Damn, Xena.. what are you doing to yourself in there? She wondered. The warrior had been very quiet.. too quiet, she realized, after the short fight, and had been very withdrawn on the ride in to the village.

Maybe she was hurt, Gabrielle mused, recalling her partner's obstinate tendency to 'forget' to mention things like that. But no.. the bard didn't remember seeing anything dangerous, in fact, for someone who hadn't had practically any battle experience in a few months, Xena had seemed fairly sharp, easily overcoming most of her opponents, and bouncing around like a child's ball with her trademark grin.

Or, Gabrielle mused, that's how I saw it. Wonder how she did?

********************************************

The barn was almost as decrepit on the inside as on the outside. Xena nudged the door aside with her boot, and peered around, assessing the structure's relative safety before she proceeded.

One side of the barn had partially collapsed, but the other side seemed fairly secure, and a small cart horse was in one of the stalls, his head half turned to watch the intruders.

"C'mon, boys." Xena eased through the door, and led the stallions inside, their golden ears flicking back and forth with evident interest.  She commandeered two large stalls and housed the horses, then set about removing their saddlebags which she set into a relatively clean corner.

The well known, repetitious task did a little to calm her nerves, and she got out her grooming brushes, slowly running them down Iolaus' sides as she let her body relax.

Only to be reminded of the fight by a sharp twinge down her right side, that brought her up short, and made her lean against the horse for a long, aching moment. "Oh, damn you Xena.." She whispered, furious at herself. "What in Hades did you think you were doing coming out here? Were you gonna put a damned halter on the bad guys when you met up with them?"

Iolaus nickered, arching his head around and nudging her, much like his mother loved to do. The warrior scratched his ears and sighed, then switched hands and started brushing him down with her left hand, smoothing the gleaming golden hairs with a practiced touch.

She'd gotten mostly through with him, her mood worsening with every jolt to her bruised ribs, and was checking his feet when she heard footsteps coming closer. Very familiar ones, and for once, she was almost sorry to hear them, knowing her soulmate would gently nudge and poke her until she got out what was bothering her and that…

Xena stood, resting her hands on Iolaus' back as the door opened, and Gabrielle looked inside, spotting her and moving all the way in, closing the door behind her.

"Hey." The bard crossed the hay strewn floor and entered the stall, perching on the wooden water trough nailed to one side. "Got us a room, and a bathtub."

Uh oh.  "Great." The warrior muttered. "Thanks." She gave Iolaus a pat, then gathered her tools, giving the low wall that separated the stalls a look, then going out the gate and walking around it. "Any trouble?"

Gabrielle regarded the floor, then looked up at her, watching the warrior's movements around Hercules's restive body. "With the room? No… I found out the name of the person who's been telling stories about you.. .and I.. um… " The soft sound of the brush against horsehair sounded loud as she paused. "Some of them sound familiar."

Pale blue eyes glanced at her over Hercules's back. "Familiar?"

"Mm." Gabrielle nodded. "But that was a pretty amazing reception, huh? I know you really didn't expect that, Xena, but.. "

"No." The warrior responded quietly. "And I’m certainly not the person in those stories anymore." The words came out before she could think, and she bit off a curse as she saw the look on Gabrielle's face.

"Xena…" The bard slipped off her perch and came into the other stall, circling the stallion and closing with her, brining a familiar touch that warmed her back as the smaller woman rubbed it.

"Don't 'Xena' me, Gabrielle… it's true and we both know it." The warrior stared at a small, swirling pattern of hairs between Hercules' shoulders.  "It was my choice.. I know that.. but here we are, and I.." She stopped, and just shook her head.

The bard regarded her. "And you what?" She asked, softly. "Xena, what's wrong?  C'mon.. level with me here... I know it's upsetting to see all this destruction, but… I mean, at least that family is safe."

The warrior looked at her hands, for a long moment, then shrugged. "Yeah, you're right." No sense in dragging Gabrielle through my nightmares. "Listen.. you want to help me with this?"  She turned her head, just in time to see the quiet hurt, quickly masked as Gabrielle ducked her head and nodded.

"Sure." The bard picked up a brush, and started running it gently through the thick, black mane. "You .. might want to leave our bags out… dinner was included, but the way that place smelled.. it might be safer to eat in here." She remarked, with forced casualness. "I'd rather give it a miss.. but I sort of promised to give them a story or two…that's gonna be weird."

Xena had her head down, as she worked the brush over the horse's upper legs. "Weird?" She asked, more to keep the conversation going than anything.

"Yeah… it's been a long time since I had to do that in front of people.. that I didn't know, I mean.. I hope I didn’t forget how." The bard responded. "That would be pretty embarrassing.. they've got some pretty heavy expectations… I’m a little nervous."

Xena peered at her over the tall back for a moment. "Yeah." She answered softly, then cleared her throat. "Listen.. you'll do fine… you don't forget that stuff, not as good as you are at it." She reassured her partner.

Gabrielle moved around so that she was standing next to her soulmate, and briefly leaned her head against the tall shoulder. "Thanks… I know I can always count on you for support." She told the warrior. "I know I can always put my stupid insecurities out there, and you make me feel better about them."

Xena straightened and put her brushes aside, turning her full attention to her soulmate. "They're not stupid, Gabrielle… they're perfectly natural…I'm glad I could help."

The bard took in a breath, then looked up, right into Xena's eyes. "I wish you'd let me do that for you."

It was liking getting gut kicked by a centaur. The warrior backed off, putting a hand out on Hercules' neck to steady herself, as she caught her breath. "I don't… "

Gabrielle gave her no mercy. She laid her palm against her partner's chest and pinned her with relentless eyes. "You think I don't know how you feel? Xena, my guts are in knots that have knots who have cousins that are knots from you." She pushed the warrior back gently. "I’m asking you to level with me." A pause. "Please."

For a long stretch of time, they just looked at each other, two strong wills facing off in the dim light. Then Xena exhaled, and let her head drop in concession, holding out a hand and motioning towards a thick pile of hay in the far corner. "Siddown."

Thank you. Gabrielle breathed a sigh of relief, as she settled down in the straw, watching Xena pick up a  piece and start to shred it. The warrior seemed perplexed as to how to go forward, however, and Gabrielle realized she was going to have to do a little more work. "Are you upset about what's going on?" She ventured softly. "Or about those stories… I mean, I know it must be weird for you, honey but.. "

"No.. it's not that." Xena shook her head, then considered. "Well, maybe part of it is… I'm just… Gabrielle, those stories…I don’t think I can… no, I know I can't live up to them."  She got the last words out as though they were physically painful. "I didn’t' realize how… how much I'd hate that until I came right up against it today."

"Mm." The bard rested a hand on Xena's knee, stroking it a little. "I didn't think it was that bad… if you mean the fight, that is.. I mean sure… it's been a while, and I slipped like a lunk head and fell on my butt, but… " She gave Xena an honest look. "You didn't seem to be having much of a problem."

The warrior let out a soft snort. "That last one almost had me." She admitted wearily. "And if you hadn't clobbered the other one… I don’t know, Gabrielle.. I just.. "

Ah. Gabrielle reviewed her options, then squared her shoulders, as she chose the least pleasant of them. "Hey.. you know what I think?"

Xena looked up, blue eyes questioning. "What?"

"I think…that you.. took a lot of pride in the skills you had." Gabrielle kept her voice gentle, seeing the barely visible flinch at her words. "You were very accustomed to being the best there was, Xena… and now you have to face the fact that your decision to stop doing that make that no longer the case. . and that hurts."

"I don't regret that decision." The warrior enunciated the words precisely, in a low voice.

"I know… neither do I." Her soulmate responded. "But I also know how much a part of you those abilities were." She paused. "And how proud you were of them."

The warrior's face didn't change expression, but Gabrielle could feel the reaction through their link, and she swallowed. I hope she meant what she said before, that she wanted to hear what I had to say.. even if it hurt.  Tentatively, she gave the leg under her hand a squeeze, and got no reaction. Her heart sank a little. "Went too far, huh? Xe, I'm sorry.. I didn't…."

"No."  The warrior finally said, blinking slowly. "You're absolutely right, Gabrielle…it's my pride… my damn ego just got kicked in the teeth, and it's killing me." She admitted softly, with a tired sigh. "Pathetic, huh?"

"Don't be goofy." The bard relaxed a tiny bit. "Of course it's not…and you're not going to tell me that you'd have given the last year up to retain those skills, are you?"

Xena's expression softened. "No…you know that." She shifted a little, then glanced up at the bard. "But what if it had been worse? What if something had happened to you… then what? "

"There's always that risk… we've both accepted that." The bard replied. "And Xena, I don’t think for a minute you couldn’t do a damn good job of defending both of us." She took the warrior's hand. "I mean.. c'mon… after fifteen years of fighting? What's one year, Xena? If I couldn’t forget how to spin a tale in that time, and I've only been doing it for a few, what does that say for you?"

"I don't know." Her partner answered. "And I’m afraid to find out." She gave Gabrielle an honest look. "I can't face taking that sword out and making a fool of myself."

My turn. "You won't." The bard smiled at her. "It's what you do in your dreams, Xena… your body hasn't forgotten, even though you think you have." She squeezed the leg again, and this time the warrior shifted, and covered her hand with one of her own. "You can prove that to yourself.. just try it."

A long breath. "Maybe… after we leave…..I'll see."  Xena answered grudgingly, but she looked a little happier. "Thanks… I think I needed a good kick in the butt."

Gabrielle rolled over, putting her head in the warrior's lap and gazing up at her peacefully. "That's what friends are for." She hesitated, then went on. "Xena.. I know you made a tough decision.. and I honor you for that.. but I've never believed your abilities were evil.. especially if you use them for good, and to help people like this, who can't defend themselves."

"You believe that?" Xena felt a sad smile cross her face, having her own doubts.

Mist green eyes regarded her. "Yes, I do." Gabrielle brushed a bit of straw out of the dark hair. "I believe in you with all my heart, Xena… and I don’t even care if you can so much as lift a sword or not."  She traced a cheekbone. "I love you.. all of you… all that you are."

Slowly, a tiny twinkle appeared in the pale eyes above her. "You do huh? "

"I do." Gabrielle solemnly assented.

"Even the parts that tickle you?" Xena asked, demonstrating by slipping a hand under the bard's shirt and running her fingers over Gabrielle's ribs.

"Yeeooow!" The bard squirmed, trying to roll out of range. "You.. you… " The tickle turned into a warm hug, and she let the words trickle out to nothing, as she was pulled into a very nice place. "Mmmm."

Xena could feel the bones creak under her arms and she squeezed, and rocked her partner a bit. "Thanks… I don't know what I'd do without you, my bard."

Gabrielle blinked slowly against the soft fabric of the warrior's shirt. "Don't worry…you'll never have to find out."  She replied, as she played with a lace, hearing the skipped heartbeat with a faint smile.

They rested in each other's company for a quarter candlemark, then Xena sighed. "Lot of stuff needs to be done around this place…. Maybe we could give them a hand."

"Great idea." Gabrielle agreed. "Where do we start?"

The roof overhead creaked, then dust collapsed down on them as a hole opened up, admitting a very surprised pair of chickens, who fluttered downward, squawking in outrage.

They both looked up, blinking into the golden sunlight than now bathed their bodies. "Well." Gabrielle ran a hand through her hair, scattering bits of wood over the hay. "Guess that answers that."

************************************************************

Xena sat quietly in the back of the inn, near a large window which let in a cool breeze across the packed space. It was dark in her corner, though the rest of the room was lit by torches and the big fireplace, whose flames snapped in the draft and sent spirals of smoke rising towards the soot stained roof.

A wave of laughter made her smile, as she watched a matching smile spread across Gabrielle's face, the bard perching on the one empty table near the front of the room and the very center of attention.

The warrior raised a mug of ale to her lips and took a swallow, stretching out muscles a little stiff from the hard work they'd done the rest of the day, trying to bring some level of comfort back to the beaten village. They'd repaired the barn, helped fix doors, and furniture, and wagons throughout the town, and Xena had spent a few hours with her healer's kit patching up minor wounds and some long festering ailments.

As Gabrielle spoke, the warrior could feel eyes flicking to her from time to time, but they no longer held the wide eyed awe of the morning. Instead, there was a mixture of respect, and friendliness, along with sincere gratitude that touched Xena in a deep place, bringing back warm memories of towns in their not so recent past that had also been given a helping hand.

She'd forgotten how much she'd secretly come to like that feeling. In Amphipolis, they were pretty much taken for granted… Gabrielle's opinion was taken as a matter of course, and it wasn't unusual for any of the residents at home to come find Xena if a wagon had to be moved, or if someone had decided to make trouble in the bar.

This… felt nice. And as she watched her partner's face light up at the enthusiastic response to her story, she realized it must feel pretty nice to Gabrielle, too. She gave her soulmate a wink, and lifted her glass, and received a sincere grin in return as the bard gave in to another round of coaxing for just one more story.

"Excuse me." A quiet, timid voice interrupted her musing, and the warrior turned, to see the young woman from the wagon standing there, her hands resting on the shoulders of the younger child. "I hate to bother you, Xena, but.. "

The warrior propped a boot up on a table run and clasped her hands around it. "No bother… what can I do for you?" She grinned at the boy, who was clutching a ragged, totally nondescript stuffed toy to his chest, and felt a pang of regret as she missed Dori's cute presence.

The woman edged closer, encouraged. "Well, I know it's silly but the boy here.. " She indicated the child. "He's been pestering me all the day long.. he's set on about how you saved his little bit of a thing from the road scum, and he just wanted to be saying thank you."

Xena set her boot down and leaned forward, with her elbows on her knees, consciously gentling her intense personality down a little. "Hey. C'mere." She captured the boy's eyes, and drew him towards her with a lazy smile.

His face rapt, he toddled forward, clutching the toy and gazing up at her. "Fank you… you save Bobo."

Xena cocked her head at him. "Is that Bobo?" She laid a long finger against the stuffed toy, watching him nod vigorously. "If you promise not to tell anyone.. I'll tell you I had a toy a lot like him when I was little."

The boy's hazel eyes widened as he stared at her, very obviously not being able to associated little, and the warrior in the same sentence. "Nu uh."

"Yep." Xena assured him seriously. "Named Flameball." She unclasped her hands, and spread them a little. "C'mere…" She picked the boy up as he edged closer, and hugged him, then set him back down and heard a surprised giggle. "You hang on to that Bobo, okay?"

The child nodded, clutching the toy to him. "Mine."

"Poor thing." The woman sighed, ruffling his short, fair hair. "It's all he's got…he lost his family and everything else in the raid."

Xena looked up at her. "He has no parents?"

The woman shook her head, and pushed her chestnut hair back. "No.. we took him in… twas the only thing we could do, really… couldn’t leave the child to starve in the streets, though we didn't have hardly any better. He's a good lad."  She gave Xena a tiny smile. "Do… do you have children? You're so good with them."

Xena lifted her eyes from the tiny orphan, and exhaled. "What? Oh… yes… I um.. I have a daughter."  She imagined Dori in the circumstances her little friend was in and her heart clenched. "She's not quite a year old."

The woman nodded. "She's a lucky girl, then… to have someone like you for a mother, who can protect her from these bastards."  She stroked the boy's head. "C'mon, Lese.. it's time to go sleep."

The child poked his lower lip out unhappily. "Don wanna." He hugged the toy. "Bad."

"He has nightmares." The woman explained to the watching warrior. "I guess he will for a while."

Xena felt like something was going to explode inside her. It was a mixture of anger, grief, and regret tha threatened to run roughshod over her usual cool composure, and she had to swallow a few times before she could speak. "You listen." She leaned forward and tapped the boy on the nose gently. "Think about good things before you fall asleep, okay? That'll help keep the bad stuff out."

He looked at her doubtfully.

"I promise." Xena added, softly. "Okay?"

A tiny, thoughtful scowl took over the child's face, then he finally nodded. "Otay."

She ruffled his hair, then watched as the woman led him away by the hand, not without a few looks back in her direction. As the darkness closed in around her, she leaned back in her seat and let her hands fall to her thighs, her thoughts in turmoil.

Little boys shouldn't have to grow up without their parents. It echoed through her mind, calling up the image of another little boy who had. Not if someone can stop the bad guys.

Question is, can I still be that someone? Tanned nostrils flared, and Xena's jaw set, as she picked up her mug, slowly sipping it as her eyes flicked across the room.

*************************************************

"If this room were any smaller, I'd have picked the barn." Gabrielle joked faintly, as she traded her clothing for a shift, and tucked her things away in the saddlebag Xena had lugged from the stable. Between the full day's hard labor, and a night's storytelling, her body was protesting loudly, though, and she was glad she was going to allow it a night's rest on some semblance of a bed. "Ugh."

Xena came up behind her, already dressed for sleep, and wrapped long arms around her shoulders. "Tired?"

Gabrielle allowed herself to relax against the comforting presence behind her. "Mm… yeah." She admitted. "But it's the nice kind of tired, you know?" She tilted her head up. "It felt good to help these people."

Xena nodded, her chin brushing the bard's head. "They've had a rough time." She agreed, rubbing her partner's shoulders, then starting a light massage. "Those are pretty tight."

The bard let out a tiny sound of pleasure and closed her eyes. "Tell me about it… " She gave Xena's leg a swat. "I haven't been keeping in shape like you have.. .and boy, am I feeling it tonight." She sighed. "I think my aches have aches at this point."

The warrior chuckled a little, then gave her a gentle shove towards the bed. "Lay down."

Gabrielle did so willingly, ignoring the dusty smell of the linens as she felt Xena's weight bear down the mattress to either side of her, and the warrior's hands started a slow, powerful kneading down her body. The tension and soreness eased out of her and she felt a wave of sleepiness wash across her senses. "Oh… you are so good." She murmured, hearing the laugh from a point over her head.  "Thank you…."

"Those were great stories, by the way." Xena remarked, working out a particularly tight kink in her soulmate's shoulder. "I think you were a hit."

Gabrielle smiled, her eyes half closed. "Yeah… that felt really good.. my throat's killing me, but it was worth it." She reflected a moment. "That food was pretty awful though, wasn't it?"

"Didn't notice." The warrior answered absently. "Ale wasn't bad."

"You didn't notice because you didn’t eat any of it." Gabrielle accused. "I saw you pass those roots off to that little dog under the table."

Xena chuckled. "You got me." She worked the back of the bard's neck, hearing the faint pops as her spine moved back into place. "Besides, I saw you pushing it around.. and I figured if you weren't eating it, that was bad news."

"Oh, gee thanks." The bard rotated one green eyeball and looked at her. "They were all talking about you, you know."

The warrior nodded quietly. "I heard." She moved her hands down Gabrielle's back.

Gabrielle rested her chin n her wrist and traced a pattern on the sheets with her other hand. "Kinda like old times."  She felt the movement stop, then start again, and heard the faint sigh from her soulmate.

"You picked some interesting stories to tell." Xena commented. "I'm not surprised they were talking… considering." She leaned forward. "If I didn't know better.. I might have thought that was on purpose."

Unrepentant mist green eyes peeked back at her as Gabrielle turned her head. "Maybe it was." She replied slowly. "Maybe I saw a need to give these people hope, that the bad guys don’t always win." She was half expecting an angry response, but the warrior merely nodded, and continued her work. Gabrielle let her head drop forward as the strong hands loosened knots in her lower back, and accepted Xena's silence for tacit agreement. "Ungh… that's really sore."

"Uh huh… " The taller woman muttered. "I saw you lifting those boxes the wrong way… not smart, Gabrielle." She paused as the bard flinched, then went on more gently, feeling an angry knot at the base of her spine. It took a few minutes, but she finally felt the muscles relax under her probing fingers , as Gabrielle sighed in utter relief. "Better?"

"Mmhmm… " The bard murmured. "Am I in trouble?" She put a touch of wistfulness in her voice.

"For moving boxes?" The low, vibrant voice tickled the back of her neck. "No."

"Oh." Gabrielle felt the shift as Xena stretched out next to her, and a pair of pale blue eyes appeared, dusky in the candlelight, regarding her with benign affection. "For any other reason?"

Xena propped her head up on one hand and reached over to flick the fair hair out of her partner's eyes with the other. "No." She replied, simply. "C'mere."

Gabrielle crawled into the welcome embrace and snuggled up against her partner's warm body, as Xena closed her arms around her, and she was surrounded by her familiar scent, missing only the hint of leather and brass that had always come from her armor. She relaxed, reveling in the closeness, and admitted to herself that despite the looming problems, she was really enjoying their journey. "Xena?"

The warrior had doused the candle and rewrapped her arms around her partner. "Hm?"

"Where are we going next?"

Xena considered the question thoughtfully. "Village elder told me it gets worse as you get further north…there's a good size town.. a city really, about five days travel from here that he thinks they've taken over as a base." She paused. "Sounds like a good bet if we want to find out what's going on."

Gabrielle put her head against her partner's chest, listening to the steady heartbeat and gentle breathing. "Sounds like a plan." She murmured softly. "What then?"

Xena didn’t' answer for a bit, and the bard had almost let sleep take her before the low voice continued. "I don't know." The warrior burred quietly. "We'll have to wait and see what happens."

"Okay."  Exhaustion overtook her, and she let it, curled into the safe haven of Xena's arms.

******************************

But it was a long time into the night, as the peacefully sleeping bard was watched over by pale, blue eyes that stared off into the gloom, blinking occasionally as the intelligent mind behind them worked at a difficult puzzle.

Finally, a soft sigh broke the silence, and Xena carefully untangled herself from her partner's embrace, tucking the blankets around her and easing out of the bed. The bard was plainly exhausted, and didn't stir, even when the warrior gently brushed a few tendrils of hair off her forehead.

Gabrielle always looked so young when she was sleeping, as her face relaxed into an almost childlike openness, reminding Xena irresistibly of their tiny daughter. Dori had the same habit of tucking a fist under her chin just like her mother, and her face bore the same look of absorbed peace that put a smile on the watching warrior's face.

The bard was a very strong, very self assured woman, but she depended on Xena to provide the physical security that her skills, though formidable, couldn’t. Dori depended on that too, and so would Amphipolis if the threat closed in on them, as right or wrong, all eyes would turn to her, trusting her judgement, and her skills in what was a very harsh, and very dangerous world.

It really just came down to this, she mused. The greater good. No matter what she thought about herself, these people believed she could make a difference, and regardless of how hard it might be, or if it were even possible, she had to try. She owed Gabrielle that, at the very least, and now her decision to put her skills aside seemed hauntingly selfish.

Now, it just remained for her to find out how bad things were. Slowly, she moved across the room and knelt by their saddlebags, pulling on her boots, then untying the flap on her pack and digging inside it until her fingers touched familiar, ribbed fabric. She pulled it out, then unfolded her old, padded workout gear, the smell of home caught in it's creases.

It too more effort than she'd imagined to remove her shirt, and slip into the tunic, buckling the worn, leather straps with slightly shaking fingers.  Then she laid a hand on the wrapped bundle underneath the saddlebag and paused in quiet reflection.

A year. A year of being a person she'd never dared hope to ever be, living a life that had at times seemed so much like a dream she'd expected it to be gone every time she woke up.  A year without killing, without fighting. Without hurting….a chance to be part of her family again, and have a family of her own in a home filled with love, and laughter…

Xena closed her eyes. Forget it, Xena. You knew it was on borrowed time. Just be glad you got that much, it was more than you ever deserved, and you know it. She let the truth of that soak through her, putting aside the fluffy dreams, and accepting the harsh responsibility that she knew in her heart was justly hers.

It stung for a minute, and she spared those few, brief seconds for quiet regret, letting go of a future she believed she had no right to, tasting the bitter knowledge of who and what she was in silent grief.

Then she exhaled, and lifted her head, as with a brief nod, she picked up the bundle and tucked it under her arm, then slipped out the window and padded off into the darkness.

Not seeing the soft, green eyes that watched her go, filled with sad understanding, or the tears that silently tracked down the bard's face, as she curled up near the end of the bed, to wait.

************************************************

It was a very quiet night, Xena reflected, as she eased away from the village, and took a half covered path towards a thick growth of forest nearby.  The air was thick with cold moisture, and she hugged her arms a little, rubbing them for warmth and wistfully thinking of the peaceful nest she'd just abandoned. The moon rode high overhead, it's full face shining down on the landscape, and making the silver and sable shadows very sharp, almost like daggers which scuttled across her body as she walked.  There were soft night sounds present, and the low rustle of the penned animals shuffling, but little else save the rustle of the leaves brushing against each other.

She kept walking until she found a spot, ringed in with trees and private, with a clear enough space for her to try a few drills. Well.  Xena sighed, then walked over to a flat rock, seating herself and letting the bundle rest on her knees. She stared at it for a few moments, then untied the gut strings holding it closed and let them fall, unwrapping the linen covering to expose the worn, leather sheath and dully gleaming brass hilt of her sword.

For a few breaths, she simply looked at it, then she ran a finger across the sheath's surface, feeling the uneven texture, before she let her hand fall on the hilt, and wrap itself around the burnished grip.

The metal was cold, but warmed to her touch almost instantly, as her fingers shifted, and felt the familiar curves. A shiver traveled up her arm, and she released the weapon, sucking in a breath of the cold, damp air and letting it out. "Well, first things first." She stood and let the linen drop to the ground, then reached behind her and fastened the sheath into it's clips, where it hung with the hilt comfortably settled just over her right shoulder.

She stood for a moment, then walked in a small circle, letting her body get used to the weight of the weapon, and feeling the small adjustments in balance as her muscles compensated. Then she stood quietly, with her hands on her hips, and regarded the ground. "Where in Hades do I start?" She wondered, hating the awkward feeling that flooded over her. "From the beginning, I guess."

Wiping her hands off, she took a deep breath, then reached over her shoulder and grasped the sword hilt firmly, drawing it out of the sheath with a steady motion, and holding it up in front of her, trying not to feel the thrill that chased it's way up and down her spine.

"Least I didn't cut my own ear off." She muttered, shifting her grip a little and letting her arms get used to the once familiar weight. "Now.. baby steps, Xena… remember when you were first learning how to do this?"  She slowly moved the weapon in the first of five basic motions, attack and defense, the cornerstone of handling a longsword.

She let the weapon drop to her thigh when she was finished and swallowed, feeling awkward and hesitant, even in that little bit. After a moment's indecision, she went back to the rock and sat down, holding the hilt of the sword between her hands and letting the point rest on the ground.

All right. She told herself firmly. Let's get some focus here . It's mind over matter… or in this case, mind over your body.  Easy enough to say, she realized, but…

Frustrated, she leaned on the sword. "Look, Xena.. you made the choice.. now just get your butt in gear, and move on it." She spoke aloud, her words echoing off the hard ground, and stilling the faint, furtive animal noises nearby.

Focus. She closed her eyes, and considered her breathing, timing the motions in, and out, in and out.. until she felt her body settle and calm. She became aware of the soft sounds of life around her, and when she stood and opened her eyes, the glade seemed different. "Okay. Let's try this again." She felt a calm wave of reassurance sooth her nerves.

She went through the basic moves again, then switched to a slightly more advanced set, finding tentative hesitation melting into confidently smooth motions as she repeated the exercises. It was as though her body, startled at first to find itself in these positions, suddenly remembered the moves and shook off some of the cobwebs as she kept at it.

Rusty? Xena rolled her eyes. That didn't come close to describing it. She felt like she had when she'd finally gotten back on her feet after that back injury.. all clumsy and overbalanced, but… Just for laughs, she tried a tougher drill, one she commonly used to keep her self limber with lots of over head motions and two small tuck and rolls.

Hmm. She found herself on the far end of the clearing, having both tucked and rolled, and come back up onto her feet with life and limb intact, and her spirits rose a little. Hey… that wasn't that bad.

Encouraged, she pushed further, speeding up the drills a little, and finding the point where she was almost out of control a lot more advanced than she'd dared hope.

Hey. A tiny grin formed, and she felt a surge of optimism, which drove her to a new experiment, a prolonged set of swipes and passes at an inoffensive tree, which left her breathing hard, but in control, the sword hilt warm in her hands as she watched her breath form clouds in front of her.

It was going to take a lot of work, she realized soberly. Her timing was way off, and there was  a lot of hesitation in movements that should be pure reflex, but…

With a sudden bound, she bolted across the clearing, gathering herself up and launching into space, feeling the cold air whip against her as she moved the sword in a figure eight and flipped neatly in mid air, landing on her feet and starting into a set of relatively medium difficulty drills, which taxed her, but she kept at it, pushing herself with a fierce determination and finishing them, leaving her wrists aching, but her heart much lighter as she took back a little missing part of herself, soothing the ache inside her from giving up a different dream entirely.

So.  She threw herself into a backflip,  twisting in mid air and landing neatly. The warrior princess was coming back.

Xena glanced down at her hands, and flipped the sword over once or twice, then neatly slid it into her scabbard, walking over to her rock and sitting down on it, with her hands resting on her knees and her eyes on the full moon above her, lost in thought until she heard a faint rustling in the brush nearby. A gentle warmth alerted her to it's source and she gazed at the bushes, allowing  a quiet smile to cross her face as they parted, and Gabrielle padded out into the silvery light.

The bard stopped a few feet away from her and crossed her arms, her face in shadow. "Hi."

Xena rested her elbows on her knees and regarded her. "Hi."

A booted foot kicked a bit of grass. "You okay?" Gabrielle inquired, softly.

"Yeah." The warrior replied. "I'm all right."

Gabrielle nodded a few times. "I'm sorry… I just couldn’t… um… I know you wanted to be by yourself, but I couldn't keep away."

Xena patted the rock next to her. "Siddown."  She waited for the bard to comply, then she pursed her lips. "Gabrielle, I love you, but you never could stay away from trouble, and we both know that."

The bard was vastly reassured by the wry humor and she visibly relaxed. "Yeah, I know… " She rubbed her arms in the chill. "But you just draw me like a bee to honey, so.. what can I say?" She paused. "So.. how'd it go?"

The warrior studied her hands thoughtfully. "Rough." She admitted.

"But?" Silvered green eyes watched her.

A shrug. "Got a lot of work to do." Xena exhaled. "But you were right… it's still in there."

"Mm." Gabrielle leaned against her, and regarded the sky. "I thought of a poem while I was waiting for you." She smiled a little. "It's about you, of course… because I looked out the window and I spotted you in the sky."  She pointed. "See?"

Xena gazed at the pattern. "Gabrielle, you had too much ale at dinner. That looks like a cow."  She joked, wryly. "Unless that's your point."

"Tch… Xena!" The bard gave her a look. "No.. no, I'm serious… now look.. there's the head… see, and the arms.. with a sword, there… right.. and the legs.. jumping. That has to be you."

The warrior tilted her head, then looked down. "If you say so."

Gabrielle drew in a quiet breath.

When dark comes the morning,

No light to relieve us, no peace to offer,

Then look to the sky, where the warrior stands,

Dusted in starlight, and hearing our cries,

Comes down to defend us, armored in courage.

And leaving the peace of the heavens, to stand in the battle,

To bring dawn to the world.

Silence fell, as her words ended, until Xena lifted her head, and smiled faintly. "Thank you." She said in a barely audible tone. "You do wonderful things with words, my love."

Gabrielle acknowledged the compliment with a warm grin. "I'm a bard. It's my job." She tucked her hand into Xena's elbow. "But I'm glad you liked it.."

Xena leaned her head against her partner's. "You think that one looks like a chicken?" She inquired lazily, pointing.

"No way." Gabrielle forgot it was the middle of the night, in a cold, foggy glade. "It's a wagon."

"Mm.. but that one must be a bard." The long arm pointed. "See? There are the hands… and the feet… and the head… "

"Uh.. if you say so, tiger… " Gabrielle giggled gently. "But what's that big star in the middle of it's chest?"

Blue eyes turned, and enveloped her. "That's the brightest star up there, so it must be the bard's heart." A solemn twinkle made the light dance in Xena's gaze. "Doncha think?"

They made their way back to the inn, as the stars twinkled back at them.

************************************************

Standard Disclaimers -

These characters, and boy, are they ever characters, are mostly the property of Renaissance Pictures, Universal MCA, and whoever else owns stock and interest in Xena: Warrior Princess. This fiction was written for my amusement only, and not in any way, shape or form for profit - and it is not intended to infringe on the copyright holders of the characters.

Some of the characters are mine, and the story ideas.. well, who knows where they come from? Must be one weird place, that's for sure.

Specific Story Disclaimers:

Violence - this is a Xena:Warrior Princess story. This is not Teletubbies. Even though there are some rumors of similarities. Some of the violence is graphic, but we try not to dwell on it.

Subtext - Considering that the TV Series just aired an episode establishing Xena and Gabrielle as eternal soulmates, any disclaimer of subtext on my part is really kind of goofy in the extreme. The two characters are in love with each other, and have been for years. You can choose to see them as just friends, but then you might not want to read this fanfic, in case it changes your mind or anything like that.

Emotional Content - this is not one my more comedic efforts. There are moments of humor, however.

********************************************************************

Dark Comes the Morning - Part 3

By Melissa Good

The fire crackled softly, and the scent of roasting apples wafted to the bard, as she lay sprawled on her side, her diary in front of her.  She sucked on her quill, then dipped it into the ink again, and continued her entry.

It's just been getting worse, and worse.. the farther we go. Today we saw two burnt out villages, and it was so bad.. all those disrupted lives, and the destruction.. we spent most of today just trying to help one family put together enough shelter to cover their heads, and they had four little children, too. It was awful, those poor kids.. they lost everything, their homes, and their beds.. even their toys…I imagined how I'd feel if it were Dori suffering like that, and it made me so mad…

I think it made Xena mad, too. She got that look, the one that just means "Watch out." She was pretty quiet all afternoon, and tonight after dinner, she disappeared again, like the last two nights, to work on her stuff.

I wonder how that's coming? She hasn't said, but she hasn't looked too happy when she comes back. Of course, now that she'd decided to take that up again, she wants it all to happen at once, but…gods, she gets so mad at herself. You can just see it, like she's cursing on the inside, and just so disgusted.

I want to tell her to lighten up, but I don't think that's a very good idea, because I know this is something that's very, very serious to her. She's a perfectionist, even though she won't admit it, I realized.. after I watched her do stuff around Amphipolis. Anyone else would be satisfied with half the job she puts out, but the stuff she does, it's not just adequate, it's perfect. So she expects that from herself, and I can sit here and say 'it's going to take some time, Xena' until I'm blue and purple in my face, and it wont' really make a difference.

But she's always been like that.. I mean, I can watch her do these amazing things… flips and jumps, and flying through the air like a bird, and all that.. and she just grumbles about how old she's getting. I want to slap her silly sometimes. But then, I realize.. well… she is getting older, and she's a decade older than I am… so maybe it is tougher for her than it used to be. I know how I feel sometimes on cold, wet mornings after a few years of this, I can just imagine what she must feel like, after fifteen years of the abuse she's put herself through.

Or, maybe she's just bucking for a little sympathy from me. I don't mind… it's a chance to make a little fuss over her, which I know now she secretly enjoys, and the times she's just allowed herself to need that are so few and far between that I think I enjoy it more than she even does.  She sure gives me pats on the head when I need it, so.. .I guess that's why I decided to make apples tonight.. she loves them, and I figured it would be a nice treat for her when she finishes beating herself up.

Besides, I kinda like them too.

Gabrielle felt the warrior's approach before she heard it, and she looked up as Xena materialized from between two large oak trees, padding across the leaf littered ground in tired silence. "Hey…"  She studied her partner's face, framed by black hair damp from the river she'd bathed in. Cold droplets shone in the firelight on her bare arms, and her tunic clung to her body, outlining it in stark detail. "How's it going?"

Xena shrugged, shaking her head a little, as she went to kneel down and put her sword away. She paused in mid motion, and half turned, sniffing at the air, and then raising a brow at her soulmate in question. "What's that I smell?" She asked, sheathing the weapon and tucking it into her pack.

"Oh…just a few apples." The bard answered casually, twirling her quill. "You interested?"

The warrior came over and sat down next to her, plainly tired to the bard's watching eyes. "Sure."  She answered, blinking at the fire a little. "Thanks."

Gabrielle closed her diary and picked up a cup she had ready, pouring hot water over the crushed leaves in the bottom, and letting the tea steep. She swirled the liquid around a little, then stirred in a few spoonfuls of honey, and handed the cup to her partner. "Here….take a sip of that.. you look a little chilled."

Xena cupped her hands around the mug and gazed into it, then took a breath, and made an obvious attempt to collect herself. She took a sip of the tea and swallowed it. "It is kinda cool tonight." She commented, turning to look at her partner. "Where's your cloak?"

"Where's my cloak? I'm not the one sitting here soaking wet, Xena…I'm very warm, and very dry here on my nice fur, with my crackling fire and my hot tea." The bard shook her quill at the warrior. "You, on the other hand, look like you could use a toweling off, and your heavy nightshirt."  She stood up before Xena could answer, and crossed to their packs, pulling out a piece of linen, and her soulmate's night clothing. Then she walked back over and knelt beside the taller woman, starting on the buckles that held her padded gambeson on.

Instead of the expected protest, the warrior merely straightened, to allow her to pull the garment off. She tossed it gently over a nearby rock, then took the linen and started drying off Xena's broad shoulders. "Tough night, huh?" She murmured, as she patted the fabric gently over a dark, mottled bruise on her upper arm.

Xena shifted a little, then took another sip of her tea as she quietly enjoyed the attention. "It was all right." She finally, grudgingly admitted. "I just wish I could…" She paused, "I don't know."

"You wish you could click your boots three times, and have it all happen at once." The bard supplied pragmatically, as she playfully dried a tan warrior ear. "Xena, you're allowed to take more than three days to bring yourself back up to speed."

Xena scowled at the fire, then peered at the industrious bard. "I am?" She asked. "Says who?" She released a wry smile.

Gabrielle dried her nose, then her lips, forgetting to use the linen. "Says me." She draped her arms over the warrior's shoulders, and gave her an affectionate hug. "And I'm the one who writes the stories, so there."  She nudged Xena a little. "Turn over… I'll return the favor from the other night.. it'll be a few more minutes for the apples anyway."

Silently, the warrior complied, stretching out her long length on the sleeping furs and resting her head on her arms.  Gabrielle reached over to her bag and retrieved a small jar of clean smelling salve, dipping a little on her hands before she started her work, loving the feel of the soft skin stretched taut over her partner's muscular back.

Xena stared at the fire, letting the soothing rhythm of Gabrielle's hands work the tension out of her, brought on by a nagging anxiety and some very over abused muscles. She was pushing herself too hard, and she knew it, but something in the back of her mind was telling her she was running out of time, and she'd lived as long as she had, and through what she had, by listening to that little voice.

By tomorrow, they'd be in a very dangerous area, and probably meeting up with more than displaced villagers, and homeless vagrants. Of course, there was no guarantee they'd be attacked… but she was determined to be ready if they were, even though she'd only had three days to do it.

Mind over matter.

She sighed, as the bard's hands worked their magic. She was making progress… but it was, to her, frustratingly slow, as though there were a barrier there, holding her back at some level, making every gain come with almost desperate effort. Tonight, she'd started to doubt that she'd ever get past a certain point, throwing herself at a certain set of moves over and over again until she'd simply dropped to her knees in exhaustion, defeated.

She gazed at the flames soberly. Maybe she was just getting too old for this. She'd half jokingly thrown the statement out to Gabrielle enough times…now, the solid reality of the possibility settled an uncomfortable lump in her stomach. A few silent breaths, then she swallowed. All right. So what if she was?  She let the bitter thought run its course. They were still out here, and they still had things to do… so another plan had to be created.

You've got a brain, Xena. Use it. You spent fifteen years as a warrior… you had to have learned something… now's the time to find a way to think your way out of this, instead of depending on your fists to get you out of it.

Mind over matter.

"Hey, Xena?" Gabrielle's voice drifted over her shoulder. "You want to roll over?"

"Mm?" The warrior turned her head, and regarded her firelit companion. "Oh.. sorry.. sure… I was um… just thinking." She turned over and stretched her legs out.

The bard settled over her, gently nibbling the very center of her breastbone. "Mm…" She moved down and nipped at her partner's navel, feeling the muscles tense under the skin her lips were roaming over. "I was just thinking too." Her hands slid slowly up Xena's sides and she lifted her head, to gaze into the darkened blue eyes looking back at her. "I was just thinking that looking at you makes my entire body burn." The bard lowered herself and kissed her partner's lips, savoring every taste, every scent of her. "You are so beautiful."

How does she know exactly what to say to me? Xena marveled, as she responded to the compliment, letting her hands explore the sturdy body over her, drawing her down and returning the kiss. They indulged each other for a few more minutes, then relaxed, curling their bodies together into a warm tangle. Xena found Gabrielle's head tucked up against her shoulder, and a pink ear conveniently nearby. "Thanks." She whispered.

Gabrielle smiled against the soft, bare skin she was snuggled against. "Anytime." She gave the warrior a pat on the ribs. "You ready for an apple?"

**************************************************

They stopped on the ridge overlooking the first large town they'd come to, seeing the scattering of ramshackle outbuildings as they approached. Xena leaned on her saddlebow and regarded the place, then gave her soulmate a look. "Not much, huh?"

Gabrielle shaded her eyes, and peered over Hercules' head. "Yow." The smell of the place reached them even where they were, and the outskirts seemed to be lined with piles of trash or…  The bard let out a breath. Discarded leavings.

Small groups of armored and half armored figures were scattered in camps around the outer wall, settled around campfires with weapons stacked nearby. At the gate, a watch of sorts sprawled, observing the trickle of traffic passing out of the city.

"Nice." Xena shifted, settling her knees a little more firmly. "You ready?"

Gabrielle ran a hand through her hair, and nodded. "Yeah… we're just passing through on our way to Athens, right?"

"Right." Xena agreed, edging her horse back onto the path. "Let's just get in there, and see what we can find out. Don't start any trouble."

"Me?" The bard pointed at her chest. "Xena, I never start trouble."  She gave a dignified tug to her plain, tan shirt, which complimented the dark blue one her partner was wearing. The warrior had debated going in conspicuously armed, but they both figured getting information wouldn't be as easy if they were fighting every moment.

"Uh.. right." Xena agreed, as they started down the road. Despite her partner's protest, experience told the warrior that she'd probably be spending at least a good part of their time inside the town getting them out of whatever trouble Gabrielle managed to get them both into.

She grinned briefly. Just like old times.

They garnered attention as they threaded their way through the mostly silent stream of people heading out of the city, their heads bowed, and their eyes fixed on the ground. Xena wasn't sure if it was the two matched, golden stallions they rode, or what, but a small cluster of grungy raiders gathered as they approached the somnolent watch.

The one closest to them let his pike fall, blocking the gate as they came to it. Obligingly, they pulled up, and looked at him. "Morning." Xena remarked, mildly.

"Well… well..lookie yere." The man smiled, showing a gap between his front teeth a hummingbird could have flown through. 'Whatcha doing here, beautiful?"

Xena peacefully imagined herself breaking his arm. "Just passing through." She drawled. "Problem with that?"

One of the soldiers laid a hand on Iolaus' flank, and the stallion snorted, then kicked out abruptly, sending him flying. "Whoops.. careful there." Xena warned him a little too late. "He's a bit skittish." She gave the horse a pat on the neck.

The guard studied her, taking his time in running his eyes over both of them. "Thems pretty horses."

"Thanks." The warrior pressed a knee against Iolaus' side, and the horse neatly sidestepped. "I train em."

The man nodded, scratching his neck. "What about her?" He nodded towards the bard, who was sitting quietly. "What's she do?"

Gabrielle was about to answer, but her partner circumvented her. "Her?" Xena glanced towards the smaller woman, then chuckled. "Whatever she wants."

The man thought about that, then laughed. "Oh..yeah.. I get it." He lifted his pike up. "G'wan in… maybe we'll see ya later."

"Could be." Xena smiled at him, then she guided Iolaus inside the town, and past the high, bristling walls.

And almost turned around and left, as the city stench hit her nostrils, and she fought down a gag. To either side were tall, rambling walls made of adobe, housing furtive, threadbare residents who ducked behind the sides of the hovels as they passed. Garbage was piled up outside the buildings, and a long, fetid trench went down the center of the street, carrying sewage and dirt down towards a sluggish, brown creek.

"This… is disgusting." Gabrielle commented, very obviously trying to breath through her mouth. Her face was pale and the warrior could see beads of sweat standing out on her forehead.

"Use the pressure points." The warrior advised. "But yeah.. it's pretty bad." She looked around. "Too many people in one place… we're not meant to live like this." She guided Iolaus around a pile of brown goo and turned her disciplined mind to something other than tossing up her breakfast.

They moved through the lower catacombs, then the road sloped upwards a bit, moving them into a slightly more wide open area, with small, but decently constructed huts on either side. As they watched, a woman stepped out of her home and tossed the odorous contents of a bucket into the road's center channel, where it ran down towards the lower areas. Oblivious, the woman turned and reentered the house, leaving the bucket just outside the door. Flies immediately attacked it.

"How do people live like this?" Gabrielle clamped a hand over her mouth.

"Starts out small." The warrior concentrated on ignoring the smell. "Place like Amphipolis.. gets popular, people start moving there, then they have kids… it multiplies."

"Uh." Gabrielle swallowed. "I can see we're going to have a talk about immigration and birth control when we get home."

"Mm." Xena shook her head, and glanced up the road.  As they went up, the buildings became cleaner, and better maintained, first a laborers section, then one for the merchants. Above that seemed to be the town square, where the inn was, along with a stretch of shops on either side of the road. Above that was another gate, with more soldiers. Xena could see the fancier houses up above, and pulled up just as they got to the square. "Looks like it's the inn for us.. we don’t have an excuse to get through that gate. " She paused. "Yet."  She looked around, to see scruffy raiders everywhere, lounging around the square, sprawled across the doorsteps to the shops, their weapons conspicuously present.

Eyes watched her, and she felt her neck hairs bristle, as honed instincts long slumbering came alive, and her body recognized a threat that her mind hadn't quite identified yet. "Gabrielle, stay close." She murmured, feeling her hand flex a little, looking for a hilt that was tucked securely away in their baggage.

The bard heard the tone, and simply nodded, as she allowed Xena to lead them both towards the inn, and it's connected stable, threading their way through the watching raiders, whose eyes took in their horses, and them with an avid hunger that made Gabrielle's skin crawl.

Some of the fighters, she realized, were women, whose  faces bore the same cruel, savage stamp as the men, and the bard was reminded again that the horrors of evil she'd encountered in her travels were not limited by sex.

They stopped in front of the inn, and dismounted, being met by a tall, thin boy in ragged clothing, who eyed them warily. "You g'win to stay 'ere?" He asked, cautiously.

"Maybe." Xena stated. "You take care of the horses?"

He nodded.

"All right.. just take them, and stable them.. I'll be over to take care of them later. Don't you try it.. they're both a little wild." Xena instructed, unbuckling her saddlebag and slinging it over her shoulder, then handing him the reins, as Gabrielle followed suit.

"Right." The boy gingerly took the reins, and led the two horses off. Xena and Gabrielle exchanged glances, and headed toward the door to the inn.

****************************************

The inn smelled of old ale, and dirty leather, and was filled with somnolent fighters, some hunched over plates of food, the others sucking down ale, or sleeping with their head resting on folded arms.

Eyes followed them with hooded interest as they worked their way through the crowd to the service area, where a tall, muscular woman was filling a brace of mugs with ale for a sweating server.

The innkeeper was about Gabrielle's age, and had the attitude, and body of a fighter, complete with a set of functional bracers, and  a well used, impressively carved belt dagger that was strapped to her belt.  She glanced up as they approached, her flat, hazel eyes reviewing them with mild interest. "Yeah?"

Bard and warrior exchanged wry, understanding glances. "We'd like a room." Gabrielle responded. "If you have one."  She eased in front of her partner, and pulled out a few coins, putting them on the table so the woman could see them.

The woman leaned on the table, her sandy brown head roughly even with Xena's darker one, and towering over the smaller bard. "I have one."

Gabrielle returned her intimidating look with a kind smile. Oh.. are you out of your league here, honey… I've seen scarier things than you over breakfast.. "Great….we're all set then, right?"  It helped, of course, to have Xena's reassuring bulk standing behind her, even weaponless and in her soft cotton tunic. "Oh, and stabling for two horses."

"Third one round the back. Four dinars." The innkeeper stated flatly. "You mess up the room, you pay damages, understand?' She gave Xena a look that made the warrior's nostrils flare in amusement. "I don’t permit trouble in here."

Xena turned her head and regarded the crowded room of rowdy fighters, then turned back, and lifted one perfect, dark eyebrow. "I can see that."

"Don’t get smart." The innkeeper warned, then found herself pinned by a pair of blue eyes so crystal clear they collected the dim light like a shallow pool.

Xena smiled. "Just making an observation."

"Well.. keep your observations to yourself." The woman replied warningly. "You'll last longer around here. Got me?"

Gabrielle clamped her jaw down on a giggle, and felt a light scratch on her back.

"I'll try to remember that." The warrior answered sincerely. "You'll remember that, won't you Gabrielle?"

"Oh yeah." The bard nodded solemnly. "I'll remember that, tiger… c'mon." She tugged on Xena's belt, afraid to leave the warrior in the innkeeper's vicinity for very long. "Thank you."

"You go on.. I'm going to go settle the horses." Xena reassured her. "I'll bring in the bags."  She gave the bard a gentle push as they moved away from the intimidating woman behind the table. "Keep your ears open." She added, in a very low tone.

"Don't you antagonize that overgrown Amazon." The bard shook a finger at her. 'She's itching for a fight, Xena."

"Me, antagonize someone?" The wide, innocent blue eyes gazed back at her. "C'mon, Gabrielle.. you know me better than that."  The warrior replied. "Besides, what chance does an over the hill, out of shape old nag like me have against someone like her?"

"Oh…I can see where this is going." Gabrielle rolled her eyes. "Xena, we're supposed to be gathering information, remember? Not making a scene.. or calling attention to ourselves… isn't that what you decided? Hmm??"

Xena sighed. "Yeah, I know.. I'll be good." She grumbled. "G'wan.. make sure the place isn't full of spiders or something. .I'll be right over."

They separated, and Gabrielle paused a moment to watch her soulmate cross the busy courtyard, her powerful, sturdy gait drawing interested looks from the lounging fighters. Even in her nondescript clothing, she stood out like a warhorse in a pen of sheep, and Gabrielle realized that staying undercover was going to be tougher than they'd imagined.

She turned, to find the innkeeper nearby, watching her. Uh oh. "Excuse me." She ducked down the narrow passageway towards the indicted rooms. She was aware of the woman passing behind her, and for a moment she thought she was going to be followed, then she realized the innkeeper had headed outside.

Towards the barn.

Great.  And she tells me to stay out of trouble.

*********************************************

Xena found the barn mostly empty of humans, but full of horses, most of which didn't show signs of very good care. Iolaus and Hercules were in one corner, tied to a hitching post near two bare stalls.  She picked up a pitchfork and set to work, loosening her muscles up as she tossed in a good layer of hay and patted it down evenly.

Then she put the pitchfork aside, and led the two horses in, unloading their saddlebags and laying the by the inside stall door. She also unstrapped Gabrielle's staff, and tucked it neatly next to them, amazed as usual that no one ever seemed to question a quiet, traveling bard carrying an Amazon war staff. Maybe it was Gabrielle's kind, and sweet demeanor.

Her, on the other hand, she could be carrying nothing more ominous than a spoon, and she got suspicious looks.

Go figure.

At least she'd taken the ugly, scary head off the damn thing…not to insult Ephiny, it's donor, but because the dried beak on it kept poking Argo in the butt. The mare had not been amused.

Xena laughed to herself at the memory, though she recalled not being very happy with the bard at the time. She uncinched Iolaus' saddle and lifted it off him, turning and laying it over the side of the stall with negligible effort.

The floor outside creaked faintly.

Xena smiled. It's not my fault, Gabrielle… I was in here, minding my own business.. just putting the horses away. I didn't start anything.

Honest.

She could sense the stealthy approach, and decided it was their Amazonian innkeeper, hearing the faint rasp of breathing, and the soft rub of fingertips against the wood of the barn. A tiny, exciting jolt of anticipation ran through her as she felt her defenses come up, pricked by the last few days of strenuous nudging.

"Hey boy, move over there." She gave Iolaus a slap, then quickly brushed him down, one ear following her tracker without effort. She went outside the stall and scooped up a bucket of water, then brought it back for the thirsty stallion, who guzzled it, then nudged her in the belly, dribbling cool water through the fabric. "Gee thanks.. just what I wanted."

Deliberately, she turned her back on the entrance, feeling her neck hairs stand up as her watcher slipped in, and she courted danger for the fun of it. Her nostrils flared out a little, smelling the woman's presence, and the scent of stale, dried ale that clung to her clothing.

Xena went into Hercules' stall and unbuckled his tack, whistling softly and melodically under her breath as she tracked the innkeepers' progress across the barn behind her, waiting until the woman had gotten to the water trough before she allowed herself to turn, and spot her.

Definitely a warrior. The woman stood in a balanced stance, her hands cocked as though waiting to draw a sword. She merely walked to the stall divider, however, and rested those large, muscular hands on it. "Nice horses."

Xena gave her a nod. "Thanks."

"They yours?"

Another nod. "Yep."

The woman examined the animals. "Full stallions.. and they don't fight?"

Xena released Hercules' bridle and slipped a halter into its place, then gave him a pat. "They're brothers." She commented. "And they're trained."

The tawny haired woman chewed on that for a minute. "To do what?" She injected a touch of sarcasm.

For an answer, Xena tapped Hercules on the shoulder, and the stallion responded immediately, rearing towards the innkeeper, and raking the air with his sharp hooves. They swished through the air as he trumpeted, making her step back a few paces. "Let's just say they're walking advertisements." The warrior continued mildly. "Gets me a few commissions."

The woman eyed her. "You train them?"

"Yep." Xena returned to her former taciturnity. "That's what I do." She finished putting away her gear and stood, brushing her clothes off. "You got a problem with that?"  The warrior walked to the gate, which the younger woman was blocking and stood waiting, her arms relaxed at her sides.

"I got a problem with people who have smart mouths." The innkeeper didn't move.

"World's full of em. Get used to it." Xena responded, pulling the gate open and brushing by the woman, feeling her reflexes tense as she sensed the motion behind her, and only just barely keeping herself from reacting as she was grabbed from behind, and spun around, a fist wrapping itself in her tunic. .

The innkeeper shoved her back against the support post, and pressed the knife's edge to her throat, leaning in with wicked, hazel eyes. "I don't have to get used to it. I can just fix that."

Xena felt it happen, as a deep, sudden surge of fire erupted inside her, triggering a reaction she hadn't felt for over a year. Her heartbeat slowed and strengthened, pumping blood to muscles the acquired an almost trembling tension as her body eagerly responded to the familiar threat signals.

It felt great.

The reaction shot to her eyes, and she knew it, by the change in expression of her assailant, whose gaze flickered for just an instant, then grew wary as Xena added an irrepressible, sexy grin.

It was so hard to hold back. Half of her was doubting, worried the tall woman would wipe the floor with her. The other half, the darker one, was unpredictably savage, and once let out of its cage…

What if she killed the innkeeper?  It was a fifty fifty chance, and lacking the fine control she knew she'd lost, the risk was scary. Brains then, not brawn. "You gonna do something with that?" She drawled lazily. "Or is this the treatment all your guests get?" Her eyes met the woman's, and one dark eyebrow lifted in question.

"I think you better watch your attitude." The innkeeper growled.

Xena pushed against the blade a little, lowering her head and her voice. "I think you'd better put that away, or someone could get hurt." A dark menace had crept around the edges of her words, which even she could hear. She felt her body go very still.

Waiting.

Wanting it. Regardless of the consequences.

Then the hand in her tunic relaxed, and the knife blade retreated, as the woman took a step back, flipping the blade in one hand, and sheathing it.

It was almost disappointing. Xena watched her, not convinced it was over, and the woman justified the caution by surging into motion, aiming a blow at the warrior's ribcage and connecting hard, sending Xena back against the support with a painful crack.

"Make you feel better?" The warrior inquired, silkily.

"Yeah." The innkeeper smiled. "It did."

"Good."  The tawny haired woman never saw it coming. Xena released her screaming reflexes, and bounced forward, throwing weight and motion into a roundhouse right that hit the innkeeper so hard it lifted her off her feet, and sent her flying back against the stall divider, cracking the wood and generating a shower of fragile splinters that flew though the air.

Her hands were clenching and unclenching, and she slammed a down a halt on her rage, keeping it to that one, single, very satisfying release. Her fist tingled from the impact, sending little shivers up and down her forearm. "Hey.. you're right. That does feel good."  She purred, pacing over to the slumped form. "Wanna go for round two?"

The woman pulled a hand down from what was obviously a broken nose, her skin covered with blood. "What in Hades did you hit me with?"

The warrior held up her right hand, and wiggled the fingers, then gave her opponent a seductive grin.

They looked at each other for a long moment, then the innkeeper raised a hand defensively. "You win." She admitted simply. "I don’t' want to get hit like that again, thanks."

Aw. Xena felt her inner tiger pad grumpily back into its cage and lie down with a sigh, as she allowed her body to relax. She offered the innkeeper a hand up. "Better put some cold water on that."

The woman gazed warily at her for a second, then hesitantly took the offer, allowing the warrior to pull her to her feet. "Thanks."

Xena walked over and picked up a piece of linen from their pack and soaked it in the water trough, then tossed it over. "Here."  She perched on a corner of the trough. "You got a name?"

Hazel eyes peered at her from under pale eyelashes. "Dani." She winced as she held the cold cloth to her bleeding nose.

"Mmph. Well, Dani…you always try to beat up on your guests, or was it just the special of the day, today." Xena crossed her arms over her chest and leaned back.

The innkeeper sat down on a half empty feed barrel. "We don't get many guests." She commented. "New fighter comes in, everyone wants to know, what do they got..where are they gonna land in the pecking order."

Xena spread her arms out to indicate her linen clad body. "But I'm a horse trainer.. no weapons, see? "

Dani laughed weakly. "You c'n call yourself whatever you want, but you walked in here, everyone knew you're a fighter.. you have it written all over you."

"Do I?" The warrior mused, secretly delighted. "Well, I'm not here to fight." She concluded. "We're just on our way up to Athens.. though it looks kinda torn up round here."

The innkeeper blotted her nose in silence. "Well..better not let Andreas catch sight of you then, if you don't wanna get added to the roles. He's collecting all the fighters in these parts.. or folk he thinks can make fighters."

Andreas. Xena filed the name away for further investigation. "That how you got into this?"

"Yeah…it's my dad's inn.. he went off on a trip to the coast.. never came back. I messed around with it for a while.. then Andreas showed up with a bunch of hacks.. decided to make this his base. He put me in a training group a year ago." She glanced up at Xena. "Your friend called you Tiger.. that really your name?"

Oh… centaur butt hairs. Well… "It'll do." Xena remarked with a sigh. "But what does Andreas hope to accomplish?"

"Oh." Dani rubbed the blood of her hands. "He wants to be king of Greece." She shrugged. "If he has to take every inch of it by force."

The door opened, and they both looked up as Gabrielle entered, taking one look at the bloodied innkeeper, then turning an indignant eye on her partner.

"I was just minding my own business." Xena protested, holding up a hand to forestall the bard's exclamation. "It wasn't my fault."

"I can't leave you alone for a minute, can I?" The bard sighed in exasperation.

"Um… it really was my fault." Dani stood, wiping the last of the blood off her face. "Scuse me.. I'll just…take off. Sorry, there.. uh.. Tiger… bye." She slipped out the door, leaving a slack jawed Gabrielle and a bemused Xena behind her.

"Tiger?" Gabrielle put her hands on her hips. "You let her call you that?"

"Well." Xena pulled a knee up and wrapped her hands around it. "Better than announcing my presence in the middle of an armed, probably hostile encampment which would take a lot of pleasure in using me for pike practice, yes."

"Hmm." Gabrielle chewed her lower lip. "You've got a point there… I found out a little bit about what's going on."

"Before you came in, our new buddy Dani there was telling me that the guy who's running this outfit, Andreas, is gathering an army, because he wants to take over the whole place." Xena remarked.

A sigh. "She's your buddy now, huh? What is it with you warriors, anyway… you hate each other until one of you beats the snot out of the other, and then you're friends." Gabrielle shook her head. "Yeah… I heard about the same, except from the other side. Merchants are scared to go outside the city… he's got roaming bands out there scouring the countryside for conscripts and supplies. If a village says no, he burns it out."

"Nice guy." Xena mused. "Not that I didn't do the same in my time, though."

Gabrielle took a breath. "Did you really?"

Blue eyes met hers squarely. "Yes."

"You burnt out whole villages just because they wouldn’t give you their food?"

There was an uncomfortable silence, while Xena hesitated. Her eyes dropped to the straw. "Yes." She admitted softly, hearing a rustle as Gabrielle moved closer. A hand touched her hair, and she exhaled.

"If I ever needed proof of just how much you've changed, that would be it." The bard marveled quietly. "Because I could not, in my wildest imaginings, picture you doing that now. "

Xena accepted the touch with a sense of relief. "That's true." She lifted her eyes, and met gentle green ones looking back at her. "I can't either."

Gabrielle sat down next to her. "So.. what are we going to do?"

The warrior glanced around the barn, and shook her head. "Find out what his troop strength is.. find out where he's headed next.. and get the Hades out of here."

"Sounds like a plan." The bard paused. "Did she really start it?'

"Yes!" Xena told her. "She hit me first." She patted her belly. "Right there."

"And you didn't instigate that?" A knowing twinkle emerged.

"I most certainly did not." Xena told her, virtuously. "Even when she pulled the knife on me, I was nice."

"What?"

"Nevermind.. it's over with."

"And you tell me not to get into trouble??"

***************************************************************

They headed out of the barn towards the inn, with Xena shouldering the saddlebags and the bard carrying her staff.  As they were almost to the door, a shout came from down the road, and the lounging fighters craned their neck to see what was coming.

A caravan was trundling towards them, with four mounted riders in front, leading a wagon whose rear was closed in like a cage, followed by four more riders. Ribald yells were being tossed towards them, and the outriders laughed as they came steadily closer.

"What's going on?" Gabrielle asked a man standing near the inn door, dressed in the leather apron of a blacksmith.

"Some poor bastard got hisself caught." The man spat carefully in the corner, avoiding Gabrielle's boots. "Prolly  stealin from the camp or whatnot."

"Thanks." The bard stood on her tiptoes, balancing herself with a hand on Xena's shoulder, and peered. "Wonder who it is?"

The wagon came even with them, and they spotted a small, thin figure inside, with a pale face, and large, blinking brown eyes. Then the caravan moved on, the lead riders singing a racy marching song that Xena knew in two languages besides the one they were using.

"He's just a kid." The bard whispered. "What could he possibly have done?"

One of the trailing riders pulled up and cantered in towards them, waving at a few of his mates as he slowed to a halt. "Finally got us that damn storyteller."  He announced. "Caught him right in the act… like to have busted his jaw for it."

Xena and Gabrielle exchanged glances.

One of the soldiers on the porch of the inn laughed. "Andreas is gonna have a field day with him… bet he cuts his tongue out."

Gabrielle's fingers clamped down on a tanned forearm, as the warrior nudged her towards the door. "Xena… we can't let that happen!"

"Shh.. c'mon." Xena got her inside, and herded her down the small, cramped corridor towards the room they'd been assigned. They had to work their way by two fighters in the way, who were disinclined to move, but they finally made it, and closed the door behind them. "Now look, Gabrielle.."

"Don't now look me." The bard warned. "We can't leave that kid in here, Xena… they'll kill him, and you know it."

"They find out who we are, and they'll kill us." The warrior retorted. "You don't even know this guy…"

"Xena, he's just a storyteller." Gabrielle's jaw set. "Just like me."  Her green eyes glinted. "He's in here because he was out there telling stories about you.. we are notgoing to walk out of here and let them torture him."

No, of course not. Xena sighed, gazing at her soulmate unhappily. "All right… let me see what I can come up with.. this means we're going to have to get in to his command area, you realize that."

The bard leaned against her and kissed her shoulder. "I know."  She rubbed her cheek against Xena's skin. "But you know I'm right."

The warrior let her head rest against the bard's. "Yeah, I know…I just want to get us both out of this in one piece."

They remained quiet for a bit, then the bard sniffed reflectively. "Hey.. Xena?"

"Hmm?" The warrior broke out of her intense thought. "Yeah?"

"Why does this room smell like a barn?"

"Uh.. " Xena glanced around, spotting a bed so dirty, the original color of the bedclothes was impossible to determine, shaded somewhere between pigsty brown and centaur poop ochre. "Window." She coughed.

"Oh yeah."  Gabrielle got to the wooden shutters and flung them open, letting in a draft of cold, fresh air. "Oh boy."

The warrior studied the room, then she pulled out their sleeping furs, and spread them neatly under the window, putting their saddlebags to one side, and sitting down on the soft, furry surface. Gabrielle sat down next to her, and they both regarded the scary, cobweb interlaced, stinky room.

"Your mother would come through here with a horse trough full of water, and a cask of soap." The bard remarked.

"My mother would come through here with a plow hitch and four horses, and pull it all down." The warrior corrected her. "I've been in some bad places, but this ranks right up there."

"This ranks." Gabrielle agreed wryly. "I think I got too used to our place."  She spent a moment imagining their neat, peaceful cabin, with her painted mats on the wall, and Xena's carvings scattered about. "Have you figured out how to rescue Devon yet?"

A dark brow edged up. "Good grief, Gabrielle.. give  me a few minutes, willya?" Xena let her head rest against the wall, as the bard snuggled up next to her, pressing their bodies together. She put an arm over Gabrielle's shoulders, and thought.

They could sneak in. That might work, if the soldiers were overconfident, and careless. Somehow, Xena had a feeling the closer they got to the enigmatic Andreas, the more competent fighters they'd encounter, but it might be worth a try.

Of course, if they got caught, they were in trouble… which might range from imprisonment, to hard labor, to being dragged behind a horse.

Or being hung. Xena drummed her fingers on one thigh.

They could run a scam.. say they were there to sell something to Andreas… but they really didn't have anything, save Gabrielle's storytelling talents, and that probably wasn't a good idea at the moment.

Or….hmm. "All right.. I'll offer my services to him… to train his cavalry." Xena stated quietly.

Silence answered her.

"C'mon, it’s not that bad an idea." The warrior glanced at her soulmate, then sighed. The bard's eyes were closed and she was sleeping very peacefully, a gentle smile on her face. "Aww…" She moved a bit of fair hair out of the way. "Catching up to you, huh?" After a year at home, she should have realized it would take her partner a few extra days to get used to traveling again.

Or maybe it was just that Gabrielle loved to snuggle with her, especially in the late afternoon, as it was now. She'd missed that lately, and it forced her to realize just how far apart they'd been drifting. Whatever else this trip resulted in, she decided, that was going to change when they got home. They'd both worked too hard to stay together, and sacrificed too much for them to let anything happen to their relationship after all this time.

Not that they would ever break up. Xena smiled sadly, resting her head against the bard's. But they had something very special, something most people never got to have, and she was damned if she was going to give that up again.

Gabrielle's fingers, lying against her arm tightened slightly, and a tiny, contented sound escaped from her, as her body curled more snugly against her partner's. Xena wrapped her fingers around the bard's and brushed her lips over the pale hair with wistful affection, relaxing against the bare wood wall.

She sat there quietly,  watching the sun creep across the floor, painting a solid bar of molten gold across their lower bodies, until she felt a stirring in the body she was cuddling, and Gabrielle let out a soft sound of chagrin.

"Ungh.. gods.. sorry… " Penitent green eyes flickered open, and peeked up at her.

"For what?" The warrior asked peacefully, admiring her partner's well-shaped nose, which was wrinkling in embarrassment.

"Falling asleep on you… " The bard stifled a yawn.

"I didn't mind… I sorta miss our afternoon naps." Xena admitted wryly.

"Mm…are you just saying that to make me feel better?"  Gabrielle wondered, glancing up.

"Gabrielle, have you ever known me to say anything just to make anyone feel better?" The warrior inquired pointedly.

"Um…." The bard drummed fingers on her soulmate's thigh. "Now that you mention it… no." She smiled. "I'm glad you said that… because I've missed them too.. I find myself getting grumpy around dinnertime if I haven't had my nap." She made the confession with rolled eyes.

Xena chuckled, ruffling her hair affectionately. "S'allright.. gave me a chance to work on my plan." Xena assured her. "You think Andreas needs a cavalry trainer?"

"Oo… hey, you could find out a lot of stuff that way." Gabrielle responded. "Great idea.." She gave her partner an approving pat on the side. "Where do I come in?"

Xena sighed. It had started out to be such a nice plan. "Well, you can come in with me "

"And pretend to train horses? Xena… maybe you should take a nap too." Gabrielle laughed. "I can barely ride them." She nibbled her thumbnail. "But I could get a job in the kitchens… they have to feed their captives."

Kitchens.. okay.. that was fairly safe. "Yeah… " Xena drew the word out speculatively. "Okay.. that's a pretty good idea." She decided. "I'll find out tonight from Dani who to talk to about Andreas."

The bard nodded, satisfied. "You interested in having dinner here?"

Big, round, aghast blue eyes stared at the room, then at her.

"That's what I thought. There's a small market down the road.. wanna go see what they've got?" Gabrielle grinned.

"You just want to shop." The warrior accused, but smiled back. "But I will, on one condition."

Gabrielle lifted a blond eyebrow at her. "And that would be?"

"You find another name for me." Xena sighed. "I can't walk in there with that one. Or with mine."

"Aww.. " The bard stood up, stretching her body out luxuriously. "But it's so cute.. and it fits you, tiger."

"Gabriellleee…." Xena's voice dropped an entire octave.

"Oh, okay.. I'll see what I can do." The bard offered her a hand up. "C'mon, lazybones… let's go."

************************************

The road widened, as it approached the main army barracks, and it was noticeably cleaner there. Xena took that, perversely, as a bad sign, because she knew a well-run army meant nothing good for them. She was seated on Iolaus' golden back, and had changed her nondescript tunic for one with subtle, silver piping on a coal black background, which draped neatly over her powerful body, and matched the newly shined riding boots that came up to her knees.

The morning sun caught glints off the silver bracelets that clasped her wrists, and Xena lifted her head as she rode, knowing damn well she made quite the spectacle, deserving the long looks she was getting from the casually posted soldiers.

One man strolled towards her, and she gazed at him, letting a faint smile cross her face. He walked into a tree, and she smirked quietly to herself. Nice to know I can still do that, she mused, straightening a little in the saddle. She'd seen it in Gabrielle's eyes when the bard had returned from finding breakfast for them, after she'd dressed. The green eyes had lit with that quiet, gentle appreciation as the bard ran a finger down the silver piping, and whistled softly at her.

Xena had never considered herself a vain person, but she was also human enough to admit it was nice to have people admire her looks on occasion. She resettled her seat as she directed Iolaus towards the guarded gate ahead, where four men were standing at semi attention, looking a lot more alert than most of the soldiers she'd seen along the route.

The tallest one took a step forward as she reached them ,and held up a hand. "No further."

Xena obediently halted, collecting Iolaus into an alert, balanced stance as she observed him. "All right."

He studied her, cocking his head and peering into the sun with intelligent gray eyes, his face stern, and serious. "You have business here?"  His voice was low, and raspy.

"Maybe." Xena replied quietly. "I have some skills I'm looking to sell."

A faint, sardonic grin crossed his scarred face. "Really? And what might those be?"

Xena gave Iolaus several subtle signals, and the stallion reared, then kicked back, taking off the heads of two pikes. Then she had him crab step sideways, and rear, hopping forward and slashing at the guards with razor sharp hooves.

He settled to earth after that, snorting slightly, and she patted his neck. "I train horses." She remarked mildly.

The guard had leaped back, and now he moved cautiously towards her again, circling the stallion and evaluating her at the same time. "So you do." His eyes lingered on her bare thighs, and she tensed them a little, aware of the supple ripple of muscles just under the skin. "What's your name, horse trainer?"

Xena tucked her reins in one hand, and extended the other. "Paladar." She answered quietly, having battled with Gabrielle over several choices, and vetoing "Boo" as one of them. "What's yours?"

He met her grip, tightening his fingers around her forearm. "Sedrus." His eyes held wary respect, and definite interest. "Sit tight, Paladar… I'll check and see if we have a need for your… " That faint smile again. "Skills."

"Sure." Xena relaxed in her saddle and sidestepped Iolaus into the shade, throwing one leg over her saddlebow and unhooking a waterbag slung from one of the straps just behind her. She took a sip, watching as he walked back to the gate, whispering to his comrade before he opened the small door to one side and slipped through it.

Now, it was just a matter of time.

**********************************************

Gabrielle wandered the marketplace, picking up snatches of conversation from merchants and soldiers, who wandered from stall to stall. She noticed that the residents of the town would halt, and change subjects when the fighters came near, and she carefully engaged herself in an intense study of some tatty looking fabric as two of the armored men wandered off.

"Did you see, they caught that poor boy." The cloth merchant whispered to the older woman standing in her stall.  "Tis not fair.. they'll hang him, they say.. as a warning to anyone else stirring up trouble."  She glanced at Gabrielle, then lowered her voice. "You think those crazy stories have a grain o truth to them?"

The older woman sniffed. "No smoke there's fire, I say… wouldn't be half so stirred up if the stories were out lies, were they now?"

Gabrielle took down a piece of cloth, and wandered over. "I'm sorry.. I couldn’t help overhear.. what stories are those? Was that the boy they brought in yesterday.. I felt so bad for him."

Suspicious eyes studied her, and she returned the gaze with gentle patience. "I used to tell stories myself… I guess I feel for him."

The older woman circled her warily. "Do ye now?"

Gabrielle nodded. "Yes…I know what it's like to be…punished.. for that." She dropped her gaze, then lifted it again. "Don't all these soldiers around drive you nuts?'

The weaver sighed. "It's part of life here now.. it seems… at first we welcomed it, but now, they takes what they wants…you just learn to give it up."

"Mm." Gabrielle sighed.

"The boy was trying to bring a little spirit in.. " The older woman grudgingly rumbled. "Telling us wild tales of a woman warrior… you heard any of those, little girl?" They both watched Gabrielle like a hawk, suspicion wafting around them like incense.

The bard fingered her chosen cloth. "Hmm…. I might have. " She edged a little closer and lowered her voice. "If the warrior's name is… Xena."

"Ahh." The weaver nodded. "So you have heard of her."

"Yes." The bard agreed. "What kind of stories was he telling…maybe I've heard them."

They looked at her in mute silence, and a short, stocky man slid up on the other side of her.

"Or mebbe you're just a spy for them…wanting us to repeat em, eh?" The man's bearded face seemed menacing. "Be like him to put a little innocent in like you fer that." He shoved her back. "Ye'll get no chatter about idle myths from us, lassie."

Gabrielle could feel the hostility around her, and obscurely, it made her feel better, understanding these people were holding something tight to them that she herself was a jealous protector of. She leaned against the tent pole, and looked at them. "She's not a myth." Her voice was low, but it carried. "What stories have you heard… have you heard about the Titans?" She left her post, and walked through the poles, aware of the tense, gathered crowd. "Or Hades' helmet?" She slipped between two husky men, triggering her own bardic skills as she spoke. "Or how she rescued the Sword of the God of War?"

They all watched her now, suspicion warring with curiosity.

"Or maybe you heard how she stopped the Persians." Gabrielle continued, putting a hand on one of the support poles and winding her way around it. "Or kept the Centaurs and Amazons from going to war…"

"She knows them all." One whisper reached her, and she smiled.

"Yes, I do." She found the speaker, who backed up, a trifle nervously. "And a few I bet you haven't heard."

The crowd darted furtive glances around them, watching for the armored men, and trying to look casual. The older woman and the man moved towards her, with  a shushing motion of their hands. "Hush, girl… all right… be still now. Ye'll get us all in trouble."

"Have ye been to Athens, then." The weaver asked, in a soft voice. "It's where the lad says he found them… written in the great Academy there."

Bullseye. Gabrielle felt a quiet rush of disbelief, as her suspicions were confirmed. It made her feel odd, but flattered, to know the stories this person was scattering around the countryside were…

Hers.

"I've been to Athens, yes.. but that's not where I know them from." Gabrielle admitted, quietly.

"Is it true then? Do you think she's real.. that she'll come one day and help us?" The weaver asked, in a bare whisper.

A group of soldiers came down the path, laughing and shoving each other, and the group scattered. Gabrielle examined her cloth intently, then turned her attention to some trim she liked. The fabric, and the trim.. hm… "How much are these?" She asked the weaver, just as the men came up. They gave her a passing glance, then went on, seeing nothing more than a nondescript traveler browsing the market.

"A dinar." The woman answered, watching anxiously until the men had passed.

Gabrielle dug in her pouch, and pulled out a coin, examining it, then passing it to the woman. "Thanks… this'll make a nice sash for someone I know." She smiled at the woman, glancing over at the guards who had stopped at the next stall, and ducked out, tucking the fabric away in her pouch.

"Give us them sweet rolls." One of the men was saying to the merchant next door, who was apparently a baker. "And be quick..we're on guard shift in a quarter candlemark." He slapped the wooden board that served as a counter, and looked around, spotting Gabrielle waiting quietly, her head slightly bowed. "Hey… you're a piece of cute stuff." He hiccupped, obviously slightly drunk.

The bard smiled at him. "Thank you." She murmured. "Those rolls do smell good, don’t' they?"

The shorter man next to him turned, and leaned on the board. "Yeah… anything 's better than the mess hall." He poked his neighbor. "Right?"

The other man snorted. "Th' garbage they served today… mah pigs at home wouldn't ha touched." He belched, then spat on the ground. "Trouble is.. they only puts washouts in the cooks tent… ifn ye can't fight, and ye can't make weapons, ya cook. Ugh."

And then sometimes opportunity just drops right into your lap. Gabrielle came a little closer. "Gee…. That's too bad…you guys must work so hard… and you have to go out and scrounge your dinners?" She sighed, leaning against the board and getting their avid attention. "Y'know.. cooking's not that hard."

The taller of the two wandered over, and looked down at her with definite interest. "Oh yeah? You speakin from personal sperience?"

The bard blinked innocently. Oh.. well.. I mean… yes.. I…I do have some… experience…. I mean… my family runs an inn, and you know.."

The man put an arm around her shoulder, and Gabrielle found herself clamping down on suddenly reawakened instincts that almost had her jabbing him hard in the ribs. "Honey… ye're coming with us."

"I.. I am?" Gabrielle stammered gently. "I mean.. uh.. I  have.. things.. friends… uh.. "

"Don worry… we'll take goood care of yer… " The man hiccupped. "Evrybod's gonna luv you… honest.. c'mon.."

"Well.. maybe for a little while." The bard agreed hesitantly. "I could show them some little tips my mother told me.. you think they'd like that?"

"Honey.. they's gonna luuuuuv it.. trust me…" He started walking towards the huge, guarded gates. "You jest c'mon with old Robbie here…"

"Oh.. well.. thanks..uh.. Robbie… careful there." Gabrielle managed to steer them around a water trough. "I bet you like beef stew, huh?"

"Ungh… ifn it's got lots of that good stuff in it.. " The man mumbled.

"Mmhmm… big chunks of meat.. and nice carrots… with lots of garlic.. "

The man made a sound somewhere between a whine and a groan. "My mammy used to make that.. "

Warriors. Gabrielle tried to ignore the boozy stench. Fastest way to their hearts was right through their bellies… and don't I know it.

*******************************************

The military compound was not only well guarded, Xena realized, it was well maintained, and orderly. She followed behind Sedrus as he lead her across the central open space, having reluctantly surrendered Iolaus to a neatly dressed groom who ran up and took the golden stallion away, leading him respectfully.

"Nice." She commented, taking in the crisply armored men practicing formations, and the archery drill going on across the way. The soldiers seemed disciplined, and their group leaders were yelling orders that Xena recognized from a time long past.

This, she realized uneasily, was truly an army's camp.

"Andreas gives orders to keep it that way." Sedrus answered succinctly. "You get one chance… then you're out."

"Out of the army?" Xena inquired mildly.

The tall guard gave her a sardonic look. "That too." He replied. "You may end up regretting trotting up to that gate, Paladar."

The warrior shrugged one shoulder. "Not much call for my kind of work out in the villages." She remarked. "I'd rather not do the traveling festival circuit taking in quarter dinars."

Sedrus grunted. "S'truth.. I was stuck apprenticed to a miller back two years, when Andreas passed through my hometown… just a petty warlord he was then, but looking for talent… I haven't regretted it." He paced on a few feet in silence. "Where you from?"

Xena had decided to remain as close to the truth as possible… in her experience, the more tangled the story, the harder it was to press home, and since Gabrielle was involved in all of this… the simpler the better. "Amphipolis."

"Mmph.. that's a backwater if I've ever seen one." He chuckled dryly. "No wonder you're out and about." He motioned for her to precede him into a small building. "Go ahead.. that's the adjutant's office. He asked to see you."

Xena ducked inside, seeing a spartan, but well appointed office with a neatly half armored man behind the desk. He was of middling height, and had salt and pepper hair, which extended through the full beard and moustache that covered half his face. As she entered, he looked up.

Thin lips pursed. "You are the horse trainer?"

Xena crossed the floor and stopped in front of him. "Yes."  Her eyes met his, but her peripheral vision soaked in the details of the well-drawn maps and papers on the desk.

He stood. "You are experienced? With war trained animals, I mean, not with circus acts?"

One of Xena's dark eyebrows lifted. "I don't train circus horses."

"Very well. Come with me." The man turned and made his way briskly out the back door, into a fenced in area that spread out to the outer walls of the compound. The smell of animals was strong here, and Xena could hear the shifting motions of many horses around her. She ambled along behind the man, absorbing the watchful guards on the walls, and the starkly disciplined faces of the soldiers around her.

It was making her shoulderblades itch. Then she was distracted by a low, wild whinny, which was coming from a closed in stockyard just in front of them. As they walked forward, a dark head reared above the part ion and struck out, knocking chips the size of ale mugs out of the wall.

"That's a wild one." Xena commented, admiring the large, well shaped head briefly visible.

The man turned, and smiled thinly at her. "You want to train horses for us? There's your first." He gestured. "Ride him, you stay. Don't, we let him drag you around the outer courtyard until you're nothing but bones."  He snapped his fingers at several guards, who approached swiftly. "Open the gate.  She doesn't come out."

Xena felt her heart skip a beat, as she wondered what kind of lunatics they'd stumbled into. Then she eyed the spears pointed at her, and she approached the fence, giving the stocky man closest to the gate a nod. "Do like the man says." She told him, coolly. "I haven't got all day."

A murmur rose from the watchers at her words, but she ignored it, as the wood creaked open in front of her and she was given a shove inside.

It was close, and hot in the enclosure, with her at one end, and the huge, muscular black as pitch stallion at the other. He rolled his eyes whitely at her, and reared, snorting in fear and anger.

She heard a clatter around her and glanced up to see grinning faces watching her, and sighed. Next time, Xena… grab her, toss her over your shoulder, and run like Hades. She ducked as something whistled towards her, and reached out to grab it, finding a rope halter in her hand. She laid it over her shoulder and slowly approached the horse.

He didn't like it one bit. One moment he was standing there, watching her, then next he was hurtling towards her, teeth bared and hooves lifted, reaching to rake her body.  Xena ducked under him, letting him charge past her, and turned, watching him as he reached the end of the pen and whirled, snorting.

"Hey boy." She let her voice reach out to him, keeping her tone low, and gentle.

An ear twitched, just slightly.

"Yeah, that's it. " Xena walked not towards him, but parallel to where he was, towards the shady side of the enclosure. There was blood on the wall there, almost fresh, and now that he was in the sun, she could see moisture on his coat that wasn't sweat.

Poor bastard. She gave the men watching a dour look. One reached down and smacked the horse on the rump with a twitch, causing him to scream in pain, and he bolted, thundering towards Xena with murderous intent. Xena waited until he was almost on her, then she threw herself to one side, crouching down to let his hooves pass over her, then shoving off against the ground, powering herself out of his way and into a neat, mid air tumble. She landed and dodged, then circled him again. "Easy boy."

He snorted, moving along the long wall of the rectangular enclosure and breathing hard, foam collecting under his jaw.  The same soldier went for his twitch again, but Xena saw him this time, and jumped forward, diving under the horse as he started, then leaping up against the wall and catching the soldier's hand as she wrenched it back against the wall. He screamed, but released the twitch, which fell to the ground inside the paddock. Xena let him go as well, and dropped back to the ground, dusting her hands off. "Try that again and you'll be wearing it from the inside." She growled softly at him.

Now, it was quiet. That suited Xena, and apparently the horse as well, because he stood watching her in silence, his nostrils flaring out as he breathed. She approached him very slowly, murmuring gently under her breath. "Easy now… c'mon.. "

The liquid, intelligent brown eyes watched her warily, and the stallion shifted, all four hooves scattering little bits of churned up turf around him.

Xena was close enough now for the horse to smell her, and she kept up her low whispers, holding her hands out a little to either side of her body. He was huge, she realized, his back topping her head by at least an inch and his feet the size of platters. His legs were covered with a  fine, thick fringe of hair, matted with mud and gore now, but cleaned up and brushed out, he would be beautiful. His coat was a solid black, with blue highlights in the sun, and she could see cuts and sores in his skin now that she was much closer.

"You poor bastard… take it easy now." Xena murmured, holding a hand out, and letting the angry horse breathe in her scent. A step closer and her fingertips were brushing against the soft, velvety skin of his nose, and feeling the stiff prickles of hair.

Suddenly he screamed and reared over her head, his legs flailing, coming with in inches of taking her skull off. Xena stood still and didn't react, even when hoof brushed her shoulder, and the horse dropped to all fours and tossed his head at her, spraying her with a light mist of foam.

"Easy." The warrior murmured, sensing the fascinated silence of the watching men. She put a hand out again and touched the stallion's nose, then stroked his cheek gently, letting her natural talent and her strong personality edge out. The horse seemed mesmerized, in fact, and allowed her to stroke him all across his face, and the broad, flat cheekbone. She took a step closer, and felt his breath warm her chest, the sharp teeth inches from her jugular.

But her eyes were locked with his, and her voice was taming him, as long fingers gently combed over his mane, and circled the sores and scratches. "That's a good boy… you just take it nice an easy there… I'm not gonna hurtcha…." She pulled a briar from behind one tufted ear, and clucked. "Bet that hurt, huh?"

He nuzzled her, now seeming far more tired than threatening. She continued scratching him, and removing burrs, rubbing her hands all over his neck and back, and finding several bad sores. His skin twitched she neared them, and she was careful not to put any pressure against he sensitive and raw skin. "No wonder you're in such a bad mood." She shook her head. "I would be too."

He whickered softly, and she ran her hands down his legs, finding a matted mess in the soft fringe, and cut behind one heel. She straightened, and slowly lifted the halter up off her shoulder, letting him sniff it. "Now.. if you let me get this on you.. I can take you outta here, and get those cuts fixed up.. how about it?" She rubbed the rope gently over his skin, getting him used to the touch. He stood quietly , then leaned his head against her and sighed.

Well, Xena reflected, slipping the halter over the proud head. She'd always, always had a touch with horses. Maybe it was because they knew she had a soft spot for them, even in the worst of times. Even in battles where she'd cut off more heads than there were buzzard flying over her, she somehow managed to avoid the animals her enemies rode. She fastened the halter, suddenly aware of the stark silence around her.

With a faint, uneasy prickling she glanced up, to see an empty rim facing her, save one  solitary figure, backlit by the midday sun. He was seated on the edge of the wooden fence, leaning on one corner post and watching her. Xena couldn’t make out his features, but she felt a gut deep feeling so alien, it startled her.

Fear.

The instinctual, unreasoning kind she'd only felt a few times in her life, and it make her nape hairs stand up, and set a knotted ball right in the center of her guts. She watched him warily as he slowly stood, swinging both legs over the wall and dropping down, moving with a powerful, edgy energy that slammed hard against her defensive reflexes.

This, was trouble. Big trouble. She felt her mouth go dry, as he came closer, clearing the sun's rays, and she could see his face. It was well proportioned, with a neatly trimmed beard and hair a fox red with scattered silver strands. His eyes were a deep, warm hazel, but looking into them, Xena was aware of a feeling of danger that chilled her to the core.

He took his time, looking her over. Then he strolled closer, glancing at the now restive stallion. "Well." His voice was deep, and musical. "It seems you have made a friend."

Xena reminded herself of who she was, and took hold of her composure. She relaxed a little, regarding him coolly. "It was that, or be dragged to death.. not much choice there."

His eyes, on a level with hers, flicked to her face and stayed there for a long, intense moment. Then he circled her. "My adjutant tells me your name is Paladar. Unusual."

Xena forced herself not to watch him, instead, she stroked the horse's ears, gentling his restiveness. "Wasn't my choice." She shrugged.

"No.. of course not… but you could choose not to keep it if it didn't suit you.. " Now he closed on Xena, and peered into her face. "And somehow.. it doesn't suit you." One hand lifted and a finger touched her still face. "Why is that?"

Xena slowly turned her head, and let her eyes meet his. "I don't know. Why is that?" She fought down the urge to either bolt, or release the pent up anxiety curling her muscles into knots. Her voice was low, and calm, and she lifted an eyebrow at him.

He smiled, then reached out and very gently fitted his fingers around her throat. As he did, she felt a wave of sickening compulsion come over her, passing through her mind as though mud were being poured around her. Her body panicked, and she shot a hand up, her fingers curling over his wrist and clamping down hard enough to make his head jerk.

"Shh… relax.. my horse trainer friend..this is not to harm you." He reassured her. "Everyone must meet my requirements…. It's just to make you tell the truth.. that's all.. then… well… "

Alarm bells were hammering the inside her skull, and Xena knew she was on the edge of a possibly fatal reaction. Her muscles tensed, and her defenses came up, the fire in her guts stirring with an almost irresistible force.

Then she thought about Gabrielle, and Dori, and she put a lid on it, clamping her jaw down on the low, outraged growl that threatened to burst from her throat. She forced her hand to release instead, and lowered it.

"Good girl." The man stated, approvingly. "Now.. three simple questions. What is your name?"

It felt as though bees were on her tongue, words forcing themselves out without her permission, but Xena hadn't spent most of a lifetime in self-discipline for nothing. She let the feeling pass, and met his eyes. "Paladar."

His eyes searched her intently. "Imagine that…. all right, and where are you from?"

"Amphipolis." That required no dissembling.

"Ah… and why are you here, Paladar?" The man's voice was silky soft.

"To train horses." The warrior replied softly.

He held her gaze for a few seconds more, then removed his hand. "Well." A smile edged his thin lips. "Welcome to my army, Paladar….I think you're going to be very valuable to me." Now his hand raised, but at waist level. "My name is Andreas."

Xena took his hand and returned the strong grip with one of her own. "What was with the throat thing?" She asked.

"Ah.. " He adjusted his collar a little. "I have received a.. gift… which allows me to compel a person to tell the truth… it comes in very handy for detecting spies.. don’t you agree?"

Xena nodded a little, then shifted her fingers on the stallion's reins. "I.. need to go take care of him. .he's pretty cut up." She backed a step, anxious to get out of the enclosure, and regroup.

Andreas followed her, though. "What you need… Paladar.. is to join me for dinner." His eyes wandered over her again. "I am fascinated by a woman who so beautiful.. and yet, so very strong."

"Sure." Xena murmured, knowing refusing was not an option, at this juncture. "I'd like that."  She blinked suddenly, as his shirtfront parted, and she spotted a silver chain, whose interlinks woke sudden, horrifying memories. A red stone was set between claws at its center, and she fought down a rush of panic. "I'll.. um.. be there later."

He smiled. "You do that… I'll be looking forward to it. " He slipped out of the door before her, and settled his short cloak, striding across the grounds as men gave him nods of concession in a wave before him.

Xena let out her held breath.

The necklace.. just like the one Hercules had been trapped by.

No wonder her hair was standing on end.

Xena swallowed, and took hold of the stallion's halter, turning to lead him away, thinking furiously, coming up with two, starkly important realizations.

Everything had changed.

She needed to find Gabrielle.

**************************************************************

Gabrielle kept her body still, as she underwent the silent examination. She was standing under the scrutiny of a very cold pair of gray eyes, in the stern face of the garrison's chatelaine, having been brought there when her helpful friend had wangled her past the guard station, and into the neat military grounds.

"You say you have experience?" The woman asked, in a sharp voice. "You're hardly more than a child."

"Actually.. I've just completed my twenty first year." The bard replied quietly. "And yes.. my family are innkeepers in the north."

The woman grasped her by the arm, and pulled her towards two shelves set into the wall of the spotless, busy kitchen. "What herb is that?"

Gabrielle told her, then told her the two cooking and two medicinal uses for it. She went on to name other members of it's family, and what foods it went best with, only winding down when the woman shook her. "Oh.. sorry.. I get carried away sometimes."

"Mmph… you've got a smart mouth on you. We don't need that here." The gray eyes studied her, then glanced away as a second woman came up, wiping her hands on a white, starched apron. "Astira… we have a new helper.. where do you need a hand?"

The newcomer studied Gabrielle coolly, pushing her auburn hair back behind an ear. "Better not send her upstairs… that's for sure." She and the older woman exchanged knowing looks. "Well, we could use some help in by the spit."

"Don't let her get singed.. she actually has some useful knowledge, unlike the rest of this lot." The chatelaine stated. "I have some ideas for her."

Gabrielle bit the inside of her lip, ruefully reflecting on just how much she hated being talked about in third person. You're just here to get information, Gabrielle… be good.. remember you promised Xena to.. "

The bard almost stopped breathing, as the kitchen's clamor faded out, and a thick wave of fear nearly took her legs out from under her. She sucked in a breath in reflex and took hold of the table she was standing next to, her mind a fraction away from utter panic.

What.. in the whole wide world, could scare her soulmate like that?  She saw the other woman motioning her to follow, and she did dumbly, not hearing a word of what she said, merely following until the growing heat distracted her from the ache in her guts and she looked up to see the huge fireplace approaching.

The waves of fear were subsiding… and Gabrielle was able to pry half an ear away from her own heartbeat to listen to what Astira was saying. "Um..sure.. okay." She stumbled over the rough hearthstones to where a pot was crouching, three long handled brushes extending from it. She lifted one and absently painted the slowly turning roast with it, her mind outwardly focused, anxiously wondering what her partner had gotten herself into.

She glanced around, seeing the two sets of frosty eyes on her, and debated, her breaths coming short as her body wound it self up, desperately wanting nothing less than to bolt out of the tense room, and find it's other half. But the fear was ebbing, and she hesitated…feeling her own racing pulse start to slow.

Okay. She swallowed, and got control of herself. She's all right.. you can't help her by busting out of here like a nutcase. Gabrielle closed her eyes briefly, then exhaled. Just wait for her to get things sorted out.. She turned her attention reluctantly to her task, and her nose wrinkled.

What in the blazes… Gabrielle sniffed the brush she was using, the acrid scent making her head jerk back in startlement. She glanced sideways at the young girl next to her, who was concentrating on dousing the roast with the stuff. "Hey.."

Pale green eyes, shades lighter than her own gave her a frightened look. "Hush!"

The bard looked over her shoulder, to see the two supervisors attending to some other task, then looked back. "Why?"

The girl looked towards the woman also then sidled a little closer. "We're not to talk.. you're new.. be quiet, or they'll toss you in the cells."

Gabrielle sniffed at her brush again. "What is this stuff? It smells awful." She lowered her voice to a bare whisper.

"It's for the troops… I.. don’t know what it is.. but they make us put it on everything." The girl answered softly. "Once it cooks a lot.. it doesn’t smell so bad."

"Oh." Gabrielle dabbed at the roast hesitantly. "Okay… maybe it's vitamins or something."

The girl put more of the stuff on. "You're not from around here, are you?"

The bard shook her head. "No.. I was just passing through.. one of the soldiers brought me in here." She looked around. "I don’t' think I'm going to stay long."

The girl gazed at her, blinking. "You're never leaving.. they won't let you. Not once you're in here. My friend Sallas tried.. they took her skin off, and left her hanging in the courtyard for three days."

"Wh…what?" Gabrielle felt her pulse quicken, as the horror of the thought struck her. "But you're not slaves.. how can they… "

"Shhh… " The girl begged. "Please.. they don't care…and I don't want to be skinned." She edged away from Gabrielle and concentrated on her work, ignoring the bard's presence.

What have we gotten ourselves into? Gabrielle looked around uneasily. More than we thought, that's for sure. She wiped her brow, as the heat from the fireplace baked through her,  and turned her attention to trying to figure out what she was going to do to get out.

****************************************************

Xena got the stallion settled, the barn staff watching her in uneasy silence, making feeble attempts to attend to their tasks while she moved the wild horse into the largest stall, and got him tied off. He was very tired, and didn't give her much trouble, even when she collected a cloth and some cleaner from a wooden shelf nearby and cleaned out his sores.

That was all right. It gave her time to calm down, and figure out what she was going to do next. From the corner of her eye she saw Iolaus, his golden head over his stall divider watching her with pricked ears, though the rest of the barn's denizens had their backs turned, and were facing the outer wall with disinterested stances.

First things first. Find Gabrielle. Her general sense of the bard, strengthened by their connection told her she wasn't far, and Xena had to reluctantly admit it was possible her clever soulmate had wormed herself into the kitchen staff without much trouble. They'd need help, surely, with all these mouths to feed, and Gabrielle did have an undeniable talent for cooking.

And for getting into trouble, of course, but Xena was determined to get to the bard before dinner, and get them both out of the complex, storyteller or no storyteller. It was noble to want to help the kid out, but one slip.. one of these fighters recognizing her, and it could mean their deaths.

She wasn't ready for that. She had a lot of things yet that she wanted to do with her soulmate, and a daughter she was determined she was going to watch grow up back home.

Xena let her hands gently order the stallion's tangled mane and tail, then she gave him a pat and put the brushes together. As she turned, she realized her way was being blocked and she stopped, with an internal sigh. What is it with me and barns and thugs this week?

A very tall, very muscular man stood in her way, regarding her intently. "You the new trainer, eh?"

Xena peered up at him. "Looks like it."

The man absorbed this, then glanced at the black horse. "Stallion's kilt the last three what tried to put a halter on im.. guess you must be all right." He stepped back out of her way and blinked, his rugged, but interesting face tensing into a pensive half smile. "I'm Gaese."

Xena took his hand, feeling the calluses as she clasped it. "Paladar."

He nodded once. "Yellow pony yours?"

Xena lifted a brow. "Hardly a pony… but yes."  She dusted her hands off. "You a trainer?"

"Naw." Gaese shook his head. "Groom… we got twenty men here, and five hundred horses. You gots your work cut out for ye."

"Ah." Xena chewed over this. "I'm the only trainer then, huh?"

"Aye." Gaese nodded. "Last one's hanging over the pike rack.. didn't school Andreas' horse to his liking."

Great. "Which one's his?" Xena asked, glancing around the huge barn. Her eyes fell on ta creamy, pure white horse in a large corner stall, and she blinked. "Let me guess… that one?" She pointed.

"Aryep." Gaese agreed. "Nasty cross grained beast he is… but prettier than a picture…good luck to you wi him."

A she watched, the white horse bit at his stall door in irritation, and nickered softly, tossing his head. To her right, the dark stallion answered, snorting in weary challenge.

Xena sighed, and shook her head. What have we gotten ourselves into? She looked up as the barn door opened, and a uniformed guard entered, ignoring the stable hands and heading directly for the warrior.

"Yes?" Xena asked, as he came even with her, a bundle in his arms.

"Andreas has commanded me to give you this." He handed over the bundle. "It is a uniform. You will wear it tonight." The blond haired man stated.

"What if it doesn't fit?" The warrior asked, arching a brow.

"Cut off bodyparts until it does." The soldier responded, giving her a nod and turning around to leave. Then he turned back. "You will present yourself to the guard at the chapel door at sundown. You will be taken up to Andreas' quarters then. Do you understand?'

"Yeah." The warrior hefted the packet. "I sure do."

A brisk nod, then the soldier left.

Xena stared after him, then she walked over to where Iolaus was waiting, and dropped the bundle at the horses' feet. "First thing's first.. I need some herbs… which way is the kitchen?"

Gaese shifted his feet. "We're not allowed up there." He cleared his throat. "You'll be asking for trouble."

Xena took a breath. "Wouldn't be the first time." She ducked out the door, and followed her heart.

***************************************

Gabrielle had finished her basting task, and had been put to work assembling dinner for what she assumed was the higher officers. These were individual platters of meats and vegetables, and she was able to arrange and spice them by instinct, using combinations familiar to her after years of feeding her partner.

She felt eyes on her back, and she straightened a little, as the chatelaine's chill voice floated over her shoulder.

"Well, herb girl.. it seems you do have a talent for this…will wonders never cease." The woman picked up a piece of vegetable and tasted it, then gave Gabrielle an approving nod.

"Thanks." The bard replied quietly. "My name is Gabrielle, by the way." She finished the plate with a sprig of parsley and pulled the next one towards her.

"Gabrielle. That's an unusual name" The woman commented. "Where are you from?"

The bard debated swiftly, then half turned her head. "Potadeia." She paused. "It's a really, really small village to the south…more sheep than people." Her hands selected a mixture of spices, rubbing the peppercorns between her fingers to crack them as she combined the fragrant kernels.

"Really… isn't that coincidence… I had an uncle that came from there." The woman commented casually. "He was a baker."

Gabrielle sensed she was being tested. "That would be Erebesus? He made the best honey cakes.. I used to save up the quarter dinars I got for collecting berries and buy one on market days."

Finally, she got a smile. "That's him."  She studied Gabrielle's profile intently. "What brings you here, Gabrielle from Potadeia?"

"Well.." The bard sighed. "I was just passing through…. I really didn't intend to end up in here… I was going to Athens." She gave the woman an innocent look. "I guess I shouldn't have talked to the soldier, huh?"

The woman smiled tightly. "Keep yourself in line, my young friend, and you may end up in Athens after all." She remarked enigmatically, then looked up as the door opened, and a hush fell on the busy kitchen. "Hold." She raised her voice imperiously. "You don't belong here."

Gabrielle spent a moment absorbing the familiar warmth before she turned her head to see her soulmate framed in the doorway, filling it with a presence that left everyone else around her in pale weakness. Their eyes met briefly, and the twitch of Xena's lips was almost like a caress, bringing a faint, almost smile to her own face.

"I need some herbs." The warrior spoke quietly, but her voice carried, low and potent across the room. "They said this was where they were."

"Well, they were wrong." The chatelaine had straightened in reflex, sensing the challenge from the newcomer. "Now get out."

Xena's blue eyes went to the piles of herbs, then she looked at the older woman, and one perfect brow lifted in question. "I think those look like the ones I need."

"Astira, call the guard." The chatelaine snapped. "I don't know who you are, but you'll be in the catacombs shortly."

"Hold your tongue, Besthia." A cool, slick voice interrupted. Eyes turned to see the slender, wiry form of the adjutant enter through the back door. "Our leader has taken delightful bit of sauce into his service…in fact, he's asked to have her sup with him this evening, so you'd better be minding your manners with her." The man smiled. "Odd at it may seem."

"Jeren…" The woman protested, then just gave her head a shake. "Tis his will.. very well, here, herb girl.. give her what she needs." Besthia gestured to Gabrielle. "Be quick about it."

Sometimes, Gabrielle reflected, as she crossed the floor on shaking legs towards the safest port her life had ever known. Sometimes, the gods do watch out for us. She met Xena halfway, and they walked together towards the herb table, in the curious silence that surrounded them. The warrior's body language was very tense, and Gabrielle didn't need speech to understand they were in a lot of trouble. She picked up a small basket as they reached their destination, and cleared her throat gently. "What is it you need?"

Hidden from the room's view, a gentle sparkle entered the warrior's eyes, as their edges crinkled slightly in answer. "I'll take the herbs for now." Xena answered in a bare whisper. She named four herbs in a louder voice, and exchanged a few meaningless remarks with the bard until the hum of sound around them rose, as everyone else went back to work. "We need to get out of here." She uttered softly, with a quick glance around.

"No kidding." The bard murmured. "Here.. and do you need this one for cleansing?"

"Yeah.. give me some of that." Xena answered. "This Andreas…he's big trouble, Gabrielle.. he's got one of the necklaces on.. like the one Hercules got caught by."

Mist green eyes darted to ice blue in startlement. "No!.. Well.. that explains the utter creepiness around here, partner.. this place is crawling with bad news." She portioned out several bags of herbs. "They're putting something in the food… I don't know what it is.. it doesn't smell familiar."

"Mm.." Xena sniffed the air surreptitiously. "Belladonna? I can't tell…thanks for letting me know, though."  She took the bags. "And a pound of that." She pointed.

"Are you going to have dinner with him." The bard mouthed. "Xena… please be careful…these people are giving me the creeps big time."

"I will… and I'm sorry, Gabrielle.. we're getting out of here tonight. I'm walking a tightrope… with all these fighters around, someone's bound to recognize me, and I don’t' want to end up being drawn and quartered."

The bard exhaled, but nodded. She was all for the greater good, but not when it so directly threatened her beloved soulmate. "I'm sorry I got us into this.'

A hand gently closed over hers, and squeezed. "We needed to know, Gabrielle.. this is much worse… a lot more dangerous than I thought." Xena picked up the bundles and reviewed the table one last time. "Just stay close to the door."

The bard nodded faintly. "You think all he wants from you is dinner?"

A moment of pensive silence. "No."  The warrior hefted the bags in her hands and sighed. "Sometimes I wish I looked like Salmoneus."

Gabrielle felt a lump form in her guts. "He really rattled you."

The dark head nodded. "Yeah… I'm going to try and figure out a way to get us out of here before then… I'll do what I have to do, but… "

"I love you." Gabrielle mouthed silently. "I need you…please be safe."

Xena's face tensed, and her lashes fluttered, then she nodded. "You too." She straightened, and took a step back. "Well, that's all I need… thanks."   Her eyes met her soulmates for one last, long exchange, then she turned and strode out, closing the door behind her.

Gabrielle took a moment to compose herself, then she turned and brushed hr hands off on her skirt, to find Besthia right behind her, the chatelaine's eyes cool, and thoughtful. Had she heard? Gabrielle returned her look with bland innocence, cocking her head in question. "What's next?"

The older woman hesitated, as though speculating, then she pointed towards a spit with a pig twirling, it's body firmly twined. "Attend to that….and be careful. It's for the master's table." She smiled thinly. "He's been known to behead people who misuse their spices."

Oh. Great. Gabrielle trudged over to the table, where two other cooks were working, both older. One was a short, heavyset man with a neatly trimmed beard, the other was a slim, tiny woman with elfin features and a cap of dark hair. The woman glanced up and gave her a grim smile as she approached. "Hi."

The man looked up from his slicing task and nodded, then went back to his work. The woman merely clucked her tongue.

Gabrielle sighed, and picked up a knife.

*******************************************

Xena found herself escorted as she left the busy kitchen, and started back across towards the barn. The adjutant matched strides with her, remaining silent for a long moment before speaking.

"So…you've wormed your way in, have you?"

Xena debated ignoring him, then sighed. "You asked me to do something, I did it. You have a problem with that?"

"I have a problem with talented and beautiful horse trainers springing up out of nowhere… who find themselves a place inside this army like this." He snapped his fingers. "Let's just say I'm a suspicious sort of fellow, hmm?"

Xena stopped and faced him. "Look.. I passed your general's test… I don't think I need to explain myself to every pissant major domo who trips around here." She put one hand on her hip and tucked her packages under her arm.

His face changed, becoming a mask. "He tested you?"

"That's right." Xena affirmed. "So back off."

He ducked his head stiffly. "Very well." Then he turned on his heel and left, striding through the dusty courtyard without a backward glance.

Xena watched him go, then shook her head in bewilderment. She started walking across the yard again, but found her attention drawn to the drilling soldiers, a group of which were going through sword routines just in front of where she was.

Paired off, the men were attacking each other with blunted practice swords, displaying a robust knowledge of their craft, and performing some respectable moves with skill and strength. Xena watched their footwork, impressed despite herself, and studied the sword master who was teaching them with interest.

Tall, taller than she was, and well built, with the smooth, rippling musculature of a professional soldier. His moves were smooth, and very skilled as he demonstrated, and she felt a pang of jealous regret as he performed a reverse move she'd been having a world of trouble with two nights previous.

Abruptly, her neck hairs prickled, and she forced herself not to turn around as she felt a presence at her back, and her defenses snapped up edgily.

"What do you think?" Andreas' silky voice inquired. "Of my warriors?"  He circled Xena and rested his forearms against the low wall she'd stopped behind.

Xena watched the drills a moment more. "They look pretty good to me… but I'm really not one to judge."  She reluctantly turned her head to look at him, seeing his hazel eyes watching her intently.

"Ah.. come now, Paladar… someone who has lived with armies.. surely you know a good swordsman when you see one." He smiled at her, his beard moving across his face as the muscles stretched under it. "Don't disappoint me by saying you keep your head strictly in the stable."

Dangerous. Smart, crafty, and dangerous. Xena made a small nod of concession. "Your swords master is very good."

That got a soft chuckle. "That's better."  He turned an eye towards the group. "Do you partake, perhaps?" He reached for her free hand and turned it upmost, drawing a finger over the calluses on her palm, causing a shiver to run down her spine.

Xena was glad she hadn't had time to rebuild the most distinctive of them. "A little bit… enough to know now to cut my own arm off." She allowed. "You never know when it comes in handy."

"Hm…. " He eyed her speculatively. "Brack… come here, and bring two of those practice swords." His voice lifted, and directed itself to the swordsmaster, who jerked in response, not realizing he was being watched.  He picked up two of the requested items and trotted over quickly, ducking his head in obedience to Andreas before handing him the swords hilt first.

"M'lord… as you wish… do you find fault with the quality?" His voice was anxious, and Xena found that curiously disappointing in such a large, powerful looking man.

"No no…my faithful hound… I simply wish to have a friendly bout with our new master..or should I say, mistress of horses here." Andreas tilted his hand, and offered Xena one of the swords. "Paladar.. will you indulge me?"

Xena realized she'd been put in a very small corner. Reluctantly, she put her herbs down, and let her fingers close over the hilt, trying to figure out what he was looking for… was it competence, or the lack of it?

Could she short-circuit her reflexes enough to convince him of the latter? Or were her skills even now far too ingrained in her subconscious or her to pull that off? She stepped back uncertainly as he came at her, and then it was a moot point.

Reflexes honed over a lifetime of being a warrior responded to the attack without thought, outside her conscious control as she parried his attack and reversed it back onto him, adjusting to the unfamiliar weight of the practice sword with ease borne of long years spent working with all kinds of weapons.

"A bit, Paladar?" Andreas laughed softly. "You are too modest." He came at her again, his own skills more than adequate, and she found herself increasing her response, her body rising to the challenge as the fire erupted inside her guts. She dodged his next swing and reversed her body, then switched hands and took his sword out of his grip with a short, digging stroke that ducked under his defenses.

The metal rang dully on the ground, in a thundering silence.

With an agile kick, Andreas booted it back up to his hand, and twirled it, then stalked her, his eyes brilliant with intrigue. He came in harder this time, his blows short and savage, and she felt her body click into synch, slipping past him and evading his charge as she ducked under his return swing, and caught it on her sword, her arms holding easily.

She shoved back, and whirled, accepting his thrust against her blade, and twisting it, causing the strike to fly off at an angle and giving her an opening. She feinted right, then powered left, bringing her hands together on her sword hilt and hitting his weapon full force, sending it flying out of his hands to bound across the earth with a dull rattle.

He stared at her, momentarily nonplussed.

I think I just did something very, very stupid. Xena silently cursed herself. Her eyes flicked to the two main entrances to the encampment, and she started figuring angles. She watched Andreas' face as he studied her, a slow, cruel smile crossing it that made her defenses stand up and scream, and put an trembling edge to her muscles as her body hovered over an deadly explosion.

But he merely chuckled. "A woman of many skills indeed." He commented mildly. " Wouldn't you say, Brack?"

The swordsmaster let out what was apparently a held breath. "Aye, M'lord."

"Put her in drill rotation." Andreas ordered quietly, then gave Xena a smile. "I use all of my resources, Paladar… waste is a terrible thing. Until this evening?" He chuckled, then padded away, his muscular frame moving with a solid, lilting step. Abruptly he stopped, then turned. "I'm so looking forward to it."

Then he was gone, disappearing into the sun's glare as he headed towards the adjutant's office.

Xena let out a breath, then turned and offered the swordsmaster her practice weapon. "Here."

He took it, studying her intently. "We have drill in the morning, just after breakfast. Don’t be late, unless you like running."

Surprisingly, Xena felt herself settle down, as her native feistiness reared its head. Just who in Hades did these wet behind the ears bits of centaur fodder think they were, anyway? "I love running." She responded dryly. "And I'm not a morning person." Then she picked up her herbs and stalked off towards the stable, thinking hard.

Okay. She'd just had her first swordfight in over a year, short though it was.

Against a very dangerous, very crafty opponent, who frankly scared the boots off her.

She'd won.

Rather easily, in fact, and that meant… maybe what had been missing all along during her sparring sessions was the sheer challenge of competition. The fire inside that put a fierce edge on her reflexes, and almost.. almost had forced a low laugh from her lips as she fought.

Duh. Xena actually slapped herself in the head, as she entered the barn. How could she have forgotten that? Her body was still tingling with it.

Had he sensed that? Had she given herself away? Who else had seen?  She was so busy ordering her thoughts she didn't see the hands waiting to grab her until too late.

The warrior was thrown against the wall, the hard wood rattling under her weight, as bodies pressed against her, and a sharp pricking tickled her skin from the pitchfork leaning right against her jugular. She stared, shocked, into Gaese' determined eyes and went quite, quite still.

"We know who you are." The stable hand growled.

"Do you?" Xena breathed, feeling the forks points pierce her skin.

"Aye… and we're going to spit ye like a lamb before we let ye join him." Gaese vowed.

*************************************************************

Continued in Part 4

Standard Disclaimers -

These characters, and boy, are they ever characters, are mostly the property of Renaissance Pictures, Universal MCA, and whoever else owns stock and interest in Xena: Warrior Princess. This fiction was written for my amusement only, and not in any way, shape or form for profit - and it is not intended to infringe on the copyright holders of the characters.

Some of the characters are mine, and the story ideas.. well, who knows where they come from? Must be one weird place, that's for sure.

Specific Story Disclaimers:

Violence - this is a Xena:Warrior Princess story. This is not Teletubbies. Even though there are some rumors of similarities. Some of the violence is graphic, but we try not to dwell on it.

Subtext - Considering that the TV Series just aired an episode establishing Xena and Gabrielle as eternal soulmates, any disclaimer of subtext on my part is really kind of goofy in the extreme. The two characters are in love with each other, and have been for years. You can choose to see them as just friends, but then you might not want to read this fanfic, in case it changes your mind or anything like that.

Emotional Content - this is not one my more comedic efforts. There are moments of humor, however.

********************************************************************

Dark Comes the Morning - Part 4

By Melissa Good

"Gabrielle."

The bard looked up, to see Besthia walking towards her. "Yes?" She pushed away from the wall, and straightened, trying to ease muscles aching from the hard work of wrestling the huge roasts on and off the spits. She was covered in grease, and the bitter sauce they'd been basting the meat with, and she felt disgusting.

"Bring those trays down to the catacombs." The chatelaine told her. "And hurry back.. we start bringing the troops in shortly."

Gabrielle nodded, wiping her hands on the dirty piece of linen she'd captured, and heading towards the bins of meat offal and vegetable and lifting one of them up. Another ragged helper scurried to assist, and she followed the girl down the long, grease strewn stairs, careful to keep her footing.

The smell from the trays was getting her nauseus, but after she went on a few more steps, she forgot about that, in view of the stench that rose to her from the dungeon. Oh gods. Gabrielle almost stopped dead, then she forced herself to continue, biting the inside of her lip and wishing she could get to her wrist.

They got to the bottom of the stairs and the guard there checked them over, then snorted, and opened the door, apparently oblivioius to the smell of decay and waste that floated all around them. They entered into a small rotunda, lit by fluttering, greasy torches that showed six large cells all facing them, circling a wooden platform, where a large guard sat, a long, thick whip curled in one hand.  He looked up as they entered.

"Hey…look..it's the trencher wenches." He laughed. "Put the slop down, girls…we'll see who was good enough to rate a meal today."

Gabrielle set her tray down, and straightened, looking around in horror. Each cell had perhaps ten or  fifteen occupants, all in rags, most very thin, with straggling beards or the occasional smooth, female face. They stared at the guard with haunted, hungry eyes, hands thrust through the bars in desperate begging.

Xena says.. I have to learn to distance myself from situations like this. Gabrielle recited to herself silently. So that I can step back, and make a clear, logical decision without letting the emotion of the moment get to me.

"Okay… who's gonna sit up and beg for me today, huh?" The guard flicked his whip out, then stood, strutting over to the bars. "Maybe I won't give any to anyone… I'm in a bad mood today."

Six.. seven..eight….  Gabrielle looked up to see the man kick a thin girl in the face, knocking her into the back of the cell.

Screw that. "Here.. let me bring it over for you.. " She helpfully picked the heavy tray up and strode forward, as he turned, grinning at him as she let her boot catch in the wood and pitch her forward, sending the contents of the tray flying into three of the cells. "Oh… oh..gods.. I'm sorry… "  She knelt to retrieve the dripping pan. "It's so slick here.. I'm really, really sorry… "  Gabrielle watched the intent scramble for food in her peripheral vision, as she looked up at the guard.

"Clumsy bitch." He kicked her, sending her against the wall  with shocking violence. Gabrielle just lay there, stunned for a moment, then gathered her arms and legs under her as he came closer, flicking the whip at her and lashing her shoulder. "Get up.. and get out of here before I lock you up to just for being so damned stupid."

A thousand retorts rose to her lips, but she bit them down, remembering her gentle entreaty to her soulmate. I need you… please be safe.  That goes double for you, Gabrielle…you know what it would do to her if something happened to you, so just shut up.. and be glad you got those poor people some food, at least. "I'm sorry." She repeated again, keeping her head down, aware of eyes on her from behind, from the cell she'd fallen in front of.

The man muttered, but turned and walked the other way, lashing his whip at the bars nearby, sending the occupants scattering back.

"That was gutsy." A low, very hoarse voice whispered, just behind Gabrielle. She turned her head slowly, peering into the cell curiously.

Bloodshot dark eyes looked back at her, in a battered face no older than her own. He wasn't as thin as the rest of them, and he hardly had a beard started, so Gabrielle took a chance on guessing his identity. "Are you Devon?"

The eyes flicked around, but the guard was across the room. "Yep.. that's me… Devon the incredibly unlucky." He managed a half smile, around the swollen jaw and half shut eye that bore a dark ring. Despite that, he had a gentle, engaging face, with a promise of rakish good looks, and he looked at her with desperate, quiet humor.

"I hear you're a storyteller." The bard whispered, pretending to gather herself together and attempt to stand.

"I was." Devon stated. "Now I'm rat food." He glanced past her to where the guard was making his way back. "But it was worth it.. if even one person like you still has the guts to stand up to them. "

His eyes told her he knew his fate, and was resigned to it, with a stubborn courage that touched a chord deep inside her. Recklessly, she reached through the bars and touched his face, pinning his eyes with her own. "Don't give up so fast, Devon." She murmured, then with drew, standing as the guard came closer, and brushing her clothing off. "I'll just take the tray now."

"You'd better… now get outta here." The guard growled, flicking his whip at her and moving on. " You don't get squat, you little pissant… and if you open your mouth again, I'll break the other side of it."

The bard picked up the discarded tray and turned, then paused as she heard a whisper coming from the cell.

"Hey.. what's your name?"

She stepped closer, leaning towards him and letting a tiny, impish smile cross her face. "Gabrielle." She told him, seeing him start, and his eyes widen before she turned and followed the other server out, clutching her tray with apparent humility.

*************************************************************

"I'm not here to join him." Xena kept her voice low, and calm. "Now, get off me."

"We've watched our folk become his slaves… we're not going to take a chance on ye… that'll seal the matter." Gaese shook his head, and pressed harder.

Xena felt her muscles tense, and she coiled the energy within her, letting it rise to the surface with a soft, rumbling little growl. "You know who I am, do you?"

They felt it, she knew, she saw them react. "Now get off me." Her voice took on an edge. "Move." This was a low shout, cracking through the air and making them jump, as they scrambled away from her, even Gaese stumbling back and dropping his pitchfork.

Xena twitched her shirt straight, then glanced at Iolaus, noting that her bags were obviously scattered and had been searched. To one side, her sword was lying, along with her folded leathers, which she hadn't had the guts yet to find out if they still fit. She put her hands on her hips and regarded the huddled villagers, who were blinking at her in some trepidation. "You could have gotten me killed." She told them quietly. "Because if they knew what you know… they'd spit me like a pig."

Gaese sat down in the straw, looking at her with round, surprised eyes. "You really are Xena.. aren't you?" He asked, in a hushed tone.

The warrior sighed. "Yes.. as a matter of fact, I am… what gave it away?"

Slowly, a tiny, bandy legged woman eased out from behind two of the men, and folded her hands across her chest. "My sister's an Amazon."  She glanced around, then up at Xena furtively. "Been to her place twice… she's got a picture there.. of you and the Queen."

Oh. Xena was faintly surprised. It never occurred to her that people outside her family would want those pictures of Paladia's. "So you recognized me."

The woman nodded. "t's a good picture."

And here she was, worried about an old hack fighter of hers looking up and seeing his former commander wandering around the compound. "Who's your sister?" Xena asked curiously.

"Solari." The woman grudgingly admitted.

Xena smiled in reflex. "I had no idea she had any siblings… she's a good friend of ours."

The group stared at their colleague in awe.

Gaese cleared his throat self consciously. "Sorry about that." He indicated the pitchfork. "We.. um….it just looked so…"

"It's all right." Xena stated quietly. "You were willing to risk your life to help your people.. that's pretty damn brave."  She walked across to her saddle bags and started to repack them, letting her fingers trail over her leather armor.  Then she checked the uniform she'd been given, and found it to be a standard belted overtunic, apparently more than large enough to accommodate her body.

The uniform would allow her to move around the compound…but…

With quiet decision she entered Iolaus' stall, and started unlacing her shirt, suddenly aware of an awkward silence. She looked up. Five sets of eyes looked back at her, with varying stages of apprehension and trust.

"Did you really come here to help us?" Gaese asked softly.

Xena leaned on the wooden divider, and regarded them. "We came here to find out what was going on… and to see if we needed to do anything about it." She answered honestly.

They looked at each other. "We?" The tiny woman blinked. "Is… "

"She's up in the kitchen, yeah." Xena replied shortly.

"What did you decide?" Gaese persisted. "About what's going on?"

A little silence settled around them. "I decided that I don’t' like what's happening." Xena answered, slowly. "And that we have to do something." She looked at the door. "But right now… I've got to get me, and Gabrielle out of here.. before someone else figures out who we are, and makes us into fertilizer."

"Wow." Gaese murmured softly. "Can we help? I mean.. we can distract them or something… anything…"

"Yeah.. we're really good at plans." The small woman stated, as they all started walking toward her.

Xena pulled her now loosened tunic off and draped it over the wooden half wall. "Well.. " She glanced up to see two of them walk into each other and Gaese trip and hit a watering trough, as they all avoided looking at her. "Sure.. why don't you start by sitting down for a minute."

They did, and let her dress in peace, as she shook out her leathers and regarded them, then shrugged and stepped into the dark garment, holding her breath as she pulled it up, then realizing she didn't need to, as the armor neatly claimed her body and settled comfortably into place.

Huh. She fastened the straps and let the cool leather warm as it came into contact with her skin. It felt strange.. it felt… she took a deep breath, and felt the comfortingly solid presence around her. Like an old friend. The scent carried hints of brass, and the herbs they used to keep out insects at home, Xena realized, as she patted the front of it in wry affection, feeling her spirits rise.

Then she pulled the tunic on, and settled it's folds over her, buckling the belt and tugging the fabric straight. It was a dark green, with black edging and golden pipes, and bore what she assumed was Andreas' crest on the front, which was a golden lion. It matched what she'd seen the guards wear, though this was a touch more ornate, and it had a beltbuckle which featured a hammered lion's head.

"All right." She dusted the hem off, and ran her fingers through her hair. Her eyes fell on her sword, sitting mutely on the bench, and she hesitated, then reluctantly decided to leave it behind. She did however slip her breast dagger in place, and the two long, slim blades that seated at the top of each boot.

And then she paused, redrawing one dagger, and considering it's cool, hard length.

What was that she'd told Gabrielle? Never carry a weapon you have no intention of using? She drew in a breath, then a second, then seated the knife home in it's scabbard, acknowledging that dark part of her that was awake now, and sniffing interestedly around.

If she'd had a tail, she realized darkly, it would have been twitching.

It was time. There was no way for her to get them out of there before she had to meet with Andreas, and to miss that.. would mean an instant search, and a plummeting of their already tight chances.

All right then. Xena dusted her hands off, and tightened her jaw. He wanted a dinner date? He was gonna get one. Her lips curled into a fierce grin, as she walked to the door of the barn. "Could be I'll need that horse pretty fast."

They blinked at her. "We'll get him packed up." Gaese murmured. "Are you sure there's nothing else we can do?"

The blue eyes took on a faint, wry twinkle. "Cross your fingers."

***************************************************

There was a small courtyard outside, where the huge platters and spits were rinsed off in large water troughs, and Gabrielle edged through the door into the open air with a sense of relief.

First, because she was alone. Second, because there was large quantities of water there, and that was exactly what she was looking for. With a determined look on her face, she strode across the wet ground to the largest trough, and stuck her hand in. "That'll do." She then unhesitatingly took hold of the edge, and valuted over it, landing in the water with a very satisfying, and very chilly splash.

For a peaceful moment, there was silence in the courtyard.

Then Gabrielle surfaced, spluttering, and shook the pale, wet hair out of her eyes, as she scrubbed at her body furiously. "Ugh.. uck… gross.. ew…. Gods be damned, Gabrielle… the next time you want some adventure, tie a can on Xena's tail, okay? Stupid romanticizing piece of…UGH!!!"

She ducked her head under the water and rubbed her hair, then surfaced again, reveling in the simple sensation of being clean.

Well… The bard glanced at the now murky water. Somewhat less than completely filthy, anyway. With a sigh, she climbed out of the trough, and pulled the stopper, letting the muddy water drain off down the cut stone channel. The cool air hit her body and she shivered involuntarily, then she wrung the fabric out as best as she could before she trudged back inside, poking her head in the doorway and looking around before she slipped across the stone floor to the spit area.

At least it was warm there. She pushed faintly trembling fingers through her damp hair and went back to a pile of nuts she'd been tasked with cracking, after she'd gotten back from delivering the food to the prisoners. The tempo was a little slower now, since all the heavy prep work had been done, and the servers were busy carting out pots of meat and vegetables for the troops.

Gabrielle felt the warmth of the fire on her back, drying her shirt and she shifted her shoulders a little to ease their stiffness. Wistfully, she wished Xena were there. She found she missed the warrior's close presence more than usual, and she wondered if it had more to do with the danger, or that she'd become used to having her partner around her all the time the past week.

C'mon, Gabrielle… she's not a walking security blanket, ya know. She cracked her nuts absently, separating the shells from the nutmeats, and putting the latter in a large bowl.

"You're all wet." The short, thin girl she was working with whispered.

"Mm.hmm." Gabrielle agreed. "I had to rinse off all that grease.. it was driving me nuts." She glanced at the girl, who was staring at her like she'd grown a second head. "What?"

"You went outside? Without permission?" The girl squeaked.

Gabrielle riffled her drying hair out. "Yes…actually, I didn't think about that. I just wanted to get clean." She looked around. "Hello, wh…"

Two men had entered, and were putting down some wooden boxes, their eyes glancing towards her in question. Besthia came up behind her.

"Gabrielle… ah.. good. Sit down there, they'll put your tattoo on."

Two blond eyebrows shot up, and the bard turned, putting her hands on still damp hips. "What?"

Besthia rolled up a sleeve and displayed a small lion's head on her shoulder. "Your mark… come now, sit down and be still.. it doesn't take long."

Gabrielle's heart started pounding, and she glanced at the men, surprised to see one of the merchants she'd talked to earlier in the market. "What are they going to do?" She asked, more to buy time than anything else, being well aware of how tattoos were applied.

"Hush now, girl.. just sit, and let them do their work. It's bad enough you'll be idle while things go on… but Andreas has said all his people must wear the mark by the dawn." The older woman glared sternly at Gabrielle, and pointed at the bench.

Slowly, the bard sat down, glancing at the two men in growing dread. One of the men unpacked a sinister looking kit, the other rolled her damp sleeve up and swabbed her skin with a sharp smelling liquid.

"Lass." The man with the swab whispered, as Bethia moved a pace away. "I'm sorry."

The bard nodded, and clenched her other fist, resting her head against it and feeling the cool metal band of her ring giving meager comfort.

She felt his fingers grasp her wrist very gently, then he chuckled. "Ah." He put her hand back down and laid a touch on her back. "This'll sting a bit, lass… grab hold there."

I can't believe this is happening. Gabrielle gritted her teeth and clutched the table edge, trying to ignore the bustle around her. She could feel Besthia's eyes on her, and she felt the blood rising to her neck in embarrassed response.

A cold touch on her shoulder, then pain, and she clamped her jaw down hard, strangling the yell that threatened to force it's way out of her chest. It felt like a firebrand was touching her skin, and she felt her toes curl inside her boots as the pain moved edgily across her skin, sending jolts of agony through her. .

It withdrew momentarily, and she sucked in a breath, before it started up again, relentlessly driving against her sensitive skin over and over again, until she was lightheaded from holding her breath against it.

"All right then.. now the color… won't be long now, lass."

She nodded once, briefly, then held on again as the pain returned, this time slightly different, hitting odd nerves in her body that made her thigh muscles jump in response.

Finally, it was over, and she let out a relieved breath, as the merchant patted her back.

"Brave lass… all over now." He bent closer. "I'll put a cloth over it… it takes days to heal."

Reluctantly, she turned her head, and looked at her arm, reddened and slightly swollen from the abuse.  She was startled to see a black outlined, golden hawk head looking back at her, it's dark eye cocked in question, and she felt a curious mixture of emotions, ranging from outrage, to disgust, to a weird little thread of excitement. "But…" She looked up at him in bewilderment.

"Shh.. now… we've all got em." The man stood between her and Besthia, his finger against his lips. "Tis an honor… like a battle scar." He casually rolled up his sleeve, and displayed an ugly, twisted knot in his skin. "Arrow did that…. at Corinth."

Corinth.. Gabrielle tensed her lips in acknowledgement, and saw his faint nod. Well. She watched the merchant cover the picture with soft, white linen. I am hers, right? A tiny, wry bit of amusement worked it's way through her pain and exhaustion. She's gonna have a heart attack when she sees it.

Speaking of… Her eyes went to the window, where the last bit of sunset was showing, and she realized the thick, nervous dread she'd been feeling in her guts had little to do with the tattoo, and everything to do with a certain warrior princess she knew.

Who was unsure of herself, in a way that was almost painful for her soulmate to witness. Who was fighting a darker side that even Gabrielle could sense reemerging, and was going into this conflict as fractured as the bard had ever seen her.

"Be safe." She whispered, sending out a warm thought. . "I love you."

*******************************************************

Xena made herself stroll across the grounds, her hands behind her back, stopping to watch.. to look, occasionally to listen as she made her way towards her appointed reporting spot.

She timed her steps to the sun, letting her shadow lengthen before her as the sun sank lower and lower, feeling it's dying rays warming her back and throwing her face into darkness.

Heading from the light, into the darkness… in more ways than one, she admitted to herself. She could feel the wild part of her stirring, pushing it's boundaries, having been somnolent long enough, and for every step she took, it's alertness grew, sending her nostrils flaring, and prickling her skin with the hypersensitive awareness that made every brush of air a kaleidoscope of sensation.

Her steps altered, becoming less of  a casual stride and more of a silent stalking, as her knees loosened, and her body leaned slightly forward, over her center of balance.

A hunter.

She mounted the steps as the last rays of the sun disappeared, and the purple twilight  colored the stone walls in a dull blue shadow. The adjutant was waiting, obviously waiting, and he regarded her coldly as she came to a halt next to him.

"You walk a thin line, horse trainer."

Xena turned, and glanced behind her, then faced him. "You said sundown. The sun.. is down." She told him, reasonably. "What's the problem?"

His eyes studied her for a long moment, then he moved forward, reaching for her body. "You would do well not to play games."

The warrior caught his hands gently and held them. "What do you think you're doing?"

He tried to pull his arms free, and found himself unable to. "Checking you for weapons."

Xena released him. "Oh." She gave him a seductive grin, reaching for the laces that held her tunic closed. "You shoulda said so.."

He back off uncertainly. "Ah.. no… that…that's fine."

Pale blue eyes glanced at him from under dark lashes. "You sure?" She patted her chest, then her upper thighs. "Not much room in here for catapults or anything like that."

He looked closely. "Ah.. no… just come with me."  He answered stiffly, turning towards a large, ornate door.

It was opened as he reached for it, and Andreas pushed the surface outward, leaning on the frame and regarding them. "So."  His eyes lazily studied Xena. "Here you are."

"I was being checked for weapons." The warrior drawled.

Andreas laughed thickly. "Ah.. Paladar… the weapons you possess my hound here would have no luck in removing, eh?"

Truer than you can ever know. Xena accepted the compliment with a gracious nod. "Shall we?"

"Please." The tall general gestured for her to precede him, and the entered a long, carpeted hallway that stretched off into the distance, lined with torches at sedate intervals along with armored, serious looking guards. "The uniform becomes you."

Xena paced alongside him, letting her senses absorb their surroundings. "You like the insignia, I see." The lion motif was everywhere, from the wall tapestries, to the blazon on the guard's tunics.

Andreas chuckled softly. "I like to stamp what's mine." He commented. "So there are no.. misunderstandings."  He approached a large door, and the guard next to it opened it, bowing his head as the tall general brushed past him. 'It makes me feel so.. secure…"

The door closed behind them, and Xena glanced around the room. It was a large, immaculate, but simply furnished room, with a huge desk on one side, and several bookcases full of bound scrolls behind it. there were two low couches against the wall, and a table with several chairs around it evidently meant for staff meetings. Through a half closed door in the rear, she could see a bedpost, evidently Andreas sleeping quarters. "Nice."  She commented softly, grudgingly admiring the clean, austere room, which matched her tastes in lack of ornamentation.  She looked up to find Andreas at her elbow, his compelling eyes capturing hers.

"I'm glad you like it." He purred, offering her a seat. "Please… they'll bring dinner in shortly… I'm sure you must be.. hungry."

Oh brother. Xena found time for a tiny bit of amusement, as she crossed to one of the low couches and relaxed on it, stretching out her length and crossing her ankles as she studied Andreas. He chose a perch on the table corner, giving him the advantage of looking down on her.

"It's been a long day." Xena acknowledged.

"Mm.. so it has. Tell me, Paladar… what brings you here?" His eyes grew intent, and focused on her and Xena could feel the power of his potent personality hitting against her defenses.

"I was headed to Athens… thought maybe I could get some work there." The warrior stated quietly. "When I stopped by here, I heard there was an army being gathered, so… " She lifted a hand and let it fall.

"So, here you are." Andreas murmured. "And how fortunate for me.. since my other trainers proved so…inadequate." He stood and walked over to the couch, seating himself on the arm, and playing with her hair. "One might have thought the gods had sent you here… except I don't believe in them."

Interesting. Xena clamped down tight on her instincts, which were screaming for her to bat the general across the room. "You don't" She slowly turned her head to regard him, his leg inches from her jaw.

"No, I don't… does that shock you, Paladar?" He murmured, running a finger across her cheekbone. "I think they're one big scam.. meant to keep us huddling in our places." A smile twitched it's way across his face as he traced her jawline. "I would much rather celebrate our own, human potential… wouldn't you?"

"Some say the gods to exist." Xena replied quietly.

"They are a myth." Andreas replied, his voice deepening, and becoming very compelling. "You must not fall prey to that myth, Paladar…you have far, far too much potential to let yourself be trapped by old superstitions."

"Myths." The warrior mused, thoughtfully.

"Yes… myths." The voice grew soft, and cunning. "You don't want to believe in fairy tales, do you, Paladar?"

"No." Xena answered. "I'd rather believe in things I know are real."

Andreas smiled. "Good girl" He patted her head as though she were a favorite dog. "I teach all of my army to let go of their old beliefs…and concentrate on the goal." He paused. "My goal." He continued stroking her hair, almost hypnotically.

Dark lashes fluttered over pale blue eyes. "What is your goal?" Xena asked softly. "Why are you building this great army?"

He gazed at her. "To conquer, my sweet Paladar… to take all of this land under my banner.. and.. protect it."

"Protect it from what?" The warrior's brows creased a little.

He tipped her chin up. "From anyone who wants to take it away from me." He bent his head and kissed her.

On one level, Xena could feel the immense power of his personality, augmented by whatever it was that necklace was doing. It hammered against her, but that part of her that was part of Gabrielle, which the bard owned utterly, sat back and let the intensity roll off her like water.

Her hand twitched, resting on her calf, as dark instincts rose up, and she considered ending the situation right there. Her thumb touched the dagger hilt in her boot, but he broke off, and smiled at her.

"Does that answer your question?"

"Yes." The warrior let her hand relax. "Where do I fit in?"

A bigger smile. "Ah… " He chuckled richly. "A practical woman.. I like that."  He offered her a hand and pulled her up, then walked across to the desk and sat on it's edge. A parchment was sitting there, marked with tiny, iron symbols that were quite famiiar to Xena. "I have a good infantry." Andreas stated flatly. "I can take the Athenian ground troops.. but their cavalry will cause me problems. Mostly because they have horses that are trained to act in concert, in close order. Most of the animals I have were gotten… from other sources."

Xena absorbed the map, her eyes flicking to details she wondered if even Andreas understood. "Okay.. you want them trained to fight."  She paused. "How many of them are there?"

"Five hundred… I have perhaps seven hundred soldiers more or less qualified to ride them. " Andreas answered. "And two thousand foot soldiers."

Xena's eyes almost popped. Almost three thousand fighters… great Hera. 'That's quite a force."

He smiled. "And they are all loyal.. I take great stock in.. loyalty." He put a finger on her chin. "Do you understand me, Paladar?"

Xena straightened, and faced him, letting some of the reins loose on her own intense personality. "Oh yes… I understand you." She let her voice drop, and aquire a faint rasp. One hand lifted, and traced the tiny, perfect lion on his chest. "You like to own people… control them… make them do… " Her fingers wandered. "Whatever you want them to." Her eyes lifted, gazing at him. "Isn't that right?"

His nostrils flared. "Yes."

Xena stepped closer, running a single fingertip down the centerline of his chest, stopping at his navel. "You like to take charge." She leaned in and kissed him, letting some of the fire show. "Be the boss… " Her hand went flat on his chest, and stroked downward, and she felt his breathing shift and quicken. "Don'cha?"

A soft uttering came from his chest, as he laced his hands in her hair. "Yes."

Xena let her other hand touch his thigh, sliding between his legs and urging them apart a little. He complied without further prompting, his lips becoming insistent.

"Y'know what?" Xena breathed softly, tickling his skin.

"Wh.. ?" It  was barely an answer.

Every single ounce of power coiled in her body, furious at being held at bay so long exploded, in a single, savage motion as she slammed her knee up into his swollen groin.

He screamed without a sound, and dropped like a heartshot hind, his eyes bulging and veins standing out on his neck. Speechless, he stared at her as she knelt.

"So do I." Xena told him quietly. "I'm just a little more subtle about it." With a quick motion, she slugged him, rendering him unconscious. Her hands went for his collar, spreading the fabric there and exposing the necklace.

Just like she remembered. Steeling herself, she reached for it, then drew back in horror as she realized it was no longer freestanding.

It had become part of his skin.

She brushed a fingertip across it, and felt the dark, seductive tendrils reach out eagerly for her, coaxing the tiger in her out of it's cave. With a soft gasp, she pulled her hand away, startled at the necklaces power, much stronger than she remembered from the past.

Cutting it out… wasn't an option.

She sat still for a moment, her fingers on her dagger, staring at him. She drew the blade, feeling the cool hilt warm to her hand as she palmed it, raising it slightly.

Time stopped.

She could count the breaths between heartbeats as she balanced on the tightrope, between the darkness and the light, between her past, and her future.

And the knife slid home, into a worn leather scabbared, unblooded.

Xena stood, wiping her hands off. "I'm going to regret this." She murmured quietly. "But I have to get out of here first. "  Glancing around, she walked to the door, knowing time now, was critical.

She opened the door, surprising the guard. "He's um… " She gave the big man a wink. "Resting for a few minutes."

His eyes looked her up and down, then he returned the smile, chuckling softly. "Don go far.. 'e doesn't rest long."

"Oh.. don't worry." Xena patted his arm. "You couldn't keep me away."  She sauntered down the corridor, stopping to admire the tapestry, until she came to a cross corridor, which she strolled down, hiding herself from the guards view.

Then she took off running.

Xena got to the end of the corridor, then ducked into yet another hallway, pacing down it anxiously, sniffing the air. She finally detected a bit of fresh breeze and headed towards it, finding a small doorway set into an alcove. Cautously, she pushed it open, and peered out, finding herself in a placid garden.

Xena closed the door behind her, and trotted through the sweet smelling blooms, then ducked under a trellis that led towards the barn. She headed towards it, giving the few people she saw a solemn nod. Seeing her tunic, none of them stopped her, and she reached the structure in relatively good order, slipping inside and closing the door behind her.

Gaese was there, cleaing some tack, and he sucked in a breath as he saw her. "'E's ready." He nodded towards Iolaus. "Getting out of here, ar ye?"

The warrior checked the stallion's tack and nodded. "I'll be back." She lead him out carefully. "Thanks." She opened the door, then stepped back, as an armed soldier surged in, aiming a thrust to her throat.

Warrior instincts kicked in automatically, and Xena dropped, letting the sword slide over her right shoulder, then she straightened, grabbing his arm and bringing her elbow up into his chin with a satisifying crack. "Damn."

She shoved his body off against the wall, and gave Gaese a look. "Outta time… wish me luck."

The stablehand gazed at her. "Ares hands protect you, Xena."

Blue eyes regarded him in still silence for a moment. Then the warrior nodded, and left.

She was spotted as she exited, and a yell went up. "Damn..damn..damn.. you better be ready to go, Gabrielle." The warrior muttered, as she vaulted onto Iolaus' back and sent him galloping for the kitchen.

****************************************************

Gabrielle let her elbows rest on the worktable, stealing a few moments rest after finishing up the cleaning task Besthia had set her to. The bard was privately convinced the kitchen supervisor had singled her out, determined to give her the worst, nastiest, dirtiest jobs to do, but she seemed to have vanished for the moment, and Gabrielle took full advantage of that.

Her arm throbbed, sending jolts of pain through her shoulder, and she spared a moment for a wistful wish involving water, sleeping furs, and a certain tall, dark and devastating warrior of her close acquaintance, whose very presence would have chased away the minor annoyances of aches and pains, and dirt.

Not that Xena had been far from her thoughts in the last little while. She could feel the tension in her soulmate, but nothing stronger than that, and she fell to nervously picking at the wooden table, wondering how long Xena would be in there with Andreas.

She wasn't jealous. Gabrielle pushed a dirty lock of hair back behind an ear. Not of Andreas, but…okay, Gabrielle, just admit it.. you hate the thought of her being with anyone else… even though you know he's a crumb, and she wouldn't give him the time of day and…

The sharp jolt of fear rocketed through her, bringing her upright with a sudden intake of breath. Then it was gone, but the bard felt her exhaustion drain away, replaced by a surge of nervous energy coming down that same pathway as she glanced around the almost empty kitchen.  Xena was on her way, and they were in trouble.

Like, what else was new?

To one side were the leavings of the dinner, congealing in fetid grease, and she watched a man go by them, tossing in garbage and laughing as he commented to a friend that the prisoners were worth no better.

Those poor guys. The bard chewed her lip. Maybe I could….

"Gabrielle, take that broom, and sweep. What are you just standing there for?" Besthia's whipcrack voice made her turn, and regard the broom leaning against the wall right next to her.

She put a hand out and closed it around the thick wooden handle, hefting the broom experimentally.

You know. She slid her other hand down the broomstick, flexing her hands. I think I've had about enough of this. "This broom?" She asked Besthia. "This one, right here?"

"Yes." The woman stalked over. "Do you need me to show you how to use it?"

Gabrielle swept the broom down, turning to one side and pulling the woman's feet out from under her. "Oh… wow.. sorry…" She murmured, as Besthia's head cracked against the table leg and the woman slumped into a quiet unconscious. "Maybe I do need to practice with it."

She looked around, then lifted her head as she heard a faint slam of a door. Then a yell. "Bet I know what's causing that." More yells, and the an alarm gong, accompanied by running feet. Uh oh.  She moved towards the dungeon stairway door, and paused, as she heard heavy steps coming up it. Better make this quick.

The door swung open and the guard charged out, right into a savage upstroke unleashed from nervous muscles, which felled him in his tracks and sent him sprawling back down the stairs. "Sorry." Gabrielle hopped over him and bolted down the stairs, hearing the rest of the kitchen residents scrambling to leave, or to run outside to see what the disturbance was. "She's going to kill me for this…but I can't just leave them."

Gabrielle worked the lock on the door and pulled it open, surprising the inner guard as he was lashing the back of a hapless man sprawled naked on the floor in front of him. "Hi there."

"What d'yer want, yer little piece of nothing?' The man growled, turning towards her.

"Um.. they sent me down here." Gabrielle came closer, with a gentle smile. "To… sweep." She held up the broom. "It could really use it."

"Sweep? Are ye crazy? Get yer ass outta here.." The man bounded over, lifting his whip. "Before I …"

Gabrielle swung the broom at waist level, catching him hard in the ribs. He doubled over, startled and gasping, and she brought the tool down on the back of his head, watching him collapse at her feet with a groan. "Sorry…I hate to do half a job." She grabbed the keys off his belt and went to the cells, unlocking them. " You guys have one chance to get out of here… you might as well take it."

Apathetic, distant eyes gazed back at her, but there was very little movement. "C'mon!" The bard spoke sharply. "Don't you want to get out?"

The one man closest to her simply put his head back down on the rock floor, and she shook her head, leaving them behind until she got to Devon's cell. The storyteller was standing up, gripping the bars. "You want to stay here too?" Gabrielle asked shortly.

"Hades no." Devon shoved his cell door open the moment she turned the key. "Just lead the way."  He gazed at her in mild disbelief. "And don't hit me."

"C'mon." Gabrielle grabbed him and hauled him after her, heading for the stairs and bolting up them, jumping over the first guard's body as she did so. "Watch your step."

They entered the kitchen, finding it mostly empty save the few helpers too timid to leave, and Gabrielle stopped, lunging forward as Devon crashed into her from behind. "Whoa!"

"Why are you stopping? Get outta here!" The man yelled, pelting for the door. "C'mon!"

"Hold on." Gabrielle grabbed the back of his tunic, sensing a rapid approach. "There are too many soldiers out there in the hall." She could see bunches of them running by, weapons drawn.

"So what are we going to do.. sit here and let them capture us? Lady.. you're nuts!" He twisted and tried to get out of her grasp. "Listen.. thanks, and all that.. but I gotta go."

"You'll get caught…. " Gabrielle insisted, pulling him back. "Hang on.. wait.. DUCK!!"

"WHAT??" He struggled. "Duck?"

"Gods." Gabrielle tackled him, rolling against the wall under the window as it shattered inward under the weight of a heavy, fast moving body, scattering shards of glazed surface everywhere.

"Gabrielle!!!" A low, powerful voice punctuated the chaos.

"Here!" The bard yelled back, rolling out from under the debris.

"Move it!" Xena grabbed her, and shoved her towards the window. "Out and to the gate."

Gabrielle grabbed Devon and hauled him after her, conscious of the thrumming energy running through her partner as Xena vaulted to the windowsill and followed them out. The courtyard was in chaos, with men running back and forth, bumping into each other and attacking anyone they didn't recognize. "Run for the gate!" Xena hollered, grabbing Iolaus' bridle as she pushed them forward. "Move!! Move!!"

The gate was half open, a small knot of men clustered around it, but otherwise clear, and they bolted for it, dodging the running soldiers, who seemed to be heading towards the long, ornate building just to the left. Gabrielle could see fire licking at a window, and she redoubled her pace, pushing Devon along and trying to keep up with her steadily moving soulmate.

"Hold there!" The guard yelled, as they got to the gate, running forward.

Xena surged ahead, meeting the first of them with a flying kick, then rolling up and catching the second with a savage elbow into his windpipe. Gabrielle followed up, ducking under the third's swing and catching him under the ribcage, then dumping him over her shoulder onto the hard ground. Iolaus reared, pawing at the air, and caught a fourth with a hoof, then Xena took out the fifth with a roundhouse right hand punch, that send him flying against the wooden surface with a clatter.

"All right.. " Xena took a breath, then looked behind them. "Damn."

Gabrielle glanced that way, spotting a crowd of men running towards them. "Oh boy."

The warrior hesitated, then grabbed her partner by the waist and tossed her up onto Iolaus' back. Her eyes fell on Devon, who was huddling in the shadows, then went to Gabrielle's face.

The bard opened her mouth, then closed it.

Xena grabbed the storyteller and hoisted him up next to her soulmate, drawing her sword from it's scabbard in almost the same motion. "Ride! Don't stop!" She yelled, giving Iolaus a sharp smack, then whistling.

"Xena!!" The bard screamed, as the horse bolted, obeying his training, and thundered through the gate. Gabrielle grabbed at the reins, trying to slow him, but the stallion gripped the bit firmly in his teeth, and pulled her arms forward, stretching his neck out and racing away for all he was worth.

Leaving a lone, dark figure to face the oncoming mob. "I guess we find out now.. just how much of this I really have left." Xena whispered to herself, bracing her feet, and taking a deep breath as she tensed, waiting the first of the onrushing men. She briefly thought of her soulmate, and then, even more briefly, of her daughter, knowing there would be no backing away from this challenge, no matter the cost.

Knowing that prevailing was the only way to ensure her partner's survival. And perhaps her own.

She lifted the crystal around her neck up and kissed it, then tucked it inside her shirt.

Then she reached down, deep, where the tiger lived, and set it free, feeling the fire surge up into her, wanting the battle, sending a fierce tingle of energy through her body, which welcomed the fight.

Wanting the blood. Craving it.

And as the first soldier reached her, she let out her battle yell, and surrendered herself to the darkness, sweeping his sword to one side with a single, powerful stroke, and taking his head off with another.

The hot explosion of coppery scent bathed her in it's familiar stench, bringing a laugh to her lips, as she went for her next kill, forgetting peace, and contentment, and the cleansing of her soul.

Ares' Chosen, holding the gates in the flickering torchlight against a surging army, soaked in their blood.

She cut through the next couple, slashing with rapid, powerful strokes and forming a barrier of the bodies, making it a little harder for the next wave to come at her. Xena ducked a pike's blow, then kicked it's owner, sending him flying back and taking out two archers.

The third fired.

She caught the arrow with a flick of her hand, and discarded it, barely paying attention as she buried her sword into a chest almost up to her fist, then pulled it back with a scrape of metal against bone, kicking the lifeless body back and swinging at her next opponent.

Another wave came forward, though, and the warrior knew with three thousand of them, and one of her, this wasn't going to last forever, regardless of how good, or bad, her skills were. Four men surged forward and slammed into her, and she ducked, feeling them pile over her body, and slam heavy blows down.

She pushed off against the earth and threw them off her, but three others got blows in, and she staggered, then twisted obstinately and slashed across their middles, spilling guts on the hard packed earth and hearing their dying screams.

A sword hilt cracked against her skull, and she dodged back, shaking her head to clear it, just in time to miss a slash that should have taken off an arm. She parried it, then parried his neighbors, and leaped, kicking out and nailing them both in the chest and sending them flying, adding to the pile of bodies growing around her.

Another wave. Xena bored down, and clamped her jaw shut, concentrating on keeping them off her, with a combination of kicks and parries, hopping up onto bodies to gain a height advantage over the attacking soldiers.

But they never stopped coming, and she could feel the strain, now, pulling on her reserves and making her stumble slightly as she evaded the latest blow.

Forcing her to contemplate the fact that there was no way for her to win this, and no way to escape, they'd cut her down in minutes if she tried to run.

She put her back against the rough wood and faced the prospect of this being, truly, the end, as she fought on, her one solace being that if it was, then it was in the cause of the light, and to give her soulmate a chance to….

Live?

Xena felt her heartbeat, heard it's rush in her ears as time seemed to slow, suddenly conscious of a feeling of weak, pleading terror in her guts. An impending loss that shook her to her very core, with the knowledge of what that would do to Gabrielle.

Dying wasn't a gods be damned option.

She let out a wild yell and redoubled her efforts, driving the closest wave of fighters back with a furious onslaught, and clearing a space around her  by sheer determination. There was a pause, then the army surged back, and came close to overrunning her, pausing only when a deep, angry rumble shook the ground.

Everyone stopped.

Xena had an advantage. She could see over their heads, and she did, straining her battered body as she looked, to see a huge, moving wall coming straight for them.

Horses.

Five hundred of them, in a headlong rush for the gates, their eyes rolling wildly. Xena whirled, and grabbed the larger gate, shoving it open with all the strength she had left, and watching the army scramble to get out of the way, many of them getting trampled in the stampede.

They bore down on her, teeth flashing, hooves glinting, the black monster in the lead.

Xena waited, in utter stillness.

Closer, and closer, the ground was shaking so hard under their hooves it rattled the warrior's teeth. Closer still, and she could smell the sweat flying off them, as the horses thundered through the gates, running her down as though she were a stalk of grass.

They continued out and down the road through the town, yells of alarm already preceding them.

***********************************************

"Damn you.. damn you.. " Gabrielle was exhausted, trying to make the damn stubborn piece of centaur dung stallion stop. "Iolaus!!!"

The horse snorted, but kept going, already outside the city gates, and pounding up the road, his hoofbeats loud in the night stillness. Overhead, clouds obscured most of the stars, but the moon was out, lighting their path as they got further and further from the town.

Devon was clutching her, obviously scared senseless by the stallions' headlong rush, and prudently not saying a word to the cursing, struggling, dirt covered woman who was fighting with him.

"Damn it… bloody gods be cursed centaur hoofed piece of…" Gabrielle grabbed the reins and hauled back,  then was pulled forward by the stubborn horse. "You have to stop!"

Devon looked behind him, to the rapidly fading town. "Why?" He yelled. "They'll catch us… let em keep going!"

They thundered up the road, scattering tiny rocks in their path, until Gabrielle managed, somehow, to steer Iolaus towards a rocky climb upwards, convinced this would slow the stallion down. It did, and he finally came to a halt halfway up the mountain, their trail well hidden by the hard, stony ground. They could see the road, but a ledge and outcropping hid them, and Gabrielle stood in her stirrups, peering back down towards the city. "All right.. get down." She turned, and told Devon firmly.

"Sure." He slid off with astonishing rapidity. "No problem, lady… wait.. where are you going?"

Gabrielle let out a breath, seeing the fog form before her in the chill air. "Back there." She answered quietly. "You go on.. get out of here, Devon… " She sat on the horse's back, her head lifted into the wind, listening.

Hearing nothing but silence, and the small creatures of the mountainside around her. She stared at the curve of the road that lead to the city, mentally urging herself to see something that simply wasn't there.

"Are you nuts?" Devon asked. "You just escaped from there."

Gabrielle patted the horse's damp neck. "C'mon, Iolaus… let's go find your friend." She'd go back, she knew. And turn herself in, and hope against hope that she'd find her soulmate in one piece.

And if not.

Well.

She nudged the stallion with her knees, like Xena had taught her. "Go on, Devon… take off. I left a friend back there I've got to go back for."

He grabbed hold of her knee. "Wait…" He came closer, and looked up at her. "You said your name was Gabrielle…"

"Yes." The bard told him quietly. "That's me."

He looked down the road, then back up at her, then at the road, then up at her. "That was Xena?"

Gabrielle gave him a tiny smile. "Yes."  She gathered her reins in. "I gotta go find her.. you know how it is." Since it's my fault she's down there.

He was in shock, apparently. "Uh… where she goes, you go, right?"

Another tiny smile. "Something like that, yes."  She patted him on the cheek. "Take care." She started down the path, then stopped, as a faint rumble reached her ears. "What…"

Devon came up next to her, and peered across the moonlit landscape. "Sounds like an avalanche."

Gabrielle stood in her stirrups. "That's kinda hard without snow." The rumbling was getting louder, and she squinted. "Or rocks.. it's coming from that direction, and the rocks would be coming from our direction."

It took long, aching minutes, before the sound finally resolved itself into a cloud of dust, with dark moving bodies in it. "Horses." Gabrielle murmured, straining her eyes to see through the dust, spotting the huge black horse leading the stampede and blinking, then rubbing her eyes.

"No point in stealing just one horse, huh Xe?" She whispered, as a wave of relief made her grab hold of Iolaus' mane for support. "Steal em all…." She pointed. "Looks like we've got company coming."

Devon stood on his tiptoes and peered over Iolaus' back. "Hey… that's a whole herd of horses… whoa.. is that someone riding that one?"

"Yep." Gabrielle watched as a golden form forced it's way up, closer to her soulmate's clinging form. Iolaus neighed, recognizing his brother, and as they both gazed down the mountainside, Xena neatly jumped off the galloping black horse's back, and onto Hercules', then edged the golden horse off to one side to let the majority of the stampede go by.

"Stay here." Gabrielle urged Iolaus down, and carefully guided him through the sharp rocks until she was on a small path, then letting him break into a canter, as she headed towards her battered partner.

Xena sped up, and waved at her. "Keep on going up there… we gotta get out of sight." She yelled, glancing behind them. "C'mon… we're out not out of trouble yet, Gabrielle."

The bard closed on her. "What was that? Sending this damn horse out of there on a non stop run?"

Xena gazed at her, blue eyes snapping. "I figured you spent enough time rescuing your friend there.. .you might as well make sure he got to safety."

It was like a slap in the head, all the more so, because Gabrielle hadn't expected it. She sucked in a breath, and backed off, unable to respond.

"Get moving." The warrior told her. "We can talk about it later."

The bard gathered her reins and turned Iolaus, urging him back up the path ahead of the oncoming Hercules. They both reached the top of the path roughly at the same time, and Xena dismounted, her blood stained body mottled in the darkness as she searched the mountainside.

"This way." She led Hercules, and they followed, past a bend in the path that kept them from the view of the road, and into a small alcove, where a crack in the mountainside offered welcome shelter.

"We should keep going, right?" Devon asked, nervously. "They'll find us."

"They won't expect us to stop this close." Xena replied quietly. "I need to get a few things sewn up before we go on.. I don't want to leave a trail of blood from here to the north country."

Gabrielle put a hand out, touching torn fabric, then connecting with warm flesh that flinched slightly. "Gods." The bard whispered softly. This close, she could feel the emotional pain her soulmate was in, and she let the mantle of guilt for that fall heavily on her shoulders.

She let her hand fall, and leaned against Iolaus, feeling sick to her stomach, following blindly as Xena led them inside,  after lighting a torch she pulled from Hercules' saddle.

"We got lucky… our friend at the inn decided to pack him up and let him go." The warrior murmured. "I wouldn't have wanted to lose him."

Gabrielle sank a little further into a dark place, as she moved away from her partner, and Devon, and found a spot for Iolaus to comfortably stand as she started to unbuckle the bags lashed to his sides. Or at least that's what she'd started to do, but she found herself simply standing there, leaning against the stallion's side in helpless dejection.

How could she been that short sighted? She'd know they only had one horse in the compound.. what did she think they were going to do with three people? Her impulsive rescue of the storyteller had almost…

Oh gods.  The bard let her head rest on the saddle, as she heard Xena telling Devon to take a pair of the saddlebags, and got him settled across the small cavern. You wanted to be a hero, huh? At what price?  Gods, Gabrielle.. how could you be so stupid?  She rested her head against the leather, unaware of the pale blue eyes watching her.

Until a hand gently touched her shoulder, along with a warmth she no longer felt she deserved.

"C'mon…. I hear a little water in the back there.. I could use a hand with this cut." Xena's voice was exhausted, but calm, and Gabrielle merely followed her towards the sound of trickling water, carrying the healer's kit she'd taken out of their saddlebags.

Xena glanced at her. " You all right?"

Gabrielle stopped, and looked at her, finally. "Am I all right?" She asked, hoarsely. "Am I all right? I'm fine… if you don't count knowing I almost just got you killed." Her tone cracked, and she dropped her eyes as they moved into a sloping, shadowy area, where the smell of water was strong, and a soft tinkling gave testament to it's presence.

Xena didn't answer. Instead, she stripped off the remains of her slashed tunic and threw it from her, then unhooked the straps on her leathers and slipped them off. Every inch of  her body hurt, and she stifled a groan as she walked into the icy water, needing it's cleansing touch against her battle stained skin.  She ducked under the surface and scrubbed the blood and other grime out of her hair, then surfaced, standing and letting the water sheet off her before she turned, and regarded her silent, brooding partner.

Gabrielle was seated on a rock, her elbows resting on her knees, and her head down. She was covered in dirt herself, and looked completely exhausted, and the warrior felt any anger she could have had drain away as she gazed at her devastated soulmate.

I can't hate her for being who she is. Xena exhaled softly. Just like she doesn't hate me… for who I am. She glanced down at her still bloodstained hands, then slowly waded through the water, until she'd come up to where Gabrielle was sitting.

"Hey." She reached out and gently lifted the bard's chin up, exposing a tear stained face that gazed at her in the flickering torchlight. "You did the right thing, Gabrielle.. it's okay….I would have sent you out first anyway." She found smile somewhere deep inside and gave it up. "I'm glad you got him out of there."

Fresh tears spilled from the soft, green eyes. "Xena, it was stupid.. it was.. I didn't think. I didn't…. what if you… "

"But I didn't." Xena cupped her cheek gently. "It's over… we got out… let's just move on." She traced the tears, wiping them off. "C'mere."  She tugged the bard up and pulled her into a hug, feeling the sobs run through the slim body now plastered against her.

Forgiveness. Gabrielle had taught her that, after all. She'd never realized how good it could feel, until a very dark moment, in a very dark place in Chin, when that one, sweet instant had hit her, changing her life in subtle ways she hadn't even realized until much, much later.

"Come on.. this water feels good, and it looks like you could use it." She lifted her partner up and lowered her into the water, boots and all. "What happened to your arm?"

Gabrielle sniffled, and rubbed her eyes with one hand, unwilling to let go her hold on the taller woman. "Ow.. this is cold."

"Mmhmm." Xena carried her further into the water, then knelt. "Rinse off." A beat. "What happened to your arm?"

The bard ducked her head under, then came up, dripping water off the ends of her pale hair, facing Xena squarely. "It's not a big deal… " She moved closer. "Where are you hurt?"

The warrior lifted herself out of the water and pointed at her thigh, which was bisected by a thick, angry slice, spilling blood into the water.

"Ow." Gabrielle exhaled, shoving her remaining guilt aside as she moved over to where the healer's kit was. "Where else?" She asked, as she pulled a needle and some gut out, along with a bit of the antiseptic paste Xena kept there, using the familiar motions to pull her mind back to a rational state. .

Xena had seated herself on the wet rock and waited, as the bard came over and settled herself between the warrior's knees.

"Well?" Gabrielle cleared her throat of it's hoarseness, looking up into the shadowy blue eyes.

They dropped. "Just some.. um… bruises." Xena shrugged "Lots of those." .

Gabrielle started the intricate stitching. "Oh."  She thought about that. "I guess you um.."

"Oh yeah." Xena's voice was hollow. "It was right there… " She snapped her fingers. "No problem." She fell silent.

The bard continued her task, smoothing her fingers against the soft skin, as she heard the ragged edge to her soulmate's breathing. "I'm glad it kept you safe." She finally said, very softly.

Xena let out a long breath. "I thought I could bury that side of me, Gabrielle.. I was only kidding myself." She replied bitterly. "One big year of self delusion. " She added softly.

Gabrielle kept quiet for a bit, while she carefully closed the slice that was still seeping her soulmate's blood across her fingers. "I don't think you were deluding yourself, Xe." She finally said, as she put the last stitch in, and tied the end of the gut off. "I think the warm, caring, loving person I spent the last year with is sitting here next to me… that's as much a part of you as the side that fights."  She gently wiped the last of the blood away, and looked up, to see tired, searching blue eyes looking back at her. "Just like the poet that lives inside me shares space with the halfway decent negotiator, and the total ditzball who goes and gets into trouble and expects you to get her out."

Xena's expression gentled. "You are not a ditzball." She protested. "You just follow your heart."

"I follow my heart right into compound disasters, Xena… don’t change the subject." The bard told her, seriously.

"You followed your heart out of Potadeia." The warrior countered. "And I'd be dead if you hadn't…. dead, Gabrielle.. and in Tartarus, with no chance for anything more." She paused, as the bard sucked in a soft breath. "Don't you ever forget that.. because I never do.. no matter what we get into… and what decisions you make." She put a hand out and captured the bard's chin, lifting it up. "Okay?"

Green eyes hazel in the torchlight gazed at her, faintly bloodshot from crying. "So.. you're not mad at me for letting those prisoners go?" She whispered. "Most of them wouldn't even budge, Xena.. they just lay there.. the only one I got out was Devon."

"No." The warrior leaned forward and kissed her forehead. "We went in there to get him out… and you did. " She contemplated a moment. "I should have worked out a better plan… we got very lucky, Gabrielle… they let the horses loose at the last minute." She circled the bard's shoulders and started to walk out towards the main area of the small cave.

"Mm… so.. what are we going to do?" The bard asked, softly, looking up at her as they rejoined Devon, who was seated near the horses, nervously still.

"I don’t' know that yet." Xena replied.

Damn good question. Xena hoped she'd be able to come up with even the most basic of answers.

*********************************************

Xena had allowed them only the tiniest of fires, just enough to heat up some water, and only that because the bard had been shivering, depleted from her long day, and dunk in the icy water. Xena had fixed her some hot tea, then taken her own mug, and her share of their travel rations and retreated to the wall nearest the opening, focusing her senses outside.

Gabrielle had given the silently intimidated Devon one of their sleeping furs, and he'd curled up near the far wall, obviously exhausted. Maybe, the bard mused, he'd be more sociable tomorrow.. it must be really weird for him.

With a sigh, she trudged over to where Xena was sprawled and joined her, letting her body relax against the rock with an audible groan. "You know something, Xena?"

"Mm?" The warrior had taken a sip of her tea, and was rolling it around in her mouth before swallowing, a curious habit of hers.

"I'm getting too old for this stuff."

"Pfft." Xena ended up spitting her tea up all over the rocks. She wiped her lips and gave the bard a look. "Funny.. very funny, Gabrielle."

"No.. I mean it.. how in the world do you do it?" The bard threw her hand up, since the other one was holding her mug. "You just… keep going and going… "

The warrior moved a little, making a more comfortable spot for her partner to lean against. "It's… just discipline, Gabrielle.. I feel really lousy… I took a lot of hits today.. and I don’t' wanna even think about what's going to be like tomorrow morning.. when it all stiffens up."

"But you'll just get up and deal with it." The bard persisted. "You always do."

"Of course." Xena gave her a puzzled look. "What else am I supposed to do? We have to get out of here… and that means finding a way over the mountain so we don't get caught traveling on the roads."

Gabrielle simply shook her head and rested her cheek against one of her soulmate's broad shoulders. "I just admire you for that." She admitted quietly. "I always have." She turned her head and looked up at the shadowy profile. "There were so many times I wanted to quit… but then I saw you never giving up.. and that gave me the courage.. and the drive to follow your example. Did you know that?"

Xena let her cheek rest against the bard's hair. "No.. I didn't." She murmured. "I thought you were cursing me the whole time for being  stubborn pig."

Gabrielle nestled closer. "Only once in a while." She fingered the strap of Xena's leathers thoughtfully. "I almost forgot how much I like how you look in these."

The warrior studied her quietly, pondering the unusual spate of chattiness, given the circumstances. "Do you?"

"Mm…I always did…I like the blue ones though.. they look so nice with your eyes." Gabrielle replied.

"Thanks… it's good to know I'm appreciated." Xena commented. "I was always partial to that cute little brown skirt of yours." She tweaked the bard's knee, and got a soft chuckle back. "I remember the first time you put on that Amazon stuff, I said.. 'whoa.. Xena.. where'd you find her?"

Gabrielle smiled impishly. "You did not."

"Oh yes I did… that brown leather thing that was cut like this?" Xena countered, running a finger across the bard's chest from shoulder to shoulder. "I definitely remember that."

"Heh… the one time I remember you giving me a look was when we were on that ship.. with Ulysses'… I was doing that dance thing and you.. "

"Climbed on board and thought my heart was going to stop." The warrior finished, with a chuckle, which faded. "I wish I'd had the courage to just tell you.. instead of trying to convince myself that could never happen."

"Mm… yeah.. that was a toughie." Gabrielle sighed, snuggling even closer. "I wanted so bad to have you… look at me the way…he was looking at you."

Xena's jaw tightened. "You cried that night."

Gabrielle nodded, a movement against Xena's shoulder. "Yes, I did…but then I remembered what you said to me when I decided to go with Perdicus… and I made up my mind I could be as generous in how I handled that as you were." She paused, as though reflecting. "Did you cry that night.. when I left?"

Xena nodded without hesitation. "Oh yeah."

They both sat quietly for a bit. "We were both too gods be damned noble." Xena finally stated, with a soft snort. "For our own good. "

"Yeah." Gabrielle laughed gently. "You know, you're right."

They looked at each other, and smiled in the dim light. "We're laughing now." Gabrielle commented, wryly.

Xena spread her free arm out, indicating their joined bodies. "It worked out, didn't it?"

"Well.. yeah." The bard admitted. "But you know something Xena.. I don't think I ever said this to you.. but if you'd said you didn't want to leave me behind.. I would have followed you from Potadeia again, Perdicus or no."

"I know." Her soulmate told her. "I knew that then." She paused, and a little, expectant silence fell. "Now, you're waiting for me to say I'd have left Ulyssess if you'd said something, right?"

Pale green eyes peeked up at her.

"Well, the answer there is… there was no chance of my leaving you." The warrior lowered her voice. "I was already yours."

"Were you?" The bard whispered.

"Body, heart and soul." Her partner assured her. "Now.. are you rambling on for a reason?'

Uh oh. Busted. "Me?" Gabrielle cleared her throat. "Oh. .no. I wasn't um… just chit chat, you know Xena.. it.. um.. makes me relax."

Steady blue eyes regarded her. "Gabrielle."

The bard sighed gently, warming Xena's shoulder with her breath. "I guess I could say I just like to talk to you.. because I do."  She paused, listening to the heartbeat under her ear. "But the truth is… I always used to use talking as a way to gauge what was going on with you.. and it was one of the ways I could figure out if you were mad at me." She paused again. "You never answered me when you were.. not real answers. Just that grunt thing you do."

Xena gently laid a hand along her cheek. "Honey, I'm not mad at you, honest."

Just the use of the endearment, very rare indeed, would have been enough. Gabrielle felt a wave of relief flow through her, stealing the tension from her muscles, and allow her sore, and battered body to relax at last.  She had been almost sure that was the case.

Almost.

But just that tiny bit had been enough to make her exhausted mind churn over itself, remembering the long, increasingly lonely months that had started their estrangement, when she'd searched desperately for the tiniest hint that things were getting better, instead of worse.

Now, she felt the long arms surround her, and the deep warmth of their connection comforted her as she let out a long breath. "Sorry." She muttered. "I think it's just been too long a day."

"It's all right." The warrior rumbled, kissing her head. "It has for me too.. and tomorrow won't be much better."

"Mmph." The bard acknowledged. "What are we going to do?"

Xena thought about that for a bit, reviewing her possible options.  "Well, we can run. Grab Dori, and go overseas." No answer from her soulmate. "Or.. we could try to find some way of appeasing him."  Still no answer. "Or we can fight him." The warrior concluded.

"Just one problem with that… we've got you, and me.. and the Amphipolis militia." Gabrielle reflected. "And a handful of Amazons." She paused. "And some forest dwellers."

Xena took a sip of her cooled tea, swallowing it audibly. "Way I look at it.. it's going to take a lot of teamwork." She analyzed. "And I'm not good at alliances… that was always Borias' side of things."

"Mm."

"But you are good at them." The warrior continued. "You can bring people together under a common cause." She held up a hand. "Amphipolis and the surrounding area. Amazons. Forest Dwellers. Centaurs… it's almost impossible, but we can try it."

"Try to bring together a force large enough to stop him." Gabrielle spoke slowly. "From all kinds of sources… for the greater good."

"Yes." Xena stated softly. "You can do that."

The bard gazed off into the darkness for a bit, then looked up. "And you'll lead them."

Xena's eyes closed for  long, aching minute, as she fought an inner battle. Finally she sighed. "Yes. I'll lead them."

Gabrielle let a long, relieved sigh escape her. "Now I can sleep." She wrapped an arm around her soulmate and settled down, ignoring the hard rock, and the dampness, and the aches in her body.

Xena nuzzled the soft hair gently, as she squirmed around and got a little more comfortable.

Having someone believe in you, she decided, was the most incredible feeling on earth. It really made all the difference, between what was impossible…

And what she could make possible.

No matter what the odds were.

************************************************************

Xena had allowed herself to slip into a light doze, managing to dismiss the sharp pain from her leg, and the throbbing aches from everywhere else, until a low rumble of thunder woke her.

The scent of rain was coming in the opening of the cave, and she could hear the drumming of the water against the rocks, a low, comforting noise that brought a smile to her face.

Rain was good. It washed away any trace of their passing, and made searchers careless, wanting more to get out of the weather than find a couple of elusive troublemakers. The rumbling strengthened, and the cave lit suddenly with a flash of silver, brightening the dull gray of the coming dawn visible through the opening.

Xena glanced around, spotting Devon still curled up against the far wall, then she peered at her sleeping soulmate, who was wrapped around her like a jungle vine, one hand tucked around her waist, and the other around one shoulder.

The warrior felt a smile crease her face, and she tucked the edge of the furs covering them around Gabrielle's body, scowling a little when the bandage around her arm slipped. She shifted a little, then carefully removed the linen, intending on straightening it out.

Lightning flashed, revealing to her eyes the injury beneath it, and she stared in total lack of comprehension at the familiar, yet strange symbol looking back at her.

What in the world… Xena's heart sank, and a knot formed in her belly, as she brushed a shaking finger over the reddened, swollen flesh around the tattoo.

"Mmm." Gabrielle shifted, and her eyes fluttered open in confusion. "Wh… " She glanced up and saw the look on her soulmate's face, and it jerked her wide awake. "Xena.. what's wrong?" She looked around quickly, seeing nothing but the calm, peaceful cave. "Someone coming?"

"What is that?" The warrior whispered, pointing.

Gabrielle's brows knitted. "What is what…oh." She looked where the long finger indicated. "Damn.. I forgot about that." She craned her head to look. "It's a hawk..or it will be when it's not so red."  She patted her soulmate's stomach. "They came around yesterday… I didn't have a choice, Xena… apparently all of Andreas people get branded, I guess."

"With that?" Xena's voice took on an outraged note.

"No.. no… it's.. his is a lion… but the guy who did it. .I guess he knew you.. because that's what he put on there." Gabrielle gazed at it speculatively. "It's not that bad looking, is it?"

The warrior let out a long, aggravated breath. "I know a way to get them off… damn, Gabrielle.. I can start the process later on today.. it'll take a while but.. " She looked sick. "I can't believe he did that… I'll take care of it, though.. don't worry about it."

Gabrielle studied her arm in sleepy silence, then looked up at her partner's shadowy face, half lit from the dull gray storm outside. "I'm not worried… and you.. um.. you don't have to do anything to it, Xena."

"Let's see, I think I have the herbs I.." Xena had been muttering to herself. "What?" She blinked at her soulmate.

Gabrielle captured her nervously moving hands, and brought one up to her lips, tasting the warm skin gently. "I kinda like it."

Xena's jaw dropped. "You're not serious."

The bard smiled a little, a crinkly, impish smile that made her eyes glint softly. "Yeah… I am serious…I don't know.. if it was his, I'd hate it.. but it's not.. it's yours."

"Gabrielle.. you can't… that's like a… I don't want you… " The warrior ran out of words. "It's not…"

"Honey… take a breath, okay?" The bard urged, giving her a friendly belly rub. "Listen… I was pretty upset when it happened… but after I saw what it was, I was okay with it… after all, it's the same thing I've got on my ring, right?"

"It.. is…not… the.. same.. thing.." Xena growled. "Damn it, Gabrielle.. I'm not going to have you branded.. with that… thing.. like you belong to me or something."

Gabrielle considered that. "Don’t I?"

"Bu… not… not like that….I mean… we belong to each other..sure, but.."  Xena stammered.

"Well then." The bard let her chin rest against the taller woman's collarbone. "I guess you'll have to get one too, because I'm not giving mine up." She informed her flustered partner. "I like the idea of belonging to you."

Big blue eyes went slightly round, and blinked at her in astonishment. "Wh…"

"So…what's it going to be?" Gabrielle persisted, tracing tiny patterns on the skin above Xena's leathers. "A little scroll… maybe a quill.."

"A nutbread." The warrior managed to get out. "A fruit and nutbread."

Reproachful green eyes leveled at her.

"A big heart, the size of my fist, with your name in the center." Xena amended. "How about that?'

"How about that's tacky." The bard gave her a look. "I'm being serious here."

"You are serious, aren't you… you really want to keep that?" Xena asked, curiously.

Gabrielle nodded. "Yeah."

"Mm." Thunder rolled over head, sending a runbling vibration through the wall. Then a low chuckle from Xena's chest joined it. "All right… I know what I'll get."

"What?" The bard inquired.

"Guess you'll find out when I get it." Xena smirked. "You know, I've always kinda wanted to get one… I almost did when I went overseas the first time."

Gabrielle's nostrils flared. "You're going to make me wait?"

"Mmhmm." Her partner confirmed cheerfully. "It's a surprise."

"Uh huh." The bard drummed her fingers on a leather clad chest. "If I guess it before then.. will you tell me?"

"You won't" The warrior stated positively. "So, yes."

"Is that a challenge?" A mischevious grin flickered around Gabrielle's lips. "I could always tickle you until you tell me." She slid a hand down and around the back of the warrior's knees.

Xena pouted.

"Oh.. don’t' do that." Gabrielle screwed her eyes closed. "Nononononon… not that look.." She peeked. "All right.. all right.. I'll guess." She sighed, and snuggled closer again, listening to the rain outside. "Nasty." She commented softly.

"Mm… " Xena sighed. "Maybe we can find a way inside this cavern system for a while..  I don't want you out there in this cold rain." She tucked the fur around the bard's head, then she shifted a little. "Ah… I'd better get up." Her body was protesting in outrage at the abuse she'd leveled at it the previous day, after a year of somnolence. "I need to walk a little bit."

Gabrielle reluctantly released her, and watched as the warrior rose slowly, and limped across the storm lit cavern, the stiffness so evident it made the bard wince in sympathetic reaction. She kept an eye on her partner until Xena disappeared around the bend leading towards the water, then she sighed, and stretched her own body out, wincing a little, but not as much as she'd been anticipating.

Mostly it was stiffness from sleeping in one position all night, she realized, so she hauled herself to her feet, and wrapped her fur around her like a cloak as she ambled quietly across the rock littered floor towards their gear.

************************************

The water was just as cold as the night before, but it was wet, and after she wedged her torch into a crack in the rocks,  Xena forced herself to drink until she gave herself a headache She held her breath against until it faded, then she sat down on the edge of the rocks, and examined the long gash in her leg, which was still neatly closed and healing.

It hurt, but then, so did most everything else, the warrior acknowledged, as she pushed herself to her feet and walked around the chamber, trying to get blood flowing to her muscles. A small opening went further, and she retrieved her torch as she investigated, poking her head cautiously into the crevice which was wide enough to accommodate two of her, but still didn't make the warrior comfortable.

Wow. Her eyes blinked, on seeing the next cavern, where the water trickled incessantly, and which had carved out a fantastic landscape of stalactites and stalagmites, in weird phosphorescent colors that danced back from her torchlight.

It was beautiful and spooky, the smell of the water and the dissolved minerals tickling the back of her nose as she gazed around in wonder, holding a hand up to a formation and touching it's moisture covered surface.

The mountain must channel rainfall down through here, she reasoned, and it filters through the rocks until it gets lower and lower.

And then where? Xena carefully paced along the slippery surface, completely forgetting her discomfort both physical and mental in her curiosity. The water traveled along the cave floor, in gullies carved out over years, and her little pool back there spilled out into it also. The warrior edged along a path near the wall and followed the gathering trickles until she reached a second opening, where the water was pouring through.

She placed her boots carefully in the stream, but it wasn't very strong and continued, moving through the opening and into another long, narrow cavern. This one didn't have the stalactites, but it did have something else which interested her even more.

The scent of fresh air on the wind, tinged with the cold, distinct smell of rain, very different than the water being filtered under her feet. The draft was blowing towards her, which meant somewhere up ahead, there was another way out, one that would allow them to exit the mountain hidden from any prying eyes on the road they'd escaped on. A tiny smile twitched around Xena's lips as she pressed on, finding a way through the twisted rocks in the darkness, and holding her torch behind her, to keep her eyes from being dazzled.

The cavern turned and bent, a crack in the mountain's skin whose ceiling varied from several feet over her head, to unknown, then she turned a final corner almost deafened by the rush of the now considerable water and found herself in gray twilight.

Xena walked to the edge of the cavern and gazed out, to see sheets of thick rain that pelted the granite moutainside, and almost obscured the waterfall that dropped down across layers of rock to a pool below.

If she followed the pool with her eyes, she could see it start to wind it's way down the slopes, gathering into a stream that fed what would surely become the river the city depended on for their water.

Xena crossed her arms over her chest and thought about that. An army ran on water, after all, and though Andreas could move his troops, and undoubtedly would, he considered this place home base.

A smile. Interesting. She eyed the waterfall affectionately. Very interesting.

A roll of thunder made her look out from under her overhang, to see dark clouds roiling, as a brilliant flash of lightning lit the rocks. The rain smelled good, and clean, and impulsively Xena walked out onto the front of the ledge, letting it pelt her, and drenching her skin and leathers.

It was warmer than the cavern water, curiously, though the wind that drove it was chilly, and she spread her arms out, opening her mouth and catching the raindrops that fell in sheets around her.

It was very primal, and it touched that animal part of her still licking it's chops from the day before, which stretched and purred happily as the water rinsed the fatigue and soreness out of her and left behind a clean, energized feeling.

She stepped back inside and shook herself like a wolf, her dark hair sending droplets scattering everywhere.

Andreas. Her mind spoke softly. You don't know what you've just woken, do you? Xena laughed quietly, and surrendered herself to the path they'd chosen. It was Cortese all over again, wasn't it? Only the stakes were much higher, and the threat far more deadly.

But that was all right.

She wasn't fifteen anymore.

And this time, she'd do it right.

********************************************

Continued in Part 5

Standard Disclaimers -

These characters, and boy, are they ever characters, are mostly the property of Renaissance Pictures, Universal MCA, and whoever else owns stock and interest in Xena: Warrior Princess. This fiction was written for my amusement only, and not in any way, shape or form for profit - and it is not intended to infringe on the copyright holders of the characters.

Some of the characters are mine, and the story ideas.. well, who knows where they come from? Must be one weird place, that's for sure.

Specific Story Disclaimers:

Violence - this is a Xena:Warrior Princess story. This is not Teletubbies. Even though there are some rumors of similarities. Some of the violence is graphic, but we try not to dwell on it.

Subtext - Considering that the TV Series just aired an episode establishing Xena and Gabrielle as eternal soulmates, any disclaimer of subtext on my part is really kind of goofy in the extreme. The two characters are in love with each other, and have been for years. You can choose to see them as just friends, but then you might not want to read this fanfic, in case it changes your mind or anything like that.

Emotional Content - this is not one my more comedic efforts. There are moments of humor, however.

********************************************************************

Dark Comes the Morning - Part 5

By Melissa Good

Gabrielle nudged the tiny fire into life, glad Xena had scrounged for a little firewood the previous night, because surely there wasn't anything out there right now that was going to burn worth anything. She settled down next to it, letting the soft glow warm her face and hands, glad of the fur tucked around her shoulders.

A soft sound got her attention, and she glanced up to see Devon sitting up dazedly, his eyes roaming around the cavern and finally settling on her.

They widened. "Oh." He ran a hand through his dark, disordered hair. "It wasn't a dream, was it?" His tone was wondering. "You're really here, aren't you?"

Gabrielle, sitting on a rock with her boots crossed at the ankle, and feeling particularily solid and real at the moment, nodded. "Mmhmm."  She pulled her pack over and dug out her water pot, filling it with water from a waterskin and putting it almost right into the fire to heat.

Devon got up and ambled over, sitting down on a rock across from her and watching her in fascination. "You really are Gabrielle the Bard."

A blond brow lifted. "Last time I looked in the mirror, yep." Gabrielle got out her fixing for tea, and scrounged a couple of cups from their cooking gear. She pushed her hair back behind an ear, and blinked at him. "Is that so surprising?"

He tucked his knees up and circled them with his arms. "Well… it's sort of like meeting Aphrodite or something." He admitted. "I mean… I never expected to..um… " He waved a hand. "See you in person."

"Ah." It was the most curious feeling she'd ever had, and now, finally, she understood the bemused, and slightly frustrated reaction Xena often had to her notoriety. "Well, I'm no Aphrodite, and unfortunately, here we are, so… " She fixed the contents of the cups. "Try not to be too weirded out, okay?"

Devon rested his chin on his arm. "You talk so much about Xena in the stories.. and hardly ever about yourself.. it's so strange. I've read all your words, and I think I should know you.. but you're so different than I pictured."

The bard's motions slowed, as she finished her task and looked up curiously. "I am?"

He nodded. "Yeah." His fingers moved, a nervous gesture, the bard thought. "You don't even describe yourself."

Gabrielle considered for a moment. "No.. I guess I don’t… it never occurred to me to do that." She picked up the steaming pot and poured water over the herbs she'd prepared. "It wasn't important to the stories.. not like the things that actually happened were."

"Hmm." He watched her shyly. "You do describe Xena, though."

The bard stirred the cups slowly. "Of course.. she's the hero of the stories." She explained, with a smile. "And it's always easier to describe someone else.. after all, you see them." She continued reasonably, as she handed him over a cup. "Here."

Devon blinked, then edged timidly closer, finally taking it from her hand and backing off. "Thanks."  He sat down and sipped the beverage gingerly, then smiled. "Mm."

Gabrielle had cupped her chin on one hand and was gazing at him in mild amusement, the corners of her eyes crinkling up as she stifled a smile. "I don't bite." She remarked casually. "Even Xena doesn't."

He looked doubtful at that, and his eyes flicked around the cave. "Um…"

The bard stood, and stretched her body out, rolling her head around a little to pop her neck into place. "She's just..mm. .checking the place out. " She waved a hand towards the back recesses of the cave. "She hates surprises.. and after a couple years with her, I'm not fond of them either." Gabrielle told him, as she walked over to their gear, and rummaged for some trail bars, finding them with a satisfied mutter. She'd decided not to touch anything in the encampment last night save a few stray carrots, and her body was protesting in outrage, only reluctantly quieting as she started chewing on one.

"Here." She gave one to Devon. "It's cold, but it's safe, at least.. and it's gotta be better than what they were giving you in there….do you want a shirt to change into? That one's sorta in shreds."

Devon timidly took the bar and examined it, then nibbled an edge. "Hey.. that's not bad." He gave her a tentative smile. "And I wouldn't know about the stuff inside.. I didn't eat any." He took a bite of the bar and chewed it, visibly relaxing a little. "I was trying to figure out a way to get out of that place when you came in the first time."

Gabrielle had pulled over a saddlebag and was pawing through it's contents. "That would have been tough." She commented, finding what she was looking for and tugging it out. "Here… no sense in you catching a cold, after all that." She tossed him a folded linen shirt, then walked back over to her rock and sat down, biting into her own trail bar with enthusiasm.

The man put his breakfast into his mouth and shook the garment out, glancing at it, then at her, his eyes widening perceptibly. "Umf…thsf ifn't…uh.."

"No.. it's mine." Gabrielle assured him blithely, watching him sigh in relief, and slip the shirt over his head. "I stole it from Xena." She added, with a hint of mischief, as he stopped in midmotion, with the fabric settling over him. She had to giggle at the expression on his face, which was morphing from alarm to apprehension. "Would you relax?"

He pulled the bar out of his mouth and cleared his throat. "You've got a twisted sense of humor, Gabrielle." He told her wryly. "Has anyone ever told you that?"

The bard laughed gently. "I can't help it…it's just so funny.. I've never had anyone react to us like this before." Her eyes twinkled. "I mean. .usually they have no idea who I am, and they're scared senseless of Xena." She concluded, taking a swallow of her tea.

"Well… " Devon did the same. "She is intimidating, you know."

"Xena? Nah." The bard disagreed. "She's a sweetie…she's not at all the wild person everyone thinks she is."

"Hey." The warrior chose that specific moment to pad into the fire's circle of light, her body dripping with cold water. She shook herself vigorously, sending droplets everywhere, then grinned at them, her damp hair plastered over her head and neck like a lion's mane.

Gabrielle sighed, and gave her partner an affectionate look. "And she's got the most unique talent for making me look silly when I say that about her." She shook her head at the warrior. "Xena, what are you doing? You're all wet!"

Devon had scuttled to the back of his rock, and was holding his mug in both hands, his eyes pinned on the wet, leatherclad woman.

"It's raining." Xena explained, plaintively.

"Honey, we're inside a cave. There's no rain here." Gabrielle objected, handing her over a hot cup of tea. "Here… you're making me shiver just looking at you."

Xena seated herself on the ground at Gabrielle's feet and took the cup, resting her elbows on her knees and sipping it. The warm taste of chamomile and honey slipped down her throat, and she regarded their young rescueee with an amused eye. "Hey!" She barked the word, and he jumped.

Gabrielle gave her a slap. "Cut that out." She scolded her partner, a little surprised by the obvious good mood she could feel rolling off her.

The blue eyes twinkled mischievously. "Relax." She advised the storyteller. "I found a way outta here." She went on briskly. "It's a little tricky for the horses, but it'll get us out up on the plateau up above, and we should be able to go through that pass and get down into the next lower valley without much problem."  She looked up as Gabrielle started drying her off with a bit of linen she'd retrieved from her bag. "We'll wait for the weather to clear a little first, though."

"So you won't get wet?" The bard inquired archly, drying off a tanned warrior ear, which moved as Xena smiled. Gabrielle smiled back, luxuriating in the sense of closeness she could feel between them, almost forgetting about Devon as she traced Xena's dark brows with her cloth.

She half expected Xena to draw back, into her cooler, more remote public persona, but the warrior remained still, her blue eyes wandering over the bard's face as a soft sigh escaped her, seemingly as oblivious to their guest as the bard was. "Go change." She told her partner in a soft voice. "You know you can't stand being sick."

Xena gently butted her head against the bard's knee, then stood in one fluid motion and squished over to their saddlebags, pulling out her other set of leathers and boots, and a clean pair of undergarments and socks. She turned and winked at the bard, then moved off into the darkness of the cavern, the shadows swallowing up her form as though she were part of them.

**************************************

They decided to explore the caves as they waited for the rain to slow down, and Xena led them carefully into the first of them. "Watch your step." The warrior warned. She was leading Iolaus, in front of Gabrielle leading Hercules, with Devon bringing up the rear. The storyteller had relaxed a little, and was looking around with interest now that he'd gotten over being thrown in with his own personal heroes.

"Wow." Gabrielle placed her boots carefully, peering around at the phosphorescent stalactites, reflecting their torchlight and a ghostly glow all their own in muted beauty. "It's wonderful." She handed Xena her reins, and moved into the cavern, leaving the light of the torches behind and letting herself be surrounded by the cool, ghostly mist.

The water trickled under and over her boots, and she could smell the strong mineral scent of the dissolving rocks as she edged forward, reaching out a hand to touch the slick stalactite with curious fingers.

Xena leaned against the damp wall, watching her soulmate explore with a contented expression. She was in no hurry, since the weather was still awful, and she was glad she'd found something to engage her partner's bardic interest. She wiggled her toes inside her comfortably dry boots, and exhaled in satisfaction.

"What's she doing?" Devon asked, hesitantly, still apparently intimidated by the tall, dark haired warrior.

Xena debated toying with him, then she crossed her legs at the ankles and decided otherwise. "Living." She answered quietly, watching Gabrielle's careful exploration.

Devon's brows knit, as he turned towards the bard. "I don't understand." He admitted, as the bard knelt, and picked something up, examining it then putting it into a pouch she wore at her belt.

"I didn't either, for a long time." Xena told him, as the bard rejoined them. "Nice, huh?"

"It's fantastic." Gabrielle enthused. "Did you see those multicolored ones over there? If you look at it sideways, kinda.. it's like a waterfall." She pointed. "And those ones over there…they're all yellow and purple. Look!"

Xena smiled, as she pushed off the wall, and got ready to move on. "What about the one that went here?" She patted the bard's pouch. "That for your collection?"

Gabrielle resumed Hercules' reins and grinned. "MY collection?" She asked in an innocent voice. "Seems to me that somehow ends up as YOUR collection."

They started off, staying close to the wall. "Only because you put them in my pockets." Xena objected mildly, remembering with a smile some of the little surprises, tiny pieces of parchment with notes, and poems her soulmate was prone to tuck into unexpected places.

That made her think about how long it had been since she'd gotten one, and her brow furrowed, as she realized how much she missed them. They'd been a welcome comfort when she'd gone off on trips, or just found them scattered around. Xena exhaled softly. Guess we'd gotten to busy for that too, huh?

Damn. That really hurt. Her boots scuffed against the rocks, as she led the way towards the second chamber. Ah well, Xena… suck it up and forget about it.. don't be such a baby. She scolded herself sternly.

Gabrielle felt the change in her partner's mood, and she drew a little closer, wondering what was bothering her. The path was too narrow for them to walk side by side, though, so she had to content herself with keeping her eye on Xena, and trying to puzzle out what the problem was.

She'd been fine, yeah.. they'd just talked about the pretty icicles, and then about the rocks, and then about her collection but…

Pale green eyes flicked to a leather covered back in startled speculation. Nah, that couldn’t be it, could it? I know I haven't done that in a while but…

But. Gabrielle had a sudden memory of a small pouch filled with tiny, folded bits of parchment, and how her soulmate had jealously guarded them, tiny gifts she'd dashed off lightheartedly, that had obviously meant more than she'd imagined to the sometimes enigmatic warrior.

So odd, that a person as logical, and as straightforward as Xena was, would covet her occasionally silly bits of wordplay and poetry. Gabrielle gazed at the strong back in silent apology, then set herself a task of finding some nice, round, pretty pebbles.

*********************************

They settled down at the exit cave, bathed in the faint spray from the pouring rain outside, and the rushing waterfall, to wait for the weather to calm down. Xena leaned against the rock wall, munching on a handful of nuts while her soulmate busied herself with some parchment, her body curled up against the warrior's as she rested on her side, chewing on her quill with absorbed intent.

Devon sat cross legged next to her, playing with some shale chips and moving his still swollen jaw around pensively. "How much longer, you think?" He asked, hesitantly. "I'd kinda like to get outta this area… it gives me the creeps."

Xena gazed out at the weather and considered the question. "Candlemark, maybe two.. and we should be able to move on." She decided. "I've never been through these parts though… I'm not sure what we'll find when we go up through the pass."  She lifted a hand and idly tangled it's fingers in Gabrielle's hair, which was brushing against her hip.

"Well." Devon crossed his legs and leaned forward. "I've been round here twice…first time, I didn't see much of anything, second time, I thought I hear folks moving around, but I never found anyone."

The warrior nodded, absorbing the information. "How'd you get caught?" She inquired curiously.

Gabrielle glanced up as well, nibbling her quill with evident enjoyment. "I knew there was something I wanted to ask you."

He sighed. "Dumb, bad luck." His fingers played with a small stick. "I was in a small village in the foothills.. I'd been there a dozen times before, and I was doing the usual.." Here, he gave Gabrielle a shy look. 'Telling stories, I mean…and one of Andreas goon's happened to be home visiting mum." He shrugged. "Next thing I knew, I was being hog tied, and tossed on the back of a horse, then… " A hand lifted. "They brought me to another village, where there were three other troublemakers waiting, and loaded us into the nasty wagon."  His bushy eyebrows collected together. "How'd you know I was in there?"

"We saw you." Gabrielle explained, leaning back against the warm body behind her. "We were at the inn when the wagon came by, and we heard some of the guards say who you were."

Devon looked even more puzzled. "Why did you care?"

The bard didn't answer for a moment, but Xena chuckled, low and deep behind her, and she reached back to slap the warrior on the knee. "Don't you start." She shifted a little, then composed her thoughts. "Well, we'd heard someone was running around telling stories about Xena here, so we were curious."

"We?" The warrior rumbled softly.

"Xena." A green eye fixed on her, with it's blond brow cocked over it.

The warrior subsided, but not without a twinkle.

"Oh." Devon blushed a little. "I didn't mean any harm.. I was just kind of… trying to jazz people up, you know?" He glanced sheepishly at them. "I didn't expect to run into you."

"Why us?" Xena asked bluntly. "Why not Hercules?"

Devon cleared his throat and stared off into the rain for a bit, then he peeked back at the patiently waiting, and rabidly curious pair across the rocky floor from him. "Um…" He gave Gabrielle a little grin. "You've got much better stories."

Xena gave the bard a little slap on the behind and shook her head, as Gabrielle cleared her throat in mild embarrassment.

"Besides which.. we haven't seen him in these parts in a long time.. I'd heard he went overseas." Devon added.

Blue eye sand green exchanged glances. "That's true." Xena commented quietly. "But we'll send a note out.. we're gonna need all the help we can get."

The storyteller perked up, edging closer to them in evident curiosity. "So.. you are going to do something.. right?"

"Of course." Gabrielle answered, almost without thinking. "It's not going to be easy… but we can't let this guy just run rampant, right Xena?"

The warrior nodded solemnly.

Devon looked from one to the other. "Um… he's got a couple thousand guys there."

"Mmhmm." Gabrielle agreed. "We know."

Another look. "There are only..uh.. two of you.. three, if you count me in, which you can, you know, but I can do stuff like throw rocks at them. I'm not much good at swords."

"That's okay. Neither am I." Gabrielle told him, with an unruffled air.

Devon absorbed this information, then his eyes went to Xena's shadowed face, and slowly widened, his thoughts obviously going across his face.

"You know.. that's how this stuff all gets started." Xena complained. "Wait.. in a moon, we'll be going through somewhere, and hear that I'm gonna hold off three thousand guys with you and your staff, and a pile of rocks."

Gabrielle looked over her shoulder at her soulmate. "And?"

"Gabrielle." Dark brows knit in dissaproval.

The bard laughed gently, then turned to Devon. "We won't be doing this alone, Devon…but it'll take awhile to get everything together." She sighed, thinking of the scope of it, and what was to come. Knitting together a force of such diversity wasn't going to be easy.

Heck.. it was on the outside edges of impossible.. her negotiating skills notwithstanding. She knew that the only thing she really had going for her was Xena's reputation, and the very real danger Andreas presented.

She could just imagine Ephiny's face when she told her.

Which reminded her. "Xena.. we're going to have to find some place safe to send people."

Xena nodded. "I know." Her eyes went out into the rain, no longer humorous.

******************************************

It was closer to three candlemarks than two by the time they were working their way down the narrow path, with Xena in the lead, placing her boots carefully and testing the path before allowing either the horses or her two followers to proceed.

The rain had left the rocks very slick, with water runoff and moss, and Xena had no intention of allowing either herself, or her companions to tumble down the mountainside if she could help it. "Easy, boy. " She murmured to Iolaus, watching the ears flick back and forth as the stallion listened to her voice. "Not much longer."

She peered ahead, to where the path leveled off and widened with relief, wincing as she put pressure on her injured leg which nevertheless held up under her weight. The bandage Gabrielle had wrapped around it was secure, but if she looked down, she knew she'd see blood staining it.

Well, they'd have time to take care of that once they were in the forest, and away from the road, she concluded, as she continued cautiously down. A glance behind her showed Gabrielle's intent, serious face as the bard followed as closely in her footsteps as possible, her hand wrapped firmly in Hercules reins. As though sensing Xena's eyes, Gabrielle lifted hers, and a smile twitched it's way across her face in unconscious reaction.

Xena felt herself smiling back, as she turned and resumed her progress, glad when the thin ledge finally leveled out and they could pause, feeling solid, leaf strewn ground under their feet. "Okay." The warrior looked behind her, at the long, steep path behind them, almost impassible looking, and nodded in satisfaction. No one would guess they'd brought themselves, and two horses down that. "Devon, you said you'd been through here.. .any way you recommend?"

The storyteller gaped at her, obviously tongue-tied. "Uh." He looked out over the muddy, drab ground. "I um… "

Gabrielle patted his back gently. "Straight ahead looks good, huh?"

Xena rolled her eyes, then started forward, leading the way into the shadowed forest, allowing the cool, friendly leaves to close over them.

It was quiet here, just a soft, fitful breeze blowing through the trees, rustling the foliage and brushing against their skin. Xena pulled her cloak a little closer around her, feeling a light chill she half suspected wasn't the weather, and expelled a short breath. Now, she told herself, was not the damn time to be getting sick.

Gabrielle looked around her, taking in the quiet of the place, and stopping to gaze at a pretty, red bird that was flitting over head. It's color stood out starkly against the green canopy, and it put a quiet smile on her face that remained as she picked up her pace, and joined her soulmate on the path beneath the trees, glad it was wide enough here for her to do so. "Hey."

The pale blue eyes glanced down at her. "Hey."

Gabrielle matched steps with her, and reached out, instinctively tangling her fingers with the warrior as they walked. Xena's hands were warm, as they usually were, and she felt a gentle grip tighten as the warrior felt her touch.

Now, it was no big deal, but she remembered the first time they'd done that in public, and it brought a quiet smile to her face.

It had been in a small trading village, just outside Potadeia as they'd traveled towards Cirron. She'd found a marketplace, as usual, and Xena had rolled her eyes, as usual, and promised to meet her by the inn after she'd had her fill of shopping.

"What are you going to do?" She'd asked, hesitating.

Xena had shrugged. "Find a cold mug of something.. maybe get a buckle for my boot.. why?"

And Gabrielle had almost begged her to stay. Almost… because she wanted to wander the market with her new partner, and share what she found with her, sidestepping the knowledge that Xena didn't enjoy that sort of thing.

But she didn't.. she'd just nodded. "Okay." And she'd walked away, heading off into the crowd and leaving the taller woman behind to her own devices. She knew Xena would go about her business, and be waiting when she got back, seated quietly in some corner with her ale mug, idly watching the crowds go by.

Watching the young couples go by, hand in hand, laughing and talking as young lovers tended to, which made Gabrielle realize that there were some things about life she was just probably never going to get to experience.

That sort of bummed her out. Not that she wasn't thrilled speechless that they'd finally admitted their love for one another, and not that she didn't appreciate the limitless facets to her new partner's personality…she just had to reconcile herself to the fact that Xena was who Xena was, and skipping lightheartedly through a marketplace was just not something she was ever going to have happen.

Two of the youngsters glanced at her, and the girl had given her a little, almost pitying look as she slipped a hand possessively around her boyfriend's arm, preening at the indulgent look he'd given her in return.

Gabrielle had sighed, then turned her attention to the first shop, fingering the woven belts for sale and opened her mouth to ask their price.

Never expecting a grape to put inside it. She'd bit down in utter reflex, making sweet juice explode , and turned, to see a lazy smile, and pale blue eyes regarding her with a wry look. "Oh." She'd spluttered." Where did you come from?"

A dark brow had lifted. "Amphipolis." Xena had answered archly. " You?"

"Very funny." Gabrielle had answered, wiping her mouth. "I thought you were going to get buckles and drunk."

"Changed my mind." The warrior had replied. "I hear there are wild, vicious sparrows in this marketplace.. gotta make sure you're safe." Xena had glanced around, meeting the eyes of the young couple who were staring at her tall, armored form in uneasy awe. "Got a problem?" She'd growled at them.

They'd edged away quickly, and Xena had turned to her, holding a hand out with almost shy diffidence. "Walk with me?"

No dream could have been sweeter, and Gabrielle had felt almost insanely happy as she'd eagerly complied, fitting her hand into the warrior's and feeling the warm fingers close around hers.

The sunlight of that day had lit her tall partner from behind, and brought out the mahogany highlights in her hair, and Gabrielle had felt her heart almost burst from pride as they'd walked hand in hand through the market.

To this day, she had absolutely no idea on earth what she'd seen there.

She'd been too busy walking on clouds.

Fingers now tightened on hers, and she felt Xena slow, then halt, and go very still. Gabrielle pulled Hercules to a halt and watched the tanned face tense, eyes flicking to the trees and the tips of her ears twitching.

"What's up?" Devon asked, almost bumping into her.

"Shh." The bard held up a hand, waiting. "Trouble?"

Xena's nostrils flared. "We've got company."  Her sense of smell picked up tension, and fear ahead, and her sensitive ears caught bowstrings pulling taut. "And they're not friendly."

*********************************************

"Okay." Gabrielle instinctively moved closer to her soulmate, and slightly behind her right arm, clearing space and allowing Xena room to move. She took a better grip on her staff and pushed Devon gently next to Hercules' bulky form. "Stay quiet. "She told him softly.

"Don't worry." Devon answered, in a bare whisper, his eyes pinned on Xena's tense form.

Xena let her eyes skim the surrounding forest, spotting a soft flash of light on an arrowhead, and a flicker of sun that glanced off bare skin. Her nose twitched. Amazons? "Gabrielle. .give the peace sign."

The bard blinked, but obeyed, letting her staff rest against her shoulder as she lifted both arms over her head and clasped her wrists.

Deathly silence now, for long heartbeats, as Xena felt her muscles tense in readiness. Then there was a soft rustle, and a tall, lithe figure dropped out of the nearest tree, shaking itself and stalking forward towards the small party.

She stopped in front of the bard, who lowered her hands, and gazed at her, with a marked lack of friendliness. "Who makes the sign of peace?" The woman asked, in a low, melodic voice. She was about Xena's age, Gabrielle guessed, with long, light brown hair that was braided back, exposing a finely boned face that was strikingly beautiful. "And by what right?"

"My name is Gabrielle." The bard answered quietly. "I'm a member of the Amazon Nation."

One chestnut eyebrow lifted as the woman studied her, then the pale hazel eyes shifted and took in Xena's quiet, watchful form. "Are you? Of which village, then?"

"To the south.. in the greater mountain range." Gabrielle answered.

The woman nodded. "Very well. Do you come from the city?"

The bard exhaled. "Yes… we just left there."

"Come with me." The Amazon commanded, shortly. "We will take your horses to safety, and your male friend can wait with them." She turned on her heel and stalked off, her bearing indicting she expected the bard and warrior to follow her.

"Well. " Gabrielle sighed. "We've got to start somewhere, right?" She gave her soulmate  a wry look. "Doesn't she remind you of Melosa?"

"Mm." The warrior grunted in agreement, remembering the Amazon queen who had been both friend, and enemy, and one of the finest warriors in the Nation. "I didn't know there were Amazons up here." She turned towards Devon. "Stay with the horses.. they won't hurt you."

"Who.. the horses or the Amazons?" The storyteller asked wryly, as he wrapped his hands in Hercules' reins. "Frankly.. I feel safer with them than with that icicle up there."

"Mm." Xena said again, pulling her cloak a little closer and starting off after their reluctant host, the bard dogging her steps.

They were surrounded by silent, competent warriors as they passed down the leaf strewn path, experienced, grim fighters in excellent condition who carried their weapons with negligent expertise. Gabrielle moved a step closer to her pacing partner and studied them from the corner of her eye, reminded strongly of her reaction when she'd first encountered the Amazons.

They'd seemed so tough, so assured… so much like her friend Xena, only a little more open.. a little more understandable.

And then she'd become one of them, in a flurry of ceremony that had left her head spinning, and her heart confused, torn between exploring her new, instant family, and continuing on her journey with Xena. She wondered, sometimes, what it would have been like if she'd stayed with the Amazons for a while.

Would she have become more like them? Absorbed their attitudes.. would Melosa still be alive, if she'd been there to stop the political machinations of Velaska?

Her eyes went to the pensive profile of the woman pacing next to her. She wouldn't be in this place, if she had. Would have never known the joys and sorrows of the past few years. Never known the greatest love of her life, because Xena would have gone on, without her. Would have faced death, without her.

She'd never have seen Xena come back from Tartarus, or faced Dahok's touch, or had to live through Solon's death.

There would have been no last minute rescue in the rain, in a centaur village.

She would never have known Hope.

Or Dori.

Or the simple joy of unconditional love, from a heart so large, it could hold all her dreams, and still have room.

Gabrielle reached out and tangled her fingers with Xena's, feeling the blue eyes turn on her in question. She paused a moment, then looked up, and just smiled at her.

The warrior looked a little puzzled, but smiled back, then winked.

They both looked ahead of them, hands still united, heads lifted high.

Soulmates.

The woman lead them through a thick, leafy surround and stopped beneath a large tree, striking the bole with the staff she was carrying. After a moment, a rope ladder descended, and she stepped back, jerking her head towards them. "Up."

Neither of them moved for a moment, then Gabrielle released her partner and walked forward, ignoring the ladder and extending a hand. "I'm sorry.. I didn't catch your name?"

The Amazon leader gazed frostily at her. "I didn't give it."

"Well… I've got this little problem then.. " The bard leaned on her staff. "See.. I don't climb up into anyone's tree if I don't know their name."

Xena hid a grin. Gabrielle did have a way about her.  Granted, it often lead to her having to battle them both out of whatever trouble it got them into, but it certainly was fun watching her work.

The woman studied her slowly, leaning on her own staff as she judged the smallish, fair haired woman facing her. The warriors surrounding them waited in patient discipline, their eyes watching both their guests.

Finally, the Amazon leader shrugged. "I am Jonae."

"Thanks." The bard replied cheerfully, tucking her staff under one arm and reaching for the ladder. Then she changed her mind and tossed the staff to her partner. "Throw that up to me, okay?"

Xena caught the staff, then let her eyes flick to the watching Amazons, noting their slightly arrogant expressions. "No problem." She told her soulmate, waiting until she was halfway up the ladder. Then she studied the surrounding area, and glanced up, judging distances.

"All right.. go on. " Jonae directed brusquely. "Make it quick.. we've got things to do."

"No problem." She repeated, leaning into motion and taking two long strides, then crouching, aware of the startled movement around her. She grinned as she uncoiled from the ground, shooting up past her partner and tucking her body into a neat flip as she came even with the first long branch, then landing on it, just about in time to hand Gabrielle her staff as the bard pulled herself up.

She dusted her sleeve off nonchalantly, and bit down a wince as her leg protested the action. Gabrielle climbed over the mounting point for the ladder and took her staff, giving her partner an amused look. "Show off." She whispered.

"Slowpoke." Xena whispered back. They both turned as two Amazon warriors came up behind them, hands on their belt knives, with closed, suspicious faces. Xena edged in front of the bard, just in case, her defenses prickling as Jonae stepped over the ladder edge and closed in behind them. Aw, c'mon… if any of us falls outta here, that's gonna hurt.

But Jonae, after giving Xena a long, speculative look, merely waved them on. They proceeded through the treetop structure, floors made of split branches lashed into place giving them secure footing.

The living branches had been woven into walls, and trees had been joined by vine bridges, which they crossed in silence, the soft breeze blowing past them, and the overgrown foliage squatting over the ground far below. There were no paths down there, only rocky, scrubby ground, so no reason for anyone to be walking and looking up. It made for perfect camouflage, and Xena grudgingly admired the neat dwellings and storage areas they passed. Finally, their escort stopped, before a woven leaf door, and opened it, gesturing them to go forward.  Gabrielle ducked past them into the chamber, glancing around at the small, but comfortable room and clearing out of the way so Xena could follow her.

Jonae joined them, closing the door behind her and fastening it. "You have been in the city." She started in, pacing a little.

"Thanks, I'd love to sit down." Gabrielle answered her, selecting a wooden chair and perching on it. She glanced at her partner, who had chosen to amble across the room and peer out the window, patently ignoring the Amazon. Ah. This is my arena, is it, Xe? The bard nibbled her lip and sorted out her possible strategies. "Have you been having problems with Andreas?"

Jonae spared the inattentive Xena an annoyed look, then focused on the bard. "These are my questions." She answered bluntly. "You'll answer them."

"Why?" The bard stood and walked over, circling her. "How do I know you're not working for Andreas?" She countered. "Why should I answer anything?"

Jonae slowly turned, and regarded her. "Because I am a Queen of the Amazons, and I command it." She stated, impressively.

"Dinar a dozen." Gabrielle remarked lightly. " Me too." She heard, from the corner of her hearing, a tiny sound somewhere between a snort and a chuckle coming from the window. "So can we dispense with the interrogation and just talk?"

The taller woman stared at her. "You? You are an Amazon Queen?" Her voice was thick with disbelief.

"Yep." Gabrielle agreed cheerfully. "For about.. oh… two years now." She leaned on her staff. "You really shouldn't judge a scroll by it's casing, you know." Her green eyes twinkled gently.

Jonae studied her with crossed arms. "You are no warrior." She accused.

"Mm… not as such, no." The bard admitted. "But I think you can be a good leader without being a fighter."

The Amazon shook her head. "Not of the Amazons." She regarded Gabrielle with a jaundiced eye. "What do you do in a challenge.. talk them to sleep?"

Gabrielle spared a glance towards the window. "No.. I let my champion handle all that." She remarked casually. "She's not much for talking."

Bard and warrior exchanged wry looks, as Xena turned and leaned against the wall, her cloak falling open casually and exposing her armored form in a flash of dark leather and brass.

Jonae was silent for a moment, absorbing everything. Her intriguing face took on a hint of wry curiosity, though. "I'm sorry.. I didn't catch your name?" She addressed Xena for the first time, consciously mimicking the bard's statement earlier.

The warrior let her face relax into a wolfish grin. "I didn't give it."

Gabrielle rolled her eyes. "Warriors." She sighed. "Jonae, this is my partner, Xena of Amphipolis."

Jonae's initial reaction was a sharply lifted eyebrow, as she glanced from the shorter woman to the lounging form against her wall. "Ah." She finally murmured. "You'rethat Gabrielle." She sighed. "I should have put two and two together earlier, but it's been a long couple of days."

The bard sat down, glad the posturing was over. "For us too." She admitted.

The Amazon leader slowly sat down on her desk and let her hands rest on her thighs. Her face took on more expression, becoming worried, and a touch fatigued. She focused on Gabrielle, but her eyes kept wandering over to the quietly watching Xena, with a look of almost disbelief. "You said you were in the city? I take it they didn't know who you were?"

Gabrielle shook her head. "I don't think so.. at least, not me." She turned in question. "Xena?"

The warrior pushed off against her wall and ambled over, taking a seat on the arm of the bard's chair. "I gave him the fake name you came up with.. but chances are by now, he's figured it out." She told her soulmate. "If someone else didn't recognize me there."

Jonae stood and paced. "Him… you saw Andreas?" She asked sharply.

"Oh yeah." They both answered at once. "He hired me as his horse trainer." Xena continued, with a wry grin. "But it didn't work out."

Gabrielle saw the look of confused horror on Jonae's face and held up a hand. "Xena and I heard he was raising an army.. we decided to check things out, and see if things were as bad as we had heard they were… so we had to get inside the city."

Now the look turned to respect. "You did."

The bard nodded. "We did… and we found out a lot." Her eyes went to Xena's. "None of it very good."

Jonae sat down behind her desk heavily. "That's what we were afraid of." She murmured. "We haven't been here long… maybe a year…a little less. We came from the north, where our village was decimated by two warlords. .most of us were out on a hunting expedition at the time, and they were… " She paused, and sighed. "They tried, Artemis knows… they took a lot of them with them to Hades' care, but.." She let her words trail off, then she looked up at them. "Time to move on again, I suppose."

"Well." Gabrielle folded her hands. "It was pretty discouraging, that's true.. but we're going to find a way to fight him."

The Amazon shook her head. "You can't fight him. He's a demon."

"He's a man." Xena disagreed. "He's under the influence of something… " The warrior hesitated. "Something very evil, but he's still a man."  She stood and now she paced, her cloak swirling around her in the wind of her motion. "He's raising an army that will scour the land clean, Jonae… there won't be anyplace to hide if we don't stop him." Xena turned and regarded them, the filtered sunlight outlining her muscular form into gold lined shadow, and showing a glint of mahogany.

Gabrielle felt herself holding her breath, sensing the emergence of that mostly hidden side of her soulmate, the leader of armies whose charisma had gathered fighters to her like a bee to clover. It was darkly compelling, and she felt herself responding to it, a deep, visceral thrill in her guts that surprised her.

Or maybe it didn't. "Xena's right." She said quietly. "Violence is never my first choice…and sometimes not my second. But we have to fight him."

"With what?" The Amazon responded. "There isn't a major force anywhere in the country that can face him… not even any regional troops, even if you could get the city states to join together." She rose and paced. "You can't fight with phantom warriors."

"No.. we're going to have to pull together everyone we can." Gabrielle also stood, putting herself in Jonae's path. "My Amazons…. Xena's militia in Amphipolis…resources we both can call on in other places.. " She faced the taller woman squarely. "Every person counts."

Jonae stared at her for a moment. "Not my people." She rasped. "You're both crazy if you think you can pull together odds and ends and face that army. I'm not putting my people into the firing line for that." She went to the door and stuck her head out. "Prepare a chamber." She came back in. "Eleste will take you to rest. You can have lunch with us, then we'll escort you through our territory. " She paused. "And we'll be following you out of here… out of these mountains, and out of this country."

Gabrielle marshaled her arguments, but felt a hand gently clasp her arm, and turned, to see Xena's eyes on her, one brow lifting slightly. She knew the look.

"C'mon, Gabrielle...if they're hearts aren't in it, there's no point." The warrior gave her a gentle shove towards the door. "Don’t' waste your breath."

She wanted to argue. All her instincts were to argue… to try and convince the Amazon of how important this was, and why they needed to help…she was a little annoyed at her soulmate for throwing her off track. But the hand on her back moved to a gentle rubbing, and she held her tongue, allowing the warrior to guide her out of the leader's hut, and onto the vine path again.

The stern Amazon outside motioned for them to follow her, and they did, to a small, bare chamber at the end of the arboreal village. They entered and their guide closed the door behind them, leaving them alone in the green stillness.

Gabrielle turned, and put her hands on her hips, giving Xena an irritated, drumming fingertip look.

The warrior smiled slightly, and put a finger on her lips, then lifted her hand and crooked her fingers in the hunter's signal for patience, her head cocking to one side, and her eyes widening in entreaty.

The bard sighed, but let a tiny grin edge her lips, and her hands dropped, then lifted in concession. She wagged a finger at the taller woman, then moved closer and gave her a pat, nuzzling her when Xena wrapped her arms around her and gave her a hug. "What are you up to?" She whispered, barely audible.

"Fishing." The warrior murmured in response.

"You could have let me try to convince her." Gabrielle couldn't keep herself from muttering.

"Shh." Xena nudged her over to the small, bare bed and sat down, leaning against the wall with a sigh. She closed her eyes and resisted the urge to rub her aching temples, a annoyance that had added itself to her throbbing leg in the last little while. "Let's just get through this, and get outta here." This she said a little louder. "They wouldn't be much help anyway."

Gabrielle sat down next to her, peering at the quiet face in the green tinted light. She could see the faint flare of the warrior's nostrils as she breathed, and the small movements of muscles just under her skin as she listened to the world around them. There was, she detected, a faint pallor under her partner's usual tan and she lifted a hand quietly and touched her face, then laid her palm over Xena's forehead as she felt the heat. "Xe?"

A blue eyeball appeared. "Yeah, I know." The warrior muttered in disgust. "When we get back to the gear, I'll take something."

"How's the leg?" The bard asked.

"Hurts." Came the curt response.

Gabrielle sighed, and let her head rest against her partner's shoulder, rubbing her arm in idle comfort. "Next time, no playing in mud puddles for you, my love."

A smile appeared on the warrior's face. "Awww…" Xena rested her head against the bard's, glad of her quiet presence. "Wonder how Dori's doing?" She murmured suddenly. "Think she's giving mom any trouble?"

Gabrielle looked around, at the walls of a strange Amazon village, in the mountains over a beleaguered city, to her injured and sick soulmate, and finally, at her own scruffy appearance, complete with her aching arm. "Our child? Causing trouble? Never." She told Xena with a totally serious expression.

Xena looked at her, then she chuckled gently.  "Think mom's ever going to forgive us?"

"No." The bard replied, looking up as the door swung open to reveal the enigmatic Eleste.

"Come." The woman instructed, brusquely. "We are ready."

Xena got up and pulled her cloak straight, then sighed as Gabrielle joined her. "Lead on." She stepped to the door, where she towered over their guide, who blocked the way for just an instant too long, with just a touch of insolent attitude.

"They say you're the Warrior Princess." The woman stated.

Xena regarded her coolly. "I've been called that." She replied. "Why?"

But the woman merely nodded, and walked on, motioning them to follow.

"Was that a nibble?" The bard whispered.

"I dunno." Xena replied. "Guess we'll find out."

***********************************************************

They followed their silent guide through the trees, with Gabrielle behind her and the warrior bringing up the rear. The path was empty, and the wind had picked up a little, ruffling dark and fair hair as they stepped along, only the leaves and the gentle scuffing of their boots against bark breaking the quiet.

As they walked, they passed several side pathways, where vines led from one tree to another, and small chambers not unlike the one they were in. Gabrielle guessed they were individual quarters, and she found herself charmed by the village, and it's unique setup.

Just ahead, the guide opened a lattice gateway stretched across the path, and stepped back, motioning them inside with a curt gesture. Gabrielle gave her a smile, and edged past, aware of her soulmate's close presence as they entered the round chamber that functioned as a meeting place for these Amazons.

It was a very interesting room, the bard thought, an area in the center of a huge tree, where branches had grown out and around, then interlaced back towards the center of the tree to form an irregular chamber. Wooden benches had been set into the roots to form chairs, and long, roughly shaped planks served as tables.

Right now, however, the chamber was mostly filled with silent, borderline hostile looking Amazons, who stared at them intently, and raised every single hackle Xena possessed straight up, until she was surprised she didn't have a ruff around her head much like Ares would.

Even Gabrielle felt it, she knew, because the bard slowed instinctively and closed the distance between them, until Xena only had to lift her hand and the curve of the bard's shoulderblade fitted into it neatly. She felt the shift as Gabrielle took a deep breath, then they both glanced at Jonae.

"We have guests today." The Amazon queen spoke briefly. "This is Gabrielle, queen of a sister tribe of Amazons, and her partner, Xena."

Gabrielle took a quick glance over her shoulder to check her soulmate's reaction to that. Xena remained alert but expressionless, though she did note  a tiny quirk in the corner of one lip, and felt an almost imperceptible squeeze against the skin of her back. "Thank you." She answered Jonae cordially, and moved forward, joining the tall Amazon at her table. She heard casual steps behind her and turned to watch Xena stroll forward, taking her time, the pale blue eyes making a note of every single inch of the room.

And every single occupant. The silent Amazons had meant their display to be intimidating, the bard realized, but her partner was turning the tables on them, as their looks averted, unable to hold the intensity of Xena's gaze as she paused, and swiveled, standing in the dim, green light like a shadowy, caped bird.

Then she chuckled, and shook her head, joining Gabrielle at the table and politely motioning for the bard to seat herself.  She took a seat to the her partner's right and hitched a knee up, resting her elbows on it and letting her eyes roam around the chamber.

Gabrielle almost had to cover her mouth to keep from laughing, at the perceptible discomfort her beloved soulmate was causing. Instead, she turned to Jonae. "We appreciate the courtesy." She remarked. "This is a really nice hall… I love the birds." She looked at the two Amazons next to the Queen. "Hi.." She extended a hand. "

The two women stared at her, then reluctantly, the closer one took her arm, grasping it quickly then releasing it. "Lenore." She muttered.

"Hello, Leonore." Gabrielle responded courteously, then glanced at her tablemate, a tall, heavyset, older woman with silvered brown hair and cool, gray eyes. "Hello."

The Amazon just stared at her, then turned away, ignoring her outstretched arm.

Gabrielle sighed soundlessly, and was about to try another tack when a shadow draped itself over her shoulder, and poured across the table, throwing the older Amazon into dappled darkness. The woman looked up, startled, to find Xena towering over her in threatening silence, all traces of humor gone from her face, and her body almost humming with tension.

Time seemed to still, as two wills fenced across the table for what seemed an endless moment. Then the Amazon stood, and faced the warrior. Xena felt her muscles tense and she drew a breath in, as her defenses swept up, a little surprised at  her own tempestuous reaction to the woman's snubbing of her soulmate, but ready to take whatever the Amazon thought she could dish out.

And then the woman simply turned, and walked away, leaving the table and the chamber, and slamming the latticework door behind her.

Interesting. Gabrielle thought, as Xena resumed her seat, a tiny furrow in her tanned brow. "I think I see what the problem is. " She remarked to Jonae, who had remained expressionless.

"Really? And what is that?" The Amazon Queen questioned her shortly.

"You need to either feed these people more fiber, or figure out how to stop them from cycling all at once." The bard told her seriously. "If one of my people treated a guest like that, I'd have them on a garbage detail so fast their feathers would fall off."

Xena almost bit her lip through inside, as she stifled a smile, watching Jonae's face go through several shades of angry crimson. She unobtrusively slipped her hand up into the small of Gabrielle's back, feeling the tension under her fingertips, and gave her skin a gentle scratch.

"You have to understand that we are not like the Amazons you know." Jonae answered, stiffly. "We have many issues we have to deal with her, and don't like strangers coming through our territory."

"Jonae, we're not strangers." Gabrielle leaned forward. "Look.. you said you didn't want any part of our plans.. that's fine. We're content just to say hello, and be on our way."

The door slammed back open at that point, and the stocky Amazon strode in, weapons bristling. "We'll see who's any good, right now!" She drew her sword and pointed it at Xena. "On your feet, Amazon."

"Watch who you're calling an Amazon, featherhead." Xena stood, throwing her cloak back and exposing her armor and sword, and the round, shining chakram, and freeing her right arm, her cuts and scrapes, and the bandage on her leg showing in sharp relief against her tanned skin. "You want a fight? No problem."

Gabrielle stood and put a hand on her wrist. "Hold it."  She turned and faced the angry Amazon. "Just you hold it one god's be damned minute… no one's fighting anyone here. What's wrong with you people? We're Amazons, just like you are.. isn't it bad enough you have an army forming down there, that we have to fight amongst each other?"

The Amazon pointed. "She challenged me, and don't you deny it!"  The sword aimed for Xena's heart. "She insulted all of us!"

"Hey!" Gabrielle pointed back. "Are you challenging me?" She asked, softly, in the sudden quiet. "Because if you are, this isn't some game." She released Xena, and circled the table, gathering their attention as she moved closer to the burly woman. "I need to know that before I let my champion, who held off three thousand men yesterday while we escaped from Lower Hades down there, get involved in some stupid, asinine, Amazon pissing match." The bard's volume increased as she spoke, until the last words were shouted, with a deep, ringing tone that made Xena's ears itch.

Eyes shifted from her, to Xena, and held there. Jonae stood up and studied the warrior. "You held off his army?" The Amazons tone was incredulous. "For how long?"

"Long enough for us to escape." Gabrielle answered quietly. "So now… " She turned and eyed the stocky Amazon standing near her. "You still want to do this? You won't win, believe me." She pointed a finger at her. "You'll end up really hurt, or maybe even dead, and for what?"

"No one person can hold off a damn army.. you're lying." Jonae stated flatly. "And I'm not going to have you in here insulting my people. Guards!"

Xena cursed softly in three languages, then vaulted the table, drawing her sword and closing in on her partner, as she swept the room with dangerous eyes.

"Hold it!" Came a quiet voice, from the doorway. Eyes turned to see a small, disheveled looking woman, with pale blond hair and a thin frame standing there. "It's true… they're all talking of it." She looked at Xena. "He's put a price on your head… ten thousand dinars."

One eyebrow curved up. "Hmph." Xena muttered. "That's a first."

"He lost a hundred men… and five hundred horses." The woman continued. "I think he's more upset about the animals." She sighed and leaned against the wooden post, regarding both warrior and bard with tired, but respectful eyes. "You make a damn lot of trouble for only two people."

Gabrielle gazed at her. "You were working in that kitchen."

She nodded. "Aye…I didn't know who you were.. wish I had." A tired smile pulled at her lips. "Though I might have guessed when you took out those guards with a broomstick."

Now the eyes swiveled to Gabrielle, who cleared her throat. "So." She eyed the woman next to her. "What'll it be?"  She was achingly aware of the dark, seething presence at her back, and the scent of drawn steel, from the sword which was resting on Xena's shoulder.

The woman slowly studied them, her face a mixture of anger, disbelief, and a tinge of honest fear. For a moment, she hesitated, then she sighed, and her sword hissed home in it's sheath. "Another day."

Gabrielle nodded, then turned her back on the woman and walked back to the high table, gently bumping her soulmate as she resumed her seat. "Can we talk now?" She asked Jonae, pointedly.  The hostility around her was making her head ache, and she wished she could narrow down the reason for it.

The Amazon leader gazed at the table, then looked up. "Cinte, come here, and sit down." She told the burly woman. Then she regarded her hands as they twisted against each other. "You have my apologies, Queen Gabrielle….that was.. inappropriate behavior."

Xena waited for the burly Amazon to sit down before she did, grateful to take the strain off her leg and biting off a tiny grin as the bard's hand curled around her knee immediately, the thumb brushing against her skin in aimless circles.

"Listen.. " Gabrielle curled her fingers into a light ball. "I can tell we're not welcome here.. why don't you just give us that escort, and we'll be on our way."

Jonae shook her head slightly, and glanced at the bard. "Do you really think you can make a difference? What are you going to do now..with a price on your head?"

"I've had one before." Xena remarked mildly. "And they have to find me first." She exhaled. "Gabrielle's right… we've got to get moving.. you all um… " She cleared her throat. "Take care of yourselves."

She stood up and put her hands on Gabrielle's shoulders, glancing around and seeing the shifting viewpoints, as the hostility lessened, and became pensive uncertainty. "Come on, Gabrielle."

A light squeeze on one shoulder, that meant 'follow my lead.'. Gabrielle got to her feet and nodded. "Okay."

They got to the door, as the silence beat down around them, and a guide stepped back uncertainly as they approached.

"Queen Gabrielle." Jonae's voice broke the quiet, and they turned. "What could you hope to accomplish?" She lifted a hand. "He has an army."

Gabrielle shrugged, and smiled. "And I have Xena." Her green eyes twinkled gravely. "It's a wash, as far as I'm concerned." The bard felt a little thrill of excitement chase her words around the room, and she sobered a little. "We'll have help. Every person who joins us matters" She scanned the room with evaluating eyes. " Even one person can make all the difference. "

They turned and walked out, treading along the shaded path with their guile following them, until they reached the ladder down. Xena glanced at it, glanced back at the furtive faces watching them from the hall's twisted wall, then held out one arm to her soulmate. "C'mere."

Uh oh. The bard sighed, but complied, tucking herself alongside Xena's cloaked body, and winding an arm around her. The warrior took a firm hold on her, then glanced at the guide.

"Excuse us."

Gabrielle closed her eyes as powerful legs shoved them off into space, and her stomach dropped as the air whistled by her in a free fall. Which stopped, suddenly, as Xena grabbed onto a vine, and changed their vertical motion into a swinging one, leaves whipping by on either side and leaving a green, raw scent  on them as they passed.

Another free fall, as the warrior let go at the end of the arch, and flipped in mid air, taking the bard with her upside down.

"Yaaaaaa!!!" Gabrielle squealed, as she sensed the ground coming up, then her world righted, and they landed with a thump, and a couple of warrior hops that brought them up standing near where they'd left the ground in the first place.

Xena released her, and dusted herself off, straightening her cloak where it had twisted around her body. "Fish for dinner, you think?" She asked her partner.

"Oh yeah." Gabrielle agreed, peeking up and spotting the rows of wide eyed faces. "You nailed that one.." She tucked a hand around her partner's elbow. "C'mon.. let's get out of here, and get your leg taken care of." She paused, to let their guide catch up, a younger woman, with three others trailing her down the ladder. "You had to do the flip, didn't you?" She sighed, rubbing her eyes. "You know that makes me dizzy."

Xena smiled wearily, and leaned over, kissing her head. "Sorry." She winced. "But after that little speech of yours.. "

Another Amazon came walking up leading Hercules and Iolaus, with a timid looking Devon behind them, and in a few moments they were off, headed deeper into the forest amid the lengthening shadows of a early gathering dusk.

*****************************

It was full dark before they were out of the Amazon's territory, and could find a place to make camp for the night. Xena would have been happier with a cave, or other defensible spot, but she settled for a sheltered grotto, surrounded by thick, almost impenetrable thorny scrub, which had a tiny, mineral smelling spring at it's center.

She got the horses settled, and let her arms rest on Iolaus' back as she watched Gabrielle go about her usual tasks, giving Devon quiet instructions as she set up a small campfire, and got their things put into place.

Xena was grateful for that. Her leg had been bothering her the entire walk, and the low, annoying fever had worsened as night fell, and was making her body ache with a nagging chill. She leaned against the stallion for a moment, then straightened, reviewing what she still had to do.

Hunt. Right…a warm dinner was a good idea for all of them, she decided, since they were far enough into the almost jungle like foliage to hide, and she was fairly sure they'd lost any pursuers. "Be right back." She called over to her partner, as she removed a short bow from the saddlebags tucked neatly near the horses.

"Be careful." Gabrielle's eyes took on a faint glint from the newly spawned fire as she looked over.

The warrior nodded, and moved off into the brush, walking away from the camp until the soft sounds of it were invisible to even her hearing. Then she stopped, and stood quietly, listening to the nighttime world around her.

Her head hurt, and it was keeping her senses from picking up their usual wide scope of her surroundings, so Xena closed her eyes, firmly shoving aside the discomfort as she tried to tighten her focus.  It took several minutes, far longer than normal, but eventually things settled into place, and she could concentrate on her task.

A soft rustle, just to her right drew her attention and she cocked her head, listening a moment before she identified the maker as a deer, too large a target for her simple needs. Another sound, closer, was an owl rustling over head, not an animal she'd try for in any case.

Her nose twitched, as she scented a boar, and she amused herself briefly with the thought of bringing one of the difficult, dangerous animals in for Gabrielle to deal with, prickly hide and all. No.. not tonight, though the bard did enjoy the occasional pit roast, where she'd stuff the animal with apples, and let it cook for hours.

Usually, Xena sighed, she enjoyed that too, but right now, just the thought was making her queasy. With a little shake of her head, she padded forward, brushing through the leaves soundlessly as she searched on. After a few minutes, she heard a low thump, which froze her in place, then she turned around in a slow circle, until the thump came again and she pinned the location down.

Rabbit. Xena fitted her arrow and waited, watching the shadows under the brush as the moonlight filtered through the trees. Her arm drew slowly back, and held, motionless as the grasses rustled, then a good sized, fuzzy head poked out. Damn. Xena's brows rose, as she waited for the body to clear the bushes. The rabbit was very large, and it's ears were half the length of her forearms.

Another hop, and she released, the arrow taking the animal cleanly through the heart, and stopping it in it's tracks with a startled sigh.  With an echoing noise, Xena knelt at it's side, and removed the shaft, then set to work skinning and dressing her catch with quick, efficient motions. Good. Nice and fast, no long chases, no problems. She'd give this to Gabrielle, then rummage in her healer's kit for something to kill the fever that was making her so damned uncomfortable.

She reached into her belt pouch to get her smaller blade, stopping her motion when her fingers touched a small, round, cool object in the bottom of the bag. Curiously, she pulled it out and peered at it, a tentative smile edging her lips as she recognized what it was. "Hey." The whisper escaped her. "What do we have here?"

With a thump, she sat down on the cool earth, her booted legs straddling the rabbit, and put her knife down, turning her attention to her unexpected treat. Damn. Xena rested her elbows on her knees and unwrapped the parchment, letting a small, black obsidian stone fall into her hand. She juggled it a moment, then tucked it inside her pouch and examined the piece of parchment, which had writing on both sides in deep, distinctive purple black ink, in a hand as familiar to her as her own.

For a moment, she simply savored the feeling it stirred in her, as she flipped the parchment over and over in her fingers, finally setting it on her knee and smoothing it out across her skin.

Hi.

I know what you're thinking… oh no, not those little rocks again, huh? I was sitting under a tree the other day, and I realized how much I missed making them up for you, so I decided it was time to get off my butt and start them, again, I hope you don't mind.

I'm learning a lot on this trip, mostly about all the little things I hardly realized I was missing until I thought about them, and I was wondering if you felt the same way.

I know you say.. don't sweat the little stuff, Gabrielle.. but you know… today, I felt like sweating.

G

Xena regarded the parchment with a tiny, wistful smile, then she turned it over and leaned a little closer, to read the lines on the back.

Sun setting, star rising,

Winds dash across an endless sea.

The world is large, and the sky is larger,

Covering the past, and the future to be.

But my sight turns inward, seeking smallness

Not the light of the sun, but the glow of our fire,

Not the spread of the sky, but the blue of your eyes,

Frames my world in wonder.

Awww. Xena felt a stupid grin take over her face, as she reread the poem. It felt nice, almost ridiculously so, to have found the trinket, because the thought behind it was just so very Gabrielle, and reassured her that her soulmate's dream eye was still firmly focused on her.  She leaned back,  allowing herself to get  lost in the memory of the first poem she'd read of the bard's, under less than ideal circumstances.

She'd been so frustrated. It had been months since she'd left the army, and started off on what had seemed a stupid, senseless course of action, roaming around the countryside thumping bandits accompanied by what must, surely , be the most annoying person this side of Rome.

Gabrielle was constantly getting them into trouble, constantly causing Xena endless amounts of grief, talked far too much, asked way too many questions, had no earthly clue how to take care of herself…

She'd taken out her sword, and decided to do drills until she tired herself out, sparing a glance towards the young girl seated across the fire from her. Who was busy, of course, writing, of course, the scribblings she kept hidden in her bag and poured over at every opportunity.

Xena had sighed. Was there a person on earth she had less in common with? She doubted she could find one, even if she spent half her lifetime trying. She hadn't even had anything to say to the girl all day long, and she had no reason to think that was going to change anytime soon.

Why should it? Gabrielle had nothing at all in common with her, and never would.. she didn't understand what it was to be a warrior, and Xena had no intention of letting her in on the secrets of it.

She'd gone through her drills over and over, then finally stopped., to see the girl busily scribbling, her pale eyes intent on the surface, completely absorbed by her writing.

Xena had sighed, and sheathed her sword, then whirled as she heard something coming, and leaped to meet the raiders that decided to attack the camp.

Normally, it would have been easy, but she was exhausted from her drilling, and she'd felt it in the awkwardness of her response, and the slowness with which her body reacted.

At least Gabrielle had ducked under a log, as she'd been taught, and gotten the Hades out of the way, while Xena had battled gamely back, dodging the club blows and swinging her sword.

A flash of movement in her peripheral vision, and she half turned, too late, to see an unexpected body lunging towards her, with a steel mace moving too fast for her to deflect.  She'd tensed for the blow, but it had never come, blocked by a small, fair haired form that tripped the raider up, and took the blow for her, smashing her head against a boulder as she was tossed aside.

The rage had lent her strength, and speed, as she'd hurled herself over Gabrielle's slumped form, and ripped into the attackers, sending them running at the ferocity of her defense after she'd broken two arms, and snapped a neck as though it were a twig.

And then it had been silent, as she knelt at the girl's side, and with a gentleness she'd never show Gabrielle when the youngster was awake, examined the bruise and bleeding lump on the side of her head. "You stupid kid." Xena had whispered. "What'd you want to go do that for, huh? "

The warrior had picked her charge up and put her into her sleeping furs, then gently took care of the injury, tucking the bedding around the kid and smoothing the pale hair back out of her eyes, only backing off when Gabrielle stirred, and blinked, peering at her in confusion.

"Hold still.. you got hit on the head." Xena had told her gruffly. "What did you think you were doing?"

The green eyes had looked up at her, golden in the firelight. "B.. I was just.. there was this guy, and he was heading towards you and I.."

"I can take care of myself, Gabrielle." She'd snapped. "Next time, just stay down, okay?"

Crestfallen, the girl hand dropped her eyes. "I'm sorry."

Xena, her conscience had slapped her . You are such a piece of crap, sometimes. .give the poor kid a break.  She'd shifted a little. "But.. um.. thanks."

The girl had looked up at her, timid hope replacing discouragement, and she'd stood abruptly, using action to cover her discomfort as she cleaned the place up.

Including a small bit of parchment, that the girl had been writing on, which had blown across the campsite and was sitting right on Xena's saddlebag. With a sigh, she'd picked it up, and glanced at it cursorily.

And found herself reading a poem, that while rough, was written across the page in strokes of the girl's soul, so vivid was the imagery, describing a scene of beauty, and vibrance, and strength that was surely invented in whole cloth  from Gabrielle's fertile imagination.

She'd looked up, to see wide eyes watching her in embarrassed horror. "What is this about?" She'd asked, brusquely, impatience disguising confusion.

Gabrielle had blushed a deep red, making her fair lashes stand out vividly. "You." She'd whispered.

Me??? She'd read it again, then looked at the girl, read it, then looked, then she shook her head and walked over, kneeling down and handing the paper back. "You've got quite the imagination there, Gabrielle."

The girl had settled back, dazed and exhausted, gazing at her in quiet, open appeal. "Just wrote what I saw.." She'd objected huskily. Then slowly, timidly, had handed the paper back, a gift across a gulf so wide, she'd never expected to bridge it.

Xena had taken it, and as the girl slept, she'd read it over and over, trying to reconcile the reality of who she knew she was, with the picture this girl had painted, wondering at the vision behind those clear, green eyes.

Understanding that on some, deep level, Gabrielle did understand her. And as she gazed down at the sleeping girl, who had  again risked everything for her, she knew that at some level, she understood Gabrielle.

Maybe there was some hope for them after all.

Xena chuckled softly, then stifling a cough, she wiped her blade off on the grass and stood, with the rabbit's meat tucked inside it's skin and started back, easing along the thick, richly littered pathway between the trees.

And then she stopped, her senses coming alert in pure, animal instinct, and her head swiveled, eyes searching the moonlight as she sought whatever it was that pricked her instincts.  She focused hard, cocking her head as her ears picked up the faintest touch of breathing.

Man? Animal? Her heart started to pound. Too low to be a human, unless they were lying on their belly, and that wasn't likely. Xena found herself in the unusual place of being the hunted, and she backed a little, putting a large tree behind her, and dropping her bundle, spreading her hands out and unsheathing her dagger instinctively.

The forest went still, and she could feel the damp movement of air across her suddenly chilled skin, then the world exploded in a rush of teeth and claws, and a spotted form was hurtling toward her, leaping at her throat with sickening speed.

Xena moved to one side, grabbing at the cat with one hand as her arms slid past raking claws that left trails of fire on her skin. She pushed off against the tree and took the animal with her, twisting in mid air and landing on top of it with a crunch and rolling over, it's claws slashing through the skin on her thighs as she fought to get a hold on it.

Then she had an elbow on it's throat and she was bearing down, feeling it convulse under her with a long, hissing growl.

Silence returned as it went limp and she sat there for a long moment, catching her breath., before she got to her knees, and surveyed her attacker. It was a medium sized, spotted cat about the length of her own torso, with tufts on either side of it's face, and long, wickedly curved fangs. Xena surveyed it dourly, then hoisted it onto her shoulders, and got to her feet, shifting the balance of the creature until it draped over her evenly. God's only know what would be attracted if I left this damn thing.. She mused, as she trudged over and retrieved her rabbit bits, then started back for their camp.

She got three steps and then almost collided with a rapidly moving, pale haired object, who pulled up short on seeing her with a gasp of relief.

"Oh gods.. there you are." Gabrielle's eyes searched her face anxiously. "What happened?"

"Here I am." Xena agreed, with a wry smile. "I ran into the new hearth rug you ordered."

The bard's eyes moved from her face to the creature draped over her shoulders and widened, and her jaw dropped. "Centaur farts, Xena… are you okay?"

The warrior flexed her hand and nodded. "Yeah.. a few scrapes… c'mon, let's get back, though. I don’t know what else is out here."  She handed the bard her catch. "Here… I found  a rabbit before he found me… or maybe that's what this big guy was hunting."

Gabrielle accepted the blood stained bundle and fell into step next to her. "You scared the boots off me… I'm sure Devon thinks I lost my mind, since I was in the middle of getting water for dinner.. and I dumped the pot, water and all over the top of him."

"Sorry." Xena replied, secretly touched that their connection was manifesting so strongly, that even her momentary jolt had brought the bard running. They walked along quietly for a few paces, then Xena glanced at her soulmate and gave her a little nudge. "Hey."

"Mm?" The green eyes peered up at her, warm and inquisitive.

"Thanks for the note." The warrior replied. "Nice surprise."

The moonlight shimmered as Gabrielle ducked her head, hiding an embarrassed smile. "Oh.. I guess you found it then huh?" She murmured, then slapped her had. "Duh, Gabrielle.. of course she did… glad you liked it." She looked up and their eyes met. "I have missed giving you little pieces of myself like that…even though I know it's kinda silly."

"Silly?" Xena sucked in a breath, then glanced back at her. "Reach in my pouch there… down at the very bottom."

Gabrielle hesitated, then did so, carefully untying the pouch and rummaging inside it, until she got all the way down. "Okay."

"Feel a flat folded piece of parchment?" Xena inquired.

"Mm."

"Take it."

Gabrielle carefully pulled it out and examined it, a folded piece perhaps two fingerspans in width. "Okay…should I open it?" She looked up at her soulmate. "Xena.. if this is something you want to keep private, I don't have to see it."

The warrior chuckled softly. "It's nothing you haven't seen before." She assured the bard. "G'wan."

Gabrielle unfolded it carefully, it's frayed, stained edges whispering against her skin. There was a faint hint of smoke on the parchment, and she had to hold it up to the moonlight, and peer at it to make out the words, scribed in her own handwriting.

"Oh." She breathed. "Wow… I had no idea you kept this." Gabrielle looked up, as she folded the paper again. "It feels like I wrote that another lifetime ago." She exhaled, "But you know something?"

"Hmm?" Xena paced along, watching her step as she balanced the weight on her shoulders.

Gabrielle tucked the piece of tattered parchment away, and left her arm linked through her soulmate's. "Inside me there's still this wide eyed kid that looks at you, and goes.. .wow." She replied. "And that poem still nails that feeling for me."

Silver shadows, shining bright

"It's…very romanticized," Xena commented, clearing her throat.

Dancing fire in the night.

"Not at all." The bard objected.

Strength and beauty, equal measure

"Gabrielle, c'mon." Her partner laughed.

Standing tall as battle's treasure.

"It's very factual." Gabrielle insisted.

Eagle's eyes and lion's heart

"Not." The warrior shifted her load. "C'mon, Gabrielle.."

Defending the world from darkness.

Gabrielle merely smiled, and moved a little closer, giving the slumped form of the spotted cat a wry look. "Whatever you say, tiger."

*********************************************

Devon was seated on a downed log, clutching the pot to his chest when they returned, and he stared round eyed at them as Gabrielle strolled by casually, putting her staff away near the bedding, while Xena knelt and dumped the wildcat off her shoulders.

"Uh." He blinked at the cat. "I..I mean, don’t' get me wrong, Xena.. I'm grateful for everything you two have done for me, okay, but.. I aum… I don't think those are good eating."

Xena gave him a look, then she took care of the carcass, and removed the pelt, carefully burying the body and soaking the hide in the runoff from the stream.

Gabrielle retrieved her pot with an apologetic air, and filled it, then she put up the rabbit, along with some dried stuff she had, and started a stew going. "Sorry about that… I um.. thought I heard something in the forest.. you know how it is."  She mixed the stew up then went to her pack, and pulled out Xena's healer's kit, checking it for salve before she set it down next to the fire.

"This will take a while.. you might as well sit down over there, and relax." She told him, as she retrieved several packets of herbs, and mixed them into a cup, then took the small pot she'd set over the fire previously and poured the steaming water over them.

"Okay." Devon agreed, trudging over and settling on his borrowed fur, crossing his legs and exhaling.

Gabrielle waited for the herbs to steep, and regarded him. "You're pretty freaked out by all this, aren't you?"

"Who.. me?" The man held up a casual hand. "No no.. why would you say that? Just because I run into a pair of legends, get bushwhacked by Amazons, and watch people wander in here with leopards on their back?"

The bard laughed gently.

"Is your life always like this, Gabrielle?"

"Yes." Xena's deeper voice answered him, as she padded past, wiping her hands on a piece of cloth. "She attracts trouble like flowers do bees."

One blond eyebrow lifted. "That explains you, I guess." Gabrielle responded, with a quirky grin.

"Mm." The warrior chuckled softly, as she moved past them and went to the corner Gabrielle had set their bedroll up in, dropping down on it, and easing her booted legs out, with a faint wince.

Gabrielle poured a good dollop of honey into the cup and stirred it, then she picked up the healer's kit and stood, walking over to the seated warrior and handing her the cup. "Here, trouble. Drink that."

Xena accepted the cup and sniffed it, then gave her partner a look before taking a sip. "Mm.. think you've got enough honey in here?" She commented, letting the sweet warmth slip down her throat with a sense of relief.

"I know my audience." The bard sat down cross-legged, and pulled out her supplies, patting the muscular thigh next to her. "Let me…" She reached under Xena's knee and unbuckled her leg armor, then lifted it clear and set it aside. "Wow." She brushed her fingers over the dark bruise under it.

"Uh huh." Xena was busy with her mug, and her blue eyes flicked briefly up, studying the injury. "That was a horse." She remembered. "When I was getting out of there." One of the running, panicking animals had kicked her accidentally, as she was grabbing for the lead stallion, a blow hardly felt in the excitement. "Wish I'd had the armor on."

Gabrielle shook her head, and removed the bandage she'd put on the long cut, now ragged and dirty, and winced as she saw the raw, swollen injury under it. "Ow." She pulled over the basin of warm water she'd brought and started to clean it, wiping the skin gently and trying not to hurt her partner more than she had to. "You think I have to loosen those?"

The leg shifted under her. "Probably." Xena replied calmly. "Get some of that junk out of there, yeah." She removed her smaller knife from her pouch and handed it over. "Here.. that should do it."

The bard steeled herself, then carefully cut the stitches, releasing a flood of red and yellow as the wound opened. Xena didn't move, and Gabrielle knew, if she looked up, she'd see an expression of stoic disinterest on her soulmate's face that hid the pain she knew she was causing her.

She looked up. Patient blue eyes looked back over the edge of the wooden mug, darkened in the firelight to almost purple. "Almost done." She went back to her task, flushing the cut out with warm water, then dusting it with powdered herbs, before she put a few stitches back in to hold it closed. "There." She lifted her eyes again, seeing the shadows shift as Xena unclenched her jaw muscles, the only visible sign of her discomfort.

Gabrielle put a light layer of salve over the cut and covered it, smoothing her fingers over the soft skin around the injury, then she impulsively leaned over and kissed the spot.

"I'm set now." The warrior drawled, a hint of amusement in her tone. "Thanks, mom."

The bard poked her tongue out then straightened, moving up her partner's body with her cleaner and cloth to get the scrapes from the cat. "Dori's just like you." She commented. "You did realize that, right?"

"Mm…you mean when she fell in the stable and landed on her head?" Xena inquired.

"Uh huh…three scrapes and that bad cut… and not a peep out of her." The bard agreed, shaking her head. "I looked at her and went.. 'oh no.. not another one." She laughed softly, as she finished her cleaning. "Stiff upper lip.. just like her mother… wonder what she's up to?"

"No good." Xena replied. "Just like her mother." She gave the bard a poke in the ribs, and they both laughed.

Gabrielle finished up and sat down next to her partner, reaching up and putting a hand on her forehead. "Is that getting worse?" She asked her, with a concerned look.

Was it? Xena sucked her tea down with a sigh, feeling the ominous heaviness in her chest. "I don't know." She admitted, casting a glance towards Devon, and shifting a little. "Picked up a bug, I guess."

The bard studied her. "Throat hurt?"

"A little." She felt a cough coming on, and had to give into it.

"Uh oh." Gabrielle put her head down on her partner's leather clad chest. "Breathe."

Xena hesitated, then complied, feeling the soft rattling even before the bard lifted her head and turned worried eyes on her. "Yeah, I know." She gave Gabrielle what she hoped was a reassuring smile. "But I throw this stuff off easier than you do, remember?"

Well, that was true. The bard bit the inside of her lip, seeing the glazed look to her soulmate's blue eyes, and the unusual pallor under her tan. "Okay…you lie down." She ordered finally. "I'm going to mix up more of this, get that stuff you use on me, and bring you some soup. No arguments, Xena."

A little twitch of her lips, that almost but not quite smile. "All right… but only if you bring my kit over here so I can clean this damn armor."

Compromises. Gabrielle patted her arm, and stood, running fingers through her pale hair as she stepped over the protruding roots in the grotto and headed for their gear.

With a sigh, Xena watched her retreat, then started to work unlatching the rest of her armor, setting the metal pieces aside and moving her leg gingerly, glad the tending was over with. She piled her gear to one side, then leaned back, finishing up the tea in her cup and tasting the herbs on the back of her tongue.

Her thoughts drifted a bit, then a warm hand touched her shoulder and she looked up to find Gabrielle crouched next to her, with her heavy cloak draped over one arm and a fresh mug in her other hand. Xena took the mug from her, sniffing it, then taking a sip as the bard tucked the cloak around her.

Gentle fingers unhooked her leathers, and the sharp, pleasant scent of the salve she'd mixed for Gabrielle's bouts of coughing sickness came to her, as the bard spread it over her chest, covering her from her breastbone to her shoulders with the stuff. "Mm.. don't suppose I'd have any luck convincing you to stay the Hades away from me, huh?"

Green eyes peered at her from under fire-shadowed lashes. "Don't even go there." Gabrielle muttered. "Like I ever could… or you either for that matter." She tucked a length of soft fabric around her partner's neck. "Remember when I got that stomach bug that time?"

"Ungh." Xena rolled her eyes in vivid memory. "Oh yeah."

"Mm.. right, so you sit back, and drink that cup, okay? I've got some broth here for you." The bard concluded, setting a steaming bowl down.

"Gabrielle.. I'm not an invalid." Her soulmate responded, a touch testily.

"Oh.. and you're throat feels good enough to swallow nice big chunks of vegetables?" Gabrielle responded, placing a fingertip on the end of Xena's neatly shaped nose.

The warrior grumbled something unintelligible, and sucked on her tea.

"You're such a brat." Her caretaker leaned over and gave her a kiss on the head. "Here.. take the bowl.. I'm going to get Devon settled, then I'll be back over to keep you company."

Xena switched her mug for the bowl and tucked her knees up, resting her elbows on them and drinking from the edge of the wooden container itself. The hot, rich broth tasted wonderful, and she inhaled the fragrant steam with a sense of quiet pleasure.

Her thoughts turned to the problems that faced them, first, in getting home, and second, in the almost impossible task of raising a defense…no… Xena shifted a little. Not a defense, a force capable of defeating Andreas. Their first attempt at recruitment seemed to have been a dismal failure, but Xena knew they'd have those.

There would be people who would run, and those who would choose to join Andreas, thinking him to be the winning side. There would be those who betrayed them, and those who rose to her side unexpectedly.

All that she knew. She also knew it wouldn't be easy, and that she was putting herself, and Gabrielle, at great risk along with all the rest of their families.  Andreas knew now who she was, and where she came from, and she wouldn't put it past him to take retribution directly on her home village if he couldn’t find her quickly.

So. She either had to draw him off, or evacuate Amphipolis, and to draw him off, she'd need a small force.

Amazons? Mm… possibly, since Gabrielle's Amazons she knew, at least, would follow her. Maybe a combined group.. some Amazons, and some militia…

"Hey."

A palm warmed her cheek and she broke out of her thoughts, opening her eyes and gazing at Gabrielle. "Sorry.. I was just thinking."  She took a mouthful of soup and swallowed it. "This is very good, by the way."

Gabrielle had settled next to her on the furs, and was devouring the contents of her bowl. "Thanks." She replied around a mouthful, swallowing hastily. "Gods.. I'm hungry."

"Oh.. that's new." Her partner teased, giving Devon a wry look. He returned a timid smile, as he munched his way through a cooked root.

"Hah hah." The bard bit a chunk of rabbit in half and chewed it. "Do you know how disgusting it was in that kitchen, Xena? And it's not like we stayed for lunch with the Amazons."

"That's true." The warrior agreed mildly. "You're entitled." She sipped her broth and pulled the cloak a little closer. Then her eyes went to Devon's face again, and the man froze. "What are your plans?"

"Uh." He hastily wiped his mouth. "I um…I was going to..um…"

"Xena." Gabrielle poked her. "He's going to travel with us through the forest, until we reach the crossroads, then head out west." She peered at him. "Right?"

He nodded. "Yeah… I was going to head on down the river, and see if I could..um…keep spreading the word, so to speak."

Bard and warrior exchanged wry glances. "Okay." Xena sighed. "That couldn’t hurt." She finished her bowl and set it down, leaning back against the log with a barely audible groan. The herbs were kicking in, though, and she felt a wash of sleepiness make her eyelids flutter.

Was that dangerous? Xena pensively eyed the surrounding forest. They were pretty well hidden, but at this point, she wasn't sure she had much of a choice. Sleep, and her body's ability to heal itself were her best chance at getting things back in order, and she couldn’t do that and stand guard at the same time.

She settled back and felt Gabrielle tug her cloak a little closer, and she turned her head to give the bard a grin of thanks. The green eyes twinkled back in a communication so beyond words, it was almost spooky.

Maybe they'd end up being able to read each other's minds after all, the warrior fuzzily concluded.

*******************************************

Continued in Part 6

These characters, and boy, are they ever characters, are mostly the property of Renaissance Pictures, Universal MCA, and whoever else owns stock and interest in Xena: Warrior Princess. This fiction was written for my amusement only, and not in any way, shape or form for profit - and it is not intended to infringe on the copyright holders of the characters.

Some of the characters are mine, and the story ideas.. well, who knows where they come from? Must be one weird place, that's for sure.

Specific Story Disclaimers:

Violence - this is a Xena: Warrior Princess story. This is not Teletubbies. Even though there are some rumors of similarities. Some of the violence is graphic, but we try not to dwell on it.

Subtext - Considering that the TV Series just aired an episode establishing Xena and Gabrielle as eternal soulmates, any disclaimer of subtext on my part is really kind of goofy in the extreme. The two characters are in love with each other, and have been for years. You can choose to see them as just friends, but then you might not want to read this fanfic, in case it changes your mind or anything like that.

Emotional Content - this is not one my more comedic efforts. There are moments of humor, however.

********************************************************************

Dark Comes the Morning - Part 6

By Melissa Good

Gabrielle settled her staff across her knees, and gazed off into the dark shadows as the fire burned low, aware of the soft, night sounds that swirled around them, friendly in their normal pattern. To one side of her, Devon was huddled, resting his head against one arm in pensive silence.

Next to her, one hand gently clasped around the bard's wrist, her soulmate dozed, tucked into their bedding snugly. From time to time, Gabrielle released her other hand and touched her fingers to the warrior's head, checking her fever and arranging the cloak that covered her.

"What are you doing?" Devon finally asked, obviously unable to fall asleep.

Gabrielle regarded him curiously. "What do you mean?"

"You're awake." He replied. "Aren't you tired?"

The bard exhaled. "Well.. sure." She shifted her staff a little. "But we're out here, and there could be people looking for us, so I'm keeping watch." She told him. "Aren't you tired?"

"Um…" He squirmed around and sat up. "To be honest.. yeah.. but I'm not used to sleeping on the ground. It's driving me nuts."

Gabrielle laughed softly. "Oh."

"You must be used to it, huh? Do you always watch?"

"No." The bard glanced at her sleeping soulmate. "I don’t have to, usually… Xena takes care of that." She moved a bit of dark hair from the warrior's closed eyes. "Even when she's asleep… it's really sort of incredible. She still knows what's going on, and if anything happens, she reacts."

"Oh." Devon peeked at the warrior. "So.. why are you staying up?"

"Because she's not feeling well." Gabrielle explained softly. "That cut was really bad, and she's got a fever.. I gave her some herbs that made her sleep, and hopefully that will make her feel better in the morning."

"Oh." He repeated, with a different inflection. "Somehow, I didn't think… um…  what I mean is, you never hear stuff like that in the stories."

"No." The bard mused. "Most people don't know what it costs to do what she does…to be a hero, and fight the good fight. They hear the brave parts, but they don't have to patch up the wounds, or see the bruises, or feel the pain."  She looked down as Xena shifted a little, reaching a hand out instinctively for her, which she captured and pulled close against her body. The tanned face twitched a little, then relaxed back into sleep as she gently chafed the long fingers tucked into hers.

"Is that the only weapon you use?" Devon asked softly.

Gabrielle returned her attention to him. "This?" She hefted the staff. "Yes… I don't… " A pause. "I choose not to kill people."

"Mm." He thought about that. "Have you.. um… "

"Yes." Gabrielle answered, with a note of quiet finality.

"Oh."

An awkward silence fell, and Gabrielle exhaled softly into it, then realized it was far too quiet a silence. Her head came up, and she held her breath, listening for the night sounds as Xena had painstakingly taught her to.

Except that there were none. No crickets, no soft sounds of birds in the trees, no gentle munching of small animals.  Gabrielle felt a chill roll down her back, and she tensed, glancing over at the two stallions, who were standing with their heads up, and ears pricked towards the darkest part of the forest. "Uh oh."

Devon jumped. "Wh… what do you mean, uh oh? I don’t'  think I like the sound of that.. what's going on?"

"Shh."  Gabrielle gently disengaged her hand from her soulmate's grip, and stood, turning her face into the wind and trying to detect anything that might give her a clue as to what was out there. "Stay here."

Xena would have known… Xena could smell fear, or sweat, or anger on the air, and hear a living creature's very heartbeat.

But she wasn't Xena, and she had only her own senses to rely on, and she stepped away from the fire, gripping her staff with steady hands and stretching her muscles out a little as she walked.  She got to the edge of the firelight and stopped, half her body in shadow, half lit from behind by the dull red glow.

Her eyes slowly adjusted, and she blinked, then blinked again as shadows resolved themselves into bodies, and her heart started pounding in pure reaction, sending blood surging to her limbs. "Who's there?" She challenged.

The closest stepped a pace closer, enough for her to recognize the tall Amazon from the village, and see the dull crimson reflect off a drawn sword. 'What do you want?"

"Ten thousand dinars." The Amazon answered, as she leaped forward and struck. "Out of my way, little queen."

Gabrielle parried the blow, taking the blade on her staff and twisting, deflecting its force to one side as she whipped the other end of her weapon around and smacked the woman across the shoulder with it. "Don’t' do this."

"You can't stop me." The Amazon swung again, and she slammed her staff into the woman's knees, then ducked as her sword whistled over her head.

Five other shadows closed in, and she was fighting for her life, backing with each blow and struggling to keep the weapons from her body. She heard a scramble as Devon got up and came to her assistance, but it was too late.

Hands grabbed her, and she fought fiercely, batting them away and ducking the chobos that whistled suddenly as she whisked her staff around, and knocked down two of them.

Then a shock crashed into her from behind, and she fell into darkness.

*******************************************

At first, she was chiefly aware of the pain. A dull throbbing in her head that seemed to extend down her body, going down even into her legs with each beat of her heart. Then slowly, very slowly, she began to notice little things, like the cool air , and the smell of wood smoke, and the softness of the furs she was resting on.

Then she noticed the warm surface under her head, and the gentle brush of fingers against her cheek, and fuzzily let her eyes crack open,  blinking them several times to clear the blurriness, and was profoundly relieved to see pale blue eyes gazing back at her anxiously. "Ow." She whispered. "Wha happen?"

Xena let out a long, relieved breath, closing her eyes briefly and allowing her head to rest against the log behind her. "Welcome back." She replied softly, gazing out at the now early hours of a new day. Gabrielle had been unconscious since before midnight.

"Ungh." The bard rolled a little over onto her side and peered blearily out at the camp, where Devon was curled up next to Xena's watchful presence, and five trussed figures lay limply across the campfire. "Ow." She repeated wanly.

"Shh." Xena gently pulled her back over onto her back and  resettled the thick fabric of her cloak over the bard's body. "Easy… you've been out for a while."

Gabrielle rubbed her temples with one hand, then looked up. "What happened? "

Steady blue eyes regarded her. "What's the last thing you remember?"

It was hard to think. Gabrielle tried, then shook her head. "Can't…"

"Okay.. take it easy." The warrior patted her arm. "It's not important."

The bard closed her eyes, soaking in the warmth from Xena's body. "Tired."

"You can sleep.. I'm here." Xena reassured her. "Easy now."  She felt Gabrielle nestle closer, and she put an arm around her, shoving aside her own discomfort fiercely. She'd woken from a sound sleep to see her soulmate fighting frantically, and had hurled herself at the Amazons, but not before a well meaning Devon had picked up a large rock and thrown it with all his strength.

Clobbering Gabrielle. Xena had almost backhanded him before she'd put a halt on her instincts, and sent them after the Amazons instead, two of whom were already out for the count after meeting up with her soulmate's staff.

Cold or no cold, cut or no cut no damn measly handful of Amazons were gonna take her down, that was for damn sure. Xena reviewed her five captives with a fiercely piratical air. Featherheads.

Of course, now they were stuck with what to do with the damn wenches, since she'd left them all alive. Xena sighed, and glanced down at the very dazed bard. "Hey."

Slowly, the green eyes blinked. "Love you."

That brought a smile to Xena's face. "I love you too, sweetheart." She responded.

"Wanted you to know." Gabrielle whispered. "Kept quiet too long."

The warrior looked at her in deep concern. Gabrielle was obviously not fully aware of what was going on or where she was. "It's all right."

"Don't… take me h.. home.. please?" The soft voice warbled gently, pleading. "M..m not use.. useless.. hon.. honest."

Oh.. gods..  Xena felt a deep pang. Is that still in there, deep down? "No… you're staying with me, Gabrielle, I promise."

"Stay?" A smile twitched at the bard's lips.

"Always." The warrior told her. "Forever and ever, okay?"

The bard's eyes blinked  open and looked up at her in a perfect trust she hadn't seen since before Britannia. "Okay." Then her lashes fluttered closed,  leaving a dying fire, and a very worried warrior behind.

*********************************************

Devon paced around nervously, the morning fog scattering before his steps as he watched Xena carefully tucking the still sleeping Gabrielle back into their furs. "I'm so sorry." He muttered, for the hundredth time, causing the warrior to glance up. "I feel like such a…"

"Devon." Xena let her elbows rest on her knees. "Shut up." She stood, and walked over to the fire, retrieving the hot water she'd put up and spilling it over a cupful of dark, pungent herbs. "You meant well..she  just moved at the wrong time."  The warrior patiently stirred the herbs, sniffing at the rising steam appraisingly.  A soft noise nearby snapped her head up, though, and she put the cup down, then reached behind her and drew her sword, moving quickly to put herself between the grotto's opening and it's other occupants.

The noise stopped, then a single, leathered figure stepped forward gingerly, clasping her hands over her head. "We come in peace, Xena."

The warrior didn't drop her aggressive stance. "This time, maybe."

Jonae paused, lowering her arms slowly. "I feared that." She exhaled. "I did not want this to happen."

Icy blue eyes regarded her for a long, hostile moment before the warrior  lowered her weapon, then sheathed it. "Hope you brought litters with you." Xena jerked her head towards the pile of Amazons trussed up near the grotto's edge. "Some of them aren't walking out of here."  She deliberately turned her back on them and went back to the fire, retrieving her cup and adding several spoons of honey to it.

Jonae gave several low orders to the followers she had with her, and there was a rustle of motion as they entered the grotto, and crossed to where the other Amazons were lying, whispering among themselves in soft voices.

Devon stood behind the fire and just watched them nervously, while Xena went over to her injured soulmate and knelt down , patting her cheek very gently. "Hey.."

"Mm." The eyes remained closed.

"Gabrielle?" Xena called. "C'mon… time to get up."

The bard's brows knit, then slowly her eyes opened, peering up at Xena dazedly. "Hey." She fumbled a hand out from under the cover and reached for her head. "Ow."

"Easy." Xena captured the hand and very gently pulled her into a half seated, half reclining posture. "You need to drink this." She supported the bard with one arm, and offered her the cup with the other. "C'mon now."

Gabrielle sniffed at the contents suspiciously, then gave her companion a look, before she took a sip. "Mm." She reached up and captured the cup with a warm hand and took another mouthful, swallowing it before she glanced back up at Xena. "I got hit in the head."

"Mmhmm." The warrior agreed. "Yes, you did… how's it feel?"

"Fuzzy."  The bard admitted. "I don't remember anything." Her eyes drifted past Xena to where Devon was watching anxiously. "Who's he?"

Oh boy. Xena exhaled. "What's the last thing you do remember?"

Gabrielle shook her head. "It hurts when I try to think…" She rested her head against the warrior's shoulder. "Um…we were home… weather was awful."  She looked up. "And um… where are we? Who are those… are those Amazons? What's going on, Xena?"

"Easy." The warrior offered her the cup again, throwing a glance over her shoulder to where Jonae's Amazons were arranging their sisters for transport. "It's a while after you remember, Gabrielle… there's… it's a lot to explain, but um.. we're out here checking out some trouble, and we got attacked last night. You got hit."

"Oh." The bard absorbed this, taking a swallow of the tea. "By Amazons?"

Xena sighed. "It's a long story."

"You said it's a while.. how much of a while?" Gabrielle asked, suddenly.

"Xena." Jonae padded over, giving her an apologetic look, and ducking her head towards Gabrielle. "Queen Gabrielle.. I deeply apologize that you were hurt… it was not my intention to stir this degree of ill feelings against you, or your partner."

Gabrielle blinked dazedly at her, then looked at Xena in appeal. "I'm sorry.. I don’t…"

"Thank you, Jonae… I guess the money was too big a temptation." Xena replied, laying a comforting hand on the bard's arm. "Gabrielle is missing a few pieces right now.. I'll fill her in later. It wasn't your fault." She glanced across the fire.

Jonae nodded. "My head knows you are telling the truth.. my heart, though….." The Amazon looked very uncomfortable, and she hesitated, then knelt at the warrior's side. "You have caused a deep division in our village… there are those who wish to follow you, and join in your army."

"Army?" Gabrielle's green eyes opened wider. "What army?"

The warrior petted her gently. "Shh… later." She turned her attention to the Amazon queen as the bard subsided,  curling her fingers around Xena's arm.  "Jonae… I'm not looking to force anyone into this.. it's something that has to be done, that's all."

"I know." The auburn haired woman sighed. "And there are those… who think that reward is a thing that could take us out of here, and buy us a new home, somewhere out of his reach." She studied her hands. "I’m not sure what I’m going to do."

Gabrielle watched her partner's face, the gray light reflecting off her skin as she considered. Army? Reward? What in the world had they gotten themselves into this time? And strange Amazons? She closed her eyes, and let her head rest against Xena's thigh, her partner's familiar scent filling her nostrils. Her head was killing her , and her stomach felt queasy, and she had only the fuzziest recollections of what was going on. It was easier just to let Xena deal with it.

She was good at that, after all.

"We'll be assembling forces near Amphipolis.. probably west of there if anyone wants to join up." Xena was saying. "We've got a lot to do before then."

Jonae nodded, then stood, brushing her hands off against her russet leathers. "Is there anything we can do for you?  I brought a party out when we realized you'd been followed."

Gabrielle inched up a little and curled her arm around Xena's thigh, putting her head down and wishing the nausea would go away. It felt better half sprawled across the warrior like this, and she exhaled, murmuring softly as a warm arm tucked itself around her shoulders. She halfway heard Xena talking to the Amazons, her tones reluctant, then quietly grateful.

The were sounds of rustling, and making camp, and low, chopping noises, then it was relatively quiet.

"Gabrielle?" Xena's voice nudged her.

"Hm?" The bard replied, unwilling to move from her comfortable spot.

"It's starting to rain.. I need to get a shelter up over us… okay?"  Xena's tone was gentle, but had a touch of urgency in it.

Ah. That was what she felt hitting her. "Okay." Gabrielle reluctantly let her pillow loose and rolled over, then regretted it as her stomach violently rebelled. She somehow managed not to throw up, but it was close, and the strain made her head pound violently. Then the rain stopped hitting her, and she heard the patter of it against a flat surface as Xena's warmth returned. "Ungh."

"Okay… take it easy… I've got you."

Gabrielle felt herself cradled against her partner's chest, and sighed as the furs were pulled up over her, tucking her inside a nice, warm well of comfort that somehow even eased the throbbing in her skull. "Mm.. thanks."

Xena allowed her head to rest against the tree's rough bark, glad of the furs and of Gabrielle's warmth, which took the edge of the chills that were shaking her body. It was dull and gray out, and the rain was cold, but fortunately not hard enough to drive it's way into her meager shelter. "How are you doing?"

Gabrielle looked up, blinking a little. "My head hurts.. my stomach hurts… I've had better days."

The warrior glanced out across the grotto, where the Amazons had made camp, offering their escort until they'd cleared the forest, as a sort of apology. Ordinarily she'd have refused, but with the way she felt, and how Gabrielle was… well, it was better than nothing. "Yeah. Me too."

The bard patted her gently. "On the other hand, you're here…that makes up for a lot."

Xena gazed quietly at her. "Yeah?"

Gabrielle smiled up at her. "Sure." She let her head rest against Xena's arm and gave the warrior an adoring look. " You're the one constant good thing in my life, you know that."

It hurt. Xena felt like she was taking daggers to her chest, as the words penetrated, and she remembered a time when that was, indeed, true. "Thought that's supposed to be my line."  She managed to get out, reaching down to brush a bit of the younger woman's hair back.

The green eyes readily gave back a warmly loving look. "So what are we into this time?"

Xena let out a pensive breath. "There's a man… he's… raising an army to go out and conquer everything. "

"Oh.. not another one." The bard burred fuzzily. "Good grief."

"Mm." Xena pulled her a little closer. "You remember the necklaces, and Hercules?"

Gabrielle thought a minute. "Sure… wasn't that long ag…ago, right?" Her voice rose in question. "Or was it?"

"Its been a little while…but um… this guy's got one." Xena admitted.

"Oh." The fair brows knit. "So.. we're gonna stop him?"

"Yeah."

"Just us two?"

"Well…"

Gabrielle closed her eyes, unable to keep them open any longer. "Sounds about right." She mumbled, into the soft skin of Xena's neck. "Guy wont' know what hit em." She slowly slid her arms around the warrior's body and hugged her. "My hero."

Sad blue eyes gazed at her, filling with soundless tears.

Footsteps crunching closer made her swipe at her face with one hand, before she looked up to see Jonae kneel at their side. "Xena, we've made some trail soup… would you take some?" She asked, a trifle awkwardly, her motions stiff and hesitant.

Xena considered, then figured at the moment, if the Amazons wanted to do her harm, she could realistically have little hope of stopping them, given her health, and the injured woman resting in her arms. "Sure." She agreed quietly, lifting a hand to take the offered bowl and spoon. "Thanks."

"Well." Jonae studied her bracelets, neatly made, intricately woven strands of brass and copper. "I did offer hospitality yesterday, and didn't quite deliver." She pulled her hood closer, letting the rain roll off it. "I sent a party back with the two most severely injured… that fractured shoulder… " The Amazon Queen glanced at the dozing bard. "They said that was her."

"Probably." Xena replied softly. "That staff's a dangerous weapon in the hands of an expert." She told the Amazon. "And she is that."

Jonae exhaled heavily. "So it seems." Her eyes lifted to Xena's. "I misjudged her." She concluded. "And you as well…I feel this whole thing is my fault."

Well… Xena had to wrestle down a sharp retort, driven by her fever, and the anxiety she was feeling over her soulmate. "Go get dry, Jonae… there's nothing you can do about it now… we'll talk about it later." She hesitated. "Thanks for sticking around… we appreciate it."

The Amazon Queen nodded. "Call if you're in need." She stood up, arranging her cloak to cover her body from the stinging rain, then walked off towards the main group of Amazons, who were clustered around a small, protected fire.

Xena watched her, mildly intrigued by the woman, then took a sip of the soup. Hmm. She swirled it around a little before swallowing it. Not bad, but not nearly as good as Gabrielle's. "Hey…" She gently patted her partner's back. "Gabrielle?"

Green eyes fluttered open. "Hmm? Oh… " She sighed. "Sorry.. I'm just so wiped…" The bard stifled a yawn, and put a hand on her partner's belly. "Hey… " She moved the hand up, then freed it from the furs and touched Xena's head hesitantly. "Are you sick?"

"A little." Xena admitted. "Here.. see if you can drink a little of this.. okay?"

Gabrielle sighed, then dragged herself up a little, resting in the curve of Xena's arm. "I'm not hungry." She objected, but took the bowl and sipped at it, more to please her watching partner than anything else. "Here.. why don't you drink some?"  She settled back down, and her eyes drifted shut. "Sorry… so tired."

Xena took a swallow, and set the bowl down, then arranged the furs around the smaller woman. "It's okay.. get some rest. I'll be right here. "

A faint smile shaped the bard's lips. "I know… you always are." She murmured softly. "Always there when I need you." A gentle pat. "Always." Gabrielle's voice trailed off as she let sleep take her.

No. Xena felt the quiet grief well up again. Not always, Gabrielle. If it was always, the darkness would have never gotten you.. never taken your innocence… never sundered us.

The warm tears trickled down. I should have been there. No matter how many time I go back over it.. no matter how many times I try to make it work differently… it comes out the same.

I should have been there.

I wasn't.

She let her head fall back in bleak, empty knowledge. Nothing will ever change that. Her eyes dropped to study Gabrielle's comfortably curled body, and the faint, peaceful smile on her face. She doesn’t remember.

Another tear escaped. She doesn't remember Dahok, or Hope.. or what we did to each other…or Solon….she still thinks I'm her…

Xena's jaw clamped, as she relived the loss of that innocent trust, and between the fever, and the exhaustion, and the grief, lost herself.

**************************************************.

It wasn't the pain that woke her. Gabrielle could have dealt with that, a low throbbing that was less than earlier, and just on the edge of really uncomfortable. No, it was the clenching in her guts that nudged her into a foggy half wakefulness, edging her eyes open to see a dull, dismal scene of soft rain over the dark green and stone gray grotto.

She could feel Xena behind her, the warrior's arms loosely wrapped around her body, and she turned her head to look up, searching for a reason for her anxiety.

Oh gods. Xena's eyes were half closed, and what she could see of them were a bloodshot blue, so lost, and glazed she hardly recognized them. Alarmed, she twisted around, reaching up and cupping the pale cheek. "Xe?"

Slowly, the reddened eyes tracked to her, a battered soul so apparent in them Gabrielle stopped breathing. "Honey.. what's wrong?" She whispered, lifting her other hand to join it's mate and stroking Xena's skin with her thumbs. "Xena?" She could hear the sharp edge of nervousness in her own voice. "C'mon, now… talk to me."

The dark lashes fluttered, and touch of life came back into the dull blue eyes. "Gab…"

"Yeah, that's me." The bard murmured gently, smoothing a touch over her soulmate's forehead. "Is it the fever? Damn, Xena… you should have woken me… let me get you something for that…" Gabrielle reached out and snagged a waterskin they'd left sitting by the furs and uncapped it, then she offered it to her soulmate. "C'mon… take a sip of this… it's got those herbs in it."  For a long moment, she didn’t' think Xena was going to cooperate, then the warrior drew in a shaky breath and covered the bard's hand on the waterskin, pulling it towards her and taking a long swallow.

Then she licked her lips and gave the bard a quietly apologetic look. "Sorry.. I.." Xena's voice was hoarse, and she cleared her throat impatiently. "Fever must have gotten to me."

Gabrielle allowed herself to relax, and take a breath against the now agonizing pounding in her head, brought on by her panic. "Wow." She commented softly. "When you start to slip away from me like that… I just get so scared." Her mind called up memories of a long, lonely trek up a snowy mountainside, as she'd watched her friend slide further and further from her, a vision standing out sharp and clear amidst the uncomfortable fuzziness she was wading through. "Bad memories."

Xena dropped her gaze to the furs, remember a time when those had been the worst memories Gabrielle had. "Yeah.. I know.. I'm sorry." She felt the dark depression settle back over her, almost making it hard to even lift her head. "I'm sorry." She muttered again.

Gabrielle settled against her, offering the waterskin again. "For what, Xe? It's not your fault you're sick." She asked gently. "Is it?" She tried to put a little humor in her voice, at a loss as to what was affecting her soulmate so profoundly.

"Probably." Xena released a tense breath. "Everything else is."

The bard felt a jolt of nervous fear hit her in the gut, and she had to take a moment to steady herself, before she put the skin down, and took her partner's face in her hands. "Hey." She peered into the withdrawn eyes. "That must be some fever… is there something else I can get you? My head feels better… can I make you some hot tea?" She asked hesitantly. "Or… something?"

Looking into those anxious green eyes was hard… seeing the loving concern battered against Xena's already fairly well shredded defenses, and she had to force herself to not pull away. "Gabrielle…I never meant to hurt you." She finally murmured. "I swear it."

Gabrielle's lips tensed, then she shook her head a bit. "C'mere." She moved closer and slid an arm around the taller woman's shoulders, pulling her into a hug. There was stiff resistance for a second, then she felt Xena's whole body relax against her as the warrior circled her body with both arms. She stroked the soft, dark hair gently, laying her cheek against it and letting out a long, shaky breath. "Hey honey bear... I got you."

The warrior was silent, her hold tight but not strangling, and the bard could feel her steady, warm breathing against the skin of her belly. "It's going to be okay…..you're just not feeling well, Xena… I'm fine, and I'm here… I'm not going to let you go, all right?"

With her ear pressed against the bard's chest, Xena could feel the rapid heartbeat, and the short, nervous breaths that belied her calm voice. The need to calm her soulmate broke through the ache, and she pulled herself together Okay.  You need to get a grip on yourself, Xena…you're scaring her to death, and she's hurt. So just swallow it, and ease up.  With an effort, she released one hand and patted the bard's hip, giving her a squeeze with her other arm. "Thanks." She was rewarded by a sharp exhale, and a slowing of the pounding under her ear. "Sorry… " She rubbed Gabrielle's side. "Didn't meant to do that to you."

She eased away  and straightened, but still kept her arms around Gabrielle, who gazed at her with a worried expression. Regardless of how you feel, Xena… she's here, and you're here, and you need to deal with this right now. She lifted a hand and stroked the bard's soft cheek with her knuckles. "I don’t know what came over me…my head's all stuffed up probably."  She paused. "And I was worried about you."

Gabrielle visibly relaxed. "It's just a bump on the head… you've had lots worse." She settled down next to the warrior and offered her the waterskin again. "Here…take another sip."

Xena did so, tasting the bitterness of the herbs on the back of her tongue as she swallowed the mixture, turning the skin over in her hands and regarding it quietly. "How's your head feeling?"

"It hurts." The bard admitted softly. "But not as much as before.. and things are less fuzzy." She saw the almost hidden flinch in Xena's face as she heard the words, and her own eyes closed as she felt the clenching in her gut. "Hey…"

"Mm." The warrior moved abruptly. "Let me go get some of that…stuff."  Xena stood and pulled her cloak around her, then ducked out from under the shelter she'd rigged and trudged towards the horses, where she'd sheltered the rest of their gear.

It was still raining, the soft patter of the drops against the leaves battering her hearing, along with the rolling thunder overhead. She glanced towards where the Amazons were camped, their still, seated forms moving slightly as they watched her pass. She lifted a hand in reassurance as she reached the horses and knelt, then found herself grabbing Iolaus' leg to keep from keeling over.

Damn. She rested her head against the stallion's knee and waited for the world to stop spinning, then she opened their gear and sorted through it, pulling out not only her back up healer's kit, but a package of trail bars for her soulmate.

Xena rocked back on her heels as the word formed in her mind, gazing across the rainy air towards the huddled figure whose eyes, she knew, were fastened on her. My soulmate… how can I reconcile that with knowing what I did to her?

With a sigh, she pulled herself upright, and stood, stroking Iolaus' side for a moment. The stallion nibbled her boot top and snorted, bringing a tiny smile to her face, which disappeared when she squared her shoulders, and headed back across the wet ground.

Gabrielle locked eyes with her when she got closer, and she almost stumbled over a loose rock before she caught herself on the edge of the twisted, fallen tree she'd built their shelter under and entered it, fussing around with the supplies to avoid her partner's gentle gaze. Then she looked down, to see a toned arm circling her booted leg. "Um…"

"C'mere." Gabrielle tugged at her leathers. "Sit down… please?".

"Okay…sure.. yeah." Xena sat down on the furs, training her eyes mostly on the dappled pattern. "Here.. I..got something for your head, and I thought maybe you were hungry…" She handed over the bars, and started pulling a second waterskin over. "I.. um.."

Gabrielle caught her hand and cradled it, bringing the knuckles to her lips and brushing them lightly. "Whatever it is that's chewing you up.. I hope it's not my fault." The bard said. "Because I'm hurting just looking at you, and if I knew I caused that, it would kill me."

Xena sat, stunned. "No… I.."

"What did I do?" The bard asked softly. "It's not because of this bump, is it? Xena.. I didn't even see who hit me… I didn't mean to.."

Xena shook her head wearily. "No… it's not you."  She admitted. "It's me."

Gabrielle looked at her. "You?" She squirmed a little closer, and touched the warrior's knee. "Xena… are you mad because you were sick? Honey…" She stroked the soft, tanned skin. "That's not your fault…honest… don't beat yourself up for that."

"I'm not." Xena inhaled. "I just got hit in the face with something I'd been trying not to accept."

The bard chafed her fingers. "What do you mean?" She waited a bit, but Xena didn't answer. "C'mon…tell me… please?"

"I…"  The dark cloud settled over her again, taunting her with the knowledge that telling her partner the truth could shatter something beyond fixing between them. She could keep it inside, right? "Maybe it's just the fever, Gabrielle.. I don't know."

"Hey." Now the bard's voice took on a strength based on the bond they had. "We decided, Xena.. no more secrets, remember?" A hand on her wrist. "Not between us… never again…so tell me."

That was true. The warrior was silent for a long series of heartbeats. Then she swallowed audibly. "I broke a promise." Her voice was a bare whisper, and she refused to meet the bard's eyes.

"A promise?" Came the gentle response. "What promise was that, honey?"

"I promised you…that I'd always be there for you." An almost whispered answer.

The words resonated through Gabrielle, as she remembered hearing them in the sweetest of dreams. "Yes you did.. and you always have been, Xena."

"No I wasn't." Now the blue eyes lifted and met hers. "I could have been….I could have stopped what happened to you in Britannia, and I didn't."

"Xena, you had no way of knowing.." The bard protested.

"I did." The hoarse answer came back. "I knew… I felt it.. I felt you…my heart knew…but I didn't follow it." Xena tasted the bitterness of the words. "I was too busy taking vengeance."

They looked at each other from across a sudden gulf

A thousand possibilities churned before Gabrielle's eyes, as she regarded the look of  bitter grief on her partner's face. Could she have stopped it?

Oh gods.

For one silent, crystal moment, Gabrielle allowed herself the that vision of the altar, with Xena's powerful form disrupting the service.

Oh gods.

And the logic reasserted itself. "You couldn't have stopped it, Xena." The bard sighed. "It happened too fast."

"You don't know that." The warrior rasped, one hand tangled in midnight dark hair.

"My heart does." Gabrielle replied, simply. "And that's all that matters to me."

Xena pulled her hand loose, and dropped her eyes. "Gabrielle… if there is one thing in my life… one… single moment I can point to and say. 'that is what damns me to Tartarus.'.. " She dropped her head into her hands. "It's that moment." A long pause. Your not remembering any of that brought it all home I guess…I.." Silence fell as the warrior's voice trailed off, leaving a pattering of sad rain it it's wake. "I realized all over again what I'd taken from you."

Gabrielle looked at the bowed head. Then she reached over and reclaimed her soulmate's fingers, feeling the tremor in them as she did so. "Xena… I never forgot any of that." She stated, quietly. "Things were jumbled, and out of place, but I remembered that the whole time." Now it was her turn to study the ground. "So whatever I said… whatever I was feeling… came right from my heart." She paused, seeing the stillness across from her. "And it's how I feel now."

Blue eyes half obscured by dark, disheveled hair peered across the gulf between them.

"No matter how hard it's been for us, I wouldn't give up one minute of my life with you." The bard continued softly. "We both have things we'll never forgive ourselves for… there are memories I have that make me cry every single time I think about them… and I wonder, when I do, how you could forgive me." She let out a breath. "But you do… and it makes me realize that you… and I… are living, breathing examples of something I've believed in all my life."

Xena inhaled a shaky breath. "Breaking the cycle?"

Gabrielle slowly nodded. "If going through what we did brought us to this place.. how we are.. " She folded her hands around Xena's. "Who we are… and what we've done… then I accept that price." She pulled the warrior a little closer. "Because you are priceless to me, Xena."

It took a long time, while blue eyes searched her face in utter silence, until the dark lashes fluttered closed, and Xena nodded faintly. "I'm sorry, Gabrielle." She murmured, with quiet sincerity.

Gabrielle lifted their linked hands and kissed her fingertips. "I accept your apology.. and I forgive you, Xena… for being human."  A sad look entered her eyes. "Just as you've forgiven me that, for what I did."

Xena pulled back, tugging her soulmate into her arms and wrapping her in a gentle, heartfelt hug that banished the darkness, and returned to her a meager sense of peace. "You know something?" She uttered softly.

"Mm?" Gabrielle was stroking her hair with a sweet gentleness.

"You.. are my hero." The soft voice told her.

The bard blinked, scattering crystal tears that disappeared against the dark leathers.

*************************************************************

The path was narrow, a dirt track mostly through very rocky soil, and slick with the day's rain. The Amazons moved down it carefully, surrounding their quiet guests, who lead their horses and made polite conversation.

Well, Gabrielle did, anyway. The bard had recovered, and insisted on them moving along after the rain stopped, more concerned over her partner than herself. Xena, of course, assumed her truculently tough stance, and pretended she was fine, only the long, heavy cloak she kept tucked around her long frame any indication of her continuing illness.

"This is pretty country." The bard murmured to Jonae, who was pacing quietly beside her.

"Yes, it is." The Amazon agreed, glancing around. "A lot of resources.. all we need, really. There's a good stock of fish in the streams, decent game… good soil for growing berries.." She sighed. "We thought we'd found paradise."

"Mm." Gabrielle picked her way carefully around a set of rocks, glancing behind her to see her soulmate doing the same, blue eyes flicking over the surrounding areas with pensive attention. Behind Xena, in front of the two Amazons bringing up the rear was Devon, who had kept prudently away from both the warrior and herself, his embarrassed devastation apparent on his expressive face.  "Well… you never know, Jonae… maybe things will pass you by."

The taller woman adjusted one of her arm bands and sighed. "Maybe…but I don’t' think we can take the chance. We've got children to move…elders, a few of them, to get under shelter.. I don’t know."

"Looked like a pretty safe village." Gabrielle commented. "I've never seen one in the trees before.. I was impressed."

Jonae straightened a little, accepting a compliment with a slight nod. "Tell me of your village, Gabrielle."

They'd gotten past the Queen this and that a few candlemarks earlier, thank the gods, Gabrielle thought. "Well.. it's in a mountain valley…good hunting.. fishing… a lot of half fields for harvesting a wheat crop, though they have trading agreements with the surrounding settlements."

"They?" The auburn haired woman murmured, giving Gabrielle a curious look.

Ah. "Well.. I don’t' spend a whole lot of time there." The bard explained. "It's… complicated." She glanced at the furrow browed expression on the woman's face. "I wasn't born into the Amazons… I sort of um…" She waggled her free hand. "Fell into them, so to speak."

"I don't understand." Jonae shook her head.

"Well.. it's kind of like… " Gabrielle sighed. "We were walking through the forest one day, and we came upon some Amazons." She paused. "And we were talking to them, when they got attacked by Centaurs."

"Ah.. yes.. I've heard of this." The Amazon leader nodded.

"Mm.. well, I sort of… ah..I got involved in that, and I .."

"She threw herself between the arrows, and the then current Amazon princess." Xena supplied dryly, from her spot several paces back. "Terreis died.. but before she did, she passed her right of caste on to Gabrielle."

"Thank you." Gabrielle gave her partner a look. "Is this my story, or what?"

The warrior snorted softly. "You never tell your story, Gabrielle."

Jonae hid a smile behind her hand, and cleared her throat. "I see… well, that explains your right.. but.. " She gave the bard a much more interested look. "What happened after that?" She glanced behind her. "Or should I ask you?"

"I missed parts of it." Xena answered, in a dry, bland tone.

Gabrielle sighed. "Yes, you did." She replied softly. "Anyway.. after we stopped the war between the Amazons and Centaurs, and got through the challenge and all, we.."

"What?" Jonae held up a hand. "Wait…what challenge? I thought you were only an heir?"

"Um… well, I had to challenge Melosa.. so she'd stop the fighting." Gabrielle told her, in an apologetic tone. "We couldn’t let the war go on.. it was mostly a misunderstanding."

The Amazon Queen's eyes widened. "So you… won the challenge, and that's how you gained the Queen ship?" She looked deeply impressed. "I've heard of Melosa…that's incredible."

"Uh.. " Gabrielle scratched her jaw. "No.. not quite." She sighed. "I didn't fight her.. Xena did." Now her eyes went to her quietly pacing soulmate. "She's my champion." She explained gently. "She always has been."  The warrior's ear tips reddened, and Gabrielle smiled. "But we had things we had to do… so we turned things back over to Melosa, and went on our way."

"Ah." Jonae murmured. "I see… but.. "

"Melosa was challenged by her foster daughter, Velaska, and she lost." The bard continued in a reserved voice. "And about that time, I was passing through their lands again and they asked me to get involved.. I did…and we got things worked out." To go through the rest… Gabrielle still felt emotionally exhausted from the morning, and she just wasn't up to it. "So.. I did accept the mask, but I have a regent, who rules the village for me."

"Really?" Jonae looked halfway between confused, and disapproving. "That's very strange."

"Not really… even in Amphipolis, we're pretty closely in touch.. one of the Amazons moved there, and married Xena's brother, and we've got a rotating group of guards who live there too… we're only about three days travel apart, so we see a lot of them, and they spend a lot of time around the village." Gabrielle explained. "We trade back and forth… they play a big part in our merchant's market.. that sort of thing." She could tell the other Amazons were listening too. "Both villages are prospering from it.. we're a ready source for trading both ways, and we have shelter and support that they can't duplicate up range."

"But… it's almost like they're not Amazons.. if they're living in villages, and all that.. it goes against what the purpose of our kind are, Gabrielle.. " Jonae objected. "A society of woman.. not dependent on anyone." A murmur of agreement met her words, from the surrounding warriors.

Gabrielle shrugged. "I'm not dependent on anyone… " She hesitated, then smiled quietly. "Well, I mean, except for Xena, of course.. but.. "

"That’s a mutual thing, and we're both women, last time I checked." Xena added dryly, tugging her cloak closer around her body, garnering her furtive looks from the Amazons. She fell silent again, as Gabrielle started to explain further, subsiding back into her reserved aloofness. Her fever had leveled off, and was more of a nagging annoyance than anything else, but it wore on her, and added to the mental fatigue she'd been carrying around since the morning.

She'd accepted what Gabrielle had said. Maybe because she so desperately wanted to, since believing that finally.. finally put a small patch on the dark chasms she still had left in there, which she'd been skirting for over two years. She'd known they were there, but her will was able to simply run over them, or pretend they didn't exist, as she focused firmly on the present, and pushed aside the past.

It was kept down very deep, after all, and hardly ever surfaced, save when she was very tired, or otherwise vulnerable, and this morning… Xena sighed. This morning she'd been as vulnerable as  she had been in a long time, and that was bothering her because she really didn't know why.

Sure, she was sick. As though the thought triggered it, the warrior stifled a cough, which gained her a green orb in her direction. And she'd been worried about Gabrielle…no doubt about that, but even so…falling apart like that scared her a little.

Okay. Xena exhaled carefully, trying not to trigger another cough. It scared her a lot. She cleared her throat, hating the scratchy ache in it, and rubbed a hand across her eyes, wishing briefly she was in a dry bed somewhere.

C'mon, Xena. She wryly nudged herself. You've been living soft too long, huh? Listen to you…a couple of sniffles, and you want to be coddled like a damn baby…you oughta be ashamed.  She straightened her shoulders and picked her pace up, closing in on her partner's cloaked form, as they, and the Amazons reach a small, level plateau.

Jonae halted, and peered at them. "We've got at least another days' travel… this is a good place to stop for the night if you prefer."

Xena scanned the area cautiously. It was fairly flat, with a sheer rock face on both sides, and openings where they were, and directly opposite. To one side, an overgrown path lead down between a split in the rocks, and she could smell water, and there was an old, but well kept firepit just under the rock overhang that would provide some shelter. "All right." She agreed, reluctantly, preferring to keep moving away from Andrea's troops, but knowing the falling dusk would make it a difficult trek on the narrow path down.

Besides.. She surveyed her soulmate intently, seeing the lines of strain against her pale skin, and the tired set of her shoulders. Time to stop, for her sake. Xena put a friendly hand on the bard's shoulder, holding back a smile when Gabrielle instinctively covered it with her own, fingers rubbing against her skin in absent pleasure as the bard spoke.

"Thanks, Jonae… this looks fine.. do you use it for camp? It looks like it."

"Yes." The Amazon queen nodded. "We used to keep a sentry out here.. but it's been  a long time since anyone's used it.. the path up from the other side is overgrown, and covered in thorn scrub." She spoke briefly to the other warriors. "There's not much shelter.. but I think we'll all fit under there."

They moved across the open space, and started setting up camp. Gabrielle untied their saddlebags, then paused as Devon tried to slink by her. She reached out with one hand and caught his shirt, bringing him to an abrupt halt. "Hey."

He peeked at her. "Uh.. hi."

Gabrielle pulled her bag down, then tugged him towards a set of fairly flat rocks nearby. "Come over here a minute and sit down, okay?"

They sat, and he put his hands between his knees, tangling his fingers together in apparent tension.

"Look." The bard put her hand on his shoulder. "Devon… it's okay."

His brown eyes jerked guiltily up at her. "No it's not.. I conked you over the head."

"You didn't mean to." Gabrielle told him. "Did you?"

He stared at her. "N..no! of course not!"

"Well, okay then." The bard patted his arm "So relax, all right? I know you meant well.. and stuff like that.. well, it happens sometimes."

He sighed, and leaned on his elbows. "My big chance at getting to help out my…ah.. to help out two heroes, and what do I do? I clobber one of them… I can't believe I did that." Devon looked up at her guiltily. "I bet you never did that."

Gabrielle rubbed her jaw. "Mm… did I ever clobber Xena…" she nibbled her lip. "I don’t' think I ever dropped a rock on her.. but. Um.. " She let a grin appear. "I have gotten her into more messes than you could possibly imagine."

He gave her a doubtful look. "Really?"

The bard nodded. "Yeah… I can remember sitting at the fire at night, and wondering why she didn't just pack my village bumpkin butt back to Potadeia for some of the stunts I pulled."

"Mm." Devon appeared thoughtful. "So.. why didn't she?"

"Well, different  reasons, I guess… we had become friends, and she needed help.. and.." Gabrielle hesitated.

"Because I fell in love with her instead." Xena's deeper voice answered out of the growing dusk, as the warrior appeared from apparently the fog, or thin air, and ruffled the bard's hair before she disappeared into the mist again.

The bard sighed, and rubbed her blushing cheeks. "And.. um… that, too." She murmured, surprised her soulmate had made such a bold statement in front of veritable strangers. "So.. anyway… don’t' worry, Devon.. I'm not mad… I don't want you to feel bad about trying to do the right thing, okay?"

He nodded shyly. "Thanks, Gabrielle."

She patted his arm, and stood. "Let's get camp going… it's been a really long day." Gabrielle walked him over to the busy Amazons, and nudged him towards some firewood, then she walked over to where her partner was tending the horses in the gentle purple twilight.  She slipped up next to the warrior and looked up at her. "Hey there."

Xena looked tired, but relatively all right, and she paused, letting her arms rest on Hercules' back. "You two make up?"

Gabrielle nodded, patting the stallion's side. "He was just a little mad at himself… I've kinda been there, so I told him not to worry about it." She traced an idle pattern on the smooth blue leathers. "He really wanted to help."

"I know." The warrior replied. "If I thought otherwise, I'd have put him through a tree headfirst." She advised her partner. "How's the head?"

The bard rubbed the spot. "Sore.. " She exhaled. "Hurts if I bend over… but not too bad other than that." She put a hand against Xena's cheek. "What about you?"

"I'm fine." Xena told her, mindful of the covertly watching Amazons. "I'm going to see if I can pick up something for dinner."

Gabrielle considered arguing, then realized it probably wouldn't do much good. Her soulmate was firmly in her too tough for her leathers routine, and would strenuously resist any of her attempts at coddling. "Okay." She agreed mildly. "I'll get things settled here."

She watched the warrior pad off, then she took down their bags, and the sleeping furs, and smiled wryly. She couldn’t stop Xena, no.. but there was more than one way to sheer a sheep.

************************************
The fire licked lazily at the dried wood, throwing gold and crimson shadows against the ring of people surrounding it.

Gabrielle was sitting cross legged on their sleeping furs, nibbling at the last of her grilled venison, provided by the deer a casually offhanded Xena offered up when she'd come back from her hunting trip. The Amazons had been suitably impressed, and they'd all enjoyed the steaks, dusted with the bard's jealously guarded herb mixture.

Jonae had even unbent and allowed her warriors to uncork a wineskin, which they'd passed around to their guests as two of the younger ones traded hunting stories in the cool, still damp air.

Xena was seated behind her partner, meticulously cleaning her weapons and armor, one ear on the conversation, the other on the surrounding area. Her eyes were quietly alert, and if you didn't know her, you'd have been absolutely convinced that here sat a perfectly healthy, well rested warrior just relaxing on the edges of the firelight.

Gabrielle, of course, having lived with the warrior in question for as long as she had, knew better. She'd managed to get a dose of the fever herbs into the recalcitrant woman, but all gentle suggestions that she rest were greeting with stubbornly alert blue eyes and just a hint of a pout.

You know, Gabrielle… The bard mused to herself. If Dori really does take after her, you're toasted nutbread. She drummed her fingers on a knee lightly, then mentally snapped her fingers. She lowered her weight onto her elbows, then lightly rubbed her head, allowing her eyes to close for a long moment before she straightened up to focus her attention again on the Amazons.

Then she counted under her breath. On twenty, a soft tug came on her tunic. She waited another five counts, and got another tug, this time more insistent. Her head turned to see a steady gaze and one lifted brow facing her. "Hey… what's up?" She glanced at the warrior's plate, pleased to see it was cleared.

"Your head okay?" Xena asked, a touch gruffly.

Gabrielle half lifted a hand. "Oh.. yeah.. I.. " She rubbed her neck. "It's a little sore.. nothing much."

"C'mere." The warrior set her last bit of armor down, and patted the furs next to her, ignoring the looks from the Amazons.

The bard scooted over and settled down next to her partner, tucking herself against Xena's left side and stifling a yawn. "Long day."

Jonae shifted. "That it was… I think we could all use some sleep.. Centas will take first watch."  She nodded at the oldest of the warriors, a woman with long, straight silvered black hair, and a medium build.

"You can get me for second." Xena commented casually, crossing her booted legs.

Gabrielle sighed silently.

"Please, Xena… we feel terrible about last night.. let us at least provide you with one evening's rest to replace that." Jonae objected stolidly. "It's only fair." She casually glanced at the bard, and gave her a ghost of a wink.

Ooo. I like her. The bard knew a sparkle must have entered her own eyes, because Jonae had to clear her throat and glance off.

Xena merely shrugged. "It's no bother to me.. but have it your way."  She stretched out her legs a little, then lifted her cloak, and tucked it around Gabrielle's body as the bard curled up against her and slid an arm across her stomach as she rested her head against Xena's shoulder.

The Amazons arranged themselves for the night, keeping Devon against the stone wall, where he was tangled up in his borrowed furs, listening in silence. The fire crackled down, and left them in peaceful silence.

Xena leaned back against the rocks, glad of the quiet at last.. She felt a gentle movement against her and looked down, to see a pair of sleepy green eyes blinking up at her, and she smiled in reaction, glancing around before she put a fingertip on the bard's cute nose.

Gabrielle yawned, then nestled closer, making a small, contented noise deep in her throat. "Thanks for dinner." She murmured. "That really hit the spot."

"Yeah?" The warrior's voice burred in response. "Ahh.. I got lucky.. he got caught in a downed tree, and broke his leg. I just ended it."

"Don’t' care… it tasted great…I was starving." The bard replied, yawning again, and feeling the catch in her partner's breathing as she did the same.  Her ear pressed against the leather covered shoulder, listening to the heartbeat that steadied, and slowed, coming down to match her own, as the breathing under her right hand did as well, a mute testimony to the profound bond that linked them. She started a light tracing with the hand she had draped over he warrior's stomach, and felt the body under hers start to relax perceptibly.

"Gabrielle."

The low pitch tickled her eardrums, and almost made her laugh, but she bit her lip and tilted her head up, peering at her partner with as much innocence as she could muster. "Hmm?"

"What are you doing?"

Gabrielle opened her eyes wider, and pointed a thumb at her own chest. "Me?" She inquired. "Going to sleep, Xena.. why?"

A dark brow lifted.

"Okay.. so I'm trying to get you to go there with me.. satisfied?" The bard admitted, lowering her voice. "C'mon.. they're keeping watch, so you can drop the iron warrior routine for a few candlemarks."

Now the lashes batted at her. "The what routine?"

"Xena."

"Gabrielle, I feel fine." The low voice stated. "Really…I think the fever broke, and my leg's a lot better." She protested, having changed the bandage earlier, pleased to find the wound healing.

"Mm… " The bard lifted a hand and touched her forehead, finding it cool. "Okay…" She replied simply, putting her head back down and resuming her position, but omitting her gentle tracing. "I’m too tired to argue with you."

Xena blinked at the capitulation, finding herself tongue tied.

"And I'm not too proud to admit it, either." The bard continued, firmly closing her eyes.

Her soulmate made a noise halfway between a cluck and a snort, but drew no further response. It was very quiet for a moment, then Xena started gently stroking the bard's soft hair. "I didn't say I wasn't enjoying what you were doing." She muttered.

Gabrielle chuckled soundlessly, then gave her partner a squeeze.

"You're getting pretty damn good at that." Xena grumbled.

"Getting?" Gabrielle mouthed silently to herself. "C'mon… close those baby blues." She resumed her tracing,  loosening the laces that held the warrior's leathers closed, and slipping her hand inside to touch soft, silky skin.

"Hmph." Xena exhaled, moving her hand up to scratch the bard's neck in her favorite spot. Her eyes had closed of their own accord, as she surrendered to the exhaustion she'd been holding at bay for hours, and she let her chin rest against Gabrielle's head.

Not that she really had any intention of sleeping of course… Amazons or no Amazons, they were in a strange area, and now that she felt better, she'd just let her eyes rest here a minute, then….

Gabrielle felt the breathing under her deepen, and she smiled quietly, sliding her hand further under the heavy armor and leaving it there, letting herself drift off to sleep surrounded by the scent of woodsmoke and leather.

************************************************

A soft trill of birdsong slowly nudged her awake, and Xena spent a moment listening to it before she allowed her eyes to drift open into the foggy gray mist of a new day. A thick blanket lay over the ground, with the tips of rocks and the odd branch poking out of it eerily. To one side she could see the sentry, crouched in the lee of a large boulder, and noted the motion as the woman slowly turned her head, surveying the area with commendable alertness.

The other Amazons were curled into their blankets, unrolled from the efficient trail packs they carried. The fire had burned down, and was mere ghostly crimson embers, but warm enough for Xena to feel a gentle heat if she poked a hand out from under her heavy cloak.

She, of course, was comfortably warm, and thankfully free from fever. The cloak was well insulated, and the combination of her own and Gabrielle's body heat had kept them both quite cozy through the dark hours, and that had let her sleep in relative peace all through the night.

Which, she acknowledged wryly, was probably a good thing. The heavy feeling in her head was gone, and other than an expected ache in her leg, she felt pretty good, even the sore throat she'd had was gone and if she took a deep breath, the tight sensation was completely cleared up.

Hmm.  Guess the old body still has a little of that healing stuff in there yet. Xena drew in a pleased breath and studied their Amazon companions. Besides the guard, who was the shorter redhead who'd brought up the rear the previous day, there were Jonae, their guard from last night, and two twin sisters, tall, thin women with short brown hair who seldom smiled. They were an interesting bunch, especially when they chatted among themselves and thought a sharp eared warrior wasn't listening or paying attention.

The redhead thought Gabrielle was too cute for words. Xena had stifled a grin on hearing that, and on hearing the two sisters analyzing the skills the bard had used on the renegade Amazons. They had a healthy respect now for her younger partner, and that was a good thing, because Gabrielle would need that if she hoped to knit together all the groups Xena knew they'd need to make a run at this.

She felt the form snuggled under her arm shift, then a breath warmed her neck.

"Mmfph."  A feather light brush of lips against her skin brought a smile to the warrior's face, as she reflected on how the simplest things took on new color under love's brushstrokes.

A dark brow lifted sharply. "I did not think that." Xena muttered, audibly, focusing her mind on the difficulties ahead instead.

"Think what?" Gabrielle murmured, stretching her body out then curling it up against her partner's again. "Mm…. You are so nice and warm."  She snuggled closer and rubbed her cheek against the warrior's shoulder.

Xena, Warrior Teddy Bear. The dark haired woman sighed. "I think it's time to get up." She murmured into the pink ear near her chin. "I'd like to get going early."

"Uh huh… I guess we're feeling a lot spunkier this morning, huh?" Gabrielle commented, with a teasing grin. "Isn't it great what a good night's sleep will do?" She tickled the soft skin under her fingertips, and felt her partner squirm.

Xena gave her a slap on the butt. "Well, my spunky bardic friend, get moving."  The Amazons were starting to stir, woken by the light and their low voices.

Gabrielle ducked her head under the cloak, and chuckled evilly, having access to her soulmate's half bared body. She found a very sensitive spot and nibbled it, feeling Xena's ribs expand sharply as she reacted.  She peeked out to see outraged blue eyes devouring her, and a small, very mischevious smile starting to shape Xena's lips.

"Gabrrriieeellle." The drawn out word hit the lowest register of her partner's voice,.

"Oo.. I love it when you do that." The bard whispered, as she gently licked the warrior's breastbone, breathing in the rich, musky scent of her body with a little chuckle of pleasure.

Xena's eyes flicked to their companions, then fastened back on her tormentor. "You… are a troublemaker."

"Takes one to know one." The bard poked her tongue out, then ducked her head and nuzzled the soft skin, nibbling and nipping subtly until she felt the motion as Xena's swallowed, and her heartbeat picked up along with her breathing. She peeked up again and almost giggled at the look of fierce frustration on her soulmate's face.

"I'm going to get you for this." The warrior growled, very softly.

"Promises, promises." Gabrielle answered, relenting with a sigh, and carefully lacing her partner back up, tying the leather strings at the top and resting her chin on them.

And felt her head captured by a strong hand behind her neck, and pale blue eyes coming closer with a wicked twinkle in them. She found her lips captured, with an intense passion that sent a jolt all the way down to her feet, making her body shift and react so fast she could hardly stop it.

It was a seductive craving, that wrapped itself around her and sent tingles up and down her spine, as the warrior explored with expert persistence.

Then Xena gently withdrew, and gave her another slap on the butt. "Now, move."

One very out of breath, outraged bard looked back at her. "Oooo… paybacks are a bitch." She let out a frustrated breath and her head dropped to Xena's chest, then she sighed, and eased away from the chuckling warrior.

The Amazons were sitting up, and the sisters had risen to grab folding buckets, nods being directed towards their guests.

"Good morning." Jonae yawned, rubbing her eyes.

"Oh yeah." Gabrielle got to her feet and shook herself, giving her still chuckling soulmate a dire look. "Are you going for water?" She asked the twins, who nodded. The bard grabbed a waterskin and followed them. "I'll help." She ran a hand through her hair and hoped the water wasn't part of a darn hot spring.

****************************************************

They traveled throughout the day in a cool, damp, almost rain that clung to the skin and drenched their cloaks in condensation. Xena took charge of both horses, allowing her partner to walk at her ease before them and chat with Jonae.

The tall Amazon had loosened up a lot, and seemed to be enjoying her time with the bard, and both women had frequently broken into chuckles, once glancing back in her direction, which indicated to Xena that she was probably a topic of conversation.

The warrior sighed, and shook her head, then ambled on, watching the surrounding countryside with interest. The mountain trek was tough, but it cut at least a week, maybe more from the route they'd have to have taken to get back home, and she could see a good advantage in knowing the way back. A column of soldiers could slip through here, and be on the city before they'd know it.

If  she needed them to. And if the Amazons would allow it, of course. Xena amused herself for a good candlemark going over how she'd bring a force through here, then jogged her brain into an exercise that bring the same force through without the Amazons cooperation. It was interesting, and she pulled a honey drop out of her saddlebag, sucking on it contentedly as she judged the relative merits of her warrior companions. The Amazons were competent fighters, she could tell by their reactions, and the alertness with which they carried themselves. More so than Gabrielle's Amazons, she reflected wryly, though that had been improving under her tutelage. They were all sinewy, and their eyes moved with every rustle as they made their way silently along the path.

A small archer force could, though, force them back into their village, and allow passage, Xena concluded, knowing they had things they had to protect. She hoped, however, that if it should be needed, Gabrielle could secure them a clear path, even if the Amazons declined to join the effort.

The mountain route also guaranteed they couldn’t be attacked in force, she continued her musing, as they started downward, and she picked her path carefully to make sure the horses had sure footing. There were a lot of places to hide up here, and no way for any larger group to come at them without getting nailed by crossbows, or other weapons.

Xena nodded a little to herself. She'd have to have a gathering area, where the troops could be collected and trained, and which would draw Andreas attention. It would have to be large enough to hold the forces, and small enough to be defensible…. The warrior retrieved another honey drop and popped it into her mouth, enjoying the mental exercise very much.

And then she stopped and thought about that. Thought about just how excited she'd been getting, and how much she was looking forward to pitting her wits against Andreas, regardless of the odds.

Well. She sucked on the honey drop. Confidence was an important part of leadership, right? And she was too honest with herself not to realize that there was a part of her that sorely missed using those skills, that was eager to throw itself into the seductive swirl of war, soaking up the blood and the violence that came with the legacy of who she'd once been.

And was becoming again?

A gentle laugh traveled back to her, and she glanced forward to see Gabrielle walking carefully backwards, motioning her to come closer.

No. That was her safety system, the light, warm web that contained her violence, directing it towards a sober, noble goal rather than releasing it to run rampant again. Gabrielle was there, to remind her of the stakes, and why she was doing this, and what she had to lose.

It had been after a fierce, wild fight, her against she couldn’t think how many others, and she'd just let her instincts go, killing with the wild abandon that had brought a laugh to her lips, and a fierce, exultant gladness to her heart.

She'd wiped her blade on dead bodies, and stepped over them without a single glance of remorse, as the survivors ran, dropping their weapons in their haste to escape her. With a grin, she'd picked up a war ax, hefting it, then she'd taken aim at one of the runners, setting her body for the throw and already feeling the seductive satisfaction of the blade sinking into the shoulderblades of her victim.

A hair from release, she'd glanced over to see Gabrielle watching her, the young girl trying very hard to remain calm, her newly given staff clutched in hands so white with tension, they almost shone.

Staring at her, with a look of mixed horror and fear, and something close to disappointment that struck her in an unexpectedly tender spot.

She'd never cared what anyone else thought of her. Never apologized for what she was… for who she was.

But that look….

She'd dropped the ax, and walked over to where Gabrielle was standing, watching the girl swallow a few times, before she'd looked back up and met Xena's eyes, the struggle to accept clear and stark in her own.

Gabrielle had been very quiet for a long time after that, even after they'd left the battleground far behind, and had found a quiet spot to rest in, near a deep lake that Xena had used to scrub the stains of war of her skin.

She'd watched the girl while she was bathing, her brow furrowed as she went about her chores, obviously thinking hard. They'd eaten a very quiet meal, then Xena had settled down to clean and sharpen her sword, and Gabrielle had taken out her diary.

And had sat there, for a long time, staring at the blank page before her, until she finally sighed, and looked up. "Xena?"

"Mmm?" The warrior had answered, intent on her task.

"You enjoy it, don't you? What you were doing today" The soft, hesitant voice had held a hint of sadness.

She'd stared at her hands, curled around the sword's hilt. "It's part of fighting, Gabrielle. You get used to it."  She'd finally said, hearing the silence. Unable to keep from looking up and into that pensive face. Who was she to judge anyway?

Gabrielle had simply looked at her.

"Yes." Xena had finally admitted, shortly.

And Gabrielle had looked…. Had looked as though that answer hurt her. She'd gotten up and simply walked away, leaving her scrolls, and the furs, and Xena behind her.

She'd finished her cleaning in the silence of the fire, and put her weapons away, then settled down to sleep, determined not to go after the little fool this time. And sure enough, after a bit, soft footsteps approached, and the rustle of parchment against leather told her Gabrielle was putting her things away.

Then the girl rolled herself up into her sleeping blanket and turned her back.

Xena had stared at the cloth covered shoulderblades until the words forced themselves from her. "Gabrielle.. it's what I am."

"I know." Came the soft answer. "I just. I didn't think…" A long pause, and a barely audible sigh. "I guess I should have realized…anyway.. good night, Xena."

She'd stared up at the stars for a long time, surprised by the warm tears that rolled silently down her face, coming from a source she barely understood. Not for herself.. she'd long ago reconciled herself to what she was, but instead… for Gabrielle, who had lost something that day, a something that probably should have never been there in the first place.

A dream.

Guess she'll be headed back to Potadeia. Xena had mused, wiping the tears way with an impatient hand. Better for both of us, probably.

"Xena?" The girl's voice, husky with tears broke the stillness.

"Yeah." Xena had replied.

A soft rustle as Gabrielle had gotten up and walked over, sitting down cross legged at Xena's side, and pushing a lock of pale hair from her eyes. "I think I figured something out."

Stupid kid. Xena had tried to shove the hurt away somewhere. "Yeah? What?" She'd answered gruffly, calculating the time back to the backwater she'd found Gabrielle in.

And a hand had touched her arm, in that annoying way Gabrielle had, making her look over and into those gentle, green eyes.

"Friends don't judge each other." Gabrielle had stated, simply. "And I'm your friend."

It had been an unexpected grace, and in that moment, it changed something in her forever, reclaiming a part of her soul she'd thought long gone and destroyed.

"Thanks." Had been all she'd said, but she'd meant it, and Gabrielle had known that, understanding what they were, after all.

Friends.

Xena lengthened her strides, bringing her even with her soulmate, and Jonae as they broke out onto a small level area. "What's up?"

"We’re at the edge of our territory." Jonae explained. "We thought we could share a trail meal with you before you go on your way."

The warrior checked the sun's hidden progress, then nodded. "Good idea… we won't find shelter before dark. Might as well."

They scattered into the open area and sat down, pulling out packs and waterskins. Gabrielle offered around pieces of their trail rations, and the Amazons reciprocated, even graciously including Devon in their generosity. Gabrielle chose to sit on the same rock as her partner, squishing the warrior a little, but she figured Xena probably wouldn't mind.

A long arm settled over her shoulders and pulled her closer, validating her guess, and she smiled, as she took a bite of her bar, chewing it in silent enjoyment as she felt Xena gently kiss the top of her head.

She looked up at her soulmate in surprise, not expecting the public display. "What was that for?" She inquired softly, giving the taller woman a poke in the ribs.

Xena merely shook her head, and smiled.

********************************

"Well, it is time we part ways." Jonae stood easily with her arms resting at her side as they reached the long slope down to the valley. "Have a good journey, and I wish you much success with your task."

"Thanks for the company, Jonae." Gabrielle answered graciously. "We really appreciate it." She gave her partner a sideways look. "Especially after all that happened in the city… it was nice to have an escort."

"Mm." The Amazon Queen nodded thoughtfully. "You were very lucky…we've heard some horror stories of those who tried to defy Andreas.. and that witches brew they fight with. "She glanced at Xena. "Or perhaps luck isn't the reason.. " A respectful nod at the warrior. "Your skills held them away, rather."

Green and blue eyes met, then flicked to the Amazon. "What brew?" Gabrielle asked, curiously. "I know they were giving the men something.. they put it on the meat, and it stunk like crazy.. but.. "

The Amazons gathered around. "Some stuff they put on arrows and their swords.." The redhead stated quietly. "Gets people sick.. and then, they die.. all of them." She shook her head. "Bastards.. not good enough to kill firsthand.. but they've got to spread their evil that way? Be glad you got away without a scratch, the two of you."

Xena felt Gabrielle's eyes on her, and she let a breath slowly escape. That… explained a few things. "Yeah.. guess we just got lucky." She replied casually. "How long does it take to act?"

Jonae sniffed reflectively. "A day.. two at the most.. I saw three of my fighters die from it.. never again." She gave them a fierce look. "I don't mind battle… but not at those odds. That's not a fair fight."

"Right.. well, thanks for the warning." Gabrielle murmured, stunned. "Guess we'll be going.. c'mon, Devon.. we'll go with you to the crossroads."

They left their escort behind, and started down a widening path that lead into the open valley, enjoying the cool breeze that came up slope and blew their hair and cloaks back. Gabrielle found herself walking next to a very quiet Xena, who kept her eyes mostly on the soft waving grasses, ocher with fall's chill.  Devon paced along on the other side of Iolaus, a thoughtful look on his face.

"Hey." The bard moved a step closer to her soulmate, and dropped her voice.

"Hmm?" Xena looked up, one brow lifting.

"That was.. um.. interesting.. about the poison." Gabrielle replied tentatively.

The warrior didn't answer for a moment, she simply paced on deep in thought. "Musta just nicked me." She finally stated. "Or maybe there wasn't much on that guy's blade, and I got lucky." Xena's expression was serious. "But that adds one Hades of a complication in to this whole thing, Gabrielle… you count on a certain percentage of casualties, sure, but not this."

"Mm."  The bard exhaled. "Yeah.. I was thinking of that." She went silent, and for a bit, only the soft crunch of their boots marring the quiet. Finally, Gabrielle cleared her throat. "So.. do we change our plan?"

The taller woman at her side looked off into the distance, one hand playing a bit with the fringe of her leathers, lying across the bandage on her thigh. "I don't know." Xena stated, at last. "I have to think about it."

They walked quietly on.

**********************************************

Dark had closed in around them, before they reached the crossroads and parted ways. Devon took a gentle clasp of their arms, and thanked them shyly, not meeting their eyes as he stammered a little speech.

"Be careful." Gabrielle had told him, giving him a sack with some of their trail rations. "Don't get caught again, okay?"

They'd watched him leave, then continued on down the dark road, under a cloudy sky that allowed no starlight, and no moonlight, and magnified the sounds around them eerily.

"Think we should have kept him with us?" Gabrielle finally asked, reaching a hand out in the gloom to find her soulmate's and entwining their fingers. "It's really dark out here, Xena."

"He'll be fine." The warrior told her. "He's headed in a different direction than we are, and it's so dark, no one'll be out looking for him." She tightened her grasp around the bard's hand, and exhaled. "Or us, for that matter."

"I guess." Gabrielle focused on the living warmth of the hand clasped her own, the skin dry, and slightly rough as she rubbed her thumb against it. "You have some place to stop in mind tonight?" She held back a yawn at the very thought of stopping.

Even in the dark, she could swear she could see the faint grin on the warrior's face. "Let me guess.. you're tired and hungry, right?"

"Tch." The bard sniffed. "I didn't say that."

Xena chuckled. "You didn't have to.. I am too." She admitted. "There's a small trading town about a candlemarks ride from here.. I figured we could stop there." She didn't feel feverish, but she also didn't feel completely up to par, and she wasn't sure if it was a residue or merely the knowledge that she'd been poisoned that was doing it. "They've got a decent inn, or at least they did, and it's a quiet place."

"Sounds great." Gabrielle agreed firmly.

"It does, huh?" Xena inquired.

"Yep… I'm all for it." Her companion stated positively.

"Great.. get your butt up on the horse, then." The warrior grinned into the darkness. "Because it's three or four candlemarks if we walk."

Gabrielle sighed. "You're wicked." She grumbled, but stopped, and released the hand she still held, so she could get herself aboard the restless stallion, aware of the close presence behind her, as Xena held Hercules' bridle, and made sure she was on safely. "Okay.. thanks."

"Good girl." Xena gave her a friendly pat on the knee, then turned and lifted herself up into Iolaus' saddle, settling her knees securely before she sidestepped him over, and put a hand out. "You want me to lead you?"

"No.. I'm okay." The bard put the reins between her fingers and exhaled. "Go on.. let's get moving."  She nudged her mount into a faster pace as Xena started off, and resigned herself to a long, bumpy ride.

*******************************************

The silence was broken by their hoofbeats as they approached the town, small pools of torchlight stark in the cool, damp night marking it's presence. The outbuildings looked fairly intact, Gabrielle was glad to note, and as they entered the central area, the few inhabitants they saw seemed wary, but courteous.

A bandy legged man with a leather apron met them near the inn, and held a hand up. "Ho.. travelers."

They pulled up, and Xena turned her cowled head towards him. "We're looking for a place to stay overnight.. and stabling."

The man nodded. "Aye.. we've got both, the gods only know we're emptier than a goose as laid er eggs." He eyed Xena speculatively "Mind.. they're only taking coin at the inn, no barter."

Meaning they were on very hard times, Xena realized. "No problem." She replied quietly, as she swung her leg over Iolaus' neck, and slid down, resettling her cloak around her body with a twitch. "We can handle that." She turned and held Hercules' bridle as Gabrielle dismounted. "Which way?"

The man nodded down a faintly crooked pathway. "Over there." He studied the horses. "Fine beasts.. ye can leave em with me, if you have a mind to.. I'm the smith."

Gabrielle moved forward, swiping the hood of her cloak back as she approached him. "All right… " She tugged Hercules' reins. "Why don't I go with you.. they can be kind of skittish.. and they're used to me." She gave her partner a look. "You want to grab a room?'

It was an odd reversal to their usual order, but Xena couldn’t find a reason to object. "Sure." She murmured, unstrapping her saddlebags and throwing them over her shoulder, then reaching for Gabrielle's. "Meet you inside."  She checked her belt to make sure she had her money pouch with her, then headed down the small path, listening idly to her soulmate's gentle speech as she helped the smith guide their horses into the stable.

The path was packed earth, and her boots made little noise as she came to the door of the inn, a well scraped wooden portal with worn leather hinges. She pushed it aside and entered, into a small, ill lit room that held a few uneven tables, two or three silent occupants, and a dubious looking pair of doors leading out.  It smelled of old wood and older ale, and had a sad look of wear to it, reminding her suddenly of what her mother's inn had been like when she'd first come home.

A lifetime ago.

As she entered, one of the inner doors opened and a woman came out, perhaps twice the warrior's age, with iron gray hair and tired eyes. She studied Xena for a moment, then came forward, wiping her hands on a ragged apron. "Welcome." Her voice was soft, and gentle. "We're past dinner, but I've got some soup as still on, if you're wanting some."

Xena reached up and removed her hood, acknowledging the tiny start of surprise with a wry nod. "I need a room. " Her voice echoed softly in the silence of the inn. "There are two of us."

"Rooms I have, warrior." The woman stated simply. "But I'm not looking for trouble, no matter how I need the coin."

Xena smiled slightly. "And I'm not here to give you any.. I'm just looking to stay the night." She reassured the woman.

The elderly, dark eyes studied her for a long moment, then finally the innkeeper nodded. "Two dinars, in coin. " She almost kept the shaking from her voice. "Gets you soup tonight, and your breakfast tomorrow."

Xena loosened her pouch, and opened it, poking two fingers inside, and finding the coins by touch. She drew them out and handed them over. "There you go."

The woman took them, clenching her hands around them a moment before she peered at the round objects, turning them over. Then she moved over to a torch and bent her head, studying them. Her eyes lifted to Xena's. "Haven't seen that stamp in a while."  She came closer again. "You come from those parts?"

The warrior nodded quietly, turning as the door opened and Gabrielle came in. "That's right." She replied. "Why?"

But the innkeeper merely shook her head. "Just asking… that's all. Room's the second one down the corridor, door's open."

"All right." Xena said, slowly, still watching her, suspicions making her hackles lift.

The woman must have felt it, she realized, because she looked up sharply and studied Xena in return for a long moment. Then she turned and retreated, disappearing behind the leather door strip and leaving the warrior and bard in the almost empty room.

"Xena.. this place is giving me the creeps." Gabrielle stated softly. "Is this that 'uh oh' feeling you get?"

"Mm." Her partner murmured. "I don't know. It could just be the problems that have been going on… she didn't like my being armed, that's for sure. Maybe they've had attacks here." She nudged the bard down the hallway. "C'mon… we're here now, and it seems all right… but I'm not going to relax much tonight, I guess."

They made their way down the hall and into their assigned room, which was a square, very plain chamber with a shuttered window and a bed barely large enough for two people against one wall.  An ill built chair was placed firmly against one wall, and there was a chipped basin and water pitcher on a patched table against the other wall.

Bare, very plain, but it was clean, Xena noted, freshly swept, and if the linen was old and patched, it had obviously been washed in the recent past. The pillows were grain sacks stuffed with straw, but she'd slept on worse, and she began to feel a little better about the place. "I think they're just having a lot of hard luck, Gabrielle.. they make an attempt at keeping the place up."

The bard nodded. "Yeah..I can see that." She set her bags down, then crossed over and opened the window, letting in a cool, damp breeze. "Well, it's too early for Andreas to have spread his word out… maybe she just doesn't like fighters."  She went over and patted her soulmate on the chest. "Or people with blue eyes."

"Or people from Amphipolis." The warrior mused. "Remind me to get some different coinage next market we go through.. that is pretty conspicuous." She removed her cloak and folded it neatly, then started taking off her brass armor.

Gabrielle came over and helped, unbuckling the pieces with the ease of long practice. "Well.. if they try anything, I think we can handle them." She handed Xena a bracer then knelt beside her bags, tugging out some of their trail rations. "And I can certainly survive on this stuff another day."

The warrior put the armor down, then retrieved a pair of mugs from their gear. "As a matter of fact..we're due soup for our dinars.. I'll go get some. That'll tide us over." She ruffled the bard's hair and headed outside in her leathers, carrying the mugs loosely in one fist by their handles.

The room outside was empty now, but she heard muffled noises from the right hand door, so she headed towards it, pushing it open and sticking her head inside. It was, as she suspected, the kitchen, but now it was empty. Xena eased her body through the door and let it flap shut behind her, then paced slowly across the floor, her senses coming alert as a prickling of hair lifting across her body.

The slow drift of air brought a whiff of fear to her, and she stopped, focusing her hearing around the room, suddenly picking up the distinctive whine of a crossbow being cocked. He muscles tensed and she turned her head towards the spot, the darkest shadows of the kitchen. "Just looking for soup." She drawled softly, holding the mugs up.

"Found something else then, did you, warrior?" The old woman's voice answered. "Curiosity killed the cat, then eh?" She lifted the crossbow, and fired.

******************************************************

Gabrielle pulled the clean shirt over her head after using the reasonably fresh water in the bowl to take off the worst of the road dust. She smoothed the fabric over her sturdy frame with tired fingers, and exhaled a little, glad they were under a roof, even so dubious a one for the night.

She stifled a yawn,  then paused, as an uneasy feeling hit her in the gut. "Uh oh." She reached for her staff in pure reflex, and sighed. "Gods be damned to Hades, Xena.. I can't leave you alone for one blessed minute, can I?"

The bard ducked out of their room and pelted down the hall, glad she'd left her boots on. She reached the outer room and found it empty, then dove unerringly for the right hand door, where she could sense the close presence of her ever so troublemaking partner. One arm pulled the leather door aside and revealed the room, and she bounded inside, lifting her staff and heading for the innkeeper who was presently throwing kitchen implements at her hapless soulmate. "Hey!!!! Cut that out!"

Xena dropped the skillet she'd just caught, and gave her partner a look, glad for the interruption. She'd caught the crossbow bolt, and the woman had lost it, throwing anything she could get her hands on and yelling about she wasn't going to be a victim this time, no sir. "Glad you're here."

"What did you do to her?" Gabrielle asked, seeing the shadowy figure behind the work area, and hearing her heavy breathing.

"Me? I didn't do anything!" Xena protested. "All I did was come in for some soup.. and she almost shot me!"

Gabrielle glanced from her frustrated partner to the innkeeper and back. "What.. .do you want another dinar for it?" She finally asked, totally puzzled. "I don't get it."

"Not again, damn yer.. " The woman growled. "I'll not have yer come in here again and take it all…enough's enough."

The bard sniffed, then leaned on her staff. "Um….okay. Let's just get this straight… first, we're not here to take anything."

The woman snorted.

"And second… " Gabrielle gave Xena a sideways look. "If we really wanted to, you couldn’t stop us."  She eyed the kitchen. "You're about out of frying pans, and colanders won't do much against Xena, here."

There was dead silence for a long moment, then the woman slowly, hesitantly edged out from behind her hiding place, staring at Xena as though the warrior had grown a second head.

Or, perhaps, a tail.

"Yer can't be Xena." The woman mumbled.

The warrior scowled. "Whadda ya mean, I can't be? I certainly am."

"Can't be."

Gabrielle felt a sense of the ridiculous floating around her. "Of course she is.. how many six foot tall, black haired, blue eyed fighters who can catch arrows do you think there are running around this part of Greece, anyway?"

"Half dozen at least, I'm sure, if you listen to the stories." Xena muttered under her breath, getting her a dire look.

The innkeeper stared suspiciously at her. "Word was.. Xena went over the mountain."

Warrior and bard exchanged looks. "If you mean that mountain.." Gabrielle poked her thumb in the proper direction. "Well, yes… we just got back.. listen, could you please just tell us what's going on here?"

Another silence. "You're really Xena?" The woman finally asked, moving a little closer to get a better look. "Thought you'd be bigger."

Gabrielle bit the inside of her lip to keep from laughing, as her soulmate's eyebrows lifted, and she put her hands on her hips in mild outrage. "Yes, she really is Xena.. now…what's  the problem here?"

"People don't come back from over the mountain." The woman stated stubbornly, getting even closer and studying the irritated warrior from head to foot. "But.. well, you ain't a milkmaid, that's for sure."

"Gee, thanks." Xena muttered.

"Xena." The bard lightly swung her staff and tapped her partner on the butt as she addressed her words to the innkeeper. "What makes you think we're here to take things, anyway? We paid what you asked."

The old woman studied them a moment more, then shook her head. "It's what it's been like here…all the merchants have gone, and the only travelers are running from the mountains, or no good stinkers in armor who come in and take what they like." She exhaled heavily. "Here… gimme those cups…I didn't really think straight when you came in here.. I just couldn’t take losing everything again."

Xena knelt and retrieved the two mugs, which she'd tossed down when utensils started flying at her. "Why would I give you money then take it back? Doesn't make sense." She warily handed the cups over.

"Why not?" The woman muttered wearily. "Be like the tricks they pull… it's a game, you know? Pay for a room, then burn the barn down. That's happened twice. Pay again, and wreck the inn. Pay again… come in, takes all the money back and what else I have too."

Gabrielle leaned on her staff. "We're not going to take anything from you." She told the innkeeper quietly. "We wouldn't do that." Her eyes drifted to Xena's face, which was set, and angry. "Right?"

"Right." The warrior confirmed grimly. "No fighter worth their weapons would do that… you take what you need to survive. You don't torture people."  She gave the bard a look. "It's like what we were seeing on the way out here.. senseless."

The innkeeper handed her back the mugs, full of a thick broth. "That's what they calls it.. taking what's needed. Food, drink, people… isn't a body left in the village that isn't either a child still cutting teeth or an old bat like me."  She looked back up at them, with a quiet, hunted expression. "Had two of my lads here helping out… now…"

Xena set the mugs down and rested her hands on the back of the rickety chair in the kitchen. "I'm sorry." She told her quietly. "I don’t blame you for trying to shoot me in that case."

The old woman merely nodded shortly. "Aye, well…tis nice of you to say but.. "

"Xena's mom's an innkeeper too." Gabrielle interrupted her quietly. "And she depends on us to help out… I can imagine how tough it must be for you here."

A little silence fell, broken abruptly by a commotion outside, the sound of scuffling, and running boots, and muffled yells. They reached the kitchen doorway just in time to almost collide with an incoming body, a mud and blood covered form in dull gray that scrambled past them and fell at the innkeeper's feet.

"Mama." The form cried, a pool of dark crimson puddling around him.

The flap whipped open and a man entered, bearded, and dressed in half armor. "There ye are ye little bastard… get up offen that floor." He brushed by Xena as if she wasn't there, then paid for his mistake when the warrior grabbed him by the back of the armor and swung him around, slamming him head first into the wall.

Another man came in after him and reached for the warrior, only to find himself pinned to the wall by the hard end of a long quarterstaff. He grabbed the staff, and pulled, but it was taken out of his hands and he had to back up through the door when it slammed into his chest.

"Get offa me!" The first man yelled. "You got no idea who you're messing with!"

Xena jerked him around and half lifted him up, so that he faced her. "That's all right. Neither do you."  She leaned closer. "You take this kid from here?"

"He's dog meat." The man spat in her face. "I’m gonna feed him to the pigs."

Xena's hands released, and as he slid down the wall, she reached up and grabbed the back of his head, then slammed her fist into his fore head with savage power, breaking his neck with a heavy, sodden crack.

She let him go, and stepped out of the way, and he slumped to the floor lifeless.

The man grappling with Gabrielle stopped, and stared, and let go of the bard's staff as Xena's pale blue eyes swept up and caught him.

"You next?" The warrior asked, with a chilling smile, her hands flexing a little at her sides.

He slowly raised his hands, and backed up, as the bard lowered her staff, and turned, going to the innkeeper's side. She was seated on the rough wood floor, with the boy's head in her lap, whispering to him in a low, anguished voice.

"I don't like nasty little men who push around kids." Xena growled softly, advancing on the remaining soldier. "It makes me want to find those nasty little men.. " A step closer, and the warrior's voice rose. "And twist their ugly little brainless heads until the POP right OFF." Her last words were thundering yell, barked from her chest with evident rage.

The man stumbled back, trying to get away from her.

"You like being scared witless?" Xena caught him and gave him a shove, sending him flying. "You like it when someone beats the crap out of you?" She lifted him up and slugged him, rocking his head back and breaking something, she wasn't sure what. "Do ya?"

He whimpered, and tried to crawl away from her, scrambling for the door as he wet himself in fear.

Xena leaped over him and got in his way, then she crouched down and grabbed his beard, forcing him to look up at her. "Now. You listen to me, okay?"

He only gasped at her.

"You go back to wherever you came from, and you tell them this. " She pulled head up at a painful angle. "I find you people out here, I'll kill you." A pause. "Got me?"

"Y..yes." A tiny whisper.

"Know who I am?" Xena purred, with a very unpleasant smile.

A moment's pause. "X…Xena."

"Good guess." She let his head drop and stepped over him, stalking back towards the kitchen, and shoving her way past the leather door with an impatient motion, heading for her first victim, intent on ripping him into a few pieces, then tying them off onto his horse, and sending both horse and parts back where the Hades he….

"Xena." Gabrielle's voice stopped her in her tracks, and she turned towards her partner, who was kneeling on the floor. "Can you help him?"

For a moment, her darker side rebelled, wanting to stretch it's claws further, but one look at the bard's stricken face recalled her to where she was, and gentled her like nothing else ever would. She left her target alone and came over to them, dropping to a knee next to the injured boy.

"Damn."  Xena peeled back his tattered, mud covered shirt to reveal a back so raw and bloodied it didn't even look human. "That's from a scourge."

The boy was crying softly, saying 'mama' over and over again, and clutching her knees with whitened fingers.

"I'm going to have to clean that.. but I'll have to put him out. It's gonna hurt too much." The warrior shook her head. "Gabrielle, get my stuff.. I'm gonna lift him up and put him on a pallet.. I'm going to need a lot of water, too."

"Right." The bard stood and trotted off towards their room.

"Easy." Xena murmured, applying a pressure point to the boy's neck, and feeling him go limp. "Okay.. let me get him." She gently lifted his body up, awkward because he was on his stomach, and stood, cradling him. "Where can I.."

"Here." The innkeeper staggered to her feet, her apron covered in blood, and stumbled ahead of the laden warrior, moving the door flap aside and leading her to the first room.

Xena laid the boy down and released the block, wincing as he cried out in pain. "Take it easy….I can't leave that in too long, but when I'm done, I'll give you something that'll put you to sleep, okay?"

"Mama?" He sobbed softly.

"I’m here, Evon." The innkeeper sat down near the head of the pallet and clasped a hand which was hanging over the edge of the bed.

Gabrielle entered, carrying a large bowl of water and a bag slung over her shoulder. She set her burden down carefully on the table nearby, and removed the bag, pulling out her soulmate's things and setting them out. She laid a hand on Xena's bare shoulder as she peered at the young patient and bit her lip. "Gods."

"All right." Xena took her sharpest knife and started to gently cut away the fabric of the shirt he was wearing, tatters of which had been whipped completely into his skin. "I'm going to do this as careful as I can, okay? I can't put you under that long, and I need to wait until I've got to do the bad stuff."

A bloodshot gray eyeball looked back at her, starkly evident in the mud covered face. Then he nodded a little and put his head down, holding on to his mother's hand tightly. "Mama… Duvvie's gone."

The innkeeper covered her eyes with her free hand.

"'E tried… gods knows he tried… but they just wouldn't let up on him…" The boy whispered. "We was going to escape.. we had it all planned… but they got to him, mama…and he  knew he'd tell them, so he.. he took a spike and he.. " Evon stopped speaking as Xena clipped carefully around his arm. "He looked so peaceful."  The boy went on softly. "Fin'ly."

Gabrielle kept her hand on her soulmate's back, a warm touch that comforted her as much as it did her partner. She felt the quiet tears slip down her face, and wiped them, as she watched the innkeeper do the same.

"Okay." Xena reached over and carefully hit the pressure point that would knock the boy out. "Now comes the tough stuff."  The warrior took the rag Gabrielle had soaked in the warm water, and started cleaning off the raw skin of his back, in places cut so deep the bones showed through a final, crimson layer. She had to take her knife out and remove shreds of ruined skin, and bits of cloth, and Gabrielle was very glad the boy was unconscious when she saw the new blood run.  She kept the linen clean, as best she could, and rinsed it out when Xena gave it to her, then handed the warrior her case of herbs after she'd cleaned the wounds thoroughly.

The dark haired woman mixed several, crushing them in powerful fingers, before she added them to a small bowl, then combined them with some of the cleansing paste she used on their own cuts, then she spread the stuff liberally all over the boy's back. When she was satisfied, she glanced up at the innkeeper. "Hang onto his hand. When he wakes up, it's gonna hurt like crazy."

The old eyes studied her, as the woman complied, and Xena released the pressure point, holding the boy steady as he writhed in agony. "Easy… easy…. Gabrielle, grab his legs."

The bard did, wrapping a strong arm around them and putting a hold on his calf. Finally, he quieted, though whether that was due to the pain diminishing, or pure exhaustion she couldn’t tell. Xena released him, then took her small cup out and mixed another set of herbs, giving the bard a brief smile when she stood and filled the cup with water. "Thanks."

Gabrielle eased over and scratched the back of her partner's neck gently as she helped the sobbing boy to half roll over, and firmly made him drink down the mixture, then she let him lie back down

"Okay.. give that a few minutes, and it should start helping."

The gray eyes blinked at her, then fluttered. "'Mi gonna die?"

Xena leaned on her knee, and studied her cup, then looked back at him. "Nope… but you may wish you had before it's over." She told him honestly.

He seemed to reflect on that for a moment, then he nodded once, and put his head back down, obviously exhausted. In a few breaths he was asleep, and they were left in candlelit silence.

Xena quietly packed her things up, then raised her eyes to the innkeeper's face. "I'm sorry."  She knew she'd just given the old woman a burden possibly too heavy to bear. The boy would take a good deal of tending, and even then, it would be a long time before he could be on his own.

The innkeeper slowly stroked the limp hand in her own. "Aye." She looked up at Xena with weary comprehension. "Thank you."

The blue eyes dropped, then Xena stood. "I'll go…clean up in the kitchen." She remarked quietly. "Why don't you keep an eye on him for a few minutes, Gabrielle…I'll meet you back in our room."

The bard let out a tiny breath. "Okay."  She watched her partner leave the room, then she lightly shook out a piece of cleaned, and sun dried light cloth and laid it gently over the boy's back. "Keeps things out." She murmured. "Um… sorry.. .I never did get your name…I'm Gabrielle."

The innkeeper clasped her hand. "Rose."  She released the bard's hand and pondered her son. "So that be Xena, eh?"

"Mm." Gabrielle nodded. "That's her, all right…I'm really glad you didn't hit her with an arrow.. I hate taking those out."

Rose snorted softly to herself. "Hard to believe…didn't expect her to have death in one fist, and healing in the other."  She glanced at the bard. "Odd, that."

"She's… full of contradictions." Gabrielle replied thoughtfully. "It was one of the first things I learned about her… and every time you think you have her figured out, she surprises you."  She paused, and reflected. "I'm sorry about your other son."

Rose looked down at the floor. "Aye…thank you…. I'd given them both up, truth to tell..Evon here's the younger." She pushed a bit of hair from the boy's eyes. "Looks like his daddy."

Gabrielle thought about all the years Cyrene had been alone, after Toris had left, and Xena… The bard sighed. How different it must have been for her to have her children come home. Maybe this would turn out all right too, eventually. "Well.. I'll leave this stuff here, Xena will need it when she takes care of him in the morning.. I'd better go get some rest myself."

Rose nodded. "You kin take as much soup as you've a mind to." She told the younger woman wryly. "I'll take what left of that water, and try to get some of the dirt offin him."

"Thanks." Gabrielle smiled, and rose, leaving the two of them alone, padding quietly through the inn in search of Xena.

******************************************

She found her, as promised, in their room, leaning against the window frame and studying the dark, gloomy night outside.  "Here.. brought some back for you." She went to the warrior's side, and handed her a steaming mug. "It's pretty good.. mostly vegetables, but it's tasty."

Xena turned, and accepted the cup, gazing at her soulmate quietly. "Thanks."

They stood, side by side, sipping the broth. "That poor kid." Gabrielle finally murmured. "Good gods, Xena…I've never seen anything as brutal as that."

"I have." The tall warrior murmured. "Reminded me of when I had to run the gauntlet, after my army turned on me."

Gabrielle felt a little shock. She'd never heard Xena discuss that period of her life before, and it startled her. "Really?"

"Mm…that's how armies reward traitors… deserters… that's what they viewed me as." Her soulmate replied. "That's what they viewed these kids as."

"Wow." The bard murmured. "But your army let you go…they kept after these poor boys."

A faint, almost proud smile crossed Xena's face. "They did their worst.. and I walked away from it. They had no choice." She looked at the bard. "I beat them.. in a way." She pushed off from the window and paced across the floor, restless energy very apparent to Gabrielle's watching eyes. "You have to make them understand they're not invincible…you turn fear around on them, and that puts you on top."

Gabrielle thought about that. "You want them to be scared of you." She guessed, hesitantly. "Because it lowers moral, and shakes them up."

A slow nod of the dark head, pale eyes shimmering with candlelight. "Yep…and even though I'm only one person…it's just that bit of doubt. We need that."

The bard felt her body shiver in response to the sheer animal force she could feel coming from her partner. "So we can defeat them."

"Yes." Xena's voice dropped a note and deepened. "They have a tough gauntlet set up for us, Gabrielle… but we're gonna find a way through it." She exhaled and straightened. "Whatever it takes."

Gabrielle put her cup down and crossed the room, taking Xena's hands in her own. "Whatever it takes." She repeated softly. "Because we can't let them win, Xena…the stakes are too high, for all of us."

Xena pulled her into a hug, and wrapped her arms around the bard, letting her chin rest against the soft, pale hair. "I know." She murmured, gazing out at the clouds.

***************************************************

Continued in Part 7

These characters, and boy, are they ever characters, are mostly the property of Renaissance Pictures, Universal MCA, and whoever else owns stock and interest in Xena: Warrior Princess. This fiction was written for my amusement only, and not in any way, shape or form for profit - and it is not intended to infringe on the copyright holders of the characters.

Some of the characters are mine, and the story ideas.. well, who knows where they come from? Must be one weird place, that's for sure.

Specific Story Disclaimers:

Violence - this is a Xena: Warrior Princess story. This is not Teletubbies. Even though there are some rumors of similarities. Some of the violence is graphic, but we try not to dwell on it.

Subtext - Considering that the TV Series just aired an episode establishing Xena and Gabrielle as eternal soulmates, any disclaimer of subtext on my part is really kind of goofy in the extreme. The two characters are in love with each other, and have been for years. You can choose to see them as just friends, but then you might not want to read this fanfic, in case it changes your mind or anything like that.

Emotional Content - this is not one my more comedic efforts. There are moments of humor, however.

********************************************************************

Dark Comes the Morning - Part 7

By Melissa Good

Gabrielle woke to thunder, and the rapid patter of rain on the inn's thatch and wood roof. She kept her eyes closed, allowing herself to enjoy the contrast of the cold draft coming in the window, wet and rich with scent, with the warmth of the embrace she was snuggled into.

Xena's arms were wrapped around her, and the warrior's body was curled around hers, a solid security she truly reveled in, along with the steady movement of Xena's breathing, which brushed lightly against her ear.  Thunder rolled again, and she let her eyes open, turning her head a little to peer out the window.

Dull gray light slouched into the room, along with a mist from the rain outside, and Gabrielle felt no inclination to get moving out into it. Reflectively, she glanced up at her partner's face, startled to see the pale blue eyes open, and calmly regarding her back. "Oh.. you're up."

"Mmhmmm." Xena agreed. "Have been for a while."

"Ah." Gabrielle moved her hand and traced a soft pattern on the skin of Xena's neck. "Thanks for not waking me.. I was pretty tired."

"I know." The warrior agreed. "Figured you could use a few extra winks."

The bard continued her idle tracing. "It's raining out."

"Uh huh."

"You know, Xena… that's an awfully cold rain out there."

"Really?"

"Yeah.. can't you feel it? Listen.. you were just sick.. I think we really need to wait and let the rain stop before we leave."

"You do, huh?"  Xena's hold shifted a little, bringing them closer together. "We’ve got a long way to go home, my bard."

"I know… but I worry about you, honey.. I hate when you're sick." Gabrielle coaxed. "C'mon.. a few hours wont' hurt either way.. you can take care of that poor kid.. and maybe we can do a few things around here. They sure could use it."

"Hmmmmm."

"Please?" The bard kissed the soft skin on Xena's shoulder gently. "I'll get you some hot tea.. and I bet they have some bread… how about breakfast in bed, huh?"

Xena regarded her for a moment, then sighed. "Oh.. all right."  She intercepted Gabrielle's lips on their way down her neck and spent a leisurely few moments exploring their surface.

"Mm… thanks." Gabrielle hugged her, hiding a grin against the blanket's fabric. She rested there quietly for a moment, then she lifted her head, and peered suspiciously at her somnolent partner. "You'd already decided to stick around, didn't you?"

Xena started laughing silently, her body rumbling softly.

"You… you… fink." Gabrielle rolled over and up onto her elbows, then pressed herself up and loomed over the chuckling warrior. "You let me go through all that.. that.. stuff???"

Her soulmate kept laughing, and patted her leg teasingly. "Couldn’t resist…you're so cute when you do that."

"Cute, huh?" The bard growled, leaning closer and biting a hold on her soulmate's neck. "I don’t' know I want to be 'cute' this morning."

Xena gazed up at her, a grin shaping her lips, as she lifted a hand and traced a line down the bard's body, tickling her bare stomach gently. "No, huh?"

Gabrielle bit her lip to keep from giggling. "Stop that." She scolded softly, studying the tanned body under hers.

"Stop what.. " A feather touch slipped down her ribs. "Stop that?"

A giggle forced it's way out. "Yes.. that."

"Ah.. how about this?" Xena ducked head and found a better target, capturing a sensitive bit of skin and feeling the motion as Gabrielle's ribs expanded in a sharp breath. "Hmm? Stop?" She asked with a grin, then returned to her task.

It was hard to breathe. Gabrielle felt her attention center on her body, and what Xena was doing, causing a surge of feeling that hit her right in the groin and made her forget about whatever it was her soulmate was asking.  She answered with a slow sideways motion of her head, finding a tasty earlobe ripe for the nibbling.

'Take that as a no." Xena eased her hands up to her soulmate's waist and lifted her, sliding underneath her suspended body then lowering her down just enough to bring her into range of an interested pair of lips that started a slow exploration.  She felt the bard's hands, now free to wander, slide across her stomach and inch their way up, brushing over bare skin that tingled in eager reaction.

"Oh yeah." The bard's voice, low and breathy whispered in one ear, just before she captured it in hungry teeth.

Thunder rolled, a friendly sound that promised peace, and time, and an interlude of quiet, in which two souls played with abandon, ending finally in a lazy tangle of limbs, and gentle kisses.

Gabrielle let herself drift, her hands keeping up a slow, gentle stroking against warm skin only lightly touched with sweat.  She could feel each rib as her fingers traveled, then the  slope down with its ripple of muscle that moved under her touch. Then she ran her hand over the curve of Xena's hip, and down the long, powerful length of her thigh, resting over Gabrielle's own. "Cute, huh?" She asked, on an irregular breath.

Xena's dark hair had fallen half over her eyes, and the deep blue orbs peeked out from mysterious shadows. "Nah."  She reached up to stroke her partner's face with gentle fingers. "You're beautiful."

Mist green eyes regarded her with a quiet sparkle. "I love when you tell me that."

It had been during a visit to a fair sized city to the north, Xena had guided them there to fulfill a request from one of the legion of people she'd known in the bad old days, and had found out it was less of a problem than they'd thought. So.. they'd decided to stick around a day, since the city was celebrating it's founding, and take the opportunity to relax, and have a little bit of fun for a change.

Or, at least, that's what Gabrielle had intended. Xena had rolled her eyes, and finally agreed, muttering about going off to find a card game somewhere if the bard was going to do any of her favorite activity, shopping.

She'd almost finished, when the warrior had caught up with her at the fabric shop, catching her as she held up a piece of pretty, sea green fabric and imagined herself wrapped in it.

"Oh, that's practical." Xena had muttered, leaning against the shop's doorway.

And for some reason, though she knew her taciturn traveling companion by now, that stung. Gabrielle had quietly put the fabric down, and walked out, brushing by Xena without a word and walking off, a little tired of the constant sarcasm.

Ok. She'd been a lot tired of it. She'd stopped, then turned, and given Xena a look. "Okay. Go find someone else to have dinner with." And she'd left, just like that, not even looking back for an instant.

She'd wandered the market, and fell in with a group of younger men and women, who were apparently traveling merchants, and they welcomed her with smiles, inviting her to join them for a meal and swapped stories of the road.

Eagerly, she had, going with them to the large open air food tent, where they'd gotten trenchers of food, and sat in a circle, trading adventures and laughing. She'd had a great time, and had even, a little nervously, told some of her own stories, flattered at the applause, and also by the attentions of the tall, shy young man who'd chosen to sit next to her, his gentle gray eyes stealing looks at hers with increasing frequency.

It had felt wonderful. She'd felt like a person again, after so long a time of traveling, and getting into scrapes, and living with someone who treated her like she was at best a nuisance, and at worst, a dangerous hindrance. It was nice to be admired.. nice to be part of this laughing group… nice not to feel like she was in trouble all the time.

They'd stayed out long after the moon rose and marched across the sky, until finally they straggled out, through the empty streets full of good food, and a little ale. Her gray eyed friend was even bold enough to put an arm around her shoulders, and they walked like that towards the inn where they were staying for the night.

"Hey.. we're going south… you could travel with us." The boy said hopefully. "We'd have a great time.. and we'll end up in Athens, don’t' you want to see that?"

They'd stopped near the inn, and she'd hesitated, looking at the bright, interested faces watching her.

"Yeah.. you'd be great… lots of people love to hear stories.. and we have a good caravan." One of the girls urged. "C'mon, Gabrielle…you're a lot of fun.. come with us."

It had been so tempting. They'd reminded her of all the things she'd missed about home, and had offered her a very appealing alternative to the life she was currently leading. "I don't know… let me think about it." She'd finally said. "Let's talk in the morning."

They'd smiled, and bade her goodbye, and she'd continued on towards the place Xena had picked for them to stay, deep in thought.

So much so that she hadn't even seen the thug until he was on top of her, bearing her down to the ground and ripping at her clothing, one hand muffling her mouth as she tried to call out.

Then there was a shock, and the sound of his breath expelling, rancid with ale, then he was just gone.

And it had been quiet, as she'd laid there shaking, until a warm hand touched her shoulder, and a familiar voice touched her ears.

"Gabrielle?"

She'd looked up to see pale eyes, almost colorless in the torchlight watching her, in a face bathed in shadow. "Wow. Thanks." She'd whispered, dropping her gaze, unsure of what else to say, after how they'd parted, and what she'd been thinking only moments before.

Whether or not to say goodbye.

"Can you stand up?" Xena's voice had been unusually subdued, almost gentle. "Here. C'mon."

Gabrielle had taken the grasp and felt herself pulled up, and they'd faced each other in the narrow alleyway, awkwardly silent. Communication never was easy between them, she'd reflected sadly, as the warrior had shifted a little, and put her hands on her hips. "Listen.. I'm… um.. " The dark head had dropped. "I'm sorry."

And Gabrielle had breathed a little easier. "Me too." She'd replied softly, looking up to study the face of this complex, frustrating, scary person she'd run away from home to follow. Who drove her crazy, but in whose presence, the merchants she'd spent the evening with seemed shallow, and uninteresting. "Thanks for being here… saving my butt, again."

Xena had nodded, and jerked her head towards the inn. "C"mon.. it's late."

Gabrielle had followed her back, and in to the room they'd rented for the night, where her things were tucked neatly on one bed, and Xena's on the other. The warrior had turned her back as they'd entered, and went to her things, silently rummaging inside them.

Gabrielle had exhaled softly, and gone to her own bed, opening her saddlebag and stopping, as a thick fold of fabric fell out, and covered her hands, soft and cool, shimmering in the candlelight. She'd stared at it, then slowly turned, to see Xena sitting quietly on her bed, unlacing a boot.

"Xena?"

Blue eyes had reluctantly lifted to hers. "Yeah?" Xena had looked at the fabric, held up in Gabrielle's hands. "Oh.. yeah, that.. well… " A shrug. "Consider it a peace offering." She'd hesitated, as though considering going on, then stopped, fastening her eyes on her boots.

Gabrielle had crossed to the mirror, and held the fabric up, draping it over one shoulder. "Did you find your card game?" She'd asked, more to break the silence than anything.

"Hmm?" Xena had looked up, puzzled. "Oh..yeah.. no…I…um.. I didn't…I just wandered around.. checked things out.. you know."

And had happened to end up in the same place as she had, at just the right moment? Gabrielle had watched the dark head in the mirror, seeing the curve of her companion's jawline move as she fiddled with her boots. "I had a good time.. I found these merchants, and we went to the market tent, and we told stories.. they were a lot of fun."

"I know." Xena had replied, very quietly. "I checked them out… wanted to make sure they weren't… anyway. Glad you had a good time." She'd stood, and let her boots and armor drop near her saddlebags, then ran a hand through her hair, disordering it's sleek pattern absently.

Gabrielle had looked at her reflection in the mirror. "C'mon, Xena.. what did you think they were going to do? What would they want with me?"

And she'd felt the sudden warmth, and looked up to see pale blue eyes right over her shoulder staring back at her.

"Same thing that guy in the alley did… maybe they saw a beautiful young woman, and decided it was their lucky day."

It had been a shock of another kind. "Who are you talking about?" Gabrielle had asked, in puzzlement, turning and staring at Xena as though the warrior had sprouted antlers.

"You." Had come back the answer, on the heels of a gruff shake of the head. "Listen.. it's late." Xena had turned, and laid down on her bed, folding her hands over her stomach, and firmly closing her eyes.

Leaving Gabrielle to quietly tuck her fabric away, and crawl into her own bunk, curling up onto her side and watching that strong, remote profile. She'd realized, too, that if Xena had been keeping up with her, she'd heard the conversation outside the merchant's inn, and her response.

Xena would never ask her to stay. Never admit to needing her companionship, let alone the friendship that was slowly binding them against their wills.  Xena would probably never been fun, never be friendly.. never share stories with her…

Not Xena, no. Gabrielle had exhaled slowly, considering  her options. Then she'd smiled. Beautiful young woman, huh?

"Hey, Xena?"

A blue eyeball appeared, and focused on her, filled with a sudden, unguarded trepidation. "Yes?"

"You think we could take a trip up to Athens? I always wanted to see the Coliseum."

Their eyes had met.

"Sure." Xena had finally said, in a relieved murmur. "Been wanting to head up there anyway." She'd closed her eyes again, but Gabrielle had seen the rise and fall of her chest as she'd let out a long breath, and she put her own head down, contentedly.

This was hard, she'd acknowledged. But someday, Xena.. someday.. you and I are going to be best friends, and that'll make it all worth it.

And it had, of course. Gabrielle smiled, and gave the shoulder under her a kiss. The thunder boomed over head, and the rain increased, almost driving itself into the heavy thatch. "You know.. I still have a thing for rainy days."

Xena only chuckled.

**************************************

Gabrielle entered the small kitchen, pausing as Rose turned, and lifting an eyebrow at her. "Okay to come in? I can't catch arrows."

The innkeeper snorted, and gave a nod. "Aye, ye're welcome."

The bard continued on her path, straightening the thick, linen tunic she wore with an automatic twitch, glad of it's warmth in the cold, wet breeze that entered the large window across from the hearth. "Nasty out there."

Rose glanced over her shoulder. "Needed the wet, but I think the weather's turning. We'll see chill from now on."  She looked at her guest. "Sleep well, did ye?"

Sleep? Hmm… "Oh.. yeah.. definitely." Gabrielle agreed absently. "Xena's taking a look at your son… is there anything I can help with here?"

"And what would a sprout like yourself know about a kitchen eh?" The old woman chuckled. "No offense to you."

Gabrielle put her hands on her hips. "Sprout? You don't think Xena's the cook in this partnership, do you?"  Her eyebrows lifted in question. "Besides.. I'm not as young as a look..I have a daughter, and I'm the deputy reeve of Amphipolis."  Among other things, the bard reflected, deciding to leave out the Amazons for the time being.

"No. Really?" Rose turned and tapped her mixing spoon on the large pot she'd been stirring. "How old's your chick?"

"Eight months." Gabrielle smiled, as she walked over to the rickety table nearby, and captured a few dried vegetables the innkeeper had been scraping for the soup she was making.

"Tch.. that's a young one… I hardly remember when mine were that size.. little bits of things, all helpless."

The bard dragged a bowl over and started peeling the vegetables. "Mm… she's big for her age, actually.. and I only wish she was helpless.. she runs us ragged chasing after her." She put a bit of peel in her mouth and chewed it as she worked. "The only one who can really keep up with her is Xena."

Rose stirred her soup. "Two of you together, then?"

Well, that was certainly a gentile way of putting it. "Mmmhmm." Gabrielle chewed on another bit of peel.

"Didn't figure her for the motherly type." Rose snorted a little. "That's a wonder."

No, it was hard for me too. Gabrielle reflected, remembering the early days of Dori's life, when she'd been driving herself crazy trying to make sure everything was done.. just… right….

She'd been exhausted. Trying to do things around Amphipolis, keep an eye on the Amazons, and handle her new daughter had taken it's toll, and she'd found herself losing her temper more and more frequently.

Xena had, to give her credit, tried her damnedest to help, but Gabrielle had felt an intense desire to oversee every facet of her baby's life and finally, the warrior had backed off, picking up the slack in other areas and leaving the bard to her obsessiveness.

It had been a horrible day, she remembered. Dori had been cranky all morning, and had woken them both early, and all her rocking, and soothing hadn't done much to help her. She'd finally put the baby in her cradle, and sunk down into the chair next to it, cradling her head in her hands and almost succumbing to an intense desire to cry.

A hand had touched her shoulder after a short while, and she'd looked up, to see shadowed blue eyes looking back at her.

"Mind if I give it a try?" Xena had asked, her hand indicating the squalling Dori.

Gabrielle had sighed, and shook her head. "Be my guest."  She'd watched tiredly as the warrior settled down next to the cradle on the floor and studied the crying baby, who paused in her hollering and scowled at her new victim.

"Hi." Xena's voice rumbled softly. "What's your name?"

Dori had stuck a finger in her mouth and sucked on it, staring at Xena with a puzzled look.  "Bck."

"Listen." Xena continued. "You're making your mother nuts. That's bad."

A tiny scowl. "Pft."

"When she's mad, she wont' even talk to me, and I don't like that." Pale blue eyes fascinated the child, as Xena leaned forward, and rested an arm on the cradle. "You don’t' want to make me mad, do you?"

Dori giggled.

"So much for my reputation." Xena drawled wryly, as she extended a finger, and let the baby grab it.

Gabrielle had studied her profile, quietly accepting the realization that Xena's words had been for her, and not for their precocious daughter. She had been lousy to be around lately, and she'd been taking it out on her tall partner, she knew. "Hey… "

"Mm?" Xena hadn't looked up from the baby, who was slowly exploring the tanned hand she was clutching.

"Do me a favor? Take her for a while… just… play with her, or something.. okay?"

Xena's eyes had brightened. "Sure." She'd picked Dori up and tickled her, then tucked her against one arm and stood easily, bouncing the baby a little. "C'mon.. you wanna go meet Argo?"

"Bck?" Wide, round bluish eyes had goggled at the warrior.

"Sure.. it'll be fun.. maybe grandma made some honey cakes.. huh?" Xena had ambled out, the fascinated baby's attention glued to her.

Gabrielle had simply sat back, and reveled in the quiet. Gabrielle. She'd said to herself. "You are such an idiot.. here you have this wonderful, willing, responsible person who wants to help you raise this child, and you… you think if you let her out of your sight, she'd going to grow a horn."

She'd relaxed and put her feet up on the table, and soaked in the peaceful spring sunlight that draped itself across the cabin, catching her body in stripes of it that warmed her skin. Then a though intruded. "Gods.. I hope she isn't teaching her to ride Argo…"  Gabrielle had started to get up, then forced herself to sit back down. "No.. c'mon.. you know better. Xena wouldn't do that."

She'd stared at the ceiling rafters. "You have to trust her, Gabrielle…she's that baby's mother just as much as you are, and you're not being fair to her, making it seem like she can't be trusted to take care of her."

She'd firmly closed her eyes, and her exhausted body had taken over, allowing her to enjoy a nice, and much needed nap. She'd woken candlemarks later, feeling much better, but in a cabin conspicuous by it's babyless and warriorless silence.

Okay. Time to go check things out. She'd gotten up and trotted outside, looking around curiously. No Xena. She went to the barn, and peeked inside. No Xena.  She went to the inn, and poked her head into the kitchen. "Mom, have you seen Xena?"

Cyrene had glanced up from her slicing. "No, cutie.. haven't seen her in a couple of hours.. why?"

"Mmph… she's got Dori with her." The bard sighed, her brow wrinkling.

"Good." Cyrene replied, giving her a direct look, and turning back to her work.

Gabrielle had withdrawn, accepting the rebuke in silence, then she'd sat down on the porch, letting her head rest against the back of the wooden chair and propping a booted foot up against the railing.  Before long, she'd figured out where the warrior had to be, and got up, heading off into the forest.

The spring had always been a favorite place for both of them, and she stepped out into the small clearing that held it with a sense of melancholy enjoyment. Sure enough, a tall, dark haired form was sprawled in the soft grass, it's head resting on a moss covered rock, a tiny, linen swaddled lump cradled on it's chest.

Softly, the sound of singing came to her, and she approached on silent feet, getting close enough to watch her soulmate tickle a smiling Dori on the belly, as she sang, an old song Gabrielle was well familiar with.

The baby laughed, and kicked a little, then clutched at the teasing hand and mouthed one of Xena's fingers, gazing up at her adoringly. The warrior had returned the look, a gentle smile transforming her face into a doting warmth that caused an ache in Gabrielle's chest.

Was she still thinking of Hope, seeing Xena with Dori like this? The bard had felt a little sad, acknowledging the possibility. She took a few steps more, and Xena had looked up,a momentary look of apprehension in her eyes.

Gabrielle had tried to smile, but the tears came instead, and she'd dropped to her knees beside the startled warrior, reaching for her and burying her face in one sun warmed shoulder.

"Hey." Xena had said. "It's okay…she's fine, Gab, really."

Gabrielle  had felt her anguish recede a little, and she looked up at her worried soulmate. "I know… Xena, I'm sorry.. I've been such a jerk."

"Bck." Dori poked a lip out, and reached over, to tangle tiny fingers in her mother's pale hair.

Xena hadn't answered. Instead, she'd sighed, and kissed the bard's head, letting her cheek rest there quietly. After a minute, she'd spoken. "I'm sorry too." She'd said. "I've been feeling pretty lousy…I figured you didn't trust me around her."

"I know." Gabrielle had sighed. "Why didn't you say something, Xena?"

A shrug. Of course.

'I do trust you." The bard had looked up at her. "I just wasn't thinking straight.. maybe it's all that screaming."

That had gotten her a faint smile.

Gabrielle turned her head and regarded her daughter, who was now sucking her thumb drowsily, peaceful at last. "Hey.. she's sleeping."

"Mmhmm." Xena agreed. "Yeah.. we went to the stable, and went for a little ride, then we visited Toris and the twins, then we walked around the merchant area down in the big field, then we… "

"Shh.. you're making me tired." The bard put a finger to her partner's lips. "I can't believe you got her to sleep though.. she never sleeps in the afternoon."

Another shrug.

Gabrielle had gazed at her dozing daughter. "You've got a new job, tiger."

A sparkle had entered those blue eyes. "I do?"

"Oh yeah… can you do this every day?"

Big grin. "I think we can work something out." Xena had drawled, unable to hide the note of delight in her voice.

"Yeah? Great." Gabrielle had sighed happily, and relaxed.

"Absolutely." Xena had assured her. "And I think she really liked riding Argo."

Startled green eyes looked up "You did get up there with her, right?"

Xena smiled.

"She's a very good mother, in fact." Gabrielle concluded, giving Rose a smile. "Dori's crazy about her…she thinks Xena's a walking, talking stuffed leather toy strictly here for her convenience."

Rose shook her head. "Hard to fathom."

They both looked up as angry voices approached, a thud reverberating as the door was slammed back, and heavy footsteps pounded towards them.

****************************************

Xena crouched on the small stool, mixing a new set of herbs up, as the thunder rolled around the small room, and the wind blew her hair back. It was quiet here, and very peaceful, since the boy, young man actually, was still asleep, one arm curled around the burlap pillow.

Rose had cleaned him up a little, and Xena studied him as she mixed the salve, noting the firm, square jaw and curly fair hair, and decided he was a pretty cute looking kid. She found a smile shaping her lips as she gazed at him, and it took her a moment to realize why.

He reminded her of Lyceus.  Same wiry frame, same curly hair. Xena sighed, and shook her head a little. Even after all these years, she sometimes found herself missing him, though Gabrielle certainly had filled most of the huge void in her heart his death had caused. Close as she and the bard were, there was still something about being siblings, that added a little extra to a relationship. Even with Toris, with whom she'd never really gotten along well, she felt a bond that went beyond friendship despite their frequent bickering.

And now, this poor kid had lost that, along with everything else. Xena felt a quiet sympathy for him, understanding just how alone life could be sometimes. She wondered, briefly, if Dori would find herself wanting a sibling, someday.

Hmm. Now that she thought about it, the baby was turning out to be a lot more fun than she'd imagined.

************************************************

She'd woken early, as usual, on a warm summer's day, feeling the faint, light breeze from the window brush against the bare skin of her arm. Dori would wake up in a few minutes, she knew,  and the hectic pace of the day would start.

She'd glanced down at Gabrielle, who was nestled comfortably against her shoulder, and regretted the need to wake the bard for their demanding offspring. Gabrielle had just gotten over her bout with coughing sickness, and was still pale, and far too thin to Xena's worried eyes.

Then an idea had hit. She was up. Dori would be up. No need for Gabrielle to have to get up too, right?  She'd gently brushed the bard's hair back and kissed her cheek. "Hey.."

Green eyes fluttered open, blinking tiredly at her. "Mm? Oh.. " Gabrielle had sighed. "Morning. Right."

"Shh.." Xena had laid  finger on her lips. "I'll take care of Dori… and she can come out running with me.. how about that?"

Gabrielle's eyes had closed. "She's too young for marathons, Xena." The bard had mumbled "She can't even walk yet.." She started to roll over but Xena had stopped her.

"No..no, listen..I've got this little sack, I can take her with me… c'mon, sleep in for a day."  Xena had protested gently.

A green eyeball had appeared. "Well…okay. Just be careful… don't like.. flip.. or anything.. and lose her."

Xena had grinned. "Don't worry.. we'll bring you back breakfast."

She'd hopped out of bed and scooped up Dori, who had been starting to rustle around restlessly and changed her, then brought her back for a little snack while she got dressed and got her collection sack ready. Then she gently lifted the milky faced child and got her into the sack, tightening the straps carefully around her shoulders.

Dori immediately grabbed her hair and tugged it. "Bck!"

"Shh." Xena tweaked a tiny toe through the sack's fabric. Then she'd chuckled as Dori started mouthing the back of her neck. "Cut that out."

"What's she doing?" Gabrielle asked sleepily, tugging the covers up further.

"Tickling me."

"Good girl." The bard praised her daughter.

Xena had laughed, then slipped out the door, heading out into the warm, hazy morning as a rose light spread over the village. She'd started up the long path towards the spring, trying to remember not to bounce around too much as she lengthened her stride, and the breeze picked up. "You okay?"

"Goo!" Dori tugged on the dark hair blowing past her, making small noises of approval as Xena bounded over the uneven ground and the forest closed in around them. She'd felt another tug, and glanced back.

"What's that.. faster?" A giggle, and she sped up, hearing Dori's delighted shriek as they raced through the forest, scattering leaves from under her boots and sending early morning denizens dashing off into the underbrush.

They'd ended up on the small grassy plateau just before the spring, and she'd slowed, coming to a halt in the brilliant sunlight that poured over the ground, releasing the scent of grass, and fresh earth, and sparkling off the spring. "What a great morning, huh, Dori?"  She asked, catching her breath.

"Goo…" Dori bounced in her sack, thumping between the warrior's shoulderblades and scrabbling around inside the sack. She poked her tiny face over Xena's shoulders and sucked on a finger. "Ooo." The finger pointed at the ground imperiously.

So  Xena had settled to the ground and unhooked her passenger, untying the straps and stripping the soft furry bag from the baby's chubby body. "Hey there."

Dori had tumbled out, rolling in the grass with a squeal of delight, then digging in the dirt with both fists and tossing clods of it everywhere.

"Whoa… cut that out." Xena laughed. "You get muddy, I'll never hear the end of it, got me?"  A chunk of dirt hit her. "Hey!" She batted a second out of the air,  and captured the squirming child. "I said cut that out."

Dori slapped at her chest, getting streaks of rich brown all over her tunic, then giggled. "Boo!"

"Gee, thanks." The warrior settled her daughter in her lap as she crossed her legs, keeping a hand behind her to support her body. "You think that's funny, huh?"

The baby started pulling up grass stalks industriously and tossing them, scattering the fragrant green fragments all over the warrior and herself. "Bck!" Dori scrambled over the knee she was sitting on and crawled off, investigating the meadow ambitiously.

Xena had relaxed on her side, propping her head up and watching her child indulgently, as Dori found a snail, sitting down and peering at it, then holding it up to show her.

"Bck!"

"Snail." Xena nodded. "Don’t eat that."

Dori immediately put it in her mouth.

The warrior launched herself up and bounded over, getting to the baby before she could swallow the tiny animal. She rescued it, then tossed it a safe distance away, much to Dori's displeasure. "You're just like your mother, you know that?"

Dori scowled at her, then crawled off, inching through the grass like an unstoppable, if miniature, battle wagon.

Xena had watched her warily, then settled down again, reclining in the grass and crossing her booted feet as the sunshine spread over her, and the light wind dried the sweat on her skin. She could see Dori's dark head poking up out of the grass, and she lifted a stalk of it herself, chewing on it contentedly.  "Don't go far, Dori." She called out.

The tot swiveled her head at the sound, and blinked at her, then giggled, and scrambled off, heading towards the spring at a rambling crawl.

"Hey." Xena rose up onto her knees. "Hey… Dori… whoa… "  A giggle floated back and she scrambled to her feet, bolting after the infant in alarm. "Whoa.."

Dori had hit the slope heading for the water and started rolling, giggling with delight as she eluded her protector's out stretched hand and ended up splashing into the spring. Xena's eyes had almost come out of her head as she jumped in after her, heart pounding in terror. "Dori!!!"

The baby surfaced, and slapped the water in amazement, blowing a spray of it outward. Xena caught her up in shaking hands and checked her anxiously. "Hey.. hey… are you okay?"

The tiny, wet head shook a little, then Dori blinked at her. "Boo!" She pointed at the warrior, then giggled, bouncing in her grasp and splashing with both hands.

Xena had almost passed out in relief. "You're gonna kill me." She'd sighed, wiping the cold water out of her eyes. "C'mon.. gotta get you dried off or your mama's gonna have me for lunch."

Dori had other ideas. She'd twisted out of Xena's hands, and splashed through the water, squealing with delight as her uncoordinated strokes pulled her forward.

Xena hesitated, then she moved along side, watching the baby like a hawk. Eventually, Dori circled around and headed for her, smashing a wave of water that drenched the warrior before she could catch her slippery body and lift her out.

They'd splashed ashore and Xena removed her own tunic and the baby's jumper, then laid them in the sun to dry off, as they took advantage of the warm breeze to do the same for themselves.

Xena seated herself in the soft grass and set the baby down next to her, giving Dori a bit of leather to amuse herself with while she dug out a little breakfast. "Apple, or crackers?" She held up the two, a large, tasty looking fruit and the small, dry almost tastless crackers that Gabrielle often gave their daughter, afraid anything more exotic would give her a stomachache.

Dori took one look at the crackers and stuck her tongue out, then reached for the apple. "That's my girl." The warrior praised her, with a grin. "Hang on.."  Xena had smashed bits of apple up for the impatient  Dori to consume. "We won't tell mama about this, okay?" She informed the tot, who was busy munching. "Cause if she found out I let you fall in the lake, I'm toast, and if she knew I gave you my breakfast, it's all over."

"Bck." Dori commented, reaching for another handful of apple and stuffing it in her mouth, getting most of it in the right place as she sat on Xena's stomach while the bits of apple fell down.

Xena had captured one, nibbling it as Dori watched her in outrage. "Boo!" She'd pointed, snatching another handful of the sweet bits and mouthing them. Then she laid down, on her stomach with a tiny burp, closing her eyes and yawning a little.

Xena had exhaled softly, smoothing the baby's dark hair back. Dori was growing fast, her body lengthening almost as the warrior watched her, and changes happening almost every single day.

She was, freely admitted by others than her doting parents, adorable by any measure, her face an interesting mix of Xena's general shape, and Gabrielle's smile, and facial expressions. She had a tiny, snub nose very much like her mother's, which Xena reached over and tweaked, getting a pucker faced scowl in response.

Xena chuckled, and carefully got the tot back into her diaper and jumper, which had dried nicely in the sun. She put her own tunic back on, then resettled the baby on her stomach and lay back, resting her head on her hands in the peace, and solitude of the morning.  A tiny fist had tangled itself in her shirt, and she'd spent a quarter candlemark just watching Dori doze contentedly, glad beyond measure that she'd thought of the entire idea.

*****************************************************

Xena smiled to herself, remembering. She'd almost gotten away with it too, except that Gabrielle had changed Dori after they'd gotten back.. and found a minnow nestling in the baby's diaper.

Busted.

The boy stirred, and shifted his head a little, stifling a gasp as his eyes fluttered open.

"Easy." Xena told him. "Don't move around a lot, okay?"

Pale gray eyes rotated and studied her in puzzlement. "Who're you?" He whispered, then looked around "'Mi home? Oh gods.."

"Shh. Yeah, you're home, kid." Xena finished her mixing and gently removed the soft linen covering his back. "I'm gonna have to put some fresh medicine on your back.. it's gonna hurt."

"Oh." He put his head back down but kept watching her. "It already hurts."

The warrior gave him a wry smile. "Yeah, I know….you got beat up pretty bad." She started to carefully paint the shredded flesh with the mixture. "What did you do?"

He didn’t answer for a bit, then he blinked a few times. "They were beating up Duvvie…I tried to stop em." He swallowed. "They whupped me, then Duvvie took after that spike, and everybody was looking at him, so  I started running."

"Mmm." Xena checked a particularly deep gouge under the boy's left shoulderblade. "Right back home, eh?"

Evon nodded his head a fraction. "It was good to see mama." He replied softly. "Thought they were gonna catch me.. thought they almost did." His brow creased. "Didn't they?"

"No." Xena murmured. "We chased em off." She glanced at the boy's face. "Your mama's pretty mean with a bow, you know that?"

He smiled a little. "She's tough." He paused a few beats. "Um… are you the new healer here? I don’t' think I know you."

Xena finished her task. "That's looking pretty good." She put her bowl down, and leaned forward, resting her elbows on her knees and regarded him seriously. "No.. you don't. We were just passing through, when you got here last night. I helped persuade the guys chasing you to knock it off." She held a hand out within his limited reach. "My name's Xena."

He had grasped her hand in reflex, then froze, and his eyes popped wide open. "Wow." He squeaked. "You're really Xena?"

"Mmhmm." The warrior nodded solemnly.

"Wow."  He repeated softly. "They were all talking about you.. from what they was saying, I didn't think you'd be so pretty."

Xena was glad of the dim light, and the candle's glow hid the surprising blush from his words. "Thanks." She remarked dryly, glancing up as she heard loud voices in the hallway outside. "Uh oh." She stood, and dropped her supplies down. "Be right back. "

*************************************************

Gabrielle hastily grabbed a nearby broom, and took up a position in front of the leather door as it was slapped impatiently aside, admitting two men in villagers clothing.

"Rose.. damn you, is it true that kid of yours is here?" The first demanded.

"It's true." The innkeeper replied, guardedly. "He's hurt."

"Well, you get him bundled up and out of here before he gets us all kilt." The man stated. "He'll not bring trouble here again."

"Wait." Gabrielle interrupted. "He lives here.. this is his home."

They looked at her. "Who in Hades are you?" The first man demanded. "And anyhow, it's not your business, girl. He has no home here, not after Andreas took him."

"Ye can't throw him out, he can't even walk." Rose objected angrily. "Not that you'd have helped me keep them from that animal… they kilt his brother."

"Hold on." Gabrielle interrupted again. "She's right… how can you even think about that?"

"I said, keep outta this, girl." The man replied. "And you, Rose.. you know better. Look.. I know he's yer kid, but what's his life against all of ours? You know what'll happen."

"They wont' find im." The innkeeper replied gruffly. "Hurt bad as he was, they'll think he died."

The second man stepped up. "Not what I heard.. I heard two of em chasted him in here last night… and gots run off. "

"That's right." Gabrielle stated quietly.

The men both looked at her. "Great gods.. what fool did that." The first man snapped.

"That'd be me." A low, vibrant voice answered from the doorway.

The two men turned, startled, to find icy blue eyes regarding them with a distinct unfriendliness. "Who are you?"

"That there's Xena." Rose answered for the warrior. "Cracked one of em's head like a walnut, and dragged t'other of em out by his short pants."

The men gave each other uneasy looks. "You killed one of them?"  The first one asked, hesitantly.

Xena nodded. "Yep.. tied his body to his horse and sent him out of here.. and told his friend not to come back.  She pushed off the doorway and circled them, ending up next to Gabrielle and giving her soulmate a glance. "Nice broom."

Green eyes slid sideways.

Xena put her hands on her hips and looked at the two men, who seemed totally at a loss. "Got a problem with that?"

"They won't leave a building standing for that." The man replied. "Unless we turn you over to his men when they get here."

A dark eyebrow lifted. "No thanks. Been there, done that already." The warrior replied. "You can just tell em it was me."

"They'll burn the village to the ground." The man shook his head. "No…Jonas, call the men in. We'll keep her captive here until they get here. Maybe that will pacify them."

"Wait." Gabrielle held a hand up. "Can I just interject something?"  She walked over and put the broom down, leaning on it with one hand. "Listen…first of all, you can't keep us here."

"Sure we can."

"No you can't." The bard shook her head. "Not unless you want a lot of people to get really hurt." She looked him right in the eye. "So why don't we just go outside, and sit down, and talk about it. There has to be a better way."

"Foolish woman." The man went to push her out of the way.

Gabrielle sighed, and swung her broom around expertly, dumping him on his rear. Then she reversed the cleaning utensil and pinned him to the ground with it, leaning on it with part of her weight. Jonas backed up, startled, until he was at the door. "Now you look." The bard told her victim sternly. "I'm just trying to keep people from being hurt, okay? So can we please just go sit down and talk about this?"

Xena had wandered over to the cook stove and stolen a piece of bread, which she dipped into the soup pot and tasted, munching on it thoughtfully as she let her soulmate take the initiative.  She was beginning to regret her actions, though she wasn't quite sure if she was regretting killing the one man, or not killing the other one.

"What good's talk going to do? Andreas doesn't talk, he just acts." The man shot back, angrily. "It's all great for you to say, you just leave, and we have to bear the brunt of the punishment."

Gabrielle's brows contracted. "Is it fair for you to turn us over to a certain death just because we helped out one of your people?"

He sucked in a breath and looked at her. "Is it fair to lose a score of lives for two?"

"Why don't we go outside and talk, and maybe no one has to die, okay?" The bard returned his look evenly. "Because I'm not ready to die yet.. I've got too much to do, and I have a little girl waiting for me at home."

A little silence fell, then the man dropped his eyes and gave a curt nod. "All right… we can talk, but I'll tell you.. I'm not sacrificing what we've got left for the likes of ye."

Gabrielle straightened and withdrew her broom, as she offered him a hand up. He ignored her and stood, brushing himself off, then he and Jonas turned and walked through the doorway into the main part of the inn.

"Mmph." The bard exhaled. "Got my work cut out for me, I guess… " She gave Xena a concerned look. "What can we do?"

The warrior considered, chewing on her bread. "Rose, is there anyplace around here that a large group of his men are encamped? Those men last night didn't come from the city, that's for sure."

The innkeeper thought about that. "Aye…ten, twelve leagues distant, I think.. small place called Estokia."

Xena nodded slowly. "Gabrielle, tell them we'll make Andreas forget all about this place." The warrior stated quietly. "He wont' come anywhere near here."

Gabrielle watched the icy film shade her partner's eyes and an involuntary shiver rolled down her spine. "All right." She responded softly. "Like a diversion?"

A cold smile shaped Xena's lips. "It'll be a diversion, all right."  She took a mouthful of the bread and chewed it, then chuckled softly. "I just gotta make sure it's one they don' soon forget." She ambled over and gave the bard a nudge. "C'mon… let's see if we can get them to give us some supplies to get this done."

The bard exhaled, putting her broom down and giving Xena a pat on the side. "Okay, tiger…try not to scare them too bad, though, huh?"  She looked up at the warrior's face and caught her eye.

Xena cocked her head, and returned the look, realizing it was Gabrielle she was scaring. "Sorry."  She let her face relax into a quiet smile. "I wasn't thinking of that kind of distraction, Gabrielle…I just want to cause some havoc."

Gabrielle looked relieved. "Oh.. well.. " She chuckled. "We're good at that, right?"

"We?" Her partner inquired, with an arched brow.

"Hey." Gabrielle gave her a mock scowl. "Did I see you munching on something over there?" She hunted through her partner's fingers, finding a piece of bread. "Share."

Xena neatly deposited the piece into the bard's mouth, then patted her on the back. "Let's go."  They made their way out into the main room.

**************************************

"Look." Gabrielle was pacing back and forth in front of the villagers, who had multiplied from the original two, to a round dozen, mostly older men with stubborn faces and angry eyes.  "What Xena's talking about is going to work… Andreas is much more interested in her than he is in you."

"How d' you know that? He's a demon." One elder shot back.

"He's a man." Xena remarked from her corner seat, where she was leaning aback against the wall.

"He's a demon." The man disagreed. "No man does the things he does…there was a village, just south of here, rebelled against him. He slaughtered them all, and stuck their heads on posts as a warning."

Xena looked very thoughtful for a moment, then she shrugged. "Overkill, but that doesn’t make him a demon. He's a man…or it wouldn't have hurt as much as it did when I kicked him where I kicked him." She cleaned a fingernail with her dagger. "He's a good leader, he's smart, he's ruthless, but he's not unbeatable."

"He is evil." The oldest of the elders stated quietly.

Cool, remote blue eyes gazed at him. "Depends on your definition of evil, I guess." Xena remarked quietly. "At any rate, we can draw him away from here, and that's all you need to be concerned with."  She stood and paced over to the window, leaning on the sill and looking out. The rain had finally tapered off, and now a cold wind blew in her face, making her glad she was wearing a warm tunic.

Gabrielle felt a pang of concern, watching her, and sensing the darkening of her mood. "Xena's right… if you give us what she asked for, we'll take care of everything." The bard drew their attention back to her. "I know you're all scared… and I understand that, but if you do what Xena says, it'll be all right."

Stony faces looked back at her, and she sighed inwardly, reflecting that so far, her negotiation attempts were failing miserably.

Then the oldest of them stood. "We'll meet in the barn… and we'll decide. You will wait here." He motioned for the rest to join him, and the filed out in silence.

Gabrielle waited for the door to close, then she crossed to the window and slid an arm around her quiet partner. "Tough crowd."

A slow nod. "They're scared."

"I know." The bard acknowledged. "I don't think I got far with them. Maybe you should have done the talking this time."

Xena turned and put an arm around her shoulders. "You did fine, Gabrielle…when there's that much emotion behind things, sometimes the logic gets lost."

"Mm." The bard gazed up at the warrior's pensive face. "You all right?"

Xena didn't answer right away. Her jaw moved, as though she were going to several times, then finally she returned Gabrielle's look. "It's…" A long pause. "It's getting kinda dark in here."

Gabrielle felt a snaking fear clutch at her throat. "You…just did what you had to do, Xena., I.."  She curled her fingers around the warrior's. "These are very dangerous people we're up against."

"Stop making excuses for me, Gabrielle….I didn't need to kill that man." The warrior shot back. "I didn't need to… " She hesitated, then grimly went on. "I didn't need to enjoy it… I have to wonder how far I'm going to go? Even you're wondering.. I saw it in your face in there."

Gabrielle sucked a breath in, knowing that for the truth. "I was… a little concerned, sure, Xena… we've had a rough couple of days, you were sick…I'm worried about that stuff you got in that cut.. a thousand things ran through my mind. But it doesn't mean I didn't trust you… or that I thought you were going to go off the deep end or something."

The warrior was silent for a bit, then she exhaled, and wiped her face with her free hand. "I know… I know that, Gabrielle." She muttered "I also know I scared you in there." A pause. "Maybe I scared myself."

"Xena.."

Xena  lifted her head and faced her partner squarely. "All right…I'm afraid if I keep walking down this path… I won't come back." Her eyes flicked over the room, then returned, to search Gabrielle's face. "I could end up right back where I was…after Cortese."

It was very quiet, as two strong wills faced off against each other. The patter of rain drummed against the thatch, and a soft, irregular clanking broke the stillness as sounds from the kitchen drifted in.

Finally, the bard straightened. "That's not going to happen, Xena." She laid a firm hand on the warrior's cool cheek, and kept her voice and eyes steady. "You belong to me, and I will not allow that to happen."

Xena blinked and started to speak, then gave her head a little shake.

"And if it somehow does." Gabrielle continued, shifting her hold to the warrior's chin and forcing eye contact. "I will come after you and bring you back." Her voice was deadly serious. "There is nothing on this earth that can stop me."

Soulmates. The bard's jaw clenched, a ghost of the pale, determined face that had looked back at Xena in a bedroom in far off Chin tickling the warrior's memory, validating her words with honest truth.

Xena let herself breathe again, sensing the safe harbor of the most consistent love she'd ever known settle securely around her. She reached up and covered Gabrielle's hand with her own, then shifted it, and kissed the palm gently.  "I know that." She replied softly. "I know as long as I have you… no matter how dark it gets, I have a light to lead me home."

The bard circled her with both arms and pulled her close, reveling in the strong surge of their connection, which rolled over them like the last vestiges of thunder overhead.  "You're so poetic sometimes." She whispered into the nearby ear, as a few tears escaped into the soft fabric of Xena's tunic.

"Mmm…no." Xena disagreed, her arms full of warm bard. "You're the poet.. I just string words together." Her hearing told her the villagers were approaching again. "Here they come… what's the verdict, you think?"

Gabrielle spent a moment more holding on before she reluctantly released her partner, and moved back a little. "Too close to call."

They both faced the door side by side. Xena folded her arms over her chest, and the bard did the same, as the wooden panel swung outward, and the men entered. They filed into the room and came to a halt, a ragged, sullen group facing the two composed, confident women.

Xena lifted an eyebrow in elegant question.

"You’ve got a candlemark to be gone from here." The eldest of them stated. "You can have what you've asked for, but we want no more to do with ye."  With that, they turned, and simply left, leaving the inn in utter, damp silence.

Bard and warrior exchanged looks. "Short but sweet." Gabrielle commented wryly.

"Just like you." Her soulmate couldn’t resist answering.

Gabrielle groaned. "C'mon… let's get going." She fastened a hold on the taller woman's sleeve, and started for their quarters.

****************************************

It was almost sundown as they perched quietly on an overlooking ridge, peering down into a snug valley where troops of men were gathered. Gabrielle leaned forward against her saddlebow and exhaled. "That's a big bunch of soldiers, Xena."

"Mmhmm." Her partner agreed, pulling the leaves a little more over them to make sure they weren't spotted. "Sure is." She backed Iolaus a few steps then dismounted gracefully. "Okay… hang on to these, and I'll go see if I can find the centerpiece of our little plan."

The bard reached over to accept the reins. "Be careful." She warned softly.

Blue eyes sparkled warmly up at her. "I will be… stay quiet.. if you hear anyone coming, whistle."

Gabrielle rolled her eyes. "The way I whistle, yelling "Hey Xena!" would be more effective.. but I'll try."

The warrior leaned forward and kissed her lightly on the lips. "I love you." She uttered softly, before she turned, and padded into the forest, her dark cloak and hair vanishing almost as quickly as the bard could draw another breath.

The bard fingered the soft leather in her hands and sighed. "I love you too." She murmured, smiling a bit as her lips shaped the words, feeling the tingle of Xena's contact still on them.  After a moment, she slid off Hercules' back and gathered the horses reins together, then stood at their heads and peered through the brush.

The encampment was active, all right. Men were running around, and a double column of them were forming. Supplies were piled neatly by the road out of the camp, heading in the direction they'd just come from.  Gabrielle strained her eyes and detected torches, and attack weapons among the piles and she shook her head.

It was so senseless. It was almost as if Andreas was on a mission to paint the world in black and white, those who followed him, or those that opposed him. One lived, the other… the other by definition had to die.

A twinge disturbed her, and she straightened, pushing her cloak back off one shoulder and peering at her healing tattoo. Xena had carefully cleaned it, giving the bard looks that made her wonder of her sometimes touchy soulmate completely hated the idea of her having it, or what?  She didn't think it looked that bad.

Oh sure, it was sore…and a bit red yet, but..  Gabrielle inspected the tiny, colorful picture. The miniature hawk's head peeked back at her with a round, black eye. "I kinda like it." She confessed to Hercules, who snuffled against her chest in response. "Whoo hoo.. Xena was here, right?" She giggled softly, muffling the sound in the horses mane. "It's better than those little cloth tags my mother used to put in our clothes, so they wouldn't get lost when we went to the creek to wash them."

Hercules fluttered his lips and shook his head, sending his heavy mane tossing. "If found, please return to Xena.. how's that?" Gabrielle countered. The horse stamped. "No, huh?" She chuckled softly to herself, and leaned on her mount's neck, watching the soldiers below start to get their gear loaded. "C'mon, Xena… let's do this before they get started."

She tugged her cloak more closely around her, to keep out the cold wind, glad of the horses warmth next to her, and tried to think of something else to distract her thoughts from her absent partner.

Dori came to mind, since her precocious daughter also tended to get into trouble, but she settled on remembering a summer's day and a warm memory.

Xena had dropped the infant off to her before lunch, and she'd settled her down, giving her a favored treat of mashed apples and finely ground lamb in a sweet sauce that coincidentally Xena also liked.

Coincidentally. Yeah right. Gabrielle remembered thinking as she watched her daughter gobble the contents of her plate, tucked neatly into the curve of her arm as she sat on the couch in their cabin.

She'd just started to feel more like herself after her illness, and she was glad of the quiet moment here in their home, with Dori's cheerful infant babblings interspersed with the smacking of her chewing. "You're such a little piggy." The bard had told her daughter, trying vainly to wipe the apple juice from her round chin. "What am I going to do with you?"

Dori had stopped. "Mama?" She'd held out a handful of minced meat invitingly.

"No thanks, honey… you go ahead." Gabrielle had laughed. "I just had mine."

She'd gotten most of the lunch into her rapidly growing offspring, then set her down on the soft rug near the fireplace while she got a fresh jumper for the baby to wear. "What did Boo do with you this morning, hmm? You're all muddy."

"Boo!" Dori repeated, kicking her feet a little. "Boo!"

Gabrielle had found herself laughing again, enjoying the sound of her daughter's pet name for her partner. Secretly, she liked it… though she never called Xena that herself, knowing her soulmate's dislike for nicknames. Even after all this time, the warrior was most likely to address her by her full name, Gabrielle, but that was okay, since she'd always thought it sounded…

Well, sexy, when Xena said it. All deep and low, and rumbly.. and with a tiny, almost imperceptible rolling of the r that tickled her nicely. "Hmm? What did Boo do with you, honey?"

Dori rolled onto her stomach, and lurched up into crawl mode, stopping and looking around to choose a target. Most of the cabin was tot proof, of course, both of them having learned over the course of the months just how persistent and how inventive their daughter could be given the chance.

That, Gabrielle had acknowledged, she'd gotten from both of them. "Here honey.. " She knelt and gave the restless tot a stuffed cow. "Here's Oogy."

Dori started chewing on the cow's tail enthusiastically. "Mmma."

"Uh huh… you stay here, okay?" Gabrielle had walked over to her desk and settled into her chair, picking up her quill and sharpening it. "I'm going to write a note to your aunt Ephiny."

"Mama." Dori thumped the cow on the floor. "Boo!"

"Boo's not here, honey.. she's out getting you dinner." Gabrielle had replied absently, scribing a few words. Then she paused, and chewed her quill, glancing over and idly watching Dori play.

The toddler had her legs sprawled and she was examining the cow with a look of absorbed seriousness. As Gabrielle watched, she got up on her knees, and put the toy down, then slowly put one tiny foot down, then the other, and pushed up until she was waveringly upright. "Hey.. " The bard encouraged her in delight. "That's a girl…."

Dori held on to the cow, but looked over questioningly. "Mama… " She held out a hand and pointed at her.

Gabrielle had put her quill down and leaned forward, resting her elbows on her knees and holding out her own hands. "C'mere, honey."

The tiny brow had puckered. "Bck." Dori had objected.

The bard had smiled at her. "You can do it… c'mon.. " She'd waggled her fingers invitingly. There had been several of these little halting attempts lately, but none had been successful.

Those pale green eyes gazed up at her trustingly, and slowly, hesitatingly, Dori took a step towards her, balancing precariously.

"Good girl.. c'mon.." Gabrielle felt a big grin take over her face. "You can do it…c'mere… I've got a honey ball for you." She'd held one of the golden hued candies up.

Dori's eyes lit up, as she recognized a treat. "Mama!"

Gods. Gabrielle had sighed. Just like Xena. "Yes.. c'mon.."

The baby had let go of the cow, and taken another step, wobbling uncertainly, her arms outstretched for balance, her attention fiercely fixed on her treat. One hand opened and pointed. "Da!"

"Uh huh.. that's for you." Gabrielle bit her lip in delight, at her daughter's first steps. "C'mon honey… come to mommy." She'd held her hands out further, shortening the distance, and watched in proud fascination as Dori toddled uncertainly forward, overbalancing on the last step and falling into Gabrielle's waiting arms. "Gotcha!!"

She'd lifted the baby up and hugged her. "Good girl! Good girl! Wait until Boo hears!" She chanted happily.

"Mama!" Dori tugged her hair, and she'd released the infant, who scowled at her, holding a hand out towards the candy on the table. "Da!"

Gabrielle had laughed, and handed her the sweet, which she'd stuffed in her mouth immediately.

"Mm.." Dori had circled the bard's neck with her arms and sucked happily.

"Should have though of that before." Gabrielle had rubbed her warm back gently. "What a good girl."

"Mama." Dori had warbled softly. "Mama.. mama.."

Gabrielle had kissed her soft, dark head gently. "That's me, honey… and I'm very proud of you."

Xena had, the bard recalled, been so upset she'd missed it.

But, a few honey candies and a couple of kisses had solved that, too.

A soft scuffing sound alerted her, and she looked up, to see Xena's cloaked form emerge from the underbrush. "Hey…"

Blue eyes flicked over, and one winked. "Success." The warrior commented, going to Iolaus' side and arranging her saddle bag. "Just over those trees… and there's a decent path up from the road."

Gabrielle gave her a serious nod. "Okay… we're set then.. we go down there, like we're not expecting to see them, and then when they spot us, we stop, turn around, and start leaving."

"Right." Xena agreed. "Stay close to me, and if anything happens, we fight as little as possible, then escape." She circled her horse and tugged the bard's cloak closed. "I don't want this turning into a full scale battle."

"Sounds good to me." Gabrielle put a hand flat on her partner's chest, and gave her a little scratch with her fingertips. "Are you sure everything's in place?"

Even, white teeth flashed in amusement as Xena smiled. "I'm sure.. c'mon. Let's get this over with. "  She mounted Iolaus, and waited for Gabrielle to climb aboard Hercules, then they started down the side of the hill, right towards the assembling troops.

*************************************************

It was weird. It was like making the conscious decision to walk into an anthill, Gabrielle thought, as she forced herself into a pose of casual unconcern. She kept her horse about a pace or two behind Xena's, as they ambled slowly down the slope and joined the road a little distance from the encampment.

"This is so … " The bard hesitated.

"Stupid?" Her soulmate placidly supplied.

"I didn't say that."

Xena chuckled. "Well, on the face of it, riding right into an armed camp does seem a little.. um… " The warrior chewed her lip. "risky."

"Mm." Gabrielle regarded the approaching settlement through pale lashes. "On the other hand, there's what… a hundred of them?"

"About." Xena agreed, straightening a little in the saddle, and shifting her sword under her cloak so it settled better.

"I wonder if they realize just how much trouble they're in?" The bard remarked.

"Probably not." The blue eyes glinted. "Or they wouldn't be looking this way with quite that much eagerness." She watched the stirring men from the corner of her eye. "Okay.. slow down."

Both stallions slowed their pace.  "They coming after us?" Gabrielle whispered nervously.

"Not yet." Her soulmate replied. "Keep going."  The camp started to stir in earnest, as the lookouts yelled something. "Okay.. stop."

"Phew." Gabrielle pulled her mount to a halt gratefully. "We were getting kinda close." A pause. "Now we take off?"

"Hold on." Xena sat up, and shaded her eyes, as though she were evaluating the group. "Okay.. slowly.. .turn around."

"I hate turning my back on them." The bard muttered darkly.

"Go ahead of me. I'll catch any arrows." Her partner replied, with a faint smile, as they turned their horses, and started back the way they came. "Now remember, when I tell you, we go up the other slope."

"The other slope. Right." Gabrielle replied. "Are they coming?"

"Yes."

"Run?"

"Not yet." Xena firmly seated her boots in her stirrups, and dropped her knees a little, grasping Iolaus's neck with her legs. The stallion picked up the change, and pranced a little, and she patted him. "Easy."

"Now?" Gabrielle could hear the sound of running feet and hooves behind her.

"Hold on." The ex warlord stated soothingly.

"Hey! Hey.. you there. Hold up!" A loud, commanding voice echoed.

Xena stopped, and half turned, pointing at her own chest. "Who.. me?"

Fully half the soldiers were pouring out after them, a squadron of riders in the front. "Yes, you… hold!" The man repeated loudly. "Or we'll fire."

Xena's arm moved with a savage, flicking motion, and her dagger sliced through the air, taking him from his horse as it penetrated to the hilt in his heart. "Sorry. Places to go. . people to see.. c'mon Gabrielle."  She turned and smacked the Hercules on the rear, and he bolted, with Iolaus right behind him. "Head for the left ridge!" She yelled, reminding her partner.

A loud roar sounded behind her, and she heard a thunder of hooves and boots as they gave chase.

"Sure.. sure.. easy for you to say, warrior princess of I learned to ride in diapers." Gabrielle muttered under her breath, as she fought her reins, pulling Hercules' head to the left and urging him on. She heard the angry whistle of arrows behind her, but didn't feel any stings, though she saw one go past her on the right.

She hoped Xena knew what she was doing… the sound of the chase was very close behind them, and she ducked instinctively as a spear went wide of it's mark. "They're catching us!"

"Nah." Xena looked behind her, to see a well organized chase, the soldiers pelting after them with powerful strides that bespoke excellent conditioning. "Hey boys!" She grinned at them, and leaned forward as an arrow passed close, reaching out and snatching it from mid air, then putting it between her teeth and waving at them.

They thundered up the slope, leading the soldiers in a race so close, the bard could hear the breathing of the horses behind her. Gabrielle  began to wonder if they hadn't miscalculated when Xena yelled, and pointed, and she saw an opening in the trees ahead. "Gotcha." She aimed Hercules right for it, leaning forward over the stallion's neck and trying to move with him, as she'd been taught.

The rough branches whipped against her body, leaving a rich green scent in it's path, and she exploded through the narrow opening, rushing though a thick underbrush at breakneck speed.

She heard Xena come through behind her, and turned to watch, as her partner half stood in the saddle, exposing her tall body for one agonizing moment,  then whipping her sword out and slicing through a piece of thick, hemp rope as she passed beneath it.

Gabrielle felt the lash of leaves and net slide over her shoulders as she ducked, and previously tensed branches flicked over her head, almost brushing her from the saddle. "Yow." She yelled, feeling Xena's close presence behind her, along with a savage, angry roaring that made every hair on her neck stand up.

"Keep moving!" The warrior yelled, urging her forward. "C'mon…"

Both stallions scrambled up the slope, as a thundering wave of crashing and shouting ensued from behind them, rapidly escalating into screams of pain, and rage. They crested the ridge and hurtled over it, with Gabrielle now following Xena's path as they headed down into the next valley, aiming for a long, dusty looking road that lead away from the soldiers, and towards home.

Moments passed, then as they reached it, Xena pulled up and turned, giving Iolaus a breather as she scanned the trees for pursuers. Gabrielle gladly stopped next to her, patting Hercules lathered neck with a slightly shaking hand. "That was darn close."

"Shh." Xena held up a hand, and cocked her head in a listening attitude. "Let's just hope it worked."

In the distance, a horse whinnied in pain, and they could hear faint shouts, but the ridge remained empty as they sat side by side in the gusting wind.

"Looks like we got lucky." Xena smiled, and gave her partner a slap on the shoulder. "Nice riding, Gabrielle… you're getting pretty good at it."

Gabrielle preened a little, accepting the unexpected compliment gladly. "Thanks.. of course I knew falling off wasn't an option." She reminded her soulmate. "But yeah.. " She settled her knees and shifted in the saddle. "It felt okay."

Xena gave her thigh a pat. "Good girl."

The bard leaned on her saddlebow and smiled. "You know, it's amazing how wonderful a few nice words from you still makes me feel."

The warrior cocked her head in question.

"Of course, you're a lot easier to get them from nowadays." Gabrielle teased her gently, with a twinkle in her eyes. "But I used to collect them."

"Really?" Xena turned Iolaus' head around and got him moving, with Hercules ambling along beside willingly.

"Mm… " The bard nodded. "Yeah… I recorded them in my diary.. I was reading it the other day, and I came across an entry that said.. " She chewed her lip and looked up, thinking. "Let me see.. it said… 'Today was a great day! We got to go shopping in the biggest market I've ever seen, and Xena said I was the best bargainer in it."

The warrior chuckled softly. "I remember that day."  She admitted softly. "You conned that merchant out of that new sleeping fur.. I was going to pay double for it."

"Yeah." Her partner nodded, then fell silent for a bit. "Boy." Gabrielle finally said quietly. "Those bees were sure mad back there."

"Mmhmm." Xena agreed. "I had a time getting them into those parchments sacks…lucky I was wearing my gauntlets." She glanced behind them, to where the ridge was now a distant blur of green, and saw still no pursuit. .

"Even so… they were really mad, Xena… I feel bad for their horses." The bard shook her head. "And a little for the soldiers… I remember when I fell into that hive that one time." She winced. "Ow."

Xena grimaced as well, recalling the days spent removing the myriad of  poison spines from her soulmate's body and allowing her to recover from the vicious stings. She had no doubt Andreas' troops would have similar memories, and even less doubt that they'd come after them, though she knew they'd have at least a night's grace before they headed out.

That was all right. At least they'd stay clear of the little village, so Xena's promise would be kept, and she had a pretty sturdy confidence in her own ability to lose their pursuers after a day or two. "Can't blame em" She turned and watched her partner's face.  "For being mad, I mean." She blinked innocently.

"Well, no.. not with you stuffing them in….wait.. what do you mean?" Gabrielle peered at her curiously. 'What' s that look for?"

With a grin, Xena stuck her hand in her saddlebag, then withdrew it, her fingers conspicuously coated with a golden substance. She licked a finger and waggled her brows.

"You… wait.. you have fresh honeycomb there?" Gabrielle squealed. "And you didn't give me any?" She kneed Hercules closer. "Get over here."

Iolaus sidestepped away, as the warrior teasingly licked another finger. "Mmm…"

"Xeeeennnnnaaaaaa…." Gabrielle warbled, as she started out after her. "You are such a brat." She cantered up next to her soulmate who had slowed to join her, and opened her mouth, lifting a brow in invitation, then sucking contentedly on the honey covered thumb she was given. "Mmmmm…."

"Like that, huh?" Xena chuckled at the blissful expression. She broke off a bit of the comb with her other hand and offered it to the bard, who relinquished her thumb and  munched on it happily. "I got most of the hive…nice stuff, too.. with all those wildflowers blooming up there."

"Oh.. that's wonderful." Gabrielle sucked the honey from the waxy comb "No wonder they were so pissed off.. you raided their nest first."

"Too good an opportunity to pass up." Xena remarked smugly. "I know someone who really likes the stuff." She sidestepped Iolaus over and gave the bard a nudge.

"Oh, and you don't?" The pale haired woman snorted.

Xena shrugged offhandedly.

"Mmhmm.. see if you get any honey roasted apples tonight." Gabrielle gave her a severe look.

Big blue eyes went round immediately, and fastened on her, and the bard was irresistibly reminded of their infant daughter. She burst into laughter, holding onto her saddlehorn to keep from tumbling off the stallion.

"What?" Xena scowled, giving the giggling bard a dour glare, which only set her off worse. "Cut that out.. you're gonna fall off that horse." She eased over and grabbed Gabrielle's arm to steady her. "What's so damn funny?"

"Oh." The bard sighed and wiped her eyes. "Sorry… um… so where are we headed?"

Dark brows knit. "What was so funny?"

"Nothing.. nothing.. something just struck me.. don't worry about it, Xena."

"I'm not worried."

Silence.

"I'm just curious…. If there's a joke, I wanna hear it."

"No no… really.. it was nothing, honey." The bard soothed her. "Did you say you had a spot in mind to stop tonight?"

"Gabriiieeellle."

Silence, save the soft sounds of eight hooves striking the dirt path, tossing up tiny bursts of sand as they did.

A sigh. "You pout just like Dori."

"I… do….not… pout." Xena enunciated each word with devastating precision.

Green eyes slid her way, and Gabrielle clapped her hand over her mouth to stifle a giggle, recognizing a very memorable not pout when she saw one.

"Hmph." Xena urged her horse on ahead.

*************************************************

It was a quiet campsite. Gabrielle finished getting dinner prepared, and watched her soulmate clean her armor in gruff silence. She'd been grumpy since the late afternoon, and the bard had been sitting reflectively, deciding on a plan of attack.

Was a time, she mused. When that attitude of hers would have my stomach in knots.. now…  A gentle smile played over her lips. Now, it's just a matter of soothing a few beautiful, but ruffled feathers.

She put a pot of water on to heat, then stood and circled the fire, glancing around the campsite as she did so. Xena had found a wonderful spot, an overhang tucked into the side of a small river that hid them from view of the road even though the path was not that far away. They'd ridden into the stream to lose their tracks, and swum the horses upstream, to the small bank that lead to their secluded little retreat.

The overhang protected them from weather, as well as prying eyes, and Gabrielle could feel herself relaxing a bit, from spending the afternoon imagining eyes watching her back at every moment..

She stepped around the edges of the campsite, ending up just behind her partner, and seating herself on a convenient rock just behind the busy warrior. Xena had gone swimming to catch dinner, and her skin was still damp and glistening in the firelight. Gabrielle quietly circled the tanned neck with her arm sand rested her head against Xena's back, in perfect silence.

The warrior's steady movement slowed, and finally stopped, and she felt the shift as Xena turned her head. "You need something?"

The bard shook her head, knowing her partner could feel the motion. "Nope. I've got everything I need right here."  She smiled a little, as she felt the tension dissolve out of the muscles under her arms, and Xena leaned back against her knees.

"Do you?" It wasn't a serious question, and they both knew it.

"Mmhmm….all wrapped up in one nice, strong, beautiful package."  Gabrielle peeked over her partner's shoulder to see blue eyes gazing back at her, a hint of a smile playing around their corners. "What was funny before is that when I look at you… I realize just how much Dori is like you."

A brow lifted in surprise, then lowered. "Mm… sometimes. Yeah." Xena admitted softly. "Does that bother you?"

"Nuh uh." Gabrielle shook her head. "I mean.. I can see myself in her…I really can, Xena.. when she smiles, especially. But so much of you is in her." The bard paused. " I like that." She snuggled her chin up onto the warrior's shoulder and gave her a little squeeze.

Xena chewed that over a minute. "Hmm…. " She eyed the bard. "I've seen her pout. Do I really look like that?"

Gabrielle bit her lip. "Erm….a little."

The warrior sighed. "She's so cute."

"So are you." Gabrielle whispered. "I've got some apples over there if you're interested in one."

The dark head turned and pale eyes studied her face intently. "One?" A hint of mischief entered them as the word rolled off Xena's tongue.

The bard grinned back at her, then she tipped her head back and studied the clear, cold sky overhead. "Xena, how is it that we're in the middle of running from an army, we've got more trouble than a flock of geese in fog, and in all that, I still feel so totally wonderful?" She looked back at her soulmate's face, half in shadow, half lit by the fire.

Xena tilted her head and kissed her. "I know what you mean." She murmured, then half turned, slidng her arms around the bard and cradling her neck in one hand, as she dipped her head for a second kiss, this one much longer. Gabrielle's hands wandered, slipping under the fabric of the light tunic Xena had donned after she'd gotten out of the water, and the bard's warm, curious touch sent a jolt straight through her.

Was this a safe place? Xena felt herself almost beyond caring, but she knew if anyplace was in this wilderness, this place was safe. No one could approach them, they were hidden, they were…

Xena felt a pulse point pick up as she nibbled at it.

They were going to be a little late for dinner.

A spark snapped, drifting up to join the stars overhead, watching benignly.

***********************************************

It was a darn good thing, Gabrielle soberly reflected, that Xena had her in a nice, good, tight hold. The bard cracked on eye open, to see a canopy of leaves almost directly overhead, and felt the sway as they hung loosely in mid air.  A dawn breeze pushed against them, and they moved a little, as the bard tried to think of something other than how high above the ground they were.

"Morning. " Xena's voice rumbled in one ear. "You sleep okay?"

Gabrielle yawned, and rolled over a little, turning her back on the creepily open hammock edge and preferring the warm solidarity of Xena's body. "Once I convinced myself to forget there was nothing between me and the ground far below me but air, fabric, and you." She mumbled. "Yeah… though I think I dreamed about being a bird."

The warrior chuckled softly. When they'd decided to stop the previous evening, she'd hadn't been happy with the choices she'd had, as the ground was too overgrown, and the clear spaces had too many approaches that she couldn’t monitor. What the glade had provided, however, were these nice, big, tall trees, and she'd managed somehow to convince Gabrielle to allow her to build a hammock for the both of them in one. It had meant a cold dinner, because she didn't want to risk a fire in the underbrush, but they'd been tolerably comfortable all night long.

They'd taken a week to get to where they were, and now, with dawn breaking, they were within a short distance of Potadeia, having decided it would be a good idea to stop by and warn the bard's home village and family of the doings in the south. "Ready to get started?" The warrior asked.

"Ngh." The bard nuzzled her, nipping gently at her neck.

"Careful there, Gabrielle.. remember what happened the last time we spent the night together in a tree." Xena reminded her.

Gabrielle's head lifted and two round, pale green eyes fastened on Xena's face. Then a devilish little grin spread over the bard's face. She lifted a finger and pointed at Xena's nose. "Your turn." She waited for the swift denial, surprised when all she got was a very thoughtful look in return. "But that's probably a once in a lifetime thing, huh?"

Xena paused momentarily, then nodded. "Yeah… once in our lifetimes… never in most anyone else's." She smiled, twirling a lock of the bard's hair around one finger. "Now…we need to get going.. I'd like to be home late tonight… better to come in when it's dark, just in case."

Gabrielle exhaled softly. "Okay.. yeah, I'm sure they miss us there." She agreed, but didn't move anything save a single finger, which was tracing a line down Xena's neck. "Hey, Xena?"

"Mmm?"  The warrior shifted, and pulled her closer, as the darkness slowly receded, leaving them in gray twilight.

The bard hesitated. "Ah.. nothing." She laughed a little. "Nevermind."

Xena gazed affectionately down at the pale head burrowed into her shoulder. "I'm really glad we had this time alone too." She prompted, gently, feeling the movement against her skin as the bard smiled. "We won't wait so long next time."

The smile broadened, and she got a squeeze, as the rocked slowly in the cold, morning air.

It was uneasily overcast as they crossed through the outer valley that would eventually lead them into Potadeia. The air was thick, and damp, and the horses kept shaking their heads and sneezing in it, as though it carried an invisible dust.  Xena kept her eyes moving, searching the surrounding areas as her instincts nibbled worriedly, hearing animals moving around, but with an almost furtive attitude. "It's quiet." She commented softly.

Gabrielle had moved a little closer, and she was fingering her staff, strapped alongside her leg. "Yeah…one of those kind of quiets that's not a quiet, quiet.. but an uh oh, something's up kinda quiet."

Her partner sorted through the response. "Right." She agreed. A rustle to the right caught her ear and she turned her head, one hand going to her chakram, only to relax when she spotted it's source, a young boy in tattered clothing standing just inside the treeline. "Know him?" She asked the bard, who had also spotted the child.

"No." Gabrielle waved at the boy. "Hi there."

The child stared suspiciously at her, then glanced around, and edged out into the open, stumbling a little on bare, obviously sore feet. The two travelers turned their horses and trotted over to save him the walking and Gabrielle immediately dismounted as they closed in. "Hey… don't be scared."

"Not scared." The boy stated truculently, but his eyes darted to Xena's imposing form as the warrior watched him. "Who're you?" He was thin, and had light brown hair which hung in long locks about his face.

"Well." The bard came closer and offered her hand. "My name's Gabrielle…what's yours?"

"Seve." He hesitantly took her fingers.

"Do you live around here?" Gabrielle asked.

He shrugged. "Sorta… they wrecked our house… so we live in the trees there…it's sorta neat." He pointed behind him to the patch of forest. "I got me a squirrel lives up there."

Gabrielle crouched down, so he didn't have to look up at her. "What happened to your house?" She was aware of Xena dismounting behind her, and heard the soft, but heavy sound of her boots hitting the ground. The boy's eyes left her face and looked up in apprehension as the warrior came closer. "It's okay.. " She reassured him. "She's not as dangerous as she looks."

Xena snorted softly and knelt by her side, running experienced fingers through the grass. "Horses came through here."

That impressed the kid. "Yeah… a bunch of em…there's what wrecked our house." He told the warrior.

"The horses did, or were men riding them?" Gabrielle asked quietly.

"Them men." Seve admitted. "They torched the village… an took the aminals and stuff." He looked behind him, and slightly to the left. "It was over there… beyond them trees."

Gabrielle also looked there. "Yes.. I remember… " She turned towards her soulmate. "It's a small community.. sheepherders. They trade….I mean, they traded with Potadeia a lot." She exhaled. "I hope.."

Xena's hand clasped her shoulder comfortingly. "I know… we'd better get going."  She peered at Seve. "How many men?"

The boy shrugged. "Dunno… it was dark… there were lots."

"You know which way they went after?" The warrior persisted, turning to gaze in the direction he pointed. Green and blue eyes met. "Oh gods." Gabrielle breathed.

Xena patted the boys' arm. "Thanks… gotta go. " She stood up and walked to Iolaus' side, fiddling with his tack as Gabrielle stood to join her. "C'mon."  She gave the boy a look. "Stay hidden, kid… they could be back."

The bard ruffled the boy's hair, then walked to Hercules' side and rummaged in her saddlebag for a  moment. "Here." She tossed him a small sack, which he caught. "Xena's right… stay out of sight, okay?"

He stopped in the act of investigating her gift, and stared at the tall cloaked and armored figure standing quietly nearby.  "Wow…are you really Xena?"

The blue eyes warmed briefly. "Yeah."

The boy slowly walked over and stopped a pace or so short of her, then looked up in childish awe. "You're gonna beat em all up, arentcha?" He stepped closer and lifted a hand, catching her cloak and feeling the fabric. "You really are real."

Gabrielle leaned quietly against her horse's shoulder, just watching her partner's face as she gazed down at Seve. It had been, she mused, such an incredible journey they'd been on the past couple years to bring them to this place, and this time, and this awestruck little boy.

The former Destroyer of Nations dropped to one armored knee, and rested her greaved arm on it. "I'm real." Xena answered quietly. "And I'm going to do my best to make sure what happened to you doesn't happen to anyone else." She held out a hand, palm up. "Deal?"

Seve swallowed audibly, but set his much smaller hand atop hers. "Deal."

Xena stood, and vaulted aboard her horse, gathering the reins in and backing Iolaus as Gabrielle mounted, then they turned and started off. "Not good." The warrior gave her partner an uneasy look.

Gabrielle swallowed a lump of worry. "I know… maybe we should hurry." Life was dangerous, few people knew that better than she did, but this was her family. Her quiet, backwater, mundane, boring family, whose only experience with excitement usually came through…

Her. "Let's go."

The horses settled into a canter, and they traveled in silence through the damp air. The road stretched forward, and as they came over a short rise in it, they saw a darkened patch in the soft amber of the wheat fields they were passing. "Damn." Xena stood in her stirrups, spotting burnt out shells, and worse.

"Do we stop?" Gabrielle wrapped the reins of her horse around her hands.

"No point." Her soulmate quietly answered, settling back down. The fires were still smoldering though.. maybe they hadn't gotten to far yet.

No one else was on the roads, she realized, missing the usual cart and foot traffic that generally wound it's way between the scattered villages in this part of the country. They hadn't passed anyone since coming down from the mountains, and that… that was a very bad sign. Her mind skipped forward past Potadeia, to another small village not very far away.  She tucked her knees a little further into Iolaus' warm neck and urged him on faster.

Gabrielle felt her heart start to pound, as she followed Xena around a familiar bend, and came on the small stream that bounded her hometown. They splashed through it, the horses swimming as they hit the deeper center, and scrambled out along the upper bank, where a large muddy stretch showed the churning of many hooves. "Oh gods." She whispered, as she saw Xena reach up and unclasp her cloak, allowing the fabric to slip down and freeing her sword arm. She reached back and untied the strap holding her staff in place, and felt it fall down into her palm, her fingers closing on it in nervous instinct.  They moved rapidly up the path, and she shivered, as her horse's hooves crossed the very place when she'd first met Xena.

The wind shifted suddenly, and brought sound to their ears, sounds that made her heart sink as the yells, and the screams, and the sickening thuds of wood on flesh came to them. A tiny cry escaped her, and she saw Xena lean forward, releasing the reins on Iolaus and tucking them around her saddlehorn as she readied herself to fight. "Trouble!" The warrior warned, yelling the word back to her.

"I know." Gabrielle answered grimly.

They swept around the last bend in the path, and saw chaos before them. Half of Potadeia was in flames, and the other half was being pulled down by men on horseback, men who were also beating down any resistance with savage efficiency.

Xena rose up in her stirrups and yelled at the top of her lungs, her voice rising over the screams, and the sound of burning thatch. Eyes turned her way and she pulled her sword from its sheath, twirling it in one hand, and driving for the largest group of raiders.

Gabrielle yanked her horse to a halt and slid off, getting her balance before she swung her staff at a rushing raider, taking his feet out from under him. She glanced around frantically, spotting a few familiar faces, most of who were running in terror. She got in front of another raider, and slammed the end of her staff into his chest, knocking him down and herself back a step, as she caught sight of a welcome face not far away. "Lila!" The bard yelled the name as she ducked a club, and smacked her staff into an oncoming soldier.

Xena slashed down, separating an arm from it's owner, and kicked the bloody body from her, as she ploughed through a crowd of raiders, evading pike blows as she stabbed down, using her sword in one hand and her dagger in the other, sending splashes of blood over the ground and herself.   She could feel the heat from the burning buildings close by, and she backed a moment, locating Gabrielle with an innate instinct.

A sword flickered near her, and she deflected it with absent skill as she observed her partner battling towards a small group of pinned down villagers. A raider came at her from behind, and Xena pulled a dagger from her boot, sending it flying with a flick of her wrist, and nailing the charging man in the throat. A spray of blood spurted out, and he stumbled, falling and missing the bard's leg with his outstretched fingers by mere inches.

Gabrielle never even saw him.  Never knew how close he'd come, how narrowly she'd missed the blow that would have cut her in half.

That was all right. That's what Xena was there for, after all, right?

Xena swept her arm back and took of a head, kicking the crumpling body away from her and slamming an elbow back into a man trying to pull himself up by Iolaus' saddle, breaking his neck.  Her sword took out another, slashing through the soldier's defenses and sending the blade plunging into his chest. He gurgled in shock as he slid down Iolaus' leg.

Two men came at her now, mounted, with pikes couched under their arms hoping to spear her before she could reach them. Hastily, she sheathed her sword and grabbed the closer one, bending her body around and forcing the rider to stand in his stirrups. He released the pike to keep from being thrown from the saddle and she swung it back around, slamming him in the head with it. The second rider swerved, and came at her again, and she dropped the pike, ducking to let the other one slip past her, then loosening her boots from the stirrups and lunging at the soldier, taking him from the saddle and onto the muddy, bloody ground. She found her arms around his neck and simply squeezed, wrenching it around and breaking his neck with sodden snap.

A yell, this time to retreat. Xena smiled grimly, and drew her sword again, whistling for Iolaus and pulling herself up into the saddle one handed as he bucked closer, kicking out at two men trying to grab him. The stallion's hooves were deadly, and he reached around, clamping teeth on a third and shaking his head, ripping through skin and bone with a crunch.

"Atta boy." Xena patted his neck, as she directed him towards the village center, where a group of solders was forming, intending on escaping. "Oh no.. I don't think so." She growled, bolting for them, and feeling the blood rise to her nostrils, sending little thrills of lust down her body. A yell forced itself from her guts as she hit them, and they scattered, unable to stand before the ravaging of her sword.

"Stay down!" Gabrielle grabbed running villagers and pulled them into the half burned smithy, shoving them down behind the anvil and ducking a thrown club as it went by her. "Lila.. where's mom and dad?"

Her sister had scrambled closer. "At the house….with Lennat and Gabriel…I was at the market." Lila shouted back. "Thank all the gods, Gabrielle.. it's a miracle you guys showed up."

The bard peered through the carnage as she heard Xena's wild yell go up, just in time to see her soulmate nearly cut a man in half, then spin around and take another soldier's head off. The appendage bounced along the ground and Xena didn't even pause, moving on to cut and slash her way through the now disorganized soldiers. A chilling laugh erupted from her, as she chased one down, grabbing his helmet with one hand, and brining her hilt down hard with the other. Gabrielle swallowed hard, and shoved her queasiness down for another time. "I know.. stay down." She fended off a running raider, who was now more interested in escaping the rampaging warrior than doing any more harm. "I think the worst is over."

Eyes were beginning to peek up over the anvil. 'Not fer them." One man stated, with a note of savage satisfaction in his voice. "Kill em all, Xena!" He shouted, shaking a fist at the soldiers.

Gabrielle closed her eyes for a long moment, then opened them, and exhaled. "C'mon, Lila… let's go make sure everyone's all right at the house."

"Right with you." Her sister murmured, putting a hand on her shoulder. "Hey… " She gave the bard a quick hug. "How are things at home?"

Gabrielle tugged her across the smoldering central square, full of debris and fallen bodies. "We're headed there now." She told her sister, as she caught the triumphant Xena's eye. The warrior was seated firmly on Iolaus' back, her sword still out and dripping, as she surveyed the carnage.  A few of the soldiers had escaped, but most of them were dead, or dying, or… Gabrielle winced in pieces on the ground. "I'm going to check out my folks." She yelled to her partner, who lifted her sword in acknowledgement, and headed the horse towards one of the still burning buildings.

Lila gazed at her as they continued on. "You are? I didn't think you'd…. where were you guys, then? We sent word down to Amphipolis a fortnight back.. when we started hearing word of raids out north of here."

The bard stepped gingerly over a severed arm. "Finding the source of them." She muttered. "It's really bad, Lila.. we were headed home to try and figure out what to do about it."
"Oh." Her sister murmured. "Right..I should have figured…everyone else is freaking out, naturally you guys would be out there trying to fix it." She followed the bard down the narrow path that led to their parent's home, then almost crashed into her as Gabrielle abruptly stopped. "What…."

She fell silent, looking over a very still Gabrielle's shoulder, too shocked to even breathe.

Their childhood home was gone, burnt to the ground and letting off a thick, noxious smoke, with bits of the dwelling scattered over the clearing. Nearby, Lennat knelt, holding a frightened Gabrielle in his arms, next to Hecuba, as they both simply stared at the still, bloody figure lying lifeless on the ground.

"Da." Gabrielle's voice somehow shaped the word.

*****************************************************

Xena scooped up a bucket of water from the well, striding over to the burning barn and throwing it on the flames, while she directed the shell shocked Potadeians to do the same. Tectdus the smith limped over, throwing his own bucket on the blaze, and wiped a soot-covered brow.

"Twas our luck again you showed up, Xena."

The warrior nodded briefly, dodging a frightened sheep and heading back for the well. "Wish it'd been sooner...damn."

"No.. " The smith disagreed, ambling along next her. "We'd have nothing left otherwise… these damn animals… we'd heard they were headed this way, but didn't think they'd bother sommat as small as we."

"I don't think the size was the issue..they were just out for slaughter." Xena sighed, as she hefted the bucket, and nodded encouragingly as several more men and a few women joined them.

"They found it." Tectdus commented softly, as he stepped over a headless body. "Wasn't what they'd wanted, I'm thinking."

No. Xena still felt the chills running down her spine, and the smell of blood was getting in her nose, waking up darker instincts that had almost sent her after the few men who had escaped, to cut them down and scatter their bodies up and down the road. "Probably not." She muttered, flexing her hands a little. Then she straightened, and her breath caught, as a knot formed her her guts. She handed her bucket to a shorter man just running up. "Here… take that."

She broke into a run, and headed towards her partner's old homestead, her boots pounding on the damp sand as she leaped over burning logs and bodies and picked up speed, keeping her arms close to her body, and her hand close to her sword hilt.

Her steps only slowed when she entered the clearing, and saw the devastation, her eyes finding her partner's kneeling body with unerring precision. "Oh… damn." Xena found herself whispering, as she saw the still body. Herodotus had never been a fan of hers, exactly, but…

Gabrielle looked up as she heard the footsteps, and her eyes met Xena's in silent entreaty. The warrior went to her side and knelt, putting a gentle hand on her shoulder. "Hey."

The bard was silent, then she sniffled a little. "They were inside the house." She looked up at the burnt structure. Lila had taken Gabriel from her husband and was cuddling him, kneeling in shock next to her mother. Hecuba's face was a mask. "And they set it on fire, Xena."

The warrior bowed her head. "Gabrielle.."

"They set it on fire.. just to destroy everything and kill everyone." The bard repeated, angrily. "For no reason.. they didn't want food, or supplies, or….for nothing, Xena, for NOTHING!"

"Shh.. I know." Xena gently circled her shoulders with both arms. "I know."

"For nothing." Gabrielle repeated, softly. "And they tried to ride them down when they ran out of the house." She went on, shakily. "Like that wasn't enough." The bard half turned, and buried her face in her partner's shoulder.

Xena hugged her, gazing over her shoulder at a silent Lennat, who was seated on the muddy ground, with one arm wrapped around his knee.

"I had the baby." The man spoke tonelessly. "They hit me from behind, and I went down, and the next thing I knew, Herodotus was over me, and there was blood everywhere."  He looked down at his father in law, whose body was sliced almost in half, though they'd covered him with a bit of cloth. "It happened so fast." He looked up at Xena. "Did you see the bastard there? He was a big… had curly black hair, and a red tunic."

Xena stroked the soft pale hair, and exhaled. "I saw him." She acknowledged quietly. "I sent him to Hades."

Hecuba finally looked up. She had been kneeling, with her hands folded on her knees, gazing at her husband as though in puzzled disbelief. Now she looked Xena right in the eye. "I'm glad you did." Her eyes shifted to Gabrielle's face, then they dropped again.

Lila wiped at her eyes. "Come on, mamma… let's… we can go over to our house.. Lennat, can you..I.."

"I'll take care of it." Xena interrupted firmly. "Lennat, take Lila and Hecuba out of here."

Numbly, he stood, guiding Lila as she joined him with the whimpering Gabriel. "Come on, mamma."

Hecuba sighed, outwardly very composed, then she put a hand on Herodotus bloody head, and bent over and kissed him.  She got to her feet and folded her hands, following her daughter and son in law without another backward glance.

Silence fell over them. Finally, Xena sucked in a breath. "Gabrielle.. I'm … I'm sorry.. I should have.." Fingers touched her lips, stilling them.

"Don't."  The bard whispered. "Because if you start with ifs and coulds, then I have to start thinking about all the minutes I wasted today, and I can' do that right now." Her voice was shaking, and she swallowed hard. "Xena, that was my home." She looked over her soulmate's shoulder. "I was born there."

"I know." The warrior felt horrible.

"And for what?" The bard asked. "For what, Xena? Where is the sense behind any of this?"  She gazed sadly down at her father's body. "My da."  Her voice broke, and she started crying. "May the gods damn them, Xena… I hope Hades sends every last one of them straight to Tartarus."

The warrior sat down on the ground, and pulled her soulmate into her arms, cradling her as she sobbed, the helpless grief jerking her body.

"And what if it's like this at home?" Suddenly, the bard's head came up, and she stared wildly at her partner. "Xena…"

"Shh." The warrior stroked her cheek. "It's okay… this was an advance group.. they haven't gotten that far yet."  She kissed Gabrielle's head gently. "And you know Amphipolis is a lot better prepared for this kind of thing… all your Amazons are there, and the militia, and the forest dwellers."

Gabrielle put her head back down. "That's right."  She closed her eyes, and shook her head. "Sorry.. I'm just…."

"I know." Xena replied. "Listen.. why don't you go be with your family… let me take care of this."

The bard looked around them. "They can't stay here." Her eyes went to Xena's face. "Not anymore..not until this is over."

The warrior nodded. "Yeah.. we'll talk about that." She stood up, taking Gabrielle with her. "Go on… they need you."

Gabrielle considered a moment, then she shook her head. "I'll help you."

"You don't have… "

"I know.. I want to." The bard stated, firmly. "It'll give me a chance to say goodbye."

Xena accepted that, and nodded. "Okay."

They set to work amid the ruins of a lifetime.

*************************************

"There are two score dead." Tectdus was seated on a bit of wreckage, along with the surviving elders of the village, all two of them, and Xena.  The warrior was standing, one hand on either side of the ruined doorway to the elder's home staring out at the destruction.

A pyre had been built, largely by her, with the horses help, and a few of the unhurt villagers.  She'd managed to keep herself pretty tightly focused, at least until she'd gotten into the ruined barn to salvage any wood, and found a one, last victim.

Poor kid. Xena leaned against the doorway. Probably never knew what hit him.  Alain had been one of the few people in the town she'd truly liked, Lennat's half brother, and a good friend to Argo and the other horses left in his simple, but thorough care.

She'd carried his body out last, and laid him next to the rest, then went to find Tectdus, to tell him about his son.

It was one of the most hateful things she'd ever had to do, at the end of one of the more hateful days of her life. She hurt, both her heart, and her body, which she'd strained to it's limits getting things arranged. And she hurt for Gabrielle, whose grief was tying her guts up in knots as the bard struggled with accepting the loss of a parent, and a good part of her childhood.

"Now what?" The older of the two remaining leaders asked softly. "It'll take half a season to get this place even part ways rebuilt.. and we've lost so many people."

Xena turned, and leaned against the charred doorway. "You can't stay here." She stated, flatly. "Chances here, they'll be back again…and you'll be helpless."

They didn't even look surprised, she realized. They simply nodded in weary acceptance.

"I don't know if I could anyway." Tectdus replied softly. "We've lost more than homes and possessions… " His eyes filled with tears, and he wiped his face hurriedly. "And for what?"

It was what they all asked. Xena ducked her head, and studied the stained floor. "I wish I could answer that." She murmured. "I can't…except to wonder of Andreas just thinks burning everything out is the easiest way to conquer." Her eyes lifted. "There are a group of cave systems south of here, nearer to Amphipolis. If you can get everyone there, you'll have shelter, and there's good, running water."

The elder shook his head. "You spend an entire lifetime building up a future… and someone just comes and takes it away from you." He stared at his hands. "It was a good year, too. Would have been a great harvest."

How many people did you do this to, Xena? And you never even thought about it. "I'm sorry." She exhaled.

The elder looked up. "Don't you be, Xena… weren't for you, we'll all of us be dead, every last one, instead of burying the lot of those scum."

And I used to be those scum. Interesting perspective. The warrior felt nauseas. "Yeah… well, if you can get everyone together and moving.. we'll escort you to the caves…just in case." She tapped the doorway. "Think about it.. I'll be back." She had to get out of there, away from the burned smell, and the odor of grief that was overwhelming her.

Or was it guilt?

She walked down the path leading to the river as the setting sun poured across it, breaking through the omnipresent cloud layer that had plagued them all day.  As she passed a familiar, if overgrown spot she stopped, and put her hand against the nearest tree.

Good a place as any, right? Xena sighed, and sat down on the ground, leaning back against the wood and running her fingers through the loose sand. She tried to recall her state of mind that day years past, when she'd buried her weapons and armor, and was faintly surprised to find she really didn't have much in common with the person she'd been then.

She let her head rest against the tree, closing her eyes against the pounding ache she'd developed. They'd have to spend the night, of course, which would be a horror, then get the remaining villagers to safety before they could even think about moving on to Amphipolis.

And then, it really started. She had made a mental list of notes that had to go out, to the forest dwellers, to Cirron, other places, the Amazons… the centaurs…fortunately, most of the help she could expect were from far outlying areas, the last places Andreas thugs would have gotten to.

Like here. She looked around herself and sighed. Potadeia. She had a mixed bag of memories about the place, but bottom line, it was her soulmate's birthplace. She didn't regret taking retribution on it's attackers.

Soft footfalls came to her, and she felt a brief smile appear as she recognized the presence, and the distinctive rolling gait. Still walks like a badger. Xena tilted her head and gazed up as Gabrielle stopped next to her, and settled down to the ground cross-legged. "Hey… how're you doing?"

The bard nodded a bit, plucking a grass stem up and twisting it. "They say the dead can hear the thoughts of the living."

Xena's dark lashes blinked a few times. "They can." She replied, very simply.

The green eyes lifted to hers. "The good, and the bad, right?"

The warrior went very still for a long moment. "Yes."

Gabrielle nodded slowly. "He finally got to be the hero, Xena." She uttered. "And you know.. I'd forgiven him…. I wish I'd told him that."

Xena shifted, so that she and her partner were knee to knee. "I think he knew that… and you know, Gabrielle…with everything that happened, in his own way, he really did love you."

The bard's lips tightened, and she turned her head away a little.

Xena put a hand on her leg, rubbing the skin with her thumb. The bard captured her fingers and pulled them up against her lips, pressing them to her and closing her eyes. "I want them to come with us, Xena."

"Your family?" The warrior questioned.

Gabrielle nodded, and sniffled. "Yeah… I… I'd like it if they'd come to Amphipolis… I think it would be better for them there." She gazed up at her soulmate. "They know our family.. it's more…secure… I.."

"Sure." Xena agreed softly. "I think that's a good idea… have you asked them?"  Not that Amphipolis was immune, but surely, they had a better chance there.

"I wanted to talk to you first." Gabrielle replied. "But I think they'll say yes… actually, I think they're going to ask us if they can come with us." She paused. "It would make me feel a lot better…at least Id' know my mother would have someone to talk to."

"My mother." Xena agreed. "Sure.. its' a good idea."

Gabrielle folded her hands around her partners, then looked up, searching her face. "You look exhausted." She released one hand and reached up, tracing a bruise across Xena's cheekbone.

"I am." The warrior admitted. "I think I pulled a few things… got hit a few times… " She shook her head. "But I think hurting for you is the worst of it."  Her eyes went to her partner's face, as a look of indescribably gentleness came into it. "C'mere." She held out her arms and the bard crawled into them, the warmth of their connection hitting her with a powerful surge.

Gabrielle rested against her. "Xe?"

"Hmm?"

"I want to stop him." The bard tilted her head and looked steadily up at her. "I want us to stop him." A pause. 'Whatever it takes to do that."

Xena felt a faint, almost puzzled smile cross her face as she realized that this determined, confident young woman really had very little in common with the brash girl she'd first met here. "We will." She promised softly. "I swear it."

We've both changed, the warrior decided, as Gabrielle put her head back down and patted her side comfortingly.  We've changed ourselves. We've changed each other.

I'm not the Destroyer of Nations anymore.

I'm not. Xena's eyes widened as the truth of the statement penetrated at last. She let her chin rest thoughtfully against Gabrielle's head.

Considering the possibilities.

************************************************************

Continued in Part 8

These characters, and boy, are they ever characters, are mostly the property of Renaissance Pictures, Universal MCA, and whoever else owns stock and interest in Xena: Warrior Princess. This fiction was written for my amusement only, and not in any way, shape or form for profit - and it is not intended to infringe on the copyright holders of the characters.

Some of the characters are mine, and the story ideas.. well, who knows where they come from? Must be one weird place, that's for sure.

Specific Story Disclaimers:

Violence - this is a Xena: Warrior Princess story. This is not Teletubbies. Even though there are some rumors of similarities. Some of the violence is graphic, but we try not to dwell on it.

Subtext - Considering that the TV Series just aired an episode establishing Xena and Gabrielle as eternal soulmates, any disclaimer of subtext on my part is really kind of goofy in the extreme. The two characters are in love with each other, and have been for years. You can choose to see them as just friends, but then you might not want to read this fanfic, in case it changes your mind or anything like that.

Emotional Content - this is not one my more comedic efforts. There are moments of humor, however.

********************************************************************

Dark Comes the Morning - Part 8

By Melissa Good

The progress was slow, Gabrielle realized, too much so for the restless Xena, who was trotting Iolaus up and down the column of moving people.  She had given Hercules over to help haul gear, and was walking, but the night had been a long one, neither of them had gotten any sleep, and she was really feeling it.

So, she thought, was Xena, who despite her restless energy was visibly, to Gabrielle's eyes, forcing it.

She had been very surprised, when they'd said her family was going to come on with them to Amphipolis, to find the rest of Potadeia asking to come too. She and Xena had talked about it for several frazzled minutes in private, and finally the warrior had rubbed her eyes and lifted a hand, and said sure.

So here they were… barely two score men, women and children, straggling along the sloping road that eventually would take them home, and hopefully would provide the tattered remnants of her birthplace some solace at least.

"The caves… we need to be with other people, Gabrielle." Tectdus had told her wearily. "All alone there… I .."

And she'd agreed, after thinking about it. At the very least, they could take over the back clearing, where some older huts, long out of use could be fixed up in fairly short order.  She mulled the idea over, then nodded quietly to herself, glancing up as hoofbeats came closer and Xena sidestepped Iolaus through the stragglers to her side. "Not much further, huh?"

Xena leaned over, and offered an arm in silence. The bard hesitated in slight surprise, then put her staff against Iolaus' shoulder and grabbed on, allowing Xena to haul her up in place, and settling her knees on either side of her soulmate's body. She retrieved the staff, and slipped her free arm around the warrior's stomach as Iolaus moved off out of the way of the walkers.

"We should be there just after sunset." Xena commented.

"I had to get up here to hear that?" Her partner protested mildly. "Good grief, Xena."

A faint smile appeared, as the warrior turned her head slightly. "No.. I just wanted you there." She moved a little further away from the crowd.

"Oh." Gabrielle was irrationally pleased with the comment. "Okay." She snuggled closer and gave the warrior a little squeeze. "How are you feeling? You look a little.. uh… tense." The ribs under her arm expanded, held, then released slowly. "Is it the sheep? They make those weird noises, I know."

That got a chuckle. "No.. I don't mind the sheep.. I think I'm just tired." Xena admitted. "There's so damn much to do… where do we start?" She shook her head. "Getting home's just the beginning."

"I know." Gabrielle replied softly. "Well, first things first, I guess… I'll have to get everyone here settled…then we can send messengers out…I think Jess will go out to his people, and he can drop by Cirron too.." She considered, relaxing into Iolaus' steady pace as she leaned on Xena's back. "I'll send Eph out to the Amazons.. and the centaurs… what do you think, invite them all to Amphipolis to a council or something?"

Xena remained silent for a bit. "Not Amphipolis… has to be someplace we can assemble and train troops, and I'm not gonna do that right in the village. There's not enough space, for one thing.. we'll draw too much attention to it, for another."  She gazed down the road, bathed in the early gold of sunset. "There's a valley just over that range to the south, though.. it's pretty big, and defensible."

"Mm." Gabrielle considered the changes that would bring. "You planning on us camping out there?"

The warrior shifted a little. "Once troops start coming in, yeah." She answered quietly. "I'm a target anyway, Gabrielle."

The bard laid her cheek against the armored back and gave Xena a little rub on the belly. "We're a target… I've accepted that." She answered. "Do we need to get everyone out of Amphipolis too?"

"Mm… the troops will be close enough to protect it… I'd rather not. They're one of the few sources of supply we'll have." The warrior responded practically. "That's gonna be tough.. they've raided out most of the villages in the area."  She considered in silence for a few moments. "However… the people we're gathering.. are used to living off the land."

"That's true." Gabrielle agreed. "The forest dwellers, the Amazons, and the centaurs especially…is it possible to field an army that's self sufficient?"

A few more silent paces forward. "Guess we'll find out. Because this army's not going to raid villages, that's for sure." Xena stated flatly.

The sun slanted more deeply, and the river grew from a flat ribbon to a recognizable motion as they headed for the bridge that would allow them to cross into the outlying regions leading to Amphipolis.  Gabrielle spent a moment idly remembering a night ride across this very plain, when she'd ventured out to find a group of frightened young Amazons, and a shiveringly heroic Xena, who had just plunged into an icy river to rescue Ephiny.

"Hey, Xena… "

The warrior turned her head, and gazed over her shoulder. "Yeah?"

"Remember the night you pulled Eph out of the ice?"

"Sure…what brought that up?" Xena asked, curiously.

"Nothing.. I was just thinking about that… we came back this way."

They reached the bridge and Xena crossed first, Iolaus' hooves sounding loud on the wooden planking. She paused on the other end and straightened, regarding the surroundings carefully. "Looks all right."  She waved at the waiting group, and they started across. "Should start hitting the sentries pretty soon."

"Mm." Gabrielle felt her mouth go dry, and she cleared her throat. "Hope everything's okay."  She felt Xena's body tense under her hands. "I'm sure it is."

"Yeah." Xena murmured, as her heart skipped a few beats. "It's too quiet, though." She urged Iolaus ahead and exhaled as his hooves touched the packed earth roadway, her eyes roving over the softly blowing fields of river wheat towards the slight rise that hid Amphipolis from her vision.

What if. Xena kept her breathing steady. What if you find the same thing you saw in Potadeia? Anxiety gripped her chest, and she knew Gabrielle felt it, from the sudden motion against her back. An ugly, terrifying vision popped into her mind, of burning, and dead bodies…

"Xena!" Gabrielle had grabbed her tightly, and put a hand on her shoulder, reacting to the sudden shifts in her body language.

Get a grip. The warrior firmly smacked herself. Sit your butt down in the gods be damned saddle, and stop spooking everyone. "Sorry." She muttered, relaxing a little, and patting the bard's leg.

"What was that?" Gabrielle whispered, anxiously, as the first of the Potadeians crossed over the river. "You scared the skirt off me, Xena."

"Nothing.. just an overtired mind." Her partner replied tersely, as she guided the stallion down the road, matching the slow pace of the two wagons they salvaged. The first was full of belongings, and the five or six injured villagers they'd rescued.  Lennat and Lila walked alongside it, taking turns carrying Gabriel, and keeping a watch on Hecuba, and the other elders who were seated in the second wagon.

The sun fell further, painting the golden grains in crimson. Xena fiddled with Iolaus' reins as they moved along, mentally trying not to force herself into hearing signals that they were really too far away to hear just yet.

If they were there.  She could almost count the paces.

She almost wanted to stop, and turn Iolaus, and flee, not ready to face the silence, if it came. Not ready to see Gabrielle's face, if the worst happened.

A hundred paces left.  Her heart started to speed up.

She considered praying to the gods, but since when had that ever helped anything? They'd probably laugh.

Fifty paces. Her hands were sweating on the reins, and she had to force herself to keep her breathing even. But she couldn’t do anything about her racing heartbeat, and she knew her soulmate could feel it. Gabrielle had pulled herself up closer, and was peering over her shoulder, her own breathing a short and nervous pressure against Xena's back.

What could she say to her? What should she say? "Gabrielle?"

"Yes?" The bard's voice cracked a little.

Twenty paces, and the wind whistled a little, in the crimson silence.  The wagon rumbled behind them.

Ten paces. Xena felt her hands start to shake, and she clenched them on the reins, feeling the leather slick with sweat. "Listen.. I.. um… "

"Shh." The bard slipped a hand up and covered her mouth.

"Mmph?" Xena blinked, startled.

Then she heard it.

A hunting hawk's cry, rising up over the rippling grain.

Gabrielle thought her soulmate was going to fall out of the saddle, which would have been a definite first. She gripped her with one arm, and grabbed at the saddlehorn with the other, holding them both in place. "Easy, tiger." She whispered, feeling the racing pulse begin to slow.

She knew what Xena had been afraid of, the same thing she herself had been forcefully putting from her mind since lunchtime, trying to convince herself that worrying about it made no sense.

"Yeah.. yeah, I'm fine." Xena replied gruffly, shifting and tightening her legs around Iolaus' sides. "Thanks."  She tilted her head back and whistled, and was rewarded by an immediate answer, followed by movement as two sentries broke cover and started towards them at an easy jog.

"Ho, Xena!" The closer one lifted a hand and waved it. "Glad yer back!" He slowed as the warrior galloped over. "Been quite a time!"

"Raiders?" Xena asked, instantly, her brows creasing in concern.

"Eh?" The man cocked his head. "Ah.. no..no…ah…" He exchanged a look with his partner, who scratched his ear and grinned. "Erh… you'll be hearing all about it up at the village… but we're glad ye're back."

"Um.. thanks." Xena wondered what was going on, then she shrugged and gestured behind her. "Glad everything's okay… these folks weren't as lucky."

"Ah." He sobered. "We’ll send word.. will they be staying?"

"Yes." Gabrielle answered softly, from her perch behind Xena. "They're what's left of my hometown."

The sentries both came closer in pure instinct, and the first one put a hand on her boot. "Ah.. lass." He murmured softly. "Sorry to hear that."

Xena released one hand off her reins and curled it around Gabrielle's, which was tightly clasped around her stomach. "Let them know up ahead, all right? We'll need supplies, blankets… shelter… Joscyln knows."

"Aye." The man gave Gabrielle's leg a pat. "We will… travel safely." He stepped back a pace to let them pass, then lifted his head, and cupped his mouth, sending a whistle skyward.

The group moved on, as the setting sun brought a cold wind down from the mountains. Gabrielle was glad of the warm body in front of  her, but wished the ride was over, and their tasks completed, as she longed for her soft bed, and the comforts of home. She gave Xena's thigh a gentle pat. "Hey."

"Mm?" Xena still had hold of her hand, and didn't seem inclined to release it.

"Feel better?"

A half turn, and a glint of blue eyes gazing down at her. "Yeah." Xena finally said quietly. "I was… concerned."

Gabrielle stroked her side idly, comforting her. "Me too." A pause. "What do you suppose he meant by stuff going on in the village, if not raiders?"

A dark brow lifted speculatively. "Well…I can only thing of one thing that would be as dangerous as raiders, in that village."

"Hmm?" Gabrielle was puzzled. "What do you……" She thought about it a minute. "Oh." She made a face. "You don't think…oh no, Xena.. come on now.. she's only eight months old."

"Nine." Her partner muttered. "Guess we'll find out."

Gabrielle peered over her shoulder, at the sloping road leading home. "Guess we will."

***************************************************

It was full twilight before they entered the last stretch of sandy road, with the first outbuildings in view.  Xena was, frankly, glad to see the familiar outlines, and hear the normal sounds of their home, as residents spotted them and called greetings.

Her eyes went to the inn, central in the village square, and she smiled when the door opened, and Cyrene strode out, leaning on the railing and looking very relieved. She lifted a hand in greeting, and her mother returned it. "Here we go."

Gabrielle sighed. "Yeah… I'll get my family and the others settled…it's going to be so hard for them, Xena."

Xena patted her arm. "I'll go get Dori… then I'll give you a hand as soon as I get the horses stabled."

"And after we say hello to our daughter." The bard reminded her, with a tap on the ribs.

"Well… of course." Xena sounded mildly insulted.  She guided Iolaus through the village gates and into the courtyard, seeing Josclyn and a few other elders heading her way as she did so. "Ho, Josc."

"Xena." The reeve nodded. "I hear there's trouble." He watched the group as it came to a silent, weary halt.

Xena swung her leg over the stallion's neck, and slid down, then turned and lifted Gabrielle down as well. The bard slipped in front of her and went to Josclyn, taking a breath as she did. "Josc… these people need a place to stay."

The reeve nodded. "Aye..so they said."

Gabrielle exhaled. "Okay.. let me introduce you.. " She led Josc over, and began to speak softly.

A patter of feet warned her, and Xena turned just in time to catch Ares as he hurled his furry body at her and growled in ecstasy. "Hey.. hey.. take it easy." She caught him , and knelt, hugging him and petting his fur. "Glad to see you too, boy… " She accepted his kisses, and rubbed his ears. "Go on.. go say hello to your other mom." She pointed out Gabrielle's retreating form, and the wolf loped off.

Xena caught sight of Ephiny and Eponin heading their way, making a beeline for the bard. She stepped into their path and held her hands up. "Whoa."  She peered at them, blinking at their haggard looks.

"Don’t' whoa me." Eponin growled, starting to go past. "I need to talk to Gabrielle."

"Me too." Ephiny added, joining her in bypassing the warrior.

Xena reached out and grabbed them, hauling them to a stop. "Hold it." She pulled backwards. "Let her do what she's doing." She told them quietly. "Those people are what's left of Potadeia."

A soft gasp made her turn her head, and she exchanged a quiet look with Cyrene, who had walked over. She turned back to see the shock on the Amazon's faces. "Gabrielle's father was killed yesterday."

"No." Ephiny groaned softly. "Damn it." Eponin dropped her gaze in silence, studying the ground.

"Mom.. I think Hecuba could use a friend right now." The warrior added quietly. "She's in the second wagon."

The innkeeper squeezed her daughter's arm. "Are you both all right?" She asked, in a low voice.

"Yes." Xena replied.

Her mother nodded. "All right.. let me go find the poor woman." She hurried off into the torchlit shadows. Xena let out a breath, and turned to Ephiny. "So if you'd got some beef or other, put it on me, not her. Not now, got me?"

The Amazons looked at each other, then at Xena. "Actually.. " Ephiny murmured.

"Yeah." Eponin agreed. "It's her fault."

"My fault?" Xena's brow creased.

"Definitely." Ephiny gave a brisk nod. "Absolutely your fault, don't you agree, Pony?"

"Oh yeah." The dark haired Amazon tugged her hooded cloak a little closer.

It had been too long a day. Xena felt herself losing her grip on her temper, and she closed her eyes, counting to ten. "All right. Well, I need to go get my daughter, then if you want, you can yell at me." She pushed past them and stalked towards where the nursery was. She got three or four paces, when she was flanked by the two, who remained prudently silent.

The nursery was a small cabin, filled with bright colored fabric, and made baby proof. Xena pushed the door open, and glanced around, spotting her daughter resting in her cradle, and squirming around restlessly.

Dori spotted her at the same moment, and let out a yell. "Boo!!!!!!"

Guess she remembers who I am, all right. Xena walked over and gazed down at her, as the infant's face lit up, and felt a little sad, knowing herself to be a far different person than the playmate Dori had known last. Or who I was. She dropped a hand down and let the baby clutch her finger. "Hey cutie."

Dori gripped her forefinger, and held her other hand up. "Boo!" She kicked a little, wanting Xena to pick her up, puzzled when she didn't. "Boo?"

"She missed you." Ephiny said quietly, from behind her. "She called for you.. and for Gab too, of course, a lot."

"Bck" The baby tugged her hand impatiently.

"But especially you… in the mornings." Ephiny's voice was faintly testy. "Very… early… in the mornings."

Dori's face wrinkled up unhappily. "Boo?"

Xena knelt, unable to maintain her distance, and gently cupped the baby's face. "Hey…"

Both hands clutched hers, as Dori tried to pull her closer, and Xena found herself picking the baby up and cradling her against her armored chest instinctively, feeling a tiny, warm fist clutch at her throat. "Hello, honey… have you been a good girl?"

A slight cough was heard behind her.

"Sure ya have, huh?" Xena felt a tug on her cloak, and saw the baby chewing on the fastening of it. "You wanna go see your mama?"

The chewing stopped, and green eyes blinked at her. "Mama?"

"Yeah… c'mon." Xena stood, rocking her daughter gently, then turned.

And stopped dead, staring at the two Amazons perched on the worktable in the room. "What in Hades happened to you two?" She blurted.

"Bck." Dori added.

"What… oh this?" Ephiny held up a lock of green tinted hair. "Or this.. " She indicated a large bandage around her neck." A pause. "Or that?" She glanced at her lover, who, now that her cloak was thrown back, displayed an arm in a sling.

"All of it.. " The warrior stated. "Did we get attacked? I thought the sentries said it was quiet."

Ephiny folded her arms over her chest. "Attacked? No..no.. no one attacked us." She replied, scratching an ear. "We did encounter one of the most persistent and diabolical adversaries I've had the misfortune to face in my hoary years as an Amazon, however."

"Oh yeah?"

"Yep." Ephiny folded her arms, and gave the warrior a stern look.

Xena tried, she really did, but her mind was just too tired. "What in Hades are you talking about." She finally asked.

"Your kid." Pony stated, succinctly. "Is one huge, honking, Amazon boatload full of nothing but trouble."

Xena blinked. "Dori?" She peered down at her daughter, who was nestling contentedly against her, chewing on a bit of her cloak. "Are you trouble?"

Dori looked up at her. "Boo!" She let out a little laugh. "Mama!" She added, kicking a little and sucking on a finger, looking far from troublesome. In fact, she was the very epitome of cuteness.

"C'mon.. " Xena shook her head. "She's a nine month old child… you're telling me a couple of Amazons can't keep up with her?" She paced to the door. "Unbelievable… c'mon, Dori.. let's go find your mama."

"Mama!" Dori gurgled an amiable agreement as the door closed behind them.

Ephiny looked at Eponin and scratched her chin. "You know. I'm going to have to kill her. "

"I'll help." Her lover let her head rest against Ephiny's shoulder. "Tomorrow." She muttered. "Hey… we can actually sleep tonight."

Ephiny nodded wearily. "Uh huh." She exhaled in utter relief. "Pony, this has been the longest month of my life." She considered. "It was even longer than my last month being pregnant with Xenon, which let me tell you, lasted at least half a year."

"Really?" Pony asked, distracted.

"Yeah, really." Ephiny sighed. "You wanna try it?"

"No!" Eponin's eyes snapped wide open. "No..no, I mean.. uh…listen, kids are great.. I love em… I think they're swell.. but I'm not..ah.. no." Shake of a dark head. "No."

Ephiny chuckled softly. "Okay… "  They were both quiet for a bit.

"Poor Gabrielle." Pony finally said. "Losing her father, and all." She looked up when Ephiny didn't answer. "Were they close?"

The Amazon Regent studied the floor of the now silent nursery. "It's complicated." She finally replied.

"Oh, that's new.. for them." Pony commented.

Ephiny exhaled. "Pony.. I can't… I can't talk about it… I know some stuff that I'm not supposed to know.. and Gabrielle probably doesn't know I know it."

"Mm." The weapons master grunted. "Okay…I overheard Menelda talking about something with her, and her family, and it not being so great…she thought that was why Gabrielle stuck around Xena, cause that's what she was used to."

Ephiny was silent for a bit, thinking. "You know, except for after Solon's death, I never even considered that…and that time was only because I was so scared for her, and Xena was so out of it." She ran her fingers through green tinted curly hair. "I've seen relationships that were like that… remember Ardris?"

"Mmph." Eponin nodded. "Yeah. That was sad.. but they're not like that." She stated. "At all."

"No." Her lover agreed. "Well, come on.. let's get things settled and get some dinner.. then I hear a nice, soft bed calling me."

Eponin led the way out, and held the door. "Eph?"

"Hmm?" The Amazon regent paused, and looked at her in question.

"If it'd been Xenon.. would you have forgiven Gabrielle?"

Ephiny stood motionless for several heartbeats, staring off into nothing. Then she let out a held breath and tensed her lips into a grim, half smile. "No." She answered softly. "I don't think I could have." Her eyes met Pony's. "And that's why I was so scared for Gabrielle."

Pony merely nodded, and followed her out the door.

*********************************************************

"I know it's a lot of people, Josc.." Gabrielle murmured, as they watched the group slowly start to move around the clearing, entering darkened worn doorways in the flickering torchlight. "I just couldn’t say no."

"Aye..lass.. no one would have expected ye to." The reeve put a comforting hand on her shoulder. "We'll make a way for them…glad I had the bit of warning, to get some folk in here to clean up a bit. The back well's been reopened, see?"

Gabrielle gazed into the shadows, then nodded. "Thanks…" She looked around. "Where's Lila… I thought she.."

"Ah." Josc put an arm around her shoulders. "Cyrene's come t'get em, yer sister, and the child, and all, and took em up to the inn." He gazed at the tired bard. "She always takes care of family, that ye know well."

Family. Gabrielle let her head drop, as she studied the leaves underfoot. "Yes, she does…I had to bring them here. I couldn’t leave them out there alone." She wiped at her face, clearing the tears with an impatient hand. "Gods.. look at me. Here I go again."

Josclyn hugged her a little. "Gabrielle, it's right ye should be sad… ye've lost a lot this day." He sighed. "We'll take good care of them, don't you worry."

Gabrielle remained silent for a moment. "This is just the start, Josc… it's worse than we ever imagined." She murmured, feeling him tense.

"Aye, well.. time enough for that tomorrow." The reeve decided quietly.

The sound of boots crunching on the path made them both look up, and Gabrielle felt a tired smile cross her face at the dark haired form ambling towards them. She released Josc and turned towards her partner. "Hey."

"Mama!" Dori warbled, seeing her, and squirming in Xena's grasp. "Mama!"

"Here I am, honey." Gabrielle took her daughter and hugged her, exulting in the feel of the tiny, warm body squiggling against her own. "Hey.. I missed you too!" She laughed as the baby gave her a wet kiss on the neck. "Good grief.. you grew!" She held the baby out and examined her. "Wow… check her out, Xena!"

Xena smiled, watching them. "I did." She let her eyes flick over to Joscyln's face, as the reeve also watched the young mother and child. "Everyone settled?"

"Just about." The man answered, with a sigh. "Best we can tonight, at any rate. Be easier on first light tomorrow." He studied the warrior. "Bad news, eh?"

Xena nodded. "That'll wait for the morning too." She put an arm around Gabrielle's shoulders. "Mom's getting your family bunked down in the inn… let's go change, and we can meet there."

The bard nodded, and cradled her daughter. "You're getting heavy, honey…" She laughed. "What's grandma been feeding you?"

"Grama." Dori repeated with a squeal.

Xena chuckled. "Oh.. that's new.. wish I'd been there to hear mom hear that." Then she fell silent, reflecting on just how much more she was going to miss in the coming months. She kept her arm around the bard as they walked, feeling Dori clutch at a finger. "She did get bigger, huh?"

Gabrielle tickled the baby's belly. "She sure did.. I think she got taller, too… she used to fit along my arm, now she doesn't, and I don't think  my arms are getting shorter."  The sounds of the courtyard fell behind them, and now their footsteps were louder as they headed up the short path that led to their home. Gabrielle let out a little sigh as they mounted the steps. "Gods, I'm glad to see this place."

Xena reached over to pull the door open for her, allowing Ares to trot in also. "Me too." She murmured to herself, following Gabrielle inside and letting the door close behind her.  The soft sounds, and smells of home were almost overwhelming, and she leaned back against the door for a moment, simply absorbing them. Someone, her mother she suspected, had lit a fire in the fireplace, and three candles, which flickered gently in the breeze from the window and brought the smell of warm beeswax to her.

Home. Xena looked around, seeing the familiar interior with newly appreciative eyes. Never thought I'd let myself get so attached to a place… damn, it would have hurt if it'd been gone.

"Xena?"

"Hmm?" The warrior looked up, to see her soulmate gazing at her.

"Are you guarding the door, or something, honey?" The bard inquired. "You can take your cloak off, at least."

"Sorry."  Xena muttered, shoving away from the surface and unclasping her cloak, swinging it from her shoulders and hanging it on the hook nearby then starting to unbuckle her armor.

Gabrielle watched her a moment, then she set Dori down in her cradle, and straightened, walking quietly across the wooden floor and reaching for a clasp. "Thanks for sending mom to see my mother." She told her partner. "I really appreciated that."

Xena lifted her chest armor over her head and suspended it from the hooks on the wall. "Seemed like a good idea." She admitted, starting on a bracer.

"Here." The bard slapped her hands gently away and worked on the laces herself. They heard a thump, and jumped, glancing towards the crib. "Dori!"

Xena's eyes widened, as she watched the infant get up from where she'd climbed out of her cradle and fallen to the floor. "Hey!"

"Bck." Dori toddled over, bumping into Xena's leg and grabbing her armor.

Xena and Gabrielle exchanged glances. "Uh oh." The warrior murmured. "I think we're in trouble."

Gabrielle bit her lip, gazing down at her inquisitive child. "No.. she just wants to help, right honey?" She knelt down, and showed Dori the buckles behind the warrior's kneecaps. "Here… pull here.. that's right.. "  She laughed gently as the baby tugged on the leather, a fierce frown of concentration on her face. "Good girl!"

"Gabrielle." Xena put her hands on her hips and shook her head.

"Okay, Dori.. now the other one.. " The bard ignored her. "That's right.. and if you do this.. " She tickled Xena behind the knee, making her jump.

"Yeow!" The warrior barked.

Dori giggled.

"Uh huh.. now give me your hand.. .." Gabrielle coaxed.

"Don’t you dare." Her soulmate growled, then yelped. "Yow.. Gabrielle! Cut that out!"

"It’s not me." Mischevious green eyes peeked up at her, as the bard wiggled all ten fingers at her.

Dori giggled again, and repeated her new trick, making her beloved playmate hop backwards like a large, leather clad bunny. "Boo!" She pointed up with delight.

Xena knelt, and unfastened the straps, giving both mother and daughter a dire glare. Dori toddled over and pulled on her nose. "Cut that out." The warrior scowled at the baby, who scowled right back with an almost identical expression.

Gabrielle fell back over onto her back and started laughing, startling Ares who hid under the bed. Then she yelped as she found herself pinned to the ground, and the cabin's soft breeze brushed against her now bare midriff. "Xeeeennaaa…"

"Yes?" A dark, sexy voice answered. "C'mere, Dori…lemme show you one of mommy's nicest spots."

"Yerghg.." Gabrielle struggled, to no avail against her much stronger soulmate. "Nooo…..eeeeee…"

Dori toddled over, fascinated by the sounds. "Goo?"  She reached out and patted her mother's bare skin.

"No.. like this." Xena drew one finger teasingly down the center of her soulmate's belly.

"Arguh!!!!" Gabrielle bit her lip and squirmed.

"See? Like that.. " The warrior drew a circle around the bard's navel, eliciting a muted squeal.

Tentatively, Dori copied her, and giggled as her mother let out a yell. "Mama!"

"I give! I give.. I'm sorry!" Gabrielle wailed, sighing in relief as she was released, and could tug her shirt down. "You… you…. "

Xena was lying on the floor, her still booted feet crossed at the ankle. "Paybacks are tough, huh?" She chuckled a little.

Gabrielle shook a finger at her. "I'll get you for that." She looked up as Dori imitated her, shaking a tiny finger back. "Oh.. that's so cute." She shook her finger, the baby immediately copied her. "Xena.. isnt' that adorable?"

The warrior wriggled closer, and draped an arm over Gabrielle's body, seemingly oblivious to the hard ground. "It sure is." She stretched out and let her head rest against the bard's shoulder.

Gabrielle let Dori play with one of her buttons, as she turned her head and studied her quiet partner. One hand lifted and brushed a bit of dark, disheveled hair from Xena' s eyes, which lifted and met hers. "Tired?"

Xena hesitated a few heartbeats, then nodded. "Yeah.. what do I have to do to get out of a group dinner?"

The bard was charmed at the admission. "I think you just did it." She leaned over and kissed the sleek, dark head. "I think a quiet night with just us three is a good idea." She commented. "Especially if we get off the floor."

Xena gently kissed the shoulder she was resting on, then hauled herself up. "Good idea…c'mon, Dori." She picked up the baby then offered her soulmate a hand up. "C'mon… "

Gabrielle got to her feet and brushed her shirt off. "Why don't you get out of those leathers.. I'll run over a pick up a pot of whatever mom's got going, and just check on my folks, okay?"

"Sounds good to me." Xena agreed, putting the baby back in her cradle. She straightened, and watched her partner as she left, closing the door behind her.  "Don't be long." Her words stirred the silence the bard had left behind.

Dori stayed in her cradle this time, rocking it gently back and forth and watching her playmate as Xena slowly walked around the cabin, touching it's contents with absorbed interest.

Her carving collection. Xena laid a finger on the back of a turtle, twin to one she knew Gabrielle carried in her belt pouch all the time. The sturdy furniture shaped by her hand. Painted mats on the walls, a foray into expression by Gabrielle that had turned out far better than the bard had expected.

A tall case with drawers that held Gabrielle's scrolls, neatly sorted into subjects, with a special drawer for her quills and ink. That had been a gift from the Amazons at their joining, along with the beautiful set of matched, carved daggers mounted on the wall nearby.

Gabrielle's desk, built by her soulmate during her pregnancy, to allow her to work in comfort with it's deep chair and movable top.

The large bed, covered in the woven quilt that had been Cyrene's, and had been made by Xena's grandmother long before her birth.

The comfortable couch facing the fire, with it's down stuffed pillows that she and Gabrielle loved to snuggle in. Xena exhaled as she sank down onto it, letting her elbows rest on her knees, and lacing her fingers together.

She'd never expected to have any of this.

If this war came, the chances were overwhelming that she'd lose it all.  She looked around. They were just things, right? Things can be replaced.

She stood and crossed the room again, standing before the full length mirror that reflected back a dark shadow of herself to her. No. She met her own eyes in the mirror. They were more than things… they represented a wonderous, miracle she'd hardly believed had been possible.

"I'm not giving this up." The reflection in the mirror warned softly. Xena let the words fade away, then she turned deliberately away and unhooked the straps on her leathers, letting them fall from her and stepping out of them, then pulling an old, soft shirt from the chest of drawers and pulling it on over her head, letting the folds fall over her body and settle cool against her skin. Then she moved into the cleaning room, and set the leathers down on the small worktable there, intending to clean them the next day. She added her boots to the pile and stretched, lifting her hands over her head and catching the doorframe as she passed through it, hearing her shoulders pop into place with a dull snap. "Ow."

Dori looked up at her, sucking a finger contentedly. "Boo."

"Uh huh." Xena agreed, picking her daughter up and sitting down on the couch, putting her legs up and leaning back on the sturdy, cushioned arm. "Boo.. I'm pretty scary, huh?"

The baby crawled up her chest and pulled at one of the laces on her shirt. "Gabu."

Xena smoothed the soft, dark hair on the baby's head. "There's a bad guy out there, Dori." She murmured. "And he doesn’t like me at all."

"Bck."

"No… he doesn't.. and I'm going to fight him, so I can make it safe for you, and for grandma, and for mommy, okay?"

Dori looked up at her. "Grama."

"Yeah.. grandma, and Uncle Toris.. and Aunt Gran… the bad man's gonna hurt all of them if I don't stop him."  Xena picked up a tiny hand, and examined it, her brow tensed in thought. Finally, she sighed. . "Dori.. I didn't want you to know about this part of me."  She told the baby sadly. "I swear it."

Trusting green eyes followed hers. "Goo." Dori chewed on one of her playmate's fingers, squirming a little higher on Xena's chest and hiccupping.

The warrior traced a tiny brow. "I'll always be your Boo, okay? No matter what?"

"Boo." Dori repeated contentedly, with another little hiccup. Her eyes closed and she released the lace she'd been pulling, closing her fingers on Xena's shirt instead.

Xena put a hand protectively over the baby, and turned her gaze to the fire, losing herself in it's hypnotic flames.

**********************************************

Gabrielle pushed the door to the kitchen open, and peeked in side. "Hi mom." She smiled, as Cyrene turned, and motioned her in.

"C'mere, cutie." The innkeeper stated, putting a spoon down. She waited for Gabrielle to cross over to her, then she gently pulled the bard into a warm hug. "Welcome home."

The bard returned the hug, and exhaled softly. "Thanks, mom." She released the older woman. "And thanks for helping out my family."

Cyrene laid a compassionate hand on Gabrielle's cheek. "Honey, I'm so sorry about your father." She waited, as the bard dropped her gaze to the floor. "I… know… you had mixed feelings about him, but I'm sure it still hurts."

"But I didn't… " The bard admitted softly. "Not anymore… mom, I'd forgiven him, and I never told him that." She shook her head slowly. "You'd have thought I'd learned better…you don't hold things back like that.. waiting for a.. a right time."  Her lips tightened. "You don’t' always get a second chance."

"Now.. Gabrielle." Cyrene put both hands on the bard's shoulders, firmly. "Don’t go down that path… there's nothing there but pointless heartache. Believe me.. I know." Her voice gentled as she saw the bard swallow. "And it's a natural human thing we're talking about here… you know, there are things I have in my heart that I need to say to Xena.. that I haven't found the strength to say yet."

Startled green eyes lifted to hers.

"And I know..that it may be that I might not get the chance." Cyrene stated quietly. "Your father knew you loved him."

Silence.

"Did he?" There was a touch of wonder in Gabrielle's voice.

"He did… because Xena told him so." The innkeeper responded. "And he knew that was the only reason she let him live… so he believed her."

The bard's jaw dropped a little and she staggered back a step. "She never told me that."

Cyrene sighed. "No.. she never said.. but your father did.. when I visited after your sister's wedding." She took Gabrielle's hand and chafed it. "You know, she's very protective of you, honey."

A long, quiet sigh. "I know."  So. Gabrielle felt a gentle relief flood over her. "Thanks, mom."

"Don't thank me." Cyrene smiled. "And where is my daughter, anyway? We're looking to serve dinner in there.. Toris isn't back yet, but.."

Gabrielle ran a hand through her hair. "She's back at our place… I kinda promised I'd get her out of having to come over here. She's really exhausted.. enough for her to say something to me."

Cyrene blinked. "Goodness."

"Mm.. so I said I"d get some of whatever you have, and bring it back.. and I wanted to check on how my family was doing."

The innkeeper nodded. "All right… I put your mother in Toris' old room, and your sister is up on the second floor, in the back, in that big double size room on the left hand side." She gave the bard a gentle push. "Go see them, and I'll have something ready for you to take back when you're done."

A nod. "Thanks." Gabrielle squeezed her hand. "I'm going to tuck her into bed, and make sure she gets a good night's rest… tomorrow's going to be rough."

Cyrene's lips compressed into a grim line. "It's that bad, eh?"

"Yes…and we don't have much time." The bard confirmed. "I'm going to start sending out messages in the morning… I just hope we can get enough troops together."

"Troops?"

Gabrielle nodded. "An army.. to fight what's coming."

Cyrene looked truly shocked. "Lead by Xena?"

"Yes."

The innkeeper sat down on the edge of the worktable abruptly, and remained silent for a long instant. "By all the gods." She finally murmured.

Gabrielle put a hand on her arm. "Cyrene.. it's not like it was then… she's not the same person."

A soft sigh, as the older woman gazed at her. "I wasn't worried about that, Gabrielle…it was just that I've just gotten my little girl back…. I'd hate to lose her again." She got up and went to the fire, stirring her pot with her back turned to the bard. "Go on… let me get this finished."

Gabrielle recognized the brusque gruffness for what it was, having lived with the woman's daughter for so many years, and she quietly left, closing the kitchen door behind her as she made her way down the corridor.  She knocked on the door to Toris' old room, and heard a soft voice answer.

"Mother?" Gabrielle slid the door open and looked inside. Hecuba was sitting in the comfortable chair by the fire, a glass of what smelled like mulled cider in her hands.

"Come in, Gabrielle." Her mother sighed, looking tired, but not nearly as distraught as she had been. "I'm glad you stopped by.. I know you must be tired…it was such a long day for you."

"For everyone." The bard admitted, sitting down in the chair opposite her mother and glancing around. "Is this all right for you?"

Hecuba gazed wearily at her. "Of course.. it's .. goodness, Gabrielle…it's fine."  She took a sip of her cider. "Cyrene has been wonderful… and very kind."

Gabrielle felt very awkward, unsure of what to say. "She's always been really nice to me, too." She murmured. "When I first came back here… with Xena, I was… really nervous, and uncomfortable.. but she made me feel like I belonged here."

"She's a very sensible person." Hecuba stated. "I like her very much." She stopped speaking, and cleared her throat. "It has been a long day."

The bard took the hint. "Let me let you get some dinner and sleep… I'm taking some back to our place." She stood up "Maybe we can talk tomorrow." She sighed inwardly, recalling the strained relations during her last visit home, and realized it was going to take time to rebuild her relationship with her mother. "Let me know if you need anything."

Hecuba looked at her. "Thank you, Gabrielle."

The bard paused, with her hand on the doorway, meeting her mother's eyes. "I'm sorry about da."

Hecuba looked suddenly very small, and very lost in the spacious room. "So am I." She murmured. "The gods know it was never easy with him, but…" She looked around the room, and exhaled. "It's so quiet now."

Gabrielle was hit suddenly with a stark, overwhelming memory of  that quiet loneliness. "Yes.. I know." She paused, awkwardly, remembering that long, silent trek down the mountain, and how empty she'd felt.  The first night she'd spent alone, she'd cried until she'd gotten sick, and then retched until she was so exhausted, she couldn’t do anything other than lie curled in a ball, gasping, praying to the gods that the next time she'd squeezed her eyes open, that damn casket would be gone.

They hadn't listened.

Gabrielle took a breath and crossed the room again, kneeling beside her mother, and surprising Hecuba with a hug. . "I do know what that feels like."

Her mother returned the hug, after a moment's stiff response, and patted her back. "Thank you, Gabrielle… and… I am so glad you happened by.. I don’t' know what I would have done if you hadn't." She murmured. "There would have been nothing left of us."

The bard nodded, not letting her go. "I'm so glad too." She finally exhaled, and backed off, leaving her hands on her mother's arms. "I’m glad you're here."

Hecuba tentatively reached up and touched her cheek. "Get some rest, daughter."

Gabrielle nodded, and stood. "You too." She walked back to the door and slipped through it, glancing behind her and giving her mother a smile, before she went on her way.

*************************************************

It had taken a while before she'd gotten through talking to Lila, and returned to the kitchen to retrieve the basket Cyrene had waiting. "Thanks, mom." Gabrielle sighed, as she tucked the handle around one arm.

"I put some of those honey cakes in there.. you make sure she shares." The innkeeper gave her an indulgent look. "And you two get a good night's rest, hear?"

A nod. "We will… thanks." The bard ducked out the back door, avoiding the now noisy crowd in the main room and headed across the courtyard, shivering a little in the cold wind.  She broke into a trot as she reached the cabin, and bounded up the stairs, pulling open the door and getting inside the cabin's comforting warmth quickly. "Brr."

"Chilly out there?" A slow, quiet voice answered.

"You bet." Gabrielle put the basket down on the table and smiled, spotting her soulmate reclining on the couch, with Dori snoozing on her chest, the baby's arms and legs sprawled over her in blissful abandon. "That is so cute."

"Mm." Xena smoothed the dark hair down and smiled at her tiny resident. "She is, isn't she?" She looked up. "How are things over there?" The time alone with Dori had allowed her to relax, and she felt a lot more peaceful than she had before her partner had left.

Gabrielle perched on the couch arm, and riffled Xena hair affectionately. "More or less okay… my mother's having a tough time.. but I think mom really helped there. Lila's pretty shaken up, though."

Pale blue eyes gazed up at her. "How are you doing?"

The bard hesitated, then nodded quietly. "I'm okay…it's going to take a while, though.. I need to think about some things."

"Mm… how about dinner, for a start?" Xena replied, cocking her head. "I can hear your stomach rumbling from here." She rubbed her knuckles against the soft skin under the bard's shirt. "Whatcha got?" She slid over on the couch, swinging her feet down, and patted the warm cushions next to her.

Gabrielle slid down and pulled the basket over. "Not sure… " She opened the top, and a rich, savory fragrance spilled out, making her swallow in reflex. "Mmm… stewed duck."

"Huh." The warrior's brows lifted in surprise. "Is that herb bread down there?" Ares' ears perked up and he sidled over, putting a furry jaw on Xena's knee.

The bard broke off a bit of the warm loaf and dunked it in one of the two stone crocks of stew Cyrene had provided. Then she lifted it and offered it to her soulmate. "Here."

Xena took a bite, and chewed it, savoring the tasty flavor. "Hmm." She was suddenly aware of being hungry, for the first time that day. "More?"

Gabrielle smiled, and divided up their portions, carefully putting down Xena's so she could eat it one handed, her other hand curled around Dori's sleeping body. They ate in friendly silence, occasionally trading mouthtfuls and the odd kiss while the fire burned cheerfully in the fireplace.

"I told mom a little of what was going on." Gabrielle finally said, sipping on her cup of ale.

"Ah." Xena was working on her second mug, and she chewed the lip of it pensively. "She say anything?"

Gabrielle studied her out of the corner of her eyes. "She's a little scared." The bard admitted quietly.

"Of me? I'm not surprised." Xena's voice was even, and affected an unconcern her partner knew damn well she wasn't feeling.

Oh, Xena. "No.. afraid for you." Gabrielle corrected her, draping an arm over her shoulder. "Afraid for all of us, really.. but she said she doesn't want to lose her little girl." She tangled her fingers in the dark hair, and tugged it gently. "I think she's really gotten used to having you around again."

A faint, hesitant smile crossed the warrior's face. "I was just thinking before… about how hard it was for me to believe how used to this place I'd gotten to be." The blue eyes searched the room, then pinned themselves on Gabrielle's face. "And how much I'd miss it if it were gone." She leaned into the bard's touch. "Crazy, huh?"

Gabrielle thought of the charred husk of what had been her birthplace. "Not at all." She scratched the warrior's neck gently. "Close your eyes."

A dark brow hiked.

"C'mon." The bard urged, watching in veiled amusement as the blue eyes fluttered reluctantly shut. "Good.. hold on."  She reached into the basket and broke off a piece of honey cake, then paused. "Open your mouth."

The tanned face tensed a little, and the nostrils flared , but Xena obeyed, trusting her younger partner as she had no other in her life. A tantalizingly sweet smell rose up, and she closed her teeth on the flaky pastry, it's familiar flavor bursting onto her tongue. "Ooo.."  Xena chewed appreciatively, enjoying the nuts and honey. One blue eye appeared, and she peered at the bard inquisitively. "Any more of that?"

"Maybe." Gabrielle grinned, reveling in the comfortable teasing. "What's it worth to you?"

The blue eyes widened and took on a sad, pleading look.

The bard screwed her eyes closed. "Stop that." She peeked. "Augh… do you really think all it takes to push me over is a flash of those baby blues?"  Another peek, which revealed a charming, sexy smile. "Or that cute smirk?"

"Yes." The warrior replied, smugly.

Gabrielle sighed, and offered up the rest of the cake. "You're right." She admitted, brushing a bit of pastry off her soulmate's lips. "I'd do anything for you."

Xena's jaws stopped moving, and she swallowed hastily, taking a sip of the ale. "Anything?"

The bard nibbled a bit of the cake. "Anything."

The warrior's dark head moved to rest against hers, bringing the familiar spicy scent that clung to her skin to drift around the bard. "Can I coax a back rub from you?"

Gabrielle grinned at the request. "Sure." She fed her soulmate the rest of her cake, then took Dori from her, rocking the baby a little before she walked across the room and settled the sleeping infant in her cradle. "In bed with you too, honey."

Xena tidied up the remains from dinner, then padded over to the bed, and dropped down onto her stomach on it, stretching her arms out over her head and sucking in a lungful of clean, fire warmed linen scent. "Ungh." She exhaled. "That feels good."  The bed's surface shifted a little and she felt a draft of air hit her bare skin as the bard slid her shirt up.

"I bet." Gabrielle answered quietly, running her fingers down the smooth, tanned surface. "You've got a nasty bruise here, love." She circled the injury with a finger, tracing a roughly circular patch near her partner's spine.

"Mm… arrow…as we were going past the bees." Xena recalled, resting her chin on her forearm. "Glad I put that extra piece back in there."

The bard ran her finger across a faint, ragged scar. "Me too."  She sighed, and put a little fragrant oil on  her hands, before she started to work, beginning with her soulmate's lower back and working upward. "Wow.. that's really tight."

Xena nodded. "Yeah…I could feel it when I was riding today." She closed her eyes as the strong fingers worked their magic, digging deep into sore muscles and sending a tingle of relaxed warmth through her. "Mmph."  She curled a arm around her pillow and let her mind drift.

By the time Gabrielle had reached the long, sloping muscles at the top of her soulmate's neck, which connected to her shoulders, she could sense her slipping into sleep, the body beneath her relaxing as she finished her task, and spent a few moments simply rubbing her fingertips in gentle circles across the warm skin.

With a quiet smile, she slipped off her partner's back, and snuggled up next to her, pulling the covers over both of them. She let her cheek rest against Xena's back, and tucked an arm around her stomach, allowing a sense of peace to settle over her.

Tomorrow, she knew, would be rough. But right now, there was just her, and Xena, and their sleeping daughter, and the wonderful smell of home around them.

*************************************************

The inn was full to the rafters, a low murmur buzzing against the walls as Gabrielle slipped in, blinking a little at the crowd. She ducked into the kitchen to find Cyrene and Johan sipping cups of mulled cider. "Morning."

"Morning, there, Gabrielle." Johan greeted her with a quiet smile, reaching behind him to grab a cup and pouring the bard a hot drink. "Here ye go… it's cold enough to freeze a cow's teat outside."

Gabrielle winced, imagining that. "Ow." She just kept herself from crossing her arms over her chest, and took the cup, sipping at it. "Crowded in there. "She indicated the outer room with a nod of her head. "Guess everyone's heard."

The innkeeper nodded. "That they have… they're waiting to hear what Xena has to say." She glanced behind the bard. "Is she headed over here?"

"Yes." Gabrielle nodded. "She's just um… " The bard paused, considering how to describe her partner's actions. "I guess she's trying to figure out how to put things."

"Hm."  Cyrene sighed. "I know this can't be easy for her." She murmured. "It's not easy for a lot of us to hear."  She nodded towards the inner door. "Let's go inside."

Gabrielle followed them through the swinging door,  letting it close behind her and leaning against it. The room was full of villagers, with Amazons scattered here and there, and Jessan's tall form visible against the far wall. The atmosphere was tense, and it got tenser as quiet bootsteps were heard outside, and the outer door was pushed open, revealing Xena's tall, imposing form.

Everyone turned to look, and an awkward silence fell. Xena let her eyes roam around the room for a moment, before she moved inside and made her way across the crowded room towards the front, where Gabrielle usually stood when telling stories.

The warrior had considered for quite a length of time before she'd left the cabin, trying to decide what impression she wished to give. She was bringing violence back to Amphipolis, and she knew it, and to that end, her armor and leathers would have given silent support to her intent.

So she'd worn a simple, worn, blue tunic, and her work boots, appearing as she had to them for the prior year.

And still, Gabrielle found herself shaking her head a little. Even in rags, even without the menace of her weaponry, their eyes were drawn towards her helplessly, fastened on an animal magnetism that gathered them in with unconscious ease.

She herself was prey to it, the bard realized, as her body reacted to her soulmate's presence, that little prickle heading up her spine as Xena stopped, and turned, facing them all with a still, inscrutable expression.

Heartbeats. She could hear hers, and almost convinced herself she could hear Xena's, in all that silence.

Xena took a deep breath, and held it a moment, then released it slowly. "I don't have anything good to tell you." Her voice, when it came, was low and even. "Most of you know we went north to find out what was going on… with all the rumors we'd heard about attacks."

Silent nods.

"Well, we found out." Xena glanced down, then hooked her thumbs through the belt on her tunic. "There's a man named Andreas who's assembled an army… close to three thousand men.. and he intends on conquering every square inch of Greece."

A sense of shock rolled over the room.

"He… is ruthless, and smart." The warrior continued, steadily. "He uses unscrupulous methods… he kills without remorse… his men have orders to burn opposing towns to the ground and slaughter their inhabitants."

"Dear gods." Cyrene murmured, in the stillness.

"What are we going to do?" Josclyn stood, near the center of the room. "They'll get here eventually, Xena."

The warrior gave a tiny nod. "Yes, they will."  Xena stared at the floor, very aware of the dozens of eyes on her. She'd rehearsed this little speech in her head a dozen times, but it hadn't helped. "He has small raiding parties that have gotten… " She looked over at the quiet, grim Potadeians. "Almost here."

A low, dismayed murmur broke out, then died off as Josclyn raised a hand. "What can we do?" He looked around. "Run?"

That would be the easy way out, Xena sighed inwardly. Take herself, her family, and the entire town, and vanish southward, into wild areas that Andreas wouldn't bother with. Sure.

But that didn't help the rest of Greece, did it? And while Xena knew she couldn't make that decision for Amphipolis, she could, and had, made it for herself. "You can." The warrior replied quietly. "I've… chosen to stand and fight."

Shocked silence. "Xena, that's insane… you can't hold off an army." The reeve blurted.

Xena gazed at him quietly. "I can't let him destroy this place." Her lips tightened. "But I…I know I can't ask for help.. from… here."  The pain was evident in her voice for an instant. "That's a choice you have to make on your own." She hesitated. "All of you." Her eyes touched Jessan's pensive face, and Ephiny's, then she exhaled, and simply left, gliding through the room and slipping out the door before they even realized she was gone.

The was a moment of quiet, then a buzz of conversation rose. Gabrielle folded her arms over her chest and leaned against the door, watching the crowd and swallowing against the lump in her throat. Ephiny made her way across the floor and paused before her, meeting her gaze for a long instant.

Then the hazel eyes dropped. "I'll start for the village." The regent spoke quietly. "It'll take me… a week.. probably to get everything packed up and moving this way."

Gabrielle studied her. "Ephiny… just because I've chosen to stand and fight.. doesn’t mean the Amazons have to." The bard whispered.

A faint smile. "I know…and if I thought it was a fight for the wrong reasons.. I'd keep them out of it, and just show up here myself." The regent cleared her throat a little. "But it's not…and if it's one thing I've learned from  you over the years, Gabrielle.. it's what the words 'greater good' mean." She sighed, and glanced around. "We'd seen enough on the way here to at least suspect what the news would be.. I've had lots of time to think about things."

The bard exhaled softly, and finally nodded. "Leave tomorrow… I think you should hear what the plans are."

A faint nod. "So there are plans."

Gabrielle's lips tensed into a grim smile. "With Xena? Always."  Privately, she felt a wave of relief, at having at least the Amazons at their side. "I need to send runners to the other nations in the area…they have a stake in this as well."

Ephiny nodded slowly. "Some will come.. some won't… I'll send messengers out as soon as I get back there." She paused. "And I'll visit Tyldus.. but I think that's all going to need your touch.. how about if I gather them all in the village, then you come up?"

Against her will, a prickle of anticipation traveled up Gabrielle's back. "All right." She agreed softly. "I'll give you a fortnight, then head out."  Behind Ephiny's back, she saw Jessan slip out the front door, then her attention was drawn by loud voices nearby. "Let me go see what that's all about." She edged past Ephiny, and moved towards the center of the large room, to the knot of people around Josclyn.

"It's how it started then, Josc." One older man was saying, in a low, urgent voice. " You remember."

Voices stilled, as Gabrielle joined them, and received furtive looks. "It's all right." She'd caught the man's words. "It's on her mind too."

They looked at her uncomfortably. "Look… Gabrielle… " The older man held up a hand, obviously embarrassed. "I've got nothing against her.. she's proved her worth to the village for a year and more now.. that's not what this is about."

"I know." The bard edged to the center of the circle, and gathered their attention. "Look…I understand how hard this is." She studied them. "Trusting is a scary thing… especially when that trust has been betrayed before."

They watched her.

"Xena knows that.. it's why she didn't ask for Amphipolis' help." The bard let out a breath. "Knowing what happened the last time…knowing the legacy she left… she doesn’t feel she deserves the trust of the people here."

"Gabrielle.." Josclyn put a hand on her arm. "We can't help remembering."

The bard looked down, then back up. "I know."

"What could she hope to accomplish alone, anyway?" The older man asked.

There was a little silence. "She wont' be alone." Gabrielle answered softly, aware of the press of bodies around them, as the villagers gathered to listen.

"You'll follow her to Hades' doorstep." The man answered, in a dismayed voice, as other voices murmured objections.

"Probably." Gabrielle agreed quietly. "Where she goes, I go."

A short, breathless quiet followed that. "What about your daughter?" Josclyn finally said.

That, Gabrielle readily acknowledged, was the hard part. "I've thought about that a lot." She admitted. "I guess what's important is that I want her to be able to grow up, in safety.. not having to worry about people like Andreas." She felt her throat close a little. 'And maybe that means she has to grow up without her parents." A pause. "But I'm willing to make that sacrifice for her."

Uneasy silence, now. "But.. what can even two people hope to accomplish against an army, Gabrielle?" The reeve asked her, very gently.

The bard sniffled a little. "What can two people do? I don’t know… two people can… " She took a breath. "Recapture Titans.. chain Prometheus.. stop wars…turn back the Persians…free lost mariners…save dreams…" She paused. "Change lives." Her eyes found Joscyln's. "Fight for the greater good, no matter what it costs."

They looked at each other. Finally the older man put a hand on Joscyln's arm. "Josc.. let's go back to your place and talk.. so people can speak their mind."

The reeve gave Gabrielle an apologetic look, but nodded. "Aye." He led the way out, followed by most of the responsible elders in the village, leaving the younger people, the Potadeians, and a few others to mill around in agitation.

Gabrielle exhaled softly, and sat on the edge of a nearby table, feeling  a lump form in her gut. An arm circled her, and she glanced over to see Cyrene's compassionate gaze looking back at her. "Hi, mom."

"That was a good speech, Gabrielle." Cyrene told her quietly. "Even though it hurt to hear it."

The bard looked down at the floor and nodded. "I know."

The innkeeper glanced around, and sighed. "Look… the militia here.. they won't really be a factor one way or the other Gabrielle, I.."

"It's not that." The younger woman told her. "If Amphipolis turns it's back on her, it's going to really hurt." Gabrielle scrubbed at her face with one hand. "And she's already hurting."

Cyrene rubbed her arm gently. "So are you." She murmured. 'Why don't you go keep her company out there.. hmm?"

Pale green eyes lifted and met hers, then Gabrielle nodded, and stood, twitching her long sleeves straight as she walked over to the door, and passed through it.

"Tis a hard thing." Johan sighed, as he came to stand by Cyrene's shoulder.

"Mm." The innkeeper agreed, leaning back against him.

"Ye know what the choice will be then." Johan glanced at her.

"Yes." Cyrene responded, with a deep sigh. "I do."

********************************************

It was cold on the porch. Gabrielle rubbed her arms a bit as she crossed the wooden surface towards the lone figure seated in the corner. Xena was leaning back, with one foot braced against the railing as she peered out over the gray, dismal morning. "Hi there."  She took the seat next to her partner.

"Hi." Pale blue eyes met hers briefly. "Jess is heading out for home."

The bard nodded. "So's Eph… she's going to bring everyone she can get to the village.. then I'll go up there.. see what I can talk everyone into."

Xena nodded briefly. "Good."  She fiddled with a bit of wood she'd taken from the porch railing, turning it over and over in her fingers. "You'll go with an escort." The blue eyes flicked over her face briefly. "It'll take a while to get messages out to everyone else anyway."

Gabrielle stood, and switched perches, settling on the arm of the chair her soulmate was sitting in. She draped an arm over her shoulders but kept quiet, watching a few brightly colored chickens strut across the courtyard, pecking viciously at the ground. "You know something, Xena?"

The warrior started, having been deep in thought. "Hmm?"

The bard's brows were furrowed. "I'd really, really, really hate to be a worm."

Xena looked at her sideways.

"There you are.. crawling along.. minding your own business…doing whatever it is worms do.."

"Eat dirt."

"Right.. and out of the blue.. whack!" The bard pecked at the top of her partner's head with one hand. "The beak of doom ends it all."

A finely arched brow lifted.

"What do you suppose the chicken would do if the worm fought back?" Gabrielle wondered.

"How?" Xena responded, intrigued despite herself, knowing the bard was only trying to distract her. "It has no arms, Gabrielle."

"Oh.. I don't know.. maybe the worm…finds a way to wrap it's body around the chicken's feet, and trip it."  The bard responded. "Or maybe it figures out how to build a defensive.. uh… dirt mound." She leaned against her partner. "What do you think the chicken would do?"

"Die laughing."  Xena smiled in pure reflex. "Which would achieve the worm's purpose, I suppose."

They both chuckled, then fell silent.

"They're not going to go for it, are they?" The warrior finally asked, looking up at her partner with almost painful openness.

Gabrielle found herself gazing back into those big, blue eyes and trying to breathe against the painful grip around her heart. She reached out and touched Xena's face, the skin warm under her fingers. "I don't know…they went to talk about it. in private."

Xena's shoulders moved as she inhaled, then released the breath, giving her soulmate a little nod. "Well.. two out of three ain't bad, huh?"

Ow. "Xe… these aren't fighters… and they're scared." The bard told her, gently "It doesn't mean they don't love you, and trust you.. they're just afraid."

"I know." Xena acknowledged, letting her head rest against the bard's hip. "I don't blame them…. I just hope they'll agree to trade with us.. otherwise this efforts going to go nowhere fast." She looked up at her partner. "You should be a part of that decision, Gabrielle.. you are Josc's deputy."

The bard smiled wryly. "They know I have a.. persona agenda… I guess…it's not really fair for me to be there, honey." She sighed. "Besides.. I've said my piece already."

Footsteps approached, and they both looked up to see Josclyn's burly form nearing the inn. His grizzled head was down, and he seemed to be searching the earth intently, only glancing up as he hit the steps, and had to climb up onto the porch.

Gabrielle watched his face as he approached, then glanced at her partner, who was quietly waiting, outwardly as composed and relaxed as she'd ever seen her.

A perfect act, and it would have fooled the bard as well, if she hadn't had her arm over Xena's shoulders, and could feel the pounding heartbeat under the skin, and the awful tension in the warrior's muscles.

Josclyn walked over, and leaned against the railing, regarding them solemnly, his gnarled hands resting on his thighs, and his lined face still, and quiet.

He drew in a breath to speak, and Gabrielle felt a tremor run through her partner's body.

"We're yours." The reeve stated simply.

Xena's eyes widened in a startled surprise she was unable to hide, and the bard felt the tingle of reaction down her own spine in response. "Ah." The warrior slowly released the breath she'd been holding. "Good."

Josclyn smiled. "Didn't expect that, did you?"

The warrior shook her head. "No." She replied honestly. "I didn't."  A wave of relief spread through her, and she felt the soft motion as Gabrielle gave her an absent scratch on the back of her neck. "I didn't expect that at all."

The reeve nodded, satisfied. "Aye, well… there you have it." He paused. "Cyrene wanted me to tell ye both to come in.. breakfast is on, and it's getting chilled." He pushed off against the railing, and held out a hand to them.

Gabrielle gave him a quietly grateful look. "We'll be right in Josc… thanks." She watched him nod, and disappear inside the building, then turned her attention to the still stunned warrior beside her. "Wow."

Xena shook her head. "Wow." She repeated, exhaling audibly. "Nice way to start the morning."

The bard smiled, and simply hugged her in response.

*******************************************************

"All right." Xena spread her hands over the map sprawling over the worktable in the hastily commandeered stable. Around her stood the militia leaders from Amphipolis, the Amazons, Jessan, and some of the elders.

And Gabrielle, of course, who was perched on a stall divider, watching with curious eyes.

"Here's the valley opening… there's a short mouth, then it opens up here, with sheer walls on either side." The warrior traced the path with one long finger. "There's a deep water lake here, fed by runoff from these far southern mountains…they're unclimable as far as I've ever been able to tell."

"Mm.. " Ephiny leaned over the table. "What are these?"

"Caves." Xena responded. "Mostly unexplored… some… well, these here have been mapped." She pointed them out. "Big enough to shelter troops in.. we won't have to build temporary camps."

"Nice." Jessan murmured. "Only one way in though.. .that's sort of dangerous."

Xena smiled. "It only looks that way." She put her finger on one cave opening. "There's a clear path through here.. " She traced. "Out this side of the range, to a series of lower steppes that drop down to this outer valley here. "

"Ahh… nice." The forest dweller scratched his furry chin. "Good."

Xena nodded, and braced her knuckles on the table. "First thing.. we need to send a group out there to make sure everything's still like I remember."

"I'll go." Toris answered, quietly. "I'll take ten of the watch…we can check out the caves, and see what we're going to need to secure the place."  He nibbled his beard a bit. "If it looks good, Xena… I think we'd better plan to bring the children, and the elders there." His eyes found his sister's. "Especially Dori, and mom."

They looked at each other, and after a moment, Xena nodded grimly. "Right… good idea.. I don't want to risk any hostages." She pointed at him. "That means you be careful too."

Everyone turned and looked at Gabrielle, who was sitting quietly on her perch. The bard gazed back at them evenly. "I'm a lot safer with Xena."  She stated mildly.

"That's the truth. "Eponin snorted. "Besides, asking you to stay out of trouble is like asking the River Styx to flow backwards." She paused, seeing Gabrielle's raised eyebrows. "No offense."

Xena chuckled softly, shaking her head. "All right, Toris… you take your group out. Ephiny and Eponin are heading out to Amazon lands tomorrow, and Jessan is going to pay a visit home."

"Right.. I'll drop by Hectator's too." The forest dweller stated. "We're far enough out in the outlands to have missed most of the raiding parties… at least I hope we are."

The warrior nodded. "Head everyone you can this way… we'll assemble troops in the valley. One good thing about it being so remote.. it's not hunted out. We'll be able to support a pretty large force in there."  Her eyes lifted. "Johan.. tell any merchants heading out.. we're in the market for supplies, and horses."

"What about weapons?" Ephiny asked, quietly.

Everyone looked at Xena, who gazed at the map, then reached out and tapped a large cave with one finger. "Toris, if you go in here.. you'll find a cache… should still be usable."

There was some uneasy shifting. "Yours?" Toris finally asked.

Xena nodded. "Yeah… not sure how good the supplies are, after all this time, but the weapons should be all right." She rolled the map up. 'That's all I've got for now.. let's just relax and take it easy for the rest of the day."

They exited, murmuring amongst themselves, leaving only Xena, Gabrielle, and Toris standing there. "So." Xena tapped the rolled parchment on her neck absently. "It starts."

Toris walked over. "Didn't know you had a camp that close."

The warrior shrugged. "Yeah, well… maybe there was a part of me that always wanted to come home." She wandered over to where Argo was munching hay, and scratched her ears. "Hey girl…"

The mare butted her in the stomach and scattered hay over her boots, shifting her hooves and disturbing Ares, who was curled up in the straw with his tail tucked over his nose.

Toris exhaled, then gave Gabrielle a smile, before he turned and left, leaving them in the quiet, dusty peace.

The bard waited a moment, then she walked over, slipping an arm around Xena's waist and stroking Argo with her other hand. "Everything's going pretty good so far, huh?"

The warrior smiled wryly. "Oh yeah.. not bad for a couple of candlemarks."  She half turned, and rested her arms on Gabrielle's shoulders. "You know… "

"Don't you even start, Xena." Steady green eyes met hers unflinchingly. "Don't go there, don't mention it, don't even let the thought cross that sharp mind of yours."

Both dark brows lifted. "Y'know, Gabrielle.. you don't ALWAYS know what I'm thinking." Xena told her.

"You mean, you weren't going to suggest I go to the valley with Toris, and help set up the nice, safe camp?" Gabrielle inquired dryly.

"Actually.. no, I wasn't." Her partner told her. "What I was going to say was.. 'You know, Gabrielle…this barn holds some very special memories for me."

Blond lashes batted in surprise. "Uh….oh." The bard found her gaze flicking unconsciously to the hayloft. "Ah.. yeah… yeah, it does for me, too." She lifted her eyes to Xena's, and searched the endless blue depths. "You really weren't going to ask me to stay behind?"

The dark head cocked slightly. "Gabrielle, we're past that." Xena told her, very gently. "I could ask you.. sure.. but you'd never say yes, and even if, by some miracle you did, I'd be a nervous wreck the entire time we were apart, wondering what was going on with you." She smiled. "So.. what would the point be?"

Gabrielle thought about that for a minute. "You're right." She finally said, with a tinge of surprise in her voice. "You know, I lived with that hanging over me for such a long time, it's just so weird to realize…or maybe it was because the last time you did… it hurt so much, I.."

Xena leaned forward and touched her forehead to her partner's. "That hurt me too. I never thought I'd see you again.. you know, I stayed on the deck and watched you until I couldn't see you anymore."

At least, Gabrielle mused, they could talk about it now, removed as it was from their current lives, the pain faded into the past. She sighed, and put her hands on her partner's waist. "We've been through so much together."

"Yes, we have." Xena agreed. "And as tough as this is, there's no one else I'd rather have at my side in it than you."

The bard smiled in reaction. "Thanks." She tilted her head and met the waiting lips, tasting the hint of apple on them.  Her hands shifted over the soft fabric covering her soulmate's body, and she moved closer as Xena's arms closed around her. "Mm."

Xena drew her head back a little, and gazed at her from under half lowered lids, a hint of mischief in the quirky grin on her lips. "Bet I can still toss you up there." Her head indicated the loft.

"Oh, c'mon." The bard laughed.

A challenge. Xena's eyes lit up with a devilish glee and she clamped a hold on her soulmate's waist, lifting her a little and chuckling.

"Xena, now… okay, let's just be reasonable here.. you're going to hurt.. yow… hey… Xena!!!" Gabrielle felt herself lifted up, then the barn was moving around her, and a powerful surge sent her flying upward, into the springy, fragrant pile of hay. She bounced once, then fell back into it's comfortable embrace. Damn. She giggled softly to herself.  Hasn't lost a step, has she?

A soft whoosh of air gusted into the cozy space, as Xena leaped up and caught the railing, then neatly powered her body up into the loft and dropped into the hay next to the smiling bard. "Soft landing?"

Gabrielle laughed, and shook her head in admiration. "You know… "  She rolled onto her side, as Xena settled next to her, lying on her back with her legs crossed at the ankles. "I remember that night like it was yesterday."  She exhaled softly, running a fingertip along Xena's arm. "I was so… I wasn't sure if it was nervousness, or excitement…my insides were shaking."

The warrior cocked her head and regarded the beam ceiling, carved with many years worth of indentations. "How did I feel… " She mused. "I was.. curious…and a little scared, I think."

"Scared?" Gabrielle moved closer. "Why?"

"Well… " Xena reached out and tangled her fingers in the bard's hair. "Sometimes sex changes things… and I didn't want… anything to change. "

"Mm."

"And what if you decided you didn't like it?" Xena eyed her wryly. "With a woman, I mean… that could get kind of sticky."

"Ooo… hadn't thought of that." Gabrielle made a face. "Yeah… that would have been a problem." She propped her head up. "You'd have had to rent me a stud."

Xena convulsed in sudden, unexpected laughter. After a moment of watching her with an indulgent and affectionate look, Gabrielle joined her, until they both relaxed, exhausted into the straw. The bard snuggled up next to her partner, throwing an arm over her stomach. "I love you."

Xena ruffled her hair gently. "I love you too." She tilted Gabrielle's chin up a little and kissed her, rubbing a thumb lightly against the soft skin of her cheek. "And that night.. " She let her hand slide down the bard's arm, and felt her body press closer. "I wanted you to know that."

Gabrielle felt her heartbeat pick up as her body responded eagerly to her soulmate's touch. "I knew." She slipped her hands inside the loose, worn tunic Xena was wearing and touched skin, easing her touch around familiar contours. She leaned forward for another kiss, enjoying the sensation of nibbling as Xena nipped at her teasingly.

"Did you?" Xena unhooked her belt one handed, and slid a hand up against her chest, tracing a line across her belly that sent a ripple of contracting muscles in it's wake. "I remember thinking… I hope I don't scare her."  She nudged her soulmate over on to her back, and felt the smaller woman surrender to her completely, her hands wandering and touching, urging the warrior closer.

"Never." Gabrielle murmured huskily, reaching for her, every nerve tingling with the closeness, and the warm scent, and the need for the slow, teasing touch that was stroking across her ribs, making her breathing shorten.

"Good." Xena breathed the word into her ear, then nibbled around it's edges, hearing the soft, incoherent sound forced from her soulmate's throat, as she lowered herself down, and their bodies touched, bare skin brushing bare skin.  Gabrielle's powerful legs tangled with hers, and she abandoned herself to the passion between them, content to spend their last, quiet day in a place where, in a sense, it had all began.

*****************************************************

Gabrielle lifted a  hand, and gently traced the engraved letters of her own name, in the wood just over her head. It had started raining outside, and she was listening to it patter,  as her other hand stroked light circles on Xena's back.

The warrior was asleep, her head pillowed on her partner's stomach, and one arm wrapped around her body. Gabrielle had no desire to wake her, in fact, she was enjoying the quiet interlude very much, and reckoned there wouldn't be many of them in the days to come.

So why not let her rest? If it was one thing she knew about her soulmate, she rarely slept unless her body was demanding it, staying up after the bard had gone to sleep on many a night, simply gazing at the stars, and thinking.

Dreaming daydreams, maybe, in a waking state where she could dictate their content. Gabrielle glanced down at the warrior's peaceful expression, and found her lips pressing into a fond smile. What do you daydream about now, Xena?

It had been a warm, spring day after they'd spend weeks traveling in the mountains, enduring rain, and mud, and the occasional hailstorm, and gusty winds, and very hard ground to sleep on. She was grumpy, Xena was morosely silent, and they'd both been glad to see grassy fields, and open sky for a change.

So they'd found a spot near a nice little stream, and spent half the afternoon in scrubbing themselves, and their clothes, to get the rock dust, mud, and more evil dirt out of everything. Of course, she'd reflected, not for the first time, a long skirt was really not the best thing in the world to be traveling around in.

When they'd finally finished, and she'd put up a pot of soup for dinner, they'd laid out everything in the sweet grass to dry, and she'd forgone even her scrolls, preferring to find a warm, dry spot and simply lie there, gazing up at the passing clouds.

And so she had, for candlemarks, until the sun had dried her skin, and her mind had drifted lazily, conjuring up some pleasant memories of her childhood, few though those had been, including a romp with Lila at the seashore that she was almost too young to really remember at the time.

Then she'd looked at the sun, and sighed, knowing her companion was probably impatiently sharpening something, or fixing something, or doing some chore or other that she was supposed to be doing, and she rolled over and pushed up onto her elbows, looking around for Xena.

But the warrior hadn't been doing any of those things. She'd spotted her nearby, sprawled in the grass and leaning against a boulder, one knee raised and a tanned elbow leaning against it, a fist propping up her head.

Gabrielle had had to look twice, then blink, and look again before she could absorb the gentle, far off look in the warrior's eyes, so very different than anything she'd ever seen on her enigmatic companion's face before.

Fascinated, she'd crawled closer, thumping down next to Xena as the warrior started a little, and turned towards her, the familiar wary, cool expression descending on her face and replacing the dreaminess.

"Hey, Xena.. what were you just thinking about?" Gabrielle had asked, curiously. "You had this… really intense look on your face, and I could tell you weren't thinking about the usual stuff, like hunting, and what we're going to have for dinner, and where the next town is… right?"

The warrior had made a noise somewhere between a snort and cough. "Nothing. I was just waiting for my leathers to dry."

"Oh." Gabrielle had been vaguely disappointed, hoping that at last she was going to get a tiny insight into the cold, sometimes frustrating woman. "Sorry.. I thought… well, I mean, I was over there, and I was watching the clouds… and just thinking.. I remembered a time when my sister Lila and I.. you remember Lila, right?"

Xena had sighed. "I remember Lila."

"Right.. so, we were outside the village this one time, and there were these squirrels.. I mean, they were great, Xena.. they were all white, and brown, and they were running around together in the trees.. it was amazing!"

"Uh huh."

Gabrielle had gazed at her, exhaling a little. "Oh…well, it was amazing to me." She'd murmured, a little embarrassed. "Probably not to you though, huh.. well.. anyway… I'll um.. go fix the soup."

She'd gotten up and scrambled over to the fire, getting her long wooden spoon and carefully stirring the pot, hoping she'd gotten the spices right this time. She'd felt sort of foolish, and wished she'd kept her mouth shut, rather than bother Xena with yet another in a long series of dumb, babbling remarks. Especially since Xena had been in such a bad mood the whole day.. she should have known better.

A hand had fallen on her shoulder, scaring her half to death and almost sending her pitching into the fire. "Yow!"

Xena had grabbed her, and pulled her back, kneeling beside her and scowling. "Watch it… you're gonna get burned."

"You startled me." She'd told the warrior abruptly, pulling back.

Xena had released her, then sat down in her shift, tucking her bare feet under her. "I'm sure the squirrels were great." The warrior had muttered.

Well, it had sort of been an apology, Gabrielle had realized. "Yeah." She'd gone back to her stirring. "They were great." She'd waited for Xena to get up and leave, but the warrior hadn't, and after a few minutes, she'd glanced over at her, just to see what she was up to.

Strangely, the woman was just sitting there, playing with a bit of bark, that same look of  pensive sadness on her face. "Hey, Xena?"

The dark head had turned, and those blue eyes had looked right at her. "What?"

"Don't you ever daydream?"

"No." Cold, and remote.

"C'mon." Gabrielle had persisted, putting her spoon down and seating herself cross legged next to the warrior. "Don’t' you just.. think of things sometimes? Nice things? Maybe.. uh… " Her brow had furrowed. "Getting a new dagger or something?" She reached out, and touched the warrior's arm. "You were thinking of something, just a minute ago, weren't you?"

Xena had paused for so long, Gabrielle had been sure she wasn't going to answer at all, but then finally, she took a breath in and spoke.

"I was thinking about my brother Lyceus."

"Oh." Gabrielle had felt bad. "I'm sorry.. I know you were really close."

Xena hadn't denied it. "Yeah…." She'd answered quietly. "I was just thinking about some of the stuff we used to do… and one day, when we'd… run off into the woods, and mom caught us bare naked running around in a meadow."  She' looked around with quiet reserve. "Sort of like this one."

"You got in to trouble , huh?" Gabrielle had smiled, tentatively, finding it really hard to imagine her cool, reserved companion frolicking in the grass.

A shake of the head, "No.. Ly came up with some outlandish story and she bought it." Xena had actually smiled. "Anyway." She'd looked down, at the wood chip in her hands.

Gabrielle had chewed her lip, unsure of what to say, now that she'd actually gotten the darn woman to talk to her. "He sounds.. like he was a good friend." She'd finally murmured.

"He was." The warrior had responded. "He was… full of wonder… he had a great imagination.. he was brave, and honest… "

And then those blue eyes had lifted, and looked right into hers. "A lot like you, come to think of it."

Gabrielle had been so stunned, she'd only been able to look at her companion for what seemed like at least a candlemark. "M.. me?" She'd stammered at last. "Um…t.. thank you.. I… hope I can be as good a friend to you as he was."

Xena had smiled a little, and gazed at the fire, then exhaled. "Gabrielle?" She'd said, softly.

"Yeah?"

"About the squirrels?"

"Oh.. um.. yeah, well, nevermind.. it wasn't really that interesting.. I was.. I always just sort of wondered why they were all going crazy, and all that.. I never did figure it out." Gabrielle had given the pot a stir.

Xena had cleared her throat. "They were mating."

Silence.

"W.. what?"

"Mating." Dark brows scrunched. "You know, they..um.."

"Oh!" Gabrielle had felt her face turning brick red. "Uh.. sure.. yeah.. I know all about that.. uh.. yeah. Birds, bees, squirrels.. I got it."

Now there had been a hint of fun in those eyes. "You do, huh?"

"Absolutely.. I mean, sure.. Xena..I grew up in a shepherding  community.. I mean, you don’t get to be very old before you figure out where lambs come from, you know?" She'd still been blushing, and she'd known that..

And Xena had leaned forward, catching her eye and holding it.

"Baa." The warrior had stuttered, making them both laugh, and turning the day into a bright one as the sun marched to the west over their campsite.

Gabrielle chuckled softly in memory, and gazed down as her partner shifted, rolling over and looking up at her with sleepy blue eyes. "Hey, cute stuff."

A dark brow hiked. "Hey.. what's so funny?" Xena nibbled the soft skin her cheek was pillowed against. "You let me fall asleep… we've got so much to do, Gabrielle." She gave the bard an aggrieved look.

"You needed it." Gabrielle replied, unrepentantly, as she reached over and pushed the hair out of her partner's eyes. "Besides, it's raining… and we've got a little while before we need to pick Dori up."

Xena yawned, and didn't bother refuting her soulmate's words. It was far too comfortable where she was, anyway, and she could privately admit that what the bard had said was probably true, since she'd had to force herself to get up that morning.

She gazed up at the fondly watching bard and found herself smiling. "We should be ashamed of ourselves.. rolling around in the hay like a couple of kids."

Gabrielle grin broadened, crinkling the corners of her eyes, and exposing neat white teeth. "Hey… you can make me feel like a kid annnyyytime you want, Xena." She sighed happily, and reached up, tracing the letters of her name with an idle finger. "I remember when you carved this…  I used to lie here looking at it all the time because when I saw it, I realized all over again that it was real." She shook her head and glanced down at the watching Xena. "That we were real… that it wasn't just some daydream of mine."

The warrior scratched the soft surface she was resting on with gentle fingertips, causing Gabrielle to close her eyes in contentment. "Did I figure in your dreams before that?" She asked, curiously.

One green eye appeared, opening wide and lifting it's attending brow in disbelief. "You're kidding me, right?"

Xena smiled quietly. "I stopped daydreaming for a long time." She mused. "Because the only images I could come up with were ugly ones." A gentle sigh, which warmed the bard's skin. "Then I met you… and that changed."

Gabrielle was silent, absorbing the words. She reached up and folded her fingers of her partner's, and gave them a little squeeze. "Wow… I'm glad I could give you that back, Xena... must have taken forever, though. I know I wasn't anything to dream about when we first met."

And Xena's eyes twinkled gently, as she returned the squeeze, and uttered a soft, burring. "Baaa."

**********************************************************

Continued in Part 9

These characters, and boy, are they ever characters, are mostly the property of Renaissance Pictures, Universal MCA, and whoever else owns stock and interest in Xena: Warrior Princess. This fiction was written for my amusement only, and not in any way, shape or form for profit - and it is not intended to infringe on the copyright holders of the characters.

Some of the characters are mine, and the story ideas.. well, who knows where they come from? Must be one weird place, that's for sure.

Specific Story Disclaimers:

Violence - this is a Xena: Warrior Princess story. This is not Teletubbies. Even though there are some rumors of similarities. Some of the violence is graphic, but we try not to dwell on it.

Subtext - Considering that the TV Series just aired an episode establishing Xena and Gabrielle as eternal soulmates, any disclaimer of subtext on my part is really kind of goofy in the extreme. The two characters are in love with each other, and have been for years. You can choose to see them as just friends, but then you might not want to read this fanfic, in case it changes your mind or anything like that.

Emotional Content - this is not one my more comedic efforts. There are moments of humor, however.

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Dark Comes the Morning - Part 9

By Melissa Good

It was coming on twilight, the purple haze outlining the form of two horses, standing patiently at a crossroads while their riders knelt at the nearby brook, taking a drink of water.  The taller of the two riders stood, gazing off into the distance as her companion took a double handful of liquid, and washed her face.

They'd stopped for a break, just short of entering Amazon territory, and to allow Gabrielle to change from her traveling clothes into the martial leathers and adornments of her Amazon rank.

Xena exhaled, as she adjusted her sword clips, straightening the leather armor that covered her body from neck to halfway down her thighs. It was a new set, a solid, inky black that matched her hair, and contrasted starkly against the brass metal pieces settled over her shoulders. She liked the cut, but was still getting used to the differences in the new set, chiefly that it provided more protection to her upper legs and shoulders. "You ready?" She asked her companion, who moved to join her, running damp fingers through her pale hair.

"Yeah… can you help me with these arm bits, though? I can't quite get them." Gabrielle stood still, as her partner neatly buckled the leather decenders and arm bands around her biceps, completing the Amazon garb she wore under a thick, fur lined russet leather cape. "Do I look okay?"

Xena stepped back and viewed her, an appreciative twinkle coming into her blue eyes as she did. "Oh.. you pass."  She dusted a bit of grass from the soft leather bodice, which fitted snugly around her soulmate's chest, then tugged the ornate leather belt clasped around her slim waist.  From the neatly braided feathers in her hair, to the sturdy leather boots, Gabrielle was a very intriguing picture indeed. "I think I like you in leather."

It was almost three weeks after they'd started their campaign, and two days since they'd left Amphipolis. Toris had returned several days prior, confirming a good site in the valley, and reporting that Xena's cache had survived relatively intact, save some pilfering by small, chewing animals.  Now that she knew she had a place to assemble, Xena had scheduled the trek up to visit the Amazons, where hopefully Ephiny had gotten some of the surrounding tribes to join them.

"You sure?" Gabrielle tugged irritatedly at one armband. "It isn't..um.. "

Xena's brow furrowed, as she tried to figure out what was bothering the bard. "Of course I'm sure… here, stop messing with that." She flipped the buckle over, and smoothed it down. "There.." She tucked one braid back and nodded. "All right?"

The bard still looked unsure, and she shifted a little, settling the leather, her blond eyebrows knitting together. She glanced down at herself, then exhaled.

Xena studied her, puzzled. "Gabrielle?"

A sigh. "Yeah?" The bard looked up, straightening her shoulders self consciously.

The warrior lifted both hands and caught her face, stilling her fidgeting. "What's the problem?"

Green eyes peeked at her, with a look halfway between embarrassment and worry. "Nothing… I.. um.. I just want to make a good impression, that's all." She cleared her throat briefly and adjusted her armband.

Both dark eyebrows jerked up into Xena's hairline, then came together over her eyes. One then lifted, effectively communicating her emotions without so much as a word being spoken.

Gabrielle got the message and sighed. "Okay… so, I haven't worn anything like this since before Dori was born, and I just.. "  She let the thought trail off. "Nevermind.. I'm just being goofy."

"Oh." A clue smacked Xena in the back of the head. "Right.. I get it."  She stepped back and straightened to her full height, reviewing her partner with a soldier's eye, biting back a tiny smile at the look of nervous apprehension on the bard's expressive face. Her gaze made a leisurely scan of her soulmate's form, admiring the subtle shift of the muscles under the skin, made more evident from their weeks of intensive sparring just finished. "Mmm."

Gabrielle's nostrils flared. "What does that mean?" She muttered.

The warrior allowed an appreciative smile to shape her lips. "It means you look fine, Gabrielle…relax." She patted her soulmate's cheek. "You do the outfit justice." More than that, she reflected privately, since the added maturity in her partner's face seemed to make the queen's regalia fit her like a second skin.

Gabrielle relaxed, trusting her partner's opinion without question. "Thanks."  She reached out and straightened Xena's dark cloak, lined  with even darker fur. "I don't know why I'm worrying.. they're all going to be looking at you anyway."  She glanced up as Ares came bounding back through the grass, his fur wet from the creek. "Hey, Ares… "

"Roo!" The wolf shook himself ecstatically, thrilled to be out with his family.

"Yuck." Gabrielle held a hand up, shielding herself from the water. "Thanks." She drew in a more confident breath, and eyed Xena. "Let's get going…it'll be dark soon."

"Mm." The warrior agreed, lifting up the saddle bag she'd taken down and hefting it to one shoulder. "With any luck, we'll miss dinner."

"Xena." The bard slapped her on the butt. "Stop that… it's not that bad."

They made their way back to the horses and mounted, after Xena resecured the saddlebag, then directed their steps down through the crossroads, and into Amazon territory.

"I think Dori was really pissed off with us this time." Gabrielle commented, as they started the long assent up into the mountains. "She knew we were leaving again."

"Yeah." Xena relaxed into Iolaus' comfortable gait, recalling her daughter's intense displeasure, as they'd left her with Cyrene. "Hope she forgives us.. at least it's not that long this time."

"True." Gabrielle agreed. "Three days here, a couple days in the village, hopefully, and three days home… that's not too bad."  Their footfalls shifted from packed earth to leaf littered path, and she glanced around, recognizing familiar landmarks. "Wonder how long it'll take them to spot us?"

Xena smiled privately. "Already have."  She played with a bit of her mount's mane. "Two Amazons, right hand side, first tree, second major set of branches."

The bard glanced furtively in that direction, unable to see anything but leaves. "Ooo.. you're good." She murmured., as she straightened in the saddle, lifting her head and gazing fixedly at the spot. After a few moments, the leaves rustled, and two lithe, armored bodies dropped out of the tree, landing on the path with catlike grace.

They stood, waiting for the visitors to come closer, then walked forward, and , as Gabrielle pulled Hercules to a halt, dipped a knee to her in respect.

"My Queen." The first said, a tall, rangy Amazon named Eleena, who then ducked her head respectfully in Xena's direction. "Welcome home."

Hmm. Gabrielle's brows lifted a little. That's new. "Thanks." She smiled at the woman, and at her companion. "I think we're expected."

Now the woman smiled back. "Yes, your Majesty, you are indeed." She replied, with friendly courtesy. "Allow me to escort you… Pernepas will stay on guard here."

Xena leaned back in her saddle, content to allow Gabrielle to take charge, which freed her to observe and evaluate as they approached the village, picking up two other escorts along the way. The place was a lot more active than usual, she realized, and there were outlying camps set up, temporary skin tents in place with a large number of strange Amazons walking about.

As they passed through the ranks, she became aware of the multitude of eyes on her and returned the looks, recognizing intrigue, interest, excitement, and wary appraisal there. Well. They're expecting Xena the Warlord, huh?  Xena felt her eyes go hooded, and she called up her darker side, letting the energy prickle to the surface. I can do that.

Up ahead, she spotted Ephiny emerging from her quarters, two unfamiliar Amazons with her, and Pony striding along side. She suspected these were the two other Amazon Queens the Regent had spoken of, and she noted their skeptical, wary expressions as they regarded the two newcomers. The Regent lifted a hand in greeting, beckoning them on.

Xena dropped her reins as they came to a halt, then put her hands flat on her saddlebow and pushed off, uncoiling explosively with both powerful arms and launching herself up and off the horse, swinging her leg over Iolaus' neck and landing neatly beside Hercules' shoulder, blithely ignoring the starts of surprise from the strange Amazons.

She strolled over to the bard, and  took Gabrielle's reins, gentling the animal as the bard slid down off his high back, twitching her cloak straight as she strode across the dirt ground to meet Ephiny and her guests.  With a low word to both horses, Xena followed, pacing after her partner's erect form quietly.

Gabrielle lifted her chin and straightened her shoulders as she got closer, projecting a calm confidence bolstered by the tangible presence of the tall, dark and dangerous shadow at her heels. She met Ephiny's eyes and returned her friend's smile, seeing the hazel orbs widen a little as she passed into the ring of torchlight that surrounded the village.

The anticipation was almost touchable. Ephiny went neatly to a knee, and raised a hand to her chest. "Welcome, my Queen." She rose, and half turned, indicating their guests. "May I  present to you Aslanta, and Gillen, queens of the river, and the outlands Nations of the Amazons."

Gabrielle studied the reserved faces, then she held out a hand. "Thank you for coming."  They returned her clasp, after a hesitant moment. The bard turned her head to her right. "This is my Consort, and Champion, Xena of Amphipolis."

Eyes all turned to her, and Xena returned the looks impassively, using her height advantage to loom over everyone and present an image of dark, glowering intimidation.

Ephiny let out an almost imperceptible sigh, then folded her arms. "Aslanta and Gillen's territory have been under attack from Andreas' forces.. they've had a number of sisters kidnapped and taken for sale." She told them. "They're interested in any plan to oppose him."

Gabrielle nodded. "Well, we've got a plan." She spoke with quiet intensity, using her bard's voice to carry over the crowd. "Let us get settled, and we'll discuss it."

"Very well." Ephiny agreed, motioning to two waiting Amazons. "Take their horses.. I'll escort them to the Queen's quarters."  She regarded Gabrielle. "Shall we meet in a candlemark in the Council room?"

"Sounds good." Gabrielle nodded. "Let's get started."

The crowd parted to let them through in pensive silence, as they passed familiar and non familiar faces on the way to the small center hut, lines of torches leading the way. They left the two visiting Amazons behind as they cleared the square, and followed Ephiny through the door, with Xena closing it behind them.

For a moment, they simply regarded each other, then Ephiny relaxed, lifting a hand and rubbing her temples. "Oh.. Artemis' right butt cheek.. am I ever glad to see you two."

Gabrielle smiled, and crossed over to her, enveloping her in a big hug. "Hey, Eph… we're glad to see you, too." She rubbed the Amazon's back, feeling the tension in it. "Those two look really stuffy."

"Ungh." Ephiny moaned, releasing the bard and perching on a corner of the table. "You have no idea."

Xena snorted softly. "Amazons."

"Hey." Gabrielle pointed at her. "You're married to one." Her green eyes twinkled gently at her soulmate. "So watch it."

"No..no.. this time, I'm right there with her." Ephiny objected, with a sigh. "I hope to Hades you've got your ducks all in a row Gabrielle… because they're not buying my tune." She winced, as she cracked her neck. "They're wanting to get back at Andreas, but gods.. they're prickly as anything… though.. " Her eyes turned to Xena. "You made an impression just by showing up and being you."  She studied the warrior. "Nice gear."

The warrior chuckled. "Thanks."

Ephiny turned her eyes to her friend. "You too." She whistled softly under her breath. "You should have seen those two sucking in their guts when they spotted you, Gabrielle.. and where did you get that cape? It's gorgeous."

The bard, predictably, blushed. "Thanks…" She fingered the cape, and glanced at her partner. "It was a gift."

They looked up at a knock. "C'mon in , Pony." Xena drawled, smiling when the door opened and the dark haired Amazon entered, carrying a tray and a jug.

"Thought you maybe could use a snack." Pony stated, putting the tray down, and handing Ephiny the jug. "Thought maybe you could use a snort." She sniffed. "Stuck up pair of featherbound rabbitheads." She glanced at Xena. "Whoa.. new suit? Nice… " She nodded approvingly. "Didn't see it in the light out there."

Gabrielle had wandered over to the tray and was investigating it. "Well… " She munched on a piece of root, crunching it between her teeth. "Things are going okay back at home… that valley worked out, so we're ready to get started sending people out there.. are they up for that?"

Ephiny shrugged. "I think.. you know what I think? I think they want to be convinced, but not by me." The regent told her, with blunt practicality. "They're looking for a leader they can throw their forces behind, and not feel bad about deferring authority to."

"Hm." Gabrielle nibbled a carrot, then glanced at Xena. "I think I may have a candidate for that."

"Yeah… well, I hope you got your sword sharpened." Pony muttered. "Cause they got 'show me' written all over their ugly butts."

"No problem." Gabrielle smiled, remembering the hours watching her soulmate driving herself into razor sharp condition, as she used the Amphipolis militia to hone her skills, sending squads of them against herself at once, driving them back with a ferocity she hadn't seen in her tall partner for a long time. "That's the least of my worries."

Xena accepted the compliment with a cock of her head, and a gracious nod. "How many fighters are we looking at?"

Ephiny considered. "Between the three Nations? About two hundred… " She smiled at the surprised looks. "Yeah.. more than I thought, too… it's been peaceful lately." She glanced at Xena. "And Tyldus said to come get him when you got here.. I sent a runner up when word came down you were headed in."

Gabrielle handed her partner a piece of flat waybread, with a chuck of meat and a conciliatory lettuce leaf wrapped in it. "Mm… that's great if we can get them to buy in on the plan.. but keeping two hundred Amazons out of trouble? Oh boy."

Xena, Ephiny, and Eponin stared at her. "I've never been able to keep one out of trouble." The tall warrior muttered, taking a bite of her meat roll as the two other women stifled laughs.

Gabrielle put her hands on her hips and gave them all a look.  "Listen, there is no such thing as the 'Gabrielle effect.'"

"Sure there is." Pony objected, flexing her arm. "And it's hereditary… darndest thing I ever saw."

The bard glowered at her.

"No joke… every damn time I turned around, that kid was into something… opening the chicken coop, letting the goats out, riding on that poor wolf….and all I could think about was all the stuff that happens whenever you're around, Gabrielle."

Xena stopped in mid chew, seeing the sparks start to show in the pale green eyes across from her. "Pony." She interrupted the Amazon. "If you ask my mother, that didn't come from Gabrielle."

The dark haired Amazon paused, and blinked at her. "No?"

"Nope." The warrior finished her snack. "There are double locks on that chicken coop for good reason."

"Oh." Pony mulled that over. "Sorry, Gabrielle."

"No problem." The bard gave her soulmate a quiet, wry look. "Well, we'll just take it easy here for a little while… I'm going to wipe the road dust off."

Ephiny took the hint gracefully. "C'mon, Pony… let's go make sure the council chamber's set up…we'll have a late dinner served in there." She glanced at the bard. "We held them to hold off when we heard you were inbound."

Xena bit her lip to keep from grinning, and turned to lift the saddlebags up onto the large, comfortable bed as the two Amazons took their leave. She pulled out both her kit, and the bard, and set them on the linen surface, then turned as a hand slipped across her back and Gabrielle's warm presence surrounded her. "So."

"So." Gabrielle repeated, in a musing tone. "Are we ready for this?"

The warrior handed her a bit of soap. "Go wash up." She paced over to the mirror and regarded her reflection, running one hand through her dark hair and riffling it into a semblance of order. "We're ready.. you can tell them the basic plan, then I'll fill in the details if they want them."

"I think they'll want them." The bard regarded Xena's powerful back for a moment, then washed her face, drying it with a bit of linen from her pack. The two other Amazon Queens were both much older than she was, she realized, the ginger haired one, laced with silver, was probably quite a bit older than Xena, in fact. They were experienced, skeptical, and would take a lot of convincing, she suspected, before they would agree to entrust the effort with their precious warriors, and sisters.

And in the end, she knew, it would be Xena they would be obeying, despite all her titular authority as the Queen of these Amazons, and her own submission to the tall, charismatic ex warlord would be looked on as a natural consequence of their relationship, rather than a studied decision on her part.

Gabrielle turned, and leaned against the counter, considering the question seriously. Would she, if she had to, choose to throw her Amazons into the battle under Xena's banner? If she couldn't decide that, how could she expect to persuade the visiting Queens?

The bard walked over to the low seat under the window and sat down on it, leaning back and extending her booted feet along the floor, watching Xena as she fiddled with an armor strap. So much of the plan was dependent on her, she realized. Xena's leadership ability, her considerable charisma, and her unmatched fighting skills were the cornerstone of the attempt, and one of the key critical details would be Xena's engineering of the attack and defense, using what would be a much smaller number of fighters against Andreas' three thousand.

Could her soulmate do it?  Gabrielle exhaled. She'd seen Xena in battle situations before, certainly. Her martial skills were unquestioned. But as an overall tactician? She knew Xena had done it before, but that had been years ago, and against a different enemy. Andreas was a brilliant general himself, with a disciplined, well conditioned army, and the tactical advantage over them in almost all areas.

Could Xena personally outfight Andreas? There was no question that the answer was yes. But this wouldn't be a one on one fight, Gabrielle realized, and everyone's lives would be resting on her soulmate's intelligence, and her ability to outthink their enemy.

On that brain, behind the baby blues, that so many people forgot to account for, and which she'd gained an ever growing appreciation for over the years of their relationship. The bard smiled, as her partner turned and lifted an eyebrow at her, and knew the answer to her question. She held a hand out, and watched as Xena walked over, taking it and allowing herself to be pulled down onto the bench.

They regarded each other, and Gabrielle lifted a hand, brushing it against the soft, tanned cheekbones. "I remember the morning after the party… after you showed up here…"

"Mm.." Xena smiled quietly. "That was a scary time for me." She mused. "So many things were happening… and I couldn't control any of it."

"Did you know we were going to kiss each other, when that all happened?" The bard asked, curiously. "I mean… did you think about what you were going to do when we saw each other again?"

Xena leaned back, and spread an arm out across the back of the low bench, inviting her partner to snuggle closer. "Did I? " She considered the question. "I remember, when I got your note, thinking that… even though I didn't think I deserved it, I was going to go ahead and just let whatever happen, happen." She paused. "But did I think, as I was running up that hill, that I was going to grab you and kiss you? No."

"Oh. Well, I did." Gabrielle told her, with an impish grin.

"You did?"

"Oh yeah… I missed you so much.. I decided when I set eyes on you the next time, I was just going to grab you, and kiss you, and just see what happened."

Xena studied her, remembering the moment intensely, the two of them meeting in a driving rainstorm, bodies warming each other in a fierce hug. As she recalled them separating and looked at each other, she could almost feel the bard's arms around her neck, pulling her forward with definite intent.

Just like they were now. She surrendered to the tug and pulled the bard into her arms, spending a leisurely few moments renewing her memories. Then she rested her head against her partner's and gazed into her eyes. "Are you all right with all this?"

Pale eyelashes fluttered in confusion. "This? It's a little late to be asking now, honey." The bard chuckled softly. "Don't you think?"

"Tch.. I mean involving the Amazons." Xena replied.

"Ah.." Gabrielle gazed at her partner's pulse point for a long moment. "It's… it feels really strange, Xena… I know it has to be done, I know we're the right people to do it… and actually, Ephiny made the decision. But I feel…it bothers me to know I'm committing people I know.. people I love, to something that might get them hurt." A beat. "Or.. gods prevent this, killed."

The warrior absorbed that. "I can't promise no one will die, Gabrielle."

A slight nod. "I understand that."

"I can promise that no one will die because I was careless, or because they got put into harms way for a bad reason."

"I know." Gabrielle exhaled. "I trust you, Xena." It was such a simple statement, really, that outlined a concept of unlimited complexity. "Come on… let's go over there, and get this started."

They stood, and Xena carefully arranged her partner's cloak, then fluffed her bangs. "After you, my Queen." She gestured towards the door, with a courtly half bow, then followed Gabrielle as she paced out into the fluttering torchlight.

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Ephiny let her eyes roam over the council chamber for the tenth time, just making sure everything was in it's proper place. "So." She turned to Eponin, who was playing with the feathers on an Amazon mask hanging nearby. "Whaddaya think?"

"Bout what?" Pony turned her head inquisitively. "I think this mask's got fleas."

The Amazon regent scurried over, and looked anxiously at the mask's surface. "What?" She riffled the feathers, reaching up and jerking a torch free to bring it closer for light. "Damn it, I thought I told those featherheads to dust in here.. "

Pony chuckled.

"That's all I need, have someone put this on and… " Ephiny stopped in mid motion, and gave her lover a sideways look. "You better not be joking."

The dark eyes twinkled at her.

"Pony." Ephiny sighed, and lowered the torch. "Don't get me nuts, okay?"

"C'mon.. you needed a laugh." The weapons master objected. "Those two have you up on edge bad… you're making me twitch." She rubbed Ephiny's back awkwardly.

The blond woman shoved her torch back in it's holder and trudged over to the main table, sitting down on it and swinging her feet. "Y'know, I was thinking.. .remember the last time Gab and Xena were here?"

Pony rolled her eyes. "Who doesn't?" She moaned, joining her lover. "What about it?"

Ephiny scratched her ear. "Gab told me Xena always felt like she was on trial here… like everyone was constantly watching her.. judging her.. ."

Eponin didn't answer, but her eyes dropped to the packed earth floor.

"I know exactly what she meant, now." The regent murmured. "I'm glad they're here." She stood up as they heard footsteps approaching, and moved around the table. "Well, here we go…I hope this works."

Pony sidled around the table to join her as Amazons, both strange and familiar, began filing in, taking seats in the large chamber. Their own nation sat on one side, eyes watching Ephiny and Eponin with interest, and eyeing the visitors warily.

The two visiting nations chose adjoining sections in the round chamber to sit in, and they murmured among themselves, falling silent as their respective leaders came in. They stood as the two Queens crossed the room, making it very evident as to where their loyalties lay, then seated themselves after the two women took comfortable, backed chairs opposite where Ephiny and Eponin were standing.

Tempers were prickly, Ephiny sensed. The constant presence of so many strange warriors in the village was making her own people jittery,  especially after overhearing some of the masked, but disparaging statements regarding various things about the place.

A motion at the door caught Ephiny's eye, and she turned her head, only to meet Gabrielle's steady gaze looking back at her.  The bard paused in the threshold, easing her cloak back off her shoulders, then entered, with Xena padding silently a pace after her.

Ephiny held back a smile as her people stood respectfully, holding themselves proudly erect as the two passed the ranks and joined them at the large, round table. Xena pulled her partner's chair out for her, and waited while she seated herself, then took the chair next to her and settled into it, her pale blue eyes raking the crowd with quiet intensity.

Gabrielle folded her hands on the table, and took a breath, the torchlight reflecting off her tanned skin as it pressed against the soft leathers she was wearing. "Thank you for coming here." She began, maintaining eye contact with the two visiting Queens. "I know this is sort of irregular, but I think the challenge we have facing us is kind of dictating unique solutions, and that means doing things we don't usually do."

The bard stood, always more comfortable in that position when she was talking. "As you may, or may not know, we've recently returned from a trip to the north, where we investigated reports of an army massing. "

Gillen leaned forward. "You went into his city.. that true?" The older Amazon, with silvered hair and an intelligent face studied her.

"Yes, that's true." Gabrielle acknowledged readily. Her eyes flicked to her soulmate briefly. "Xena and I traveled there, and got inside the army's garrison."  She paced back and forth. "It wasn't a pleasant trip… we found a lot of people hurt on the way."

Aslanta held a hand up. "How did you enter his stronghold?" Her voice was hard, and crisp, and her very muscular body shifted in the torchlight as she regarded Gabrielle. She was very tall, and had a commanding air, accentuated by the pale blond hair pulled back from her face in a severe cut.

"Well..  I volunteered as a cook, and Xena here got hired as a horse trainer." The bard informed her mildly.

A murmur ran around the room, and Gabrielle could see a mixture of consternation and disgust on the Amazon's faces.

"You went in as common help?" Gillen asked, in disbelief.

"We thought we'd have a better chance of getting out alive if we didn't announce ourselves as an Amazon Queen and the Destroyer of Nations." The bard gave her a faint smile. "And since the whole point of us going in there was getting information, not getting drawn and quartered, we felt it would be better that way."

"Good point." Ephiny stated, rubbing her chin to hide the smile on her face.

"You can't have found out much, then." Gillen stated flatly. "Not from the middens."

Gabrielle half turned, and cocked her head, and Xena stood up. "Wrong." The warrior paced over as her partner resumed her seat, and rested her hands on the back of Gabrielle's chair. "We found out his troop strength, his battalion makeup, his general strategy, and where he's headed next." The warrior's voice was low, but it traveled over the now silent room. "Gabrielle also determined that he's giving his troops some kind of drug, and she was able to break some of his prisoners out as we were escaping."

"And, of course, Xena managed to remove five hundred horses from his inventory." Gabrielle added. "So we actually didn't do too badly." She folded her hands again. "The important thing we found out is that he intends on conquering everything in his path, and he doesn't care how many people die as he does it."

She waited for a comment from either woman, and got none. "I think he's an evil person. He breaks people's spirits… and he's not happy with just conquering things. He wants to own them, body and soul." She paused. "He has to be stopped."

"Wouldn't it be easier just to get the Hades out of his way?" Gillen lifted a hand. "Artemis knows, I"d love to get my knife into him, but I'm not about to sacrifice every warrior I have for that."

"Sure it would." Gabrielle answered quietly, as Xena resumed her seat. "It's always easier to run away." She observed the flinch at the words. "But I've learned that eventually, you run out of places to go.. and then what?" Her eyes met the other Amazon's ."It's not like he's going to conquer and move on.. he intends on subjugating the entire country."

Gillen and Aslanta exchanged glances. "You know that for sure?" The blond Amazon asked.

"Yes." Xena answered shortly, giving them both a chilling smile as they looked at her. "He told me so."

"You spoke with him?" Gillen asked, slowly.

Xena's eyes glinted in the torchlight. "I wanted him to know who he was up against."

Ephiny swallowed, unable to take her eyes off the warrior. The dark energy seemed to roll out from Xena, more evident than Ephiny had ever seen it.

There was a long silence. Then Aslanta cleared her throat. "So.. what's your plan?"

Gotcha. Gabrielle exhaled softly, and leaned on her elbows. "We know he has approximately three thousand troops."

A loud murmur of dismay drifted around the room.

"We know if we're going to succeed, we need more than just the Amazons to help us." Gabrielle held up a hand, then she stood. "But we have to start somewhere, and I chose to start with the best warriors I know."

Eyes watched her intently.

"We've already sent word out… and we hope those messages eventually bring in enough troops for us to form a force large enough to directly challenge Andreas. Until then, Xena intends on using small groups to disrupt and harass him in the field."  Gabrielle stopped with one hand on her partner's shoulder.

"What does that achieve?" Aslanta asked, but her voice was unsure.

"He has no support system." Xena answered quietly. "His raiding parties burn villages to the ground… he has no means of supporting a standing army in the field." She folded her hands on the table and gazed at her interlaced fingers. "If we break up his raids, then he'll have to move his forces out to deal with us."

"How many troops can you hope to gather?" Gillen asked. "What happens when he does come after us, and there are a couple hundred people trying to hold off three thousand? Then what?"

"Then we lead him to where we want him." Xena answered quietly. "And we whittle away at his forces from the sides, from the back.. until it's a number we can deal with head to head."

The older Amazon met her eyes unflinchingly. "With you leading us."

The warrior nodded.

The woman turned her head and looked at Gabrielle. "Amazon Queens lead their own into battle." Her tone was slightly accusatory.

Gabrielle returned her gaze mildly. "Intelligent Amazon Queens know when to delegate responsibility.. and when you have someone like Xena to lead your warriors, you're smart to let them."

Ooo Ephiny bit the inside of her lip, resisting the urge to give the bard a thumbs up. Nice one.

"Besides, I will be there." The bard went on, surprising everyone except her soulmate. "War is not new to me."

Gillen gazed at her for a moment, then she stood, and put her fists on her hips. "You've got a smart mouth on you."

Gabrielle gazed up at her and smiled. "Thank you."

"That wasn't a compliment." The Amazon replied testily.

"Then you don't know me very well." The bard replied. "I don't lead with my fists."

It was obvious, Ephiny realized, that the other two Amazon Queens had no idea of what to do with Gabrielle. The bard was outside their experience, and she'd thrown them both way, way off balance. The regent found herself enjoying the experience very much, after four days of their veiled sarcasm at her expense.

Gabrielle stood and moved around the table, going face to face with Gillen, who topped her by several inches. "Look." She spoke quietly. "This isn't a competition. This guy kills people for no reason. His raiders burn people's homes to the ground." She stepped closer, her jaw muscles clenching a little. "The place I was born in doesn’t exist any more.. and I lost my father to them. So if you want to join us, that's great. If you don't, get the Hades out of here, and let us get on with things."

Ephiny's jaw just dropped. She darted a glance at Xena, who was sitting with her chin resting on her fists, but the warrior didn't interrupt.

The Amazon took a step backwards, and blinked, not expecting the ferocity of the exchange.

"Make your choice." Gabrielle snapped.

There was silence in the room, even the breathing seemed stilled. Finally Gillen's shoulders relaxed, and she exhaled, then gave the bard a tiny nod. "All right." The older woman spoke quietly. "But I want a say in what my warriors do."

Green eyes flicked over and met pale blue, and held for a moment, then she returned her gaze to the Amazons. "I think we can arrange that."  Her eyes turned to Aslanta. "And you?"

The tall Amazon stood, towering over Gabrielle, who didn't look the least bit intimidated by that. "I'll let you know in the morning. " She motioned to her people, and strode out, with them following her in silence.

The bard watched them go, then gazed over at Ephiny. "You want to take this a little more private?"

"Um.. sure." Ephiny stood. "Eponin, can you ask them to bring dinner to my quarters… they're big enough for us to meet in.."

"Right." The weapons' master headed for the door, making a note to add a few jugs to the tray.

"All right…let's get moving." Ephiny told her assembled Amazons. "We need to be ready to move out… "She looked at Gabrielle in question.

"Day after tomorrow." The bard supplied. "We want a chance to speak with Tyldus, and Xena needed to harvest some herbs up around here."

The Amazons filed out, and Xena rose, circling her soulmate and putting both hands on her shoulders. Her eyes met Gillen's and one eyebrow rose in inquiry.

"I"d like to hear more about his camp." The older Amazon stated.

Xena regarded her in silence for a moment, then gestured towards the door. "Let's go… time enough for details later."

They all walked out into the dark, cold night.

******************************************************

They were seated in a semicircle, around a crackling fire. Ephiny had passed out mugs, and poured the honey mead Pony had supplied, and they were nibbling off plates as the discussion continued.

"Realistically, how many people do you think you can bring into this?" Gillen asked, leaning back in the woven wood chair. She directed her question to Gabrielle, who was sitting in the seat opposite her.

"That depends." The bard replied, sipping on her mead. "On a lot of things.. on how far Andreas has gotten, on what's going on with the people we're asking… there are a lot of variables. We won't really know for a month or so."

"Mmph." The Amazon brooded over a carrot.

"I figure we'll end up with a third of what he's got." Xena commented, from her spot near the fire. She was sprawled in her seat, with her long legs extended out in front of her and crossed at the ankles.

They all looked at the warrior. "Why bother, then? We can't beat him with that." Gillen commented wryly.

"Sure we can." Xena disagreed. "We just have to make him think we can't."  She folded her arms. "Keep his confidence up, and get him into a position where he has to make fast decisions."

Gabrielle flicked a glance at her partner, then leaned over and gave her a piece of flatbread wrapped around some roasted vegetables, giving her a look until she took it and started nibbling. "Xena thinks we can use his tactics against him.. by getting the people he's run roughshod over to cooperate with us."

"That could be dangerous." Ephiny stated, quietly. "They could be playing both sides." She shifted in her seat. "And end up selling us right in to his hands."

Everyone looked uncomfortable. "Some will be." Xena stated flatly. "There'll be times when we are betrayed… but I think it's worth the risk."  She took a halfhearted bite out of her meal and chewed it, swallowing it hastily with a mouthful of mead. "I think Andreas plans to beat the countryside down.. then when he's ready to make his move, he'll take along a supply train, and use his base to keep him in food and gear." She nibbled another bite off the bread. "There's a huge stockpile there."

"Speaking of stockpiles…" Ephiny leaned forward, resting her elbows on her knees. "We can keep a cache up here… not that we're a fortress, but this high up in the mountains is tough for an army to take." She glanced at Gillen. "Your people are welcome to shelter here."

The Amazon leader considered that. "We don't mix well, but I'll see." She turned her gaze on Xena. "Aslanta… she's a skeptic."

The warrior's brow lifted in wry irony.

"She got her position by fighting for it…she doesn’t follow easily." Gillen commented. "Not without some proving."

Gabrielle sighed, and rolled her eyes, watching the wicked grin flicker on and off her partner's face. "Can I ask something?" She broke in. "We're all mature, intelligent women, right?"

Everyone looked at her, then the visiting Amazon muffled a smile. "Some of us more so than others." She remarked dryly, eyeing the young woman across the carpet from her.

"It's not my fault I learned fast." Gabrielle shot back. "But what I was going to say was.. why do mature, intelligent, rational women have to beat the crap out of each other in order to get anything done?" She waved her arms. "I don't get it…can't we just talk about things, instead of going out and whacking at each other with a stick?"

The other women glanced at each other after this outburst.

"Someone, please.. tell me why it always has to come down to who's the strongest?" Gabrielle finished quietly.

Pony cleared her throat. "Ah.. because it's fun?"  She supplied earnestly.

The bard sighed, and closed her eyes, holding back a laugh.

The rest didn't, and a chuckle made it's way around the room. "It's a natural thing." Xena finally said, in her shadowed corner. "It's the way of nature, Gabrielle.. you know that. You’ve seen it yourself.. weren't you watching the hens the other day with Dori? They've got a pecking order."

"We…are… not… chickens." Her soulmate stated, pointing a finger at her.

"Well, did you inherit your title, then?" Gillen asked. "I, like Aslanta, had to fight for mine."

"Long story." Ephiny, Eponin, Xena, and Gabrielle all muttered simultaneously, then looked at each other.

"That doesn't matter, anyway." Gabrielle went on. "I was serious.. we have to all work together. What point does it make, if someone can beat another person? That's not going to win this for us."  She gazed at them, a furrow appearing in her brow. "Let's say tomorrow… that Aslanta decides she won't join us until every one of her people gets to take shot at.. " She paused. "Well, let's say Xena here. What's that going to prove?"

There was a little silence. "That she can kick their butts?" Pony ventured, hesitantly.

A deep, soulful sigh. "Besides that." Gabrielle groaned. "You're missing the point… why should someone have to be beaten before they'll follow another one of us?" She stood, and paced across the rug. "We're not animals.. we're intelligent people… why can't we just decide that we're going to do this, because it's the right thing to do, and leave all the centaur poop and ego tail waving out of it?" Her voice was quietly sincere. "We should save our fighting for Andreas. We're going to need all the strength we have for that.. it's so senseless to use it against each other."

Xena stood, and walked to the fireplace, leaning against it and gazing into the flames. "Gabrielle… " She exhaled, and paused a moment. "What you're saying is right… we al know that." She turned, and regarded her soulmate quietly. "But it ignores a basic fact of human nature.. and that's the fact that we are animals, deep down."

"I don’t' belive that." The bard snapped.

"I know." Xena replied, with a touch of sadness. "But anyone who is brought up in a warrior society.. like the Amazons are, becomes used to challenging anyone wanting authority, because only people who deserve it, who earn it.. should be given in when you have to lead other people into bloodshed."

Gabrielle paced forward, meeting her eyes. "So.. does that mean you don't trust me to lead?" She put her hands on her hips. "Because I've never faced that kind of challenge."

"Yes you have." Xena objected.

"No.. you have.. in my name." Her soulmate corrected her softly. "And you know I couldn't possibly, in a million years beat you in any kind of combat, Xena… does that mean you wouldn't follow me into battle?"

Ephiny watched, in utter fascination, this dance between two people, two wills so powerful they could only find solace in each other. A sideways glance told her Gillen was equally intent on the two women, her hands wrapped around the chair arms, pulling her forward a bit.

"Does it?" Gabrielle repeated the question, her voice dropping a little.

Xena's face was half in shadow, half in firelight, still save the flickering captured in her pale blue eyes. After a long moment, the well shaped nostrils flared. "There are different kinds of strength, Gabrielle… not all of them physical." Xena replied. "I would follow you to Hades, and back, and you know it.. but that's because I know you.. and I know your heart."  She took a step forward, and put a hand on her partner's shoulder. "Given time, everyone would.. and you could lead them that way. "

Gabrielle gave her a stubborn look, and lifted her jaw, tightening it firmly. "Well, then they're going to have to learn fast, because I am not going to sit here and put up with that 'I'm tougher than you are' horse poop."

Xena sighed.

"You know I'm right." Her soulmate pressed the issue. "We have to learn to work together, Xena… if we can't even work with each other, what chance do we have when we've got not only Amazons, but centaurs, and the gods only know what else to deal with?"

Was she right? Xena blinked, perplexedly. Gabrielle did have a point… the question was, would she be given the time to prove it? The warrior gazed into the stubborn green eyes facing her and gave the shoulder a little squeeze. "We'll try it your way."

Gabrielle's brows lifted slightly in reaction, not quite expecting so ready an agreement. "Okay." She let out a held breath, then nodded, and turned, going back to her chair. "Now.. where were we?"

Gillen sat back in her chair, evidently very intrigued. "You seem very confident in your abilities." She commented, giving Xena a curious look.

The warrior resumed her seat, and picked up a mug, taking a sip before she turned her gaze on the visiting Amazon queen. "I am." She replied simply, reveling privately in the restored truth of that statement.

"Mm." The thoughtful, hooded eyes watched her. "So it seems."

And exactly what, Gabrielle wondered, watching the woman warily, did she mean by that?

*********************************************

The walked across the now relatively quiet courtyard, seeing only the occasional dark form gliding by as they approached the Queen’s quarters.  Gabrielle tucked a hand inside her partner’s elbow and stifled a yawn. “That was weird.”

“Mm?” Xena glanced over at her, having been deep in her own thoughts. “What was?”

“That attitude… I’m not sure I can read her.” The bard admitted softly. “But it was giving me the creeps. What about you?”

“What about me?” Xena answered. “I thought she was all right… a little aloof.”

“She didn’t start your cootie net flapping?” The bard inquired.

The warrior stopped short. “My what?”

“Your cootie net.. you  know, the feeling you get when things are creepy?” Gabrielle teased her. “Didn’t you call it that when you were a kid?”

Xena simply stared at her.

“Hmm.. different decade, I guess.” The bard backslapped her in the belly, and continued on towards her quarters, with Ares trotting happily at her heels.

“Cootie net?” Xena scratched her ear, then shook her head and ambled after the smaller woman. They paused as they got to the door, and the two Amazons stationed outside straightened to attention. She gave them a look, recognizing two of the more experienced fighters in the village, and wondered what that was all about. “Evening.”

“Hi guys.” Gabrielle paused, as she reached the door. “You need something?”

The older of the two ducked her head respectfully. “Ephiny stationed us here.. to guard you, your Majesty.”

One blond eyebrow perked up. “Um.. “  Gabrielle jerked her head faintly towards Xena. “I think I’m fine… you can go to bed.”

“Um… “ They looked at each other. “But she said….”

Ares sat down and wrapped his tail around his feet, licking his chops. “Roo?” He glanced up at Xena hopefully, and the warrior dug a buscuit from her pouch and gave it to him.

“Look.” Gabrielle took them by the elbow, and drew them aside. “Xena’s a… really light sleeper… and she sometimes sort of reacts to things before she’s really awake… so if there’s any noise.. or talking.. or moving around out here, you could be in trouble, you know?”

“Ah.” The younger one said.

“So.. g’wan, and tell Ephiny I said thanks, but I’m perfectly safe.” The bard gave them a nudge. “Really.”  She looked at them, and saw the crestfallen faces, and sighed. “Um…hang on.” She walked back over to where Xena was lounging, a look of wry amusement on her face. “Do you care if they stick around out here?”

The blue eyes twinkled in the dim light. “Do you care if they imitate your giggling if I tickle you later?”  Even in the gloom, she could see Gabrielle blush, and she chuckled a little. “Or those cute little noises you make when I mmfph.” Xena found a hand cover her mouth, and she playfully nibbled the palm.

“I get the point.” The bard muttered. "But they're making those disappointed Amazon faces, Xena.. you know I can't cope with those." She paused. "Oo."

Xena left off her interested exploration of her partner's skin. "Okay… okay.. have em stand by the torches.. that'll give us some space, and make em happy."

Gabrielle measured the distance with her eyes, then  gave her partner's armor a playful tug. "Thanks." She returned to the two Amazons, and Xena pushed the door open, following Ares inside.

The room was as they left it, but Xena stiffened, her instincts reacting as she sensed something out of place. She turned slowly, cupping her ears and flaring her nostrils, eyes searching through the dim light to find whatever had touched off her warning signals.

Gabrielle entered, and froze as she saw the suddenly raised hand, pressing her body back against the wall quickly, and remaining silent. Her eyes studied her partner, who was standing in the center of the hut, very still, save the flickering motions of her eyes.

Was it a sound?" Xena concentrated, sifting through the soft motion of the wind against the thatch, and the rhythmic creak of the wood that made up the building. No. A smell? She breathed in lungful of air, eliminating the dusty scent of dried leaves, and the packed earth of the floor, and the scent of linen and wax.

Ah. "Someone's been in here." She murmured softly, identifying the fleeting, almost unpleasant smell of musky perspiration whoever it had been had left.

"An Amazon?" Gabrielle asked, seriously.

Xena picked the torch up from it's sconce in the center support and crouched, moving her hand in a circle and studying the ground intently. The dirt was packed very hard, and mostly covered in woven rugs but…  a long finger reached out and touched a faint depression. "Wasn't a centaur." Her eyes moved to the bard. "Check your stuff.. be careful. Just look, don’t touch anything."

Gabrielle went quickly to her saddlebag and opened it, scanning the contents with an knowledgable eye. "Doesn't look like anything's missing… you?"

Xena had stopped by her own bag and gazed at it, then she unlatched it and flipped the top open, studying it for a moment, before she carefully grabbed the outside edge, and tipped it over, spilling the contents on the bed. Her face remained impassive as, among the various items, there was movement.

"What is that?" Gabrielle breathed, grabbing her arm, and leaning closer.

"Scorpion." The warrior replied quietly.

"Wow." The bard exhaled. "Are they dangerous? I know some of them are…they always used to warn us off them in Potadeia.. they'd come out of the fields near the river in spring."

"Yes, they are." Xena replied. "They're very poisonous… two, three stings.. probably would have taken me out."

Her soulmate stared at her. "Knocked you unconscious?"

Blue eyes turned towards her. "Killed me." The warrior told her, evenly, as she drew her dagger, and poised it, then stabbed downward in a flickering motion, impaling the creature on her knife point, then lifting it.

"My gods." Gabrielle sounded shaken. "Xena… do you realize.. I mean… could it have gotten in there by accident? Just a coincidence or something?"

The warrior examined the scorpion, now twitching feebly as it died, it's curved, lethal tail arcing in spasms over it's body. "Anything's possible, Gabrielle.. but having it crawl in here, climb up on the bed, and undo my saddlebag to get inside is a little beyond it's talents, I think."

"Wow." The bard bit her lip. "What are we going to do? Should I go get Ephiny?"

"No." Her soulmate answered. "I'll take care of it."  She walked to the door and exited, surprising the two Amazon guards who turned and watched her as she paced across the empty, moonlit square, towards  a gnarled tree near it's center.

She circled it as she came closer, and picked a smooth, open space in it's trunk, drawing back her arm and pausing, then shifting her body weight and slamming her arm forward, driving her dagger with it's captive deep into the body of the tree.

It stopped, pinning the scorpion against it's hilt, buried that far in heavy bark by her sheer strength.

Xena smiled, then dusted her hands off, and made her way back to the hut, pausing at the two gawking guards. "Anyone come near here all night?"

The older one stared strangely at her. "Of course not."

A slow nod of the warrior's head. "You hear any animals making noise…say, over there?" She pointed towards a thick patch of underbrush about six or eight bodylengths away.

The woman thought. "No.. well, I mean, there was an owl there, and we went over to see it. You don't see them that often around here." She shifted her gaze to Xena's face. "Why?"

The warrior gave a nod to the tree. "Nasty bedbugs. " She gave the woman a grim smile, and returned to the hut, pushing the door open and stepping inside, to see her partner carefully prodding all of their belongings with her staff. "Good idea."

"Mm." Gabrielle answered, grimly. "When I find out who did that, I'm going to have them pinned down in an anthill, and covered in honey."

Xena stopped, and regarded her.

"That was directed at you." The bard spoke sharply, her motions angry.

"Indirectly at you." The warrior remarked, in an unruffled tone. "With me out of the way, maybe they view you as easy pickings."

Gabrielle stopped, and faced her, leaning on her staff. "How can you be so calm about it, Xena?  Do you realize what this means? Someone here, an Amazon, did this!"

Xena went over and rested both hands on her angry partner's shoulders. "I know… and it's one of two things. Either someone's in Andreas' pay, or this is a test."

"Test." Gabrielle spat the word, her temper rising. "I find that out and so help me, Xena.. so help me I'll.. I'll.. "She picked her staff up and looked at it. "I'll put this up someone's…"

"Shh." Xena pulled her into a hug, and rubbed her back. "Relax… just take it easy. I'm fine, you're fine…let's just lay down, and relax." She was privately touched by her soulmate's outrage on her behalf, and she tucked the bard's head against her shoulder, kissing the top of it in deep affection. "We don't say anything, and maybe they'll try again."

"But… " Gabrielle objected.

"And then we'll catch them." The warrior whispered in her ear, tickling the surface with her breath. "And we'll know."

The bard exhaled, after considering that. "All right." She capitulated reluctantly. "But I can tell you right now, I'm not sleeping a wink tonight."

Xena rubbed her back, feeling the tension start to relax under her touch. "Okay.. you can tell me stories, all right?" She kissed Gabrielle's head again. "Get undressed." She released the bard, unable to prevent her own, dark anticipation to chase a thrill up her back as she considered the possibility her stalker would try again.

White teeth flashed as Xena smiled, and flexed her hands, welcoming the challenge. Think you're gonna test me, hmm? She chuckled softly, as she removed, and neatly put away her armor, then slipped out of her leathers and boots, and put on a soft, comfortable sleep shirt.

Gabrielle had done the same, and had picked up her diary, carrying it back to the bed and settling on it's surface, curling her body up in a half circle as she pulled her quills out and prepared to start writing.

For a moment, Xena simply watched her, as the firelight slid over the compact form, and gilded the skin across her bare shoulders. Gabrielle's fair hair was tousled, and she reached up, pushing a bit of it behind her ear as she studied her words, which brought a gentle smile to the watching woman's face.

Then she carefully slung her sword over the post near the front of the bed, and lay down, extending her legs out and folding her hands on her stomach, as Gabrielle shifted a little, and moved a muscular calf over the warrior's in absent caress.

Who was it? Xena gazed into the candlelight, considering the question. One of the visitors? One of the residents? She'd hate to think that, but she wasn't stupid enough to believe there weren't hard feelings out there.

Would they try again tonight, she wondered, lifting a hand and tangling it's fingers in the soft, pale hair that spilled over the arm she had curled around Gabrielle's body, and glanced down, to where Ares was curled at the foot of the bed. Would they be that stupid?

She settled back and wiggled her toes, hoping they would.

****************************************

The moon had set, leaving the hut in utter darkness save a sparse flicker of starlight that entered through the large window.  Xena lay curled on her side, one arm tucked under her head, and the other arm draped over Gabrielle. The bard had kept her word, relating one of Xena’s favorite stories, then the warrior had coaxed her into closing her eyes, reasoning that there was no point in both of them suffering through the sleepless night.

So the fair haired woman was snuggled up against her body, her hand resting lightly on Xena’s waist and her breath warming the warrior’s neck, while she watched patiently through the night, her eyes half closed and her senses fully extended.

It had, she realized, been a long time since she’d really had to do that… and she admitted privately that she’d become a little too used to being able to peacefully sleep the night through whenever she wanted to. Gabrielle’s warm presence wasn’t helping, either, since her body wanted to curl more snugly around her partner’s, and join the bard’s dreaming, and she’d had to force her self alert more times than she really wanted to recall.

She sighed, and shifted a little, playing with a lock of the bard’s hair in idle fingers as she scanned the interior of the room for the hundredth time. Maybe they wouldn’t show up… maybe it was all a test, just to see what her reaction would be.

Maybe pigs flew, and danced with chickens in the courtyard. Xena let her lips tense into a brief smile, then relax.

Then her ears cocked, picking up a sound not exactly strange, but out of rhythm with the natural world around them. She focused her attention on the window, watching the almost invisible shadows of the leaves against the frame, moving with the wind’s motion.

A flicker of darkness, out of pattern with the breeze. Xena felt her nostrils flare, and she slowly eased away from her soulmate, tucking the thick quilt around her body and fluffing it. Then she placed her hands on the headboard, and lifted her body over it soundlessly, her bare feet impacting the rug as she let her weight down, slipping to one side and going very still, a hand resting just barely on her sword hilt.

For a moment, it was utterly silent, then, as the breeze blew the leaves back, one set of shadows didn’t move. They grew, and slid, and became a pair of dusky hands, which fastened themselves on the windowsill, and paused for a long moment.

Then they moved, and a tall, lithe figure slipped in the window, straightening  and remaining very still, only the long fingers twitching gently in the starlight.

It was an Amazon.  Xena could smell the leathers, and a hint of smoke off the tall woman’s skin, but the profile wasn’t familiar to her.

The intruder gazed at the bed for an instant, then glided forward, moving with a perfect silence as she carefully placed her soft boots on the carpet.

Xena released Ares’ muzzle, then touched the side of it in an unseen signal as she moved around in back of the woman, her muscles tensing as the stranger went closer to her sleeping partner. She took a step forward, watching the intruder’s every move, wanting to see what her plans were, but having no intentions on risking a single pale hair on the bard’s head in the effort.

The woman stopped, and regarded the bundle of blankets, then she turned away from the bed, searching a nearby table. Xena relaxed a touch, then simply stood and watched, only her blue eyes moving.  The intruder closed her hands on Xena's dagger, which was sitting on the desk's surface, and lifted it.

Xena felt her heartbeat pick up as she watched the Amazon lift the blade into the dim light, then turn towards the bed. Controlling her breathing, she moved, sliding up behind the woman as she took as step closer.

The Amazon must have sensed her, or felt the sudden body heat, because she whirled, lashing out with the knife only to have her wrist grabbed and her body twisted around in eerie silence. They struggled together, the intruder using her height and strength to good advantage, until she came up against an iron band clamping around her chest, and powerful fingers that dug into her wrist and rendered her hand nerveless.

The knife dropped from it, to clatter on the floor, and Xena shoved her sideways, away from the bed as she gained control, feeling the strong body twist in her grip. They slammed into the center post and Xena tightened her grip, gathering her strength and lifting the intruder up off her feet and holding her.

There was silence, save for a harsh breathing, until there was a soft rasp, and a light flared, spawning a golden glow, that outlined Gabrielle's tense features, and reflected off angrily sparking green eyes. "Xena."

"Hmm?" The warrior shifted her grip on the panting woman. "Look what I found."

The bard stepped closer, and lifted her candle, studying the woman's face. "Who are you?"

The woman spat at her, and Xena kicked her in the back of the legs, making her squirm "Be nice." The warrior warned. "Or you're gonna have to be carried outta here." She dug her fingers in further, and the Amazon winced. "Got me?"

"Kiss my Amazon ass." The woman growled at her fiercely.

One dark brow lifted, and Xena released her, whirling her body around to face the warrior, then before she could move, darted a hand up and hit the pressure points on either side of her throat.

The woman dropped to the ground, her chest heaving, her eyes coming out of her head as she tried to breath, and found herself paralyzed.

Xena knelt down and leaned on her knee. "I just cut off the flow of blood to your brain." She commented casually. "And you can either start talking, or die in sixty seconds."

The bard crouched down next to her. "She's right. What's your name?"

Silence.

They waited, Gabrielle counting silently under her breath.

"Bedda." The woman finally ground out, vainly trying to move her arms. "You won't… get.. away.. with this."

"Sure we will." Xena corrected her. "You were caught trying to kill the Queen of the Amazons… if you die, it'll be justified."

"Kil… " The woman looked at the bard's face. "No.. just… " Her face was getting pale, and slick with sweat. "No.. "

Green eyes lifted and regarded Xena. "Let her go."

The warrior hesitated, then shook her head, and released the hold, letting the woman go limp on the ground in relief. "You try anything, I'm gonna break you in half." She warned her.

Gabrielle regarded their captive seriously. "Why were you here, then?"

The Amazon caught her breath, then paused, staring at Gabrielle for a moment before turning her eyes to the malevolently watching Xena. "To prove you're not so hot."

Bard and warrior regarded each other wryly.

"Why?" Gabrielle inquired.

The woman clammed up sullenly.

"Well, Xena… " The bard exhaled. "I think you should just pick her up and put her over your shoulder.. and deliver her back to her camp."

The Amazon started, and glared at her.

Blue eyes twinkled gently. "Is that a command, my Queen?"  Xena drawled.

"Now, wait a minute.. " The woman started to get up, only to find a large, powerful hand on her chest, pressing downward. "Urk.. okay..okay.." She pried at Xena's arm fruitlessly. "All right.. I got put up to it, okay? We've got a big bet going, and I drew the short straw." She yanked desperately at the warrior's hand. "All I was supposed to do was sneak in here, and grab something."

Which meant she wasn't the one with the scorpion, Xena decided, releasing her. If she was telling the truth, and the warrior thought she probably was. She was too young for much else, really, now that she could see the woman in the candlelight.

Hardly more than a kid, in fact.. younger than Gabrielle, despite her size, and in excellent condition. She had a cute, snub nosed face and hair a shade darker than the bards, with eyes a murky, indiscriminant color hard to distinguish in the dark.

And she wasn't a half bad fighter, Xena admitted, recalling the trouble she'd had subduing her. Maybe even give me a run for the money in a few years. "You grabbed a dagger." She observed.

"Yeah.. well.. it was close.. and I knew what it was." The woman mumbled, glancing at her. "Didn't know you were sneaking up on me."

Gabrielle reached over and took her chin, turning her face forward. "Listen." She told her gently. "You're really lucky that Xena really is that hot, because almost anyone else would have just killed you."

The Amazon swallowed, then looked over her shoulder at the watching warrior. "Yeah.. I kinda  realized that when you picked me up like some kid." She dropped her eyes, then lifted them again. "Sorry."

Kids. Xena sighed, and shook her head. "Amazons." She gave her partner a look then stood up, dusting herself off with brisk motions.

Then time slowed, as her senses detected danger, and she whirled, instinctively throwing her body sideways and over the prone Amazon, to crash into her soulmate and take them both to the floor as a slim dart skimmed over her head, barely grazing her ear.

"Son of a BACCHAE!" Xena yelled, tumbling over on the ground with Gabrielle in her arms, and shoving the bard behind the bed, out of harm's way. She then uncoiled towards the window, slamming both hand against the sill as she peered out, her instincts twitching violently as she searched for their attacker.

Running feet broke the stillness, and she focused, finally spotting a ghostly form flitting through the trees, disappearing into the foggy foliage. She glanced up as Ephiny entered the doorway, and nodded at her. "Watch her." She pointed at Gabrielle, then dove through the window, bolting for the spot in the forest.

***********************************

Ephiny moved by instinct, jumping across the room and intercepting the bard as she scrambled to her feet and grabbed her staff. "Whoa.. whoa there."

"Ephiny, let me go." The bard ripped her hands free and tried to dodge around the regent. "She doesn't even have shoes on."

"Neither do you." Ephiny got another hold on her. "Gabrielle, just relax, will you? She'll be right back… you can't go out there in your shift."

Gabrielle exhaled, then reversed her course, grabbing her saddlebag and jerking it open. "Fine." She yanked out a tunic and pulled her shift over her head, replacing in a quick, annoyed motion. "Nice security, Ephiny."

The regent looked stunned, then she realized there was an Amazon lying on the floor. "I…"

Gabrielle sat down on the bed and tugged her boots on. "She's just a kid." She gave the intruder a look, as she slowly sat up. "They dared her to get something out of here.. but that other one… Xena found a scorpion in her bag earlier."

"What?"

"I am not just a kid."  Bedda protested indignantly.

"Yes, you are." Gabrielle told her, pointedly. "And you're a really lucky one, too." She looked up at Ephiny. "What in Hades is going on here, Eph?"

"Now you look." Bedda stood, putting her hands on her hips. "I don't care if you are some Amazon queen, I'm twenty three years old, and  I am not going to stand here and wh Yow!"

Gabrielle swept her staff around in a tight arc, and took the girl's legs out from under her, dumping her on the carpet again unceremoniously. "Shut up." She glared at her. "Or you won't like being twenty four."

The Amazon rubbed her backside. "Wow. You swing a mean staff."

"Gabrielle.." Ephiny paced before the fire. "I'll have this kid taken care of… but did you say a scorpion? There aren't any in this area."

"I'm NOT a kid." Bedda growled.

"SHUT UP." Ephiny and Gabrielle barked back, startling Ares, who hid under the bed. The bard finished lacing her boots, and stood, heading for the door with her staff tucked under her arm. "We can talk later." She said over her shoulder, as she opened the wooden panel and charged through it.

Slamming hard into a tall, warm body that coughed in surprise, but grabbed her, and kept her from tumbling backwards. "Oh."

Xena entered, and shut the door. "Jumped in the river." She explained, tersely, her body half drenched in dew, and bearing scrapes of dark mud, along with green stripes from the leaves she'd barreled through. "Where were you going?" She asked Gabrielle, who had just caught her breath.

"To find you." The bard answered, simply. "Did you see who it was?"

"Wait." Ephiny walked over to Bedda. "Get up… I want you out of here, and believe me, kiddo.. I'm going to be paying a visit to your camp right after I get done here." She pushed the girl forward. "Pony!"

Eponin came running up, brushing her hair back from her forehead. " Just checked the perimeters… nothing there. Eph.. did you.. "

"Yeah." The regent remarked, grimly. "Take this featherless beanhead and bring her back to Aslanta's campsite. Tell her I want to talk to her after breakfast."

"Hey!" Bedda objected. "I am not featherless!"

"Move it." Ephiny growled.

"All right.. all right.. " The girl glowered at her. "Don’t' get your leathers all wadded up like a shrinking shield cover in the rain."

The regent shoved her out, then she slammed the door and turned to face Xena and Gabrielle, running her fingers through her pale, curly hair. "Okay."

Xena had walked over to the side of the hut and knelt, examining the thin dart she'd evaded by the thinnest of margins. Delicately, she sniffed the end, then grimaced. "Nasty."  She stood and crossed the floor, dropping into one of the chairs and slinging an long, muscular leg over one arm of it. "Didn't recognize whoever it was."

Gabrielle perched on the chair arm, and examined the dart. "Wow."  She took it gingerly, and passed it to Ephiny, who had joined them near the fire. "Just someone jealous, or.. "

Ephiny examined the dart. "Not with this." She exchanged knowing glances with Xena. "This stuff paralyzes whatever it hits.. we use it to bring down big game, like large buck, or sometimes wild boar." She twirled it between her fingers. "Stops their breathing."

The bard leaned over and peered at her soulmate's ear intently. "Xena.. that almost hit you." She   reached up and rubbed the minute, dark stain from the surface of her partner's skin.

"Mm.. yeah." Xena patted her leg gently. "But it didn’t… or you either." She glanced at Ephiny. "You wanna fill me in on what's going on?"

The regent sat down, and spread her hands, a look of honest bewilderment on her face. "I wish I knew.. I swear it's been quiet as anything.. just the usual squabbles between the groups.. but nothing like this… you're telling me one of these people is an assassin?"

Xena sighed. "I don’t know." She held out one long hand and took back the dart, examining it. "Hard to tell, but I don’t' think this was a killing dose." She mused. "For me, anyway." She amended, giving her soulmate a look. "Glad I got you out of the way."

Ephiny sighed, and scrubbed her face. "Those guards told me you chased them off." She eyed her friends. "Not that I doubt you could handle anything that came at you, Xena.. but…" She peered through the dim light at the bedraggled warrior, who rubbed absently at a smear of mud across her cheek. "You all right?"

The blue eyes flicked over. "Yeah." Xena replied quietly. "Just thinking." She went over the chase in her mind, through the thickest part of the forest, her quarry darting ahead of her and moving with an almost ethereal speed.

She'd almost caught her, though. Only the rapidly running river had saved that, as the escaping woman dove in fearlessly, breaking the water with a clean, athletic arc, and let it carry her swiftly downstream.

Leaving a trial of mocking laughter behind her, along with a faint, nagging sense of familiarity.

"Was it an Amazon, Xena?" Ephiny asked, leaning forward.

The warrior focused on her, as she leaned back and felt Gabrielle's arm slip across her shoulders. "Dunno… maybe." She shrugged. "It was a woman, that I'm sure of, and she had leathers on.. medium height, light color hair.. very thin."

"Mm… describes a hundred women in the general area." Ephiny sighed.

Xena extended her legs and stretched them, then idly removed a slug from one knee. She held it up and grimaced. "Nothing like a nice run in the forest half naked to wake you up."

"Ew." Gabrielle made a face. "I hate those… did you see Dori with one last week?"

"Yeah." Xena chuckled. "I sure did… she got it from under the porch." The warrior smiled in memory, then flicked the slug out the window with a quick motion.

"Yow!" Pony's head appeared in the window, and she pulled the slug off her face. "Whatcha do that for?"

"Sorry." Gabrielle apologized for her soulmate. "What are you doing out there?"

"Guarding." The weapons master leaned on the windowsill. "I've got a couple of.. " She ducked, peering off. "'Scuse me."  Voices were approaching, one of them argumentative.

Xena cocked her head. "Sounds like Cait." She found a smile edging her lips. "Wondered where she was."

Ephiny sighed. "You know, Xena… I really, really do like you.. but someday, someday,  my dear friend, I'm going to get you for laying her on me."

Round, blue eyes gazed at her in profound hurt. "I thought she was a good Amazon?"

"I will not go to bed." Cait's voice was sharp, and forceful. "Not after what I just heard about people running about the place, I simply won't."

"Sounds like a perfect Amazon to me." The warrior continued, under her breath, earning her a nudge from her soulmate. "What?"

Ephiny sighed, and shoved herself to her feet, going to the door and pulling it open. "What in Artemis' girdle is going on out here?"  She leaned on the frame. "Cait.. I thought you were up in the west range."

"Good thing I came back." The girl stated, peeking past her. "Hullo." She spared a charming smile for her idols. "It's grand to see you."

Warrior and bard exchanged looks. "C'mon in, Cait." Xena called, glad to see their young friend.

Cait slipped past Ephiny and trotted over giving them both a smile as Gabrielle stood and hugged her. Xena contented herself with reaching over and giving the younger Amazon  an affectionate slap on the leg, as she leaned back to study her.

In the year they'd been home, the girl had grown up, adding inches to her slim height, and a layer of finely honed muscle to her frame. She wore her pale, almost white hair in a typical Amazon braid, with a single earring dangling down. Her leathers were worn, but well taken care of, and she wore not the customary one dagger, but at least three that Xena could see, two at her waist, and one in her boot. "Hello, Cait."

"Hello." The girl smiled shyly at her. "Did you catch them?"

"Nope." Xena shook her head.

"Bother." Cait sighed. "Well, I dare say that wont' happen again." She gave Ephiny a guardedly hopeful look.

Ephiny put her hands on her hips and muffled an exasperated snort. "If I tell you to do something else, you'll just come back anyway, right?"

"Quite." Cait answered agreeably. "I mean, I have done that trapping thing you did ask for, after all." She hesitated. "I would like to make sure my.. friends.. are safe."

Gabrielle put an arm around her shoulders. "I think it's a great idea." She ignored Ephiny's look of pained bemusement. "If you're out there, maybe I can get Xena here to take a nap."

Everyone looked at the warrior, who lifted both eyebrows at her soulmate in outrage.

Gabrielle gave her a sweet smile, then glanced at Ephiny. "I think the excitement's over for tonight."

Ephiny shook her head and lifted both hands. "All right.. all right… I give up.. I'll see you guys at breakfast." She wandered out, shutting the door behind her, and leaving them in a peaceful semi darkness.

"A nap??" Xena growled.

"Grand idea." Cait commented. "I like them, myself… especially in the afternoons." She straightened her leathers a little. "I'll just go outside… Pally was going to scare up some snacks, and join me in a bit.. would you care to have some?"

"No.. we're fine." Gabrielle patted her shoulder. "Go on.. we'll see you in the morning."

"Right." The girl gave them a brisk nod, and padded to the door, slipping through it soundlessly and closing it behind her.

"Some night." Xena sighed, crossing her arms. "Wish I'd caught whoever that was."

"Mm." The bard settled back down on the chair arm. "She had a big head start." Gabrielle reminded her partner, seeing the beginning of a grumpy pout. "And boots."

"Hmph." Xena's brows knit. "I don't much like being laughed at." She muttered.

"Honey.. I wasn't laughing at you." Gabrielle answered, in a vaguely startled voice.

Blue eyes lifted to her face. "No.. not you… our friend out there." The warrior replied. "She knew who was chasing her… and she laughed when the river took her out of my reach."

"Oh." Yikes. Gabrielle mulled that over. Direct hit to the old pride, huh. "Well…she wouldn't have been laughing if that river hadn't been there." She stated firmly. "I can guarantee that." She stroked Xena's hair back, untangling a leaf from it.

Xena's nostrils twitched. "What's her game, I wonder?" She examined the dart, still lightly clenched in her fingers. "This wouldn't have killed me."

"No.. but it would have knocked you out, for while, right?" Gabrielle asked.

The warrior nodded grimly. "Yeah…five, maybe six days… who knows? Varies from person to person."

The bard considered this. "Maybe you weren't the target.. maybe I was."

Startled, Xena looked at her. "What?"

"Maybe someone wanted you in a position where you couldn’t help me." Gabrielle replied seriously. "Without you, I could be open to a lot of things… including a challenge."

"Hm."

"Not to mention, the coalition here won't work without you… we both know that. I can bring them together, but it's you they're all looking at." The bard went on. "And we don't have a lot of time."

"One of Andreas people? Here? An Amazon?" Xena mulled it over. "Maybe….but you know something?" She turned towards the bard. "She was dressed like an Amazon, but I don't think she was one."

"No?"

The dark head shook back and forth. "No…Amazons aren't horse people. She ran like a lifetime rider." Xena gazed down at her own legs. "They muscles develop differently… a lot more in here." She rubbed the inside of her thigh. "Than usual.. you walk.. run a little strangely."

"Oh…. You.. yeah.. like a little sort of.. "Gabrielle closed her eyes, imagining her soulmate running. Then she rocked her hand back and forth. "Sort of like a bouncy thing."

"Mmhmm." Xena mused.

"Weird." Gabrielle said.

"Yeah." Her soulmate agreed.

There was a moment of quiet, then Gabrielle laughed gently, as she turned and offered her soulmate a hand up. "C'mon… we've got hours till dawn."

Well, they did. Xena stood and followed her, tumbling in to the comfortable bed and allowing the bard to tangle her arms and legs up, drawing her gently into a drowsy peace. Wait a minute…"Bouncy?"

Gabrielle muffled a laugh, and snuggled closer.

Morning, with all it's complications, would come soon enough.

***********************************************************

Continued in Part 10

These characters, and boy, are they ever characters, are mostly the property of Renaissance Pictures, Universal MCA, and whoever else owns stock and interest in Xena: Warrior Princess. This fiction was written for my amusement only, and not in any way, shape or form for profit - and it is not intended to infringe on the copyright holders of the characters.

Some of the characters are mine, and the story ideas.. well, who knows where they come from? Must be one weird place, that's for sure.

Specific Story Disclaimers:

Violence - this is a Xena: Warrior Princess story. This is not Teletubbies. Even though there are some rumors of similarities. Some of the violence is graphic, but we try not to dwell on it.

Subtext - Considering that the TV Series just aired an episode establishing Xena and Gabrielle as eternal soulmates, any disclaimer of subtext on my part is really kind of goofy in the extreme. The two characters are in love with each other, and have been for years. You can choose to see them as just friends, but then you might not want to read this fanfic, in case it changes your mind or anything like that.

Emotional Content - this is not one my more comedic efforts. There are moments of humor, however.

********************************************************************

Dark Comes the Morning - Part 10

By Melissa Good

"Isn't this splendid?" Cait munched happily on a meat sandwich, as she carefully studied the surrounding darkness.

"No." Her companion disagreed predictably. "It sucks… we're out here in the middle of the night, getting eaten by fleas." Paladia crossed her powerful arms over her chest, splaying her long legs out in the leaf litter.

"Those aren't fleas." The young Amazon rolled her eyes. "And if they are, it's your own fault, Pally.. I told you to wash that sleeping fur."

"You saying I got bugs?" Paladia asked, in a low growl.

"Goodness no.. I've often thought you were bugs, but that's it." Cait answered, leaning back against the tree she'd chosen to sit near.

"What're we looking for?"

"Bad guys."

Paladia rolled her pale gray eyes. "You're cracked if you think any of em are still round here, Pipsqueak…not with your number one supreme warrior in there chasing em down like that."

"You never know." Cait replied, taking another bite. "Smashing sandwiches, Pally.. thanks."

"Oh.. like I made em." The taller girl snorted. "Least you coulda done is picked a spot with some light.. so I could sketch."

Cait gave her an exasperated look. "Really, Paladia…do be sensible… what good would light do me? I'm trying to catch rats sneaking in here.. do you really think they'd head towards the light?"

Paladia grumbled something unintelligible and thumped her heels in the dirt, exhaling in mock disgust. "Are we gonna stay out here all night?"

"Of course." Cait replied, unruffled. "But you can go inside if you like… I'll be quite all right out here by myself."

The larger Amazon rustled around for a minute, then thumped her back against the log without comment. A silence fell, then they looked at each other in the dim starlight.  Cait reached over and patted her friend's leg.

Paladia merely scowled.

********************************************************

The morning was chilly, and Gabrielle used one hand to clutch her cloak about her as she ambled across the misty central area towards the bathing room. It wasn't going to be a particularly fun day, and she decided she might as well start it off clean, and as relaxed as the warm water was likely to make her. Ares trotted at her heels, yawning in the early air and sniffed at the scents coming to them from the dining hall with interest.

Gabrielle sighed, as she watched two of the local Amazons cross the space, carrying small children, and briefly wished Dori was there, finding herself missing her daughter more than she'd imagined possible. Especially since she knew Dori  had resented their leaving again, a guilty knowledge that nudged impatiently at her, and made her wish the sojourn with the Amazons was done, and over.

"Morning."

The bard glanced up, and smiled. "Morning, Eph…how's it going?" She held the door to the bathing room open for her friend, and let her pass inside before her.

"Ugh." The regent exhaled. "You ever have one of those mornings you wish you could just erase?" She stifled a yawn, and started pouring warmed water from the hearth shelf nearby into one of the four large tubs.

Gabrielle joined her, after removing her cloak and hanging it on a hook near the door. "Sure.. who hasn't?" She dumped a bucket into her selected tub, then tugged her belt pouch free and added a handful of scented crystals to the water. "Listen..  I owe you an apology for last night."

Ephiny kept up her trudging, the expression on her face clearing showing she was reviewing the night before, and trying to figure out what Gabrielle had done. "Uh…okay."

The bard smiled to herself. "I ragged you out about the security.. that wasn't exactly their fault."

"Oh, c'mon now, Gabrielle.. they let not one but two people near that hut.. gimme a break." Ephiny scoffed. "I've got them on a garbage detail so foul, it'll be lucky if their own feathers don’t' run screaming from their bodies when they finish up."

"Ew." Gabrielle winced. "No.. I'm serious, Eph… I told them to back off."

The regent stopped, and stared. "You what?"

"I told them to back off." The bard lifted a bucket, and dumped it in with a grunt. "I mean… look, Eph… it's not like I wasn't well guarded otherwise, you know? I didn't want them just hanging around outside the door." She paused, and grimaced wryly. "It weirds Xena out."

"Mm." Ephiny rocked her head from side to side, then went back for another bucket. "No excuse, my friend.. they made us look bad, even though Aslanta's puppy got her tail whacked by tall, dark and dangerous… and speaking of.. where is she?"

"Fixing a hinge." Gabrielle answered, testing the water with one finger, then nodding. "That'll do it… she'll be along in a bit." The bard stripped her sleep shirt off, draping it over one end of the tub then vaulted over the edge, letting herself down in the warm, fragrant water with a sigh of contentment. "Any word from Aslanta?"

"Nah." Ephiny settled into her own tub with a groan, stretching her legs out along the bottom of it. "Pony said they were a little embarrassed about Chickapoo, or whatever her name was being caught and sent back."

"Bedda." Gabrielle supplied. "That's her name.. she was kinda funny, actually…I could see her face when she was fighting with Xena.. and Xe got behind her and just picked her up like she was a sack of oats or something.. I thought her eyes were going to bug out."

Ephiny grinned. "Mine sure would have…and that kid's no lightweight." The regent spent a few minutes scrubbing at her arms with a bit of sponge. "How's she handling this? Must have been a shock after all this time, huh?"

Gabrielle exhaled, and considered the question. "It's been… yeah, it was tough. Especially when we left the first time.. she was really beating herself up… she had a lot of questions… I had a lot of questions…" The bard slowly shook her head. "Deciding to cross that line again was hard for both of us."

"Damn." The regent murmured. "You know, it's funny… I never thought of that… I guess I never stopped thinking of her as a…" She pulled up awkwardly, realizing what she was a bout to say. "Anyway… I um.."

"It's all right." Gabrielle replied softly. "I never did either."  Pale green eyes looked up and met hers. "But she did." The bard paused to swallow the lump in her throat. "Watching her lose that hurt."

Ephiny reached over the edge of the tub, and put a hand on her wrist. "Hey."

Gabrielle blinked, and rubbed her face with her other hand. "Sorry…" She exhaled heavily. "Maybe it's all this stupidity.. after watching that… I swear I just want to slap those women…playing games like that with her….augh."

Ephiny rubbed her wrist with one thumb. "Hey…Gab, you know us." She told the bard gently. "To be an Amazon… you pretty much have to live with being an eternal outsider… we make our own families, and anyone on the outside has to pretty much earn entrance to them."

Gabrielle looked at her dourly.

"I know… I know… Xena's a natural loner, right? She doesn't join groups, she doesn't want to be part of anyone else… the only reason she agreed to be made an Amazon was for you." Ephiny paused, then leaned closer, and peered at her friend. "What in Hades is that on your arm?"

"That's not true.. she fits in just fine in Amphipolis." Gabrielle replied, hotly. "The difference is there, they accept her for who and what she is, and the Amazons never, ever have." She exhaled in aggravation. "And that's a tattoo."

Ephiny's jaw dropped. "A tattoo??? YOU got a tattoo??? " She slapped her head with her other hand. "They must be ice skating in Hades." She scrambled out of the tub and came over, bringing a candle with her to see better. "What's it….." Her voice trailed off.

"Did you hear what I said?" Gabrielle gently grabbed her hand in strong fingers. "Forget the damn tattoo."

Ephiny leaned on the tub edge, and gazed at her. "I heard you." She told the bard quietly. "And I think that at one time, you're right. We refused to accept that. But now is now.. and now is different, Gabrielle. You know that yourself." She lowered her head slightly.  "I want you to know the vote, when I had it.. was unanimous."

Gabrielle was silent, absorbing the information. Then she nodded a little. "All right." She murmured, then glanced at her arm. "Andreas brands his people…everyone who serves under him get's his mark."

Ephiny's eyes focused on the smooth, rounded muscles of Gabrielle's upper arm. "That's not his mark."

"No." The bard agreed quietly. "The man doing it… knew Xena, way back when. He saw my ring, and he put this on me instead." She eyed the softly glinting mark, the hawk's eye winking back at her. "I like it… it sort of makes me feel like I joined her tribe."

The regent smiled. "A tribe of two?" But her voice, and her eyes were gentle.

"Three." Gabrielle returned the look.  "Ephiny, dry off.. it's chilly in here and you're dripping wet."

Her friend chuckled, and  patted her arm. "How could I forget? I still haven't gotten all the green out of my hair." She picked up a folded piece of linen and unfolded it, then tucked it around her body.  "She is a beautiful child, though… you know that, right?"

Gabrielle relaxed a little, tipping her head back and rinsing her hair off. "Thanks… I think she is…she made a new face the day before  we left… the spitting image of that grumpy scowl of Xena's." She ran fingers through her wet hair. "Sorry about the green dye…the weaver was letting that cool up in the hayloft… he really didn't expect her to knock over the ladder, which caught that haybale, and dumped the bucket on you."

"Yeah, yeah… " Ephiny hesitated, then glanced around, and leaned on the tub edge again. "Gab… I've been meaning to ask you about Dori." She lowered her voice. "I've watched kids grow all my life.. and I've never seen one grow that fast, or learn the way she does."

Gabrielle rubbed one arm with a soapy sponge. "Um.. thanks…yeah, well, you know… I guess she's gonna be tall… and Cyrene said Xena and Toris were like that as kids, so.."

A noise interrupted them, and she looked up, relieved to see her soulmate padding through the door, a piece of linen slung over her shoulder. "Morning." Xena rumbled, giving them a curious look. "You two playing cards or something?"  She paced over and stuck a hand in Gabrielle's tub. "Wanna share?"

"As long as you don't jump in and get water over everything." The bard told her, with a shake of one finger. "You taught Dori that.. I was bathing her the other day, and she was standing on the edge of the tub.. then all of  sudden… bam!" The bard slapped the water with one hand. "Water everywhere."

Xena grinned, and set her linen down, pulling her light shirt off and depositing it near the bards. Then she very gently got in to the tub, careful not to cause even the lightest ripple. "There." She tangled her legs with the bard's and leaned back. "Pony's outside."

"She is?" Ephiny looked behind her. "Doing what?"

"Guarding your virtue." Xena replied, straight faced.

"My what?" The regent muffled a laugh hastily. "Oh.. boy is she ever out of the meadow."

"I told her I'd be responsible for yours." The warrior added, pointing at the bard.

"Oo.. save me. I feel threatened." Gabrielle scooted across the tub and threw herself into the warrior's arms. "Mm.. that's better."

Xena gazed bemusedly at her armful of bard and leaned back, cradling Gabrielle against her chest. "We'll need to get going as soon as possible, Eph… I don't like that infiltration last night. I pretty much figured out it wasn't any Amazon."

Ephiny wiped the indulgent grin off her face and nodded. "I figured… we've got half our force… it just remains to be seen what Aslanta does.. and if you can cut a deal with Tyldus." She wiped out an ear carefully. "I think he's up for it… the way he was…"

Loud voices drew their attention to the door, which shuddered under some kind of impact, then opened slowly. Eponin poked her head in. "You have a visitor." The weapon's master scowled. "Aslanta."

Three sighs sounded almost simultaneously. "Well, better we know now." Ephiny lifted a hand. "Let her in." She glanced behind her, where Gabrielle had reluctantly disengaged herself from her haven, and was leaning back against the tub wall once again. "Okay?"

Xena nodded. "Might as well."

Pony drew back and opened the door, giving the tall, aristocratic looking Amazon room to enter.

The Amazon queen strode across the room, followed by two of her warriors, her head high, and her manner unbending. "Queen Gabrielle."

"Yes? Good morning." The bard replied mildly. "Thanks for sending your fighter over to test our defenses last night.. it was a good drill."

The woman paused, knocked off her stride by the gentle speech. "Queen Gabrielle.. my warrior's have grave reservations about us joining your cause."

Gabrielle appeared to absorb that, as she scrubbed a knee industriously. "Okay." She replied readily. '"What's your plan then?"

A pause. "Excuse me?"

"I said.. what's your plan?" The bard repeated. "If you don’t' like mine.. you must have one you like better. So.. what is it? Maybe we'll like it better too." She glanced up at the much taller woman and cocked her head in inquiry.

Aslanta stared at her. "We have no such thing."

"Okay..so.. what don't you like about our plan, then?" Gabrielle persisted.

The woman's jaw worked a few times, but no sound came out.

"Must be something.. unless it's just that it's not your plan…but that can't be it, because I know you're all way too smart to let something like egos get in the way of us defeating Andreas… you know how important that is."

"Yes." The woman answered, in a strangled voice. "We know that."

"So.. talk to me." Gabrielle leaned on the edge of the tub and surveyed her. "Since it can't be just that you're not running the show, then it must be something really critical… something you believe is not going to work.. and I'd really appreciate it if you'd let me know what that is.. so we can reevaluate if we need to."

Xena merely sat back, and watched her partner go. Gabrielle's gentle negotiating skills always fascinated her. She was more likely to try and bully her opponents, or use force to get her way.. but her soulmate's careful, reasonable arguments would wear away even the hardest wall of opposition.

"Uh… we… had a concern…about what use our warriors would be put to." The woman supplied, reluctantly. "Amazons are not like regular troops."

Gabrielle glanced over at her soulmate and lifted an eyebrow.

"I intend on using the Amazons as scouts, and in ambushes." Xena replied. "They won't be making any charges on horseback.. or facing heavy armor."

The bard smiled at her and looked back at Aslanta. "Okay?"

The tall Amazon Queen looked at her, then at the warrior, then back at her. "Um… well, yes.. that's a good use of us, but um…"

"So.. you in?" Gabrielle asked interestedly, leaning on her elbows. "We'd love to have your experience in the effort… we've got so many younger warriors, and they need the leadership." Her green eyes gazed sweetly at the other woman. "It would really help."

Aslanta hesitated a long moment, then she lifted both hands, and let them drop to her sides. "I will take your answers back to my council.. but… "

A yell broke the relative silence, and heavy bootsteps sounded, heading towards the bathing hut along with more yells, sounding angry, and frustrated.

Xena grabbed the edge of the tub and vaulted over it, putting her body between the door and Gabrielle as it burst open. Her arms spread out slightly and tensed, as three figures came pouring in the room, pulling up with a sudden jerk as the icy blue eyes blasted them.

"Whoa..whoa… hold on.. " Solari held up a hand, catching her breath. "Take it easy, champ."  She looked at Ephiny. "Runners just came in from the pass… two stragglers from a mountain tribe just got here…they were part of an entire nation that got taken."

Xena and Gabrielle exchanged glances. "By Andreas?" The warrior asked, straightening a little, and relaxing her aggressive posture.

Solari nodded. "Yeah… he's got them in cages in a holding area, just downrange from the pass… we gotta get them out of there."

"Yes." Aslanta agreed readily, glad of the interruption. "I will send someone immediately.. we have traded with that nation before." She started to turn, when Xena raised her voice.

"Hold it." The warrior's voice was stern.

"Surely you don't mean to keep us from rescuing our sisters." Aslanta glared at the tall warrior in dislike. "That is not the Amazon way.. at least… in our nation." This last was directed at Ephiny and Gabrielle.

"All right." The warrior put her hands on her damp hips, and cocked a dark brow. "G'wan. Go rescue them." She waited for Aslanta to react, then she took a step forward, more intimidating in her naked state than any of them in leathers. "And when you walk into his trap, and that's you in those cages, I won't be coming after you."

The Amazon Queen straightened to her full height, bringing her even with Xena's pale eyes. "You don't know it's a trap."

"If it were me, it sure would be." Xena answered, with a chilling smile.

Aslanta had no answer for that, so she merely glowered.

A silence fell. "All right.. now look." The warrior turned in a circle, regarding them. "Let's pick this up in the council chamber..in one candlemark." She reached behind her and grabbed her linen, wrapping it around her body with a savage gesture "Before someone does something stupid."

Aslanta stared at her for a moment. "Very well." She replied in a clipped voice, then turned and strode out, accompanied by her warriors.

A little silence fell, then Ephiny sighed. "So much for a nice, peaceful bath." She handed Gabrielle her towel as the bard hopped out of the tub. "You really think it's a trap?"

Xena crossed her arms over her chest and exhaled. "I don't know… but we're going to have to go and find out."  She glanced at the bard, who was vigorously drying herself. "Nice work."

"Mmph.. " Gabrielle shook her head. "She's a toughie."

They left the hut in silence, walking into a low, rolling fog that covered them in damp, woodsmoke-scented mist.

*********************************************************

"So.. what is the plan?" Gabrielle asked, as they changed, watching Xena slip into her blue leathers and fasten the straps. "We are going to go rescue them, right?"

Blue eyes glanced over at her wryly. "Would you let me get away with anything less?"

Gabrielle met her gaze evenly. "Would you let you get away with anything less?"

Xena inclined her head in silent acknowledgment. "Let's talk about the 'we'"

One blond eyebrow crawled up, as the bard put her hand on her now leather bedecked hip. "Xena."

Her partner held up a hand. "Hold on… hear me out." The warrior settled her armor over her head and shrugged it into place. "These Amazons don't trust me." She stated flatly. "Like it or not, they want proof that I'm not going to lead them into disaster.. and to be fair, Gabrielle, it's been a long time since I've had to do any real leading of armies."

The other brow lifted in silence.

"If you go with us… they'll be torn, between listening to me, and playing the political game with you."

The brow lowered, and the bard sighed.

"It won't take long.. I'd like to give them a chance to make up their mind about me, before we write them off." Xena concluded, walking over to her partner and putting a hand on her shoulder.

Gabrielle was silent for a long time, her thoughts flitting visibly across her expressive face.  "Fish turds." She finally grumbled.

Now it was Xena's turn to raise a brow.

"Why do you have to make so much sense all the time, Xena." The bard complained. "All right.. so what am I supposed to do while you jaunt off? And what if it's a trap?"

Whew. Xena was honestly surprised that her sometimes stubborn soulmate had given in so easily. "With any luck, only one of them will want to tag along… and you can get the other one, and hammer out an agreement with Tyldus." She paused. "If it's a trap, I'll spring it."

"Hmm…" The bard nibbled her lower lip. "They were pretty close to here." Her eyes found Xena's face. "You think they were following us?"

Xena nodded. "Yeah." A pause. "So.. how about it?"

Gabrielle sighed, then rested her cheek against the warrior's hand, still clasping her shoulder. "I hate it."

"Mmm."

"I really, really hate it… my guts are telling me not to stay behind, Xena." Gabrielle answered, very honestly. "But I'm not sure how much of that is premonition, and how much of it is just… " She let her voice trail off, and lifted  a hand to cover her partner's. "You know what I mean."

Xena circled her shoulders with one arm. "Yeah."

Another long silence, as the sunlight crept into the hut, painting light green tinted strips across the floor.

"All right." The bard finally said. "But.. please be careful." She lifted her eyes and searched the cool blue ones above her, reassured by the warm affection she found there.

"I will.. I promise." Xena pulled her into a hug, and rubbed her back. "C'mon.. we'd better get going before they start chewing the council table." She released her partner, then straightened her outfit with a few friendly twitches, tickling her ribs a little in passing.

The bard slapped at her hand, but smiled. "I'd be glad to hear they were coming to join us… I felt sort of bad about them." She tucked her hand inside her soulmate's elbow and joined her at the door, with Ares snuffling at their heels. "Some of them were very nice."

Xena nodded, but privately wondered if the highland Amazons were journeying to join them…or tracking them for bounty.

She would, she supposed, find out.

*********************************************

The noisy room quieted as they entered, eyes furtively studying both warrior and bard as they advanced to the front of the room and stepped behind the table, joining Aslanta, Gillen, and a very frustrated looking Ephiny. Gabrielle gave her friend a smile as they arrived, then turned to face the others.

"Please sit down." She waited for them to do so, and they did, with a rustle of leather and feathers. "Thank you." She then sat down herself, and fastened her eyes on her partner, who had remained standing.

Xena waited, letting the silence lengthen.  She turned her head, and regarded the two highland Amazons, who were travel worn, and unknown to her. "What happened?"

The younger of the two stood, and exhaled, wiping leaf stained hands on her thighs. "Are you Xena?"

The warrior nodded shortly.

"There were thirty of us." The woman stated softly. "Came down the same route you must have… we ran into a battalion where we least expected it, and they surprised us…had crossbows with some kind of drug on them… we didn't have a chance."  She ran a faintly shaking hand through her muddy hair. "Only reason Ren and I escaped is because we were away a bit, hunting down some nuts… we saw what happened and ran."

A low muttering rose around them, but Xena nodded. "Smart." She commented briefly. "All right…there's probably one of two reasons they got captured." The warrior paced behind the table, idly flipping her belt dagger over in her hand. "Either they're neutralizing a prospective enemy, or they're laying a trap."

"A trap?" Gillen asked sharply. "For what?"

"Me." Xena answered, in an unruffled voice. "I think the traps most likely, because if they were just trying to neutralize a potential enemy, they'd have just killed those Amazons, not captured them."

Uneasy glances flickered back and forth. "What if they want to sell them off as slaves?" Aslanta coolly inquired. "That makes as much sense as it being a trap."

"Not really." Xena shook her head, continuing her slow, almost rhythmic pacing. "We're far inland… he's got a huge chunk of territory under his sway already.. he'd have to bring them all the way back through his country, then all the way tot the coast to sell them for any decent amount.. no one from these parts would buy Amazons, not knowing what they were."

Everyone's eyes were on the warrior now, and Xena's voice took on a cold strength, as she felt her way through the strategy, long slumbering instincts nudged awake and starting to sniff around interestedly. The world started to lose it's color a little, as the black and white of battle tactics shunted aside more recent attitudes and she found herself falling back into a mindset she'd thought she'd left long behnd.

It felt… A faint smile pulled at one corner of her lips. Good.  "So. If it's a trap, it needs to be defused, and if they are trying to eliminate an enemy, they have to be stopped." The dagger flipped evenly. ""I'm going to take a small group out there, and resolve it, one way or the other."

Now, a thrill of excitement traveled through the room. Xena grinned at them, letting her personality loose a little. "Anyone interested in joining me?"

"Do ducks float?" Pony's voice rasped from the corner.

A nervous chuckle reacted to her tone. Aslanta stood. "I would like to accompany you." She faced Xena, with a cool, reserved expression. "To see for myself the situation."

The warrior gave them both a brief nod. "We'll need ten warriors. Pick em, and be outside the stable in one candlemark." She finished crisply, then half turned and cocked her head at Gabrielle.

The bard stood smoothly and crossed her arms over her chest. "Gillen… the leader of the centaurs will be here about the same time.. I'd love for you to join me in our talks."

The older Amazon studied her for a moment. "All right."

There was an awkward silence, then Ephiny pushed herself to her feet. "Okay.. let's get going then… move it, people… we've got things to do." She watched as the room emptied, voices rising to a dull roar as they got outside, and eventually leaving her, Gabrielle, and Xena alone in the room. The regent studied the floor, then glanced at her friends. Xena was standing near the window, leaning against the sill, and Gabrielle had perched on one corner of the council table. "You're wadding my leathers." Ephiny stated sourly.

Xena turned and gave her a look. "What?"

"Huh?" Gabrielle blurted, at the same time.

"Sure.. sure… make me choose!" Ephiny threw up her hands. "Do I stay here, like a good little regent, or do I indulge my wild side and follow Xena out on the trail?"

Xena cleared her throat and crossed her arms, as her partner laughed gently. "Sorry." The warrior apologized. "We thought it would be better to take the attitude out of here, and let Gabrielle get on with her job."

Ephiny sighed "Okay… sure… but if I go, Pony can't..and you want to here whining? That would be worse then when they ran over Ares tail with that damn wagon last month."

The wolf looked up at her, from his position curled comfortably at Xena's feet. "Roo?"

"Yeah, roo to you too." The regent glowered at him. "Damn you both."

There was a slight, awkward pause. "You have a wild side?" Gabrielle finally asked, ingeniously.

The Amazon regent gave her a profoundly affronted look. "Whadda mean? Of course I have a wild side."

Green eyes and blue met, and Xena's eyebrows crawled up to her hairline, settling there comfortably.

"Oh.. great. I don't need to stand here and be insulted." Ephiny stomped out, leaving a pair of bemused soulmates behind her.

"Mm." Gabrielle scratched her jaw. "Think she's cycling?"

The warrior snorted, and shook her head. "Hope it's not contagious."

************************************************************

"Ready?" Gabrielle asked, peering around her tall partner's body at the small group of waiting Amazons. The women were arranging supplies and weapons around them, watched by the general population at large with a mixture of envy and amusement.

"Just about." Xena replied, adjusting a strap on her backpack.

"Don't just run off and lose them."

The long fingers stilled. "Aw." The warrior winked at her. "They'll have to keep up, though."

"Xena…c'mon now." The bard gave her a pat on the side. "Be good."  The group was a varied one, two each from the visiting Nations, and the rest from her own, with a stoically excited Eponin in the fore. She suspected the  weapon's master was only just keeping herself from bouncing up and down, an odd contrast to the patiently waiting Cait, who had demanded to be allowed to go, and refused to take no for an answer.  Solari and three others rounded out the party, all picks of Eponin's based on tracking or fighting skills.

"Great." The bard sighed. "By my notes.. that makes you the most diplomatic person in the bunch."

Xena glanced over. "Um…yeah, I think so." She answered absently.  Bedda and Aslanta represented their group, and two unknown fighters, apparently sisters from their appearance, represesnted Gillen's. "But we're not really counting on talking much."

"That's a relief." Gabrielle remarked dryly.

The warrior halted her fiddling, and peered down at the smaller woman. "Hey! I think I've just been insulted!"

The bard laughed softly and leaned against her, taking in a last, comforting lungful of her soulmate's scent. "You're actually a darn good talker when you decide to be, honey." She tipped her head back and gazed affectionately at Xena. "I can't tell you how many times you've turned me inside out with a few words."

Xena shifted a little, and resettled her sword, then let a hand rest against the bard's cheek. "I love you."

Gabrielle's lips tightened a bit and she sucked in a breath. "See?"  They exchanged smiles. "Be careful." She straightened and gave the warrior a kiss.

"You too." Xena answered, clasping her briefly into a hug. Then they parted and the warrior paused, straightened her shoulders, and turned, walking towards the waiting group with a confident stride.

Gabrielle sighed as she leaned back against the wall of her quarters, sparing the approaching Ephiny a wry look. "Don't start with me."

The regent paused, and blinked. "Huh?"

"Don't start whining to me about staying behind.. because I'll have to do something drastic, like force everyone to listen to bad poetry all night." The bard warned her.

Ephiny thought about that. "Oh." Her face wrinkled up in an understanding grimace. "You want to go too, huh?"

"Yeah." Gabrielle answered, very softly.

"C'mon, Gabrielle..they'll only be gone.. what, a day? Two?" Ephiny laughed, and clapped her on the shoulder. "I know you're attached to those baby blues, but…"

The bard scowled. "It's not that."

One of the regent's brows lifted.

Gabrielle rolled her eyes. "Okay, it's not JUST that." She exhaled. "I've just got a bad feeling about this."

"Oh." Ephiny chewed her lip, watching the party move out, with Xena's tall form in the lead. "Great. Now you tell me."

Green eyes shifted, and met hers. "I wanted someone to worry with."

Ephiny sighed, as she thumped back against the wall.

*******************************************************

It was a nice day. Xena gazed around appreciatively as she loped along, feeling her body automatically adjust to the occasional unevenness of the path. They'd been traveling for five candlemarks, and she'd started to consider whether she'd continue on after the sun disaapeared, or stop for the evening, and delay their arrival until after first light the day after.

Both options had both advantages and disadvantages, Xena realized, as she unhooked her waterskin and took a mouthful, swirling it around thoughtfully before she swallowed it. Keeping on would mean the matter would be over sooner, and she'd avoid having to have one of those long evenings over a campfire with the awkwardly comprised group.

That was a very appealing thought. On the other hand, however..  Xena hopped over a downed log, and moved on, hearing the soft, muffled curses behind her. On the other hand, she suspected the Amazons were starting to get tired, and approaching an enemy camp in full dark, with tired warriors was a plainly stupid idea.

Xena glanced behind her quickly, glimpsing the shadowed, determined faces following down the path.  The sun slanted down from it's westward angle, glistening off the sweat that dotted the bared bodies.

Her objective on this first leg, was to establish that she was physically capable of leading them. The warrior drew in a deep breath and released it, pleased with her body's response. Point made? She increased her pace, and cocked her ears expectantly.

"Great Hera…does she ever damned stop?'

"What does she think we are, warhorses?"

"Shut up, Solari… you pull over, and I'll whup your tail with your own leathers."

Xena grinned, at Eponin's fierce hiss.

"Got a problem with a little run, cupcake?" The weapon's master went on, in a louder tone. "We do this all the time."

"No..no problem." That was Bedda's voice, which had been the first curse she'd heard. "We go twice this far before breakfast."

Xena snickered softly, and shook her head, then glanced to one side, as Cait caught up with her. "Hey." She greeted the young Amazon gravely. "Problems?"

Cait settled down next to her. "Not hardly….though I think you've gotten the rest of this lot into a bit of a snit."

"Have I?" The warrior responded innocently, making a point of looking behind her. "What's up?"

Cait looked around, then leaned closer. "Chafing." She explained, with a serious expression, as though it would be completely clear to Xena what she meant.

The warrior only just kept from clapping a hand over her mouth to cut off a blurt of laughter. "Ah." She replied instead, with a grave nod. "That's a problem."

"Too right." Cait agreed mildly. "Are you going to take pity on them?"

Xena ran on a few paces, then bounced into a flip and landed smoothly without breaking stride. "Think I should?"

Cait considered the question seriously. She nibbled her lip, then reached back and scratched her neck. "If it were just us, I'd keep going."

The warrior accepted that. "But it's not just us."

"No." Cait agreed regretfully. "I can't think why not."

The role of a leader, Xena remembered, was also to teach. "This isn't just about rescuing Amazons, Cait."

Gray eyes studied her from their corners. "Isn't it?"

They ran in silence for a bit. "Trusting is hard." Xena finally said. "When you agree to follow someone, you have to trust them with your life, and more."

Cait nodded slowly as she paced. "Quite right."

"If all these Amazons go along with us… they'll have to do that with me."

The slim, blond girl focused her eyes on the path, her brows contracting. "So.. you're teaching them it's quite all right to that, then?"

Xena nodded.

"Splendid." Cait gave her a brisk nod. "I'm ever so glad to hear that."

The warrior cocked her head in mute question.

The girl leaned closer again. "I could use a bit of a rest." She whispered. "But don''t you tell them."

Xena smiled, then eyed the sun, which was dipping below the trees. She spotted a small path heading off the main route, and held a hand up, slowing her pace to an amble, then halting.

Eponin arrived first, making a visible show of bouncing up and down a few times before she put her hands on her hips, and regarded Xena. "Problem?"

The warrior waited for the rest of the group to join them, then she pointed off to the path. "We'll make camp up by the springhead tonight… start off again before dawn. I want to get there just as the sun's coming up so I can evaluate the place before we move in."

There was no visible reaction, but ears sharper than a wild beast's caught several sighs of relief, along with other, more personal noises of vague discomfort.

"Well… I hate to lose time like that." Eponin let out an aggrieved sigh. "But you gotta point….c'mon, Solari.. let's scout the place."  She yanked on Solari's leathers, tugging her into a brisk run as they disappeared up the path.

Xena worked hard at keeping a smirk off her face, as she turned towards the rest of the group. Aslanta moved closer, lifting her chin as she straightened up to match the warrior's height. "We've got enough supplies to make a small camp, no hunting. I want everyone rested." The warrior stated firmly. "We don't have the luxury of mistakes."

The tall, blond Queen regarded her quietly, her chest still rising and falling rapidly, and her skin covered in sweat.

Xena met her gaze evenly, conscious of her own slow, measured breathing. Slowly, a small, knowing grin pulled up the corner of her lips, and a glint of wry humor appeared in the blue eyes. "Something wrong?"

Aslanta sucked in a lungful of air, then let it out, with a  tiny head shake. "Nothing." But her lips pursed in a pensive reaction, as she turned and gestured her warriors forward. "Come." They started up the path, and Gillen's people followed them, glancing back at Xena with looks of mixed respect and doubt.

The warrior let out a soft, almost soundless chuckle, as she clapped Cait on the back, and followed them.

*************************************************

Gabrielle dipped her quill into her inkjar, and wiped the excess off carefully before she put the point to parchment again, and scribed a few more words. Out of long habit, she paused, and chewed on the quill's edge, sucking the feathers which held a hint of ginger in them.

The document was a treaty, and it encompassed the participation of her own Nation, that of the two other Amazon Nations visiting, and the Centaurs, specifiying the length of the term, and the duties to which the various peoples would be assigned to.

Across the room, Gillen was seated, in quiet conversation with the two Amazons from the high country, and Ephiny. Tyldus was across from her, the centaur relaxing in an upright posture, with his arms crossed over his massive chest.

"All right.' The bard cleared her throat. "We're agreed that seventy percent of all our available fighters will be sent to Amphipolis… leaving thirty percent to secure the villages, and provide a means of defense if needed."

Gillen exhaled. "Thirty percent won't do squat if those bastards come after us." She disagreed.

Gabrielle took a sip of the crisp, cold cider they'd just been served and swallowed it, feeling the slight burn down into her guts. "We talked about escape routes, in case that happened, to get out of their way, rather than challenge them." She made a scribble in one margin. "Xena and I have discussed finding a safe place by the coast, as well.. we could send our elders, and the children there."

"I like that idea." Tyldus rumbled. "Less for us to worry over… I don't want the colts and fillies where they can be run down." He shifted his hooves, and moved a little closer to Gabrielle, reaching down and lifting his own cup for a sip.

"Doesn't solve everything… there'll still be able bodies in danger… our craftswomen, and the like." Gillen responded. "I don't like it."

Ephiny and Gabrielle exchanged looks. "Well, we could do the obvious." Ephiny stated. "Combine all three villages… that way the warriors left behind would be equal to a normal force."

Ooo… good idea. Gabrielle hid a grin. "Mm… great thought. Eph… we can send the elders and children to the retreat, then stock the village with able bodied women, and fighters.. if anyone attacks, they'll be in for a fight."

Gillen hesitated, glancing between them. "But which village won't be abandoned?" She asked. "I mean, yes… it does make strategic sense, but none of us is going to want to be the ones to leave our homes."

Ugh. True. Gabrielle chewed her quill, then turned her head, and met Tyldus' watching, patient gaze. They looked at each other for a long moment, then the centaur cleared his throat.

"While it is true no one likes to abandon their territory… logistically, and tactically, it would be best for the defense to be made from here." Tyldus' warm, burring voice stated. "And if so, my remaining warriors will join, to aid in the mutual effort."

"What?" Gillen stood, gesturing explosively. "What you're saying is not only do we all have to give up our homes.. we have to live with centaurs as well?"

Gabrielle stood up and folded her arms, staring the woman down. "It's all right for centaurs to offer up their lives for yours… but not all right to share a village with them? Is that what you're saying?" The bard asked, in a precise, brittle voice, as she held up a hand to still Tyldus' retort. "What kind of sheep poop is that?"  She felt her temper rise, and before she knew it, the anger spilled over and past her defenses.

The other Amazon queen took a step forward, lifting a hand to her. "You are asking too much." She protested. "I can't change generations of our traditions.. and I don't want to."

The bard dropped her quill and circled her desk, approaching the other woman with a steady, powerful stride, not stopping until she was well within the Amazon's personal space. "Then leave." She snapped, nose to nose with her. "Because we only need people who understand that living life means change, and refusing to do that only results in disaster."

Gillen's face grew dark with anger, and she bristled, standing up to the shorter woman's aggressive stance. "You think you can just run roughshod over me? Who do you think you are, Gabrielle?"

The green eyes, normally so open and sunny, grayed and went cold, as the bard's body stiffened in reaction, muscles twitching visibly under the tanned skin. A silence fell, and Gabrielle spoke into it.

"I…know….who…I.. am." The rounded, powerful tones stated. "The question is, who are you going to be? The Amazon who ran, or the Amazon who helped me throw over the most dangerous threat our Nations have ever seen?"

Gillen brought her hands up, reaching for the bard's leathers, only to find her wrists grabbed and held, in a potent, powerful grip. "Let me go."

"Choose." Gabrielle responded, tensing her arms. "I'm not going to waste our time working on an agreement with someone who can't see past the trees to find the forest dying."

The Amazon jerked her arms, twisting her muscular body to free herself, but Gabrielle's hold didn't break, and the bard's strong body countered the other woman's pull, holding them both upright and together. "I'll kill you." Gillen ground out, rage coloring her face in reds and purples. "If you don't let me go."

Gabrielle held on grimly, aware of the cast die. "You're not nearly close to what it would take to do that." She responded, shoving her backwards, and kicking the chair out of the way. She caught Ephiny's startled, and worried look as the regent stepped back, but ignored it, as she closed in on the other woman again. "All I've heard from you tonight is reason why we can't do this… why?" She asked sharply.

Gillen stopped struggling, unable to break Gabrielle's powerful grip. She stared into the bard's eyes, breathing in short, sharp pants. "I didn't really think you were an Amazon."

Inwardly, Gabrielle sighed, a melancholy note of sadness sounding clear in her heart. "And now?"

The other woman held her gaze for a moment more, then looked away and down. "Now I do."

The bard released her and stepped back, letting her hands drop to her sides, regretting her temper already. "All right." She responded quietly. "Now maybe we can get somewhere." She turned and made her way back to her desk, settling behind it wearily, very aware of the fact that she'd just done what she'd made her soulmate promise not to.

Damn it. Gabrielle felt sick to her stomach. Why did it always have to come down to violence? "Let's think about acting on Ephiny's idea… combining the villages while the fighters are in the field." She leaned her elbow on the table and propped her head up, regarding the words on the parchment. "Maybe we could form a governing committee… to take charge and make decisions jointly during the war."

Gillen had sat down, stone faced. "You won't be staying then?"

The bard looked up, surprised at the question. "Me?" She murmured. "No…I'll be with the army."

The other Amazon remained silent for a moment. "Leading your warriors in battle, then."

Gabrielle felt like time was slowing down, as the meaning of the words hit her, and questioning eyes turned her way.

Leading the Amazons into battle.

No. She couldn’t do that.

No way. That wasn't who she was, wasn't how she did things. She was the talker. Xena was the one who lead troops into battle.

Not her. The Amazons respected her negotiating skills, but they'd never follow her into a fight…not in a million years.

Right?

Gabrielle felt Ephiny's eyes on her, and she couldn’t keep from meeting them, the calm hazel revealing an open knowledge her mind shunned from accepting.

"We'd follow Queen Gabrielle to the gates of Hades itself." The regent stated simply. "If that's where she chose to lead us."

No. I can't do that. I'm not a warrior.

Am I?

If I'm the Queen… I have to lead them. I can't send them to where I won't go.

Oh gods. Gabrielle felt a certain weight settle on her shoulders, and she blinked twice before she spoke. "If that's what my role calls for… then yes, I will."  She stated, wearily trying to deny the faint, but perceptible thrill of dark excitement the thought brought up in her.

Gillen inclined her head a little. "A.. governing committee would seem to me… to be a good idea." She murmured. "I will speak to my council…see how they view such a plan."

"All right." Gabrielle accepted that.

Ephiny stood, adjusting a bracer. "Want to take a short break for dinner? It's getting on sundown." She asked Gabrielle quietly.

A break. Oh gods… yes. "Good idea." The bard answered. "We could all use a break." She watched as the room emptied, Tyldus leaving last, save Ephiny, who turned back at the door and came towards her. "Eph…"

"Listen… "

"Give me a little time, okay?" Gabrielle interrupted her softly. "Just go."

Stung, Ephiny pulled up short, and stared at her, then she exhaled softly. "All right." She turned, and left the room, her boots scuffing lightly on the dirt floor, leaving silence behind her.

Gabrielle rested her forehead on her fists, and swallowed against the bile rising in her throat. Losing the battle moments later as her body rebelled, and she grabbed for a nearby water basin, retching helplessly in unthinking reaction.

Oh gods. She sucked in a ragged breath. What's happening to me?

****************************************************

The fire crackled softly, a gentle counterpoint to the rhythmic sounds of crickets, and the rasp of steel against stone as the Amazons settled down to their evening's rest.  They had staked out a small clearing near a spring and made a neat camp, with each group separating itself just a little from the others, and most everyone leaving a nice clear space around the spot Xena had chosen for her own.

That was perfectly all right with her, the warrior mused, as she stretched her legs out over the warm sleeping furs and wiggled her toes, breathing in the scent of home that the unfolded blankets released, and the faint hint of her soulmate's distinctive smell that clung to them.

She'd picked a Y shaped patch of grass just to one side of the spring, tucked into a granite outcropping that protected her back from the wind and provided a nice rest to lean on. From where she was she could see the path coming in, and the rest of the camp, and she gave a little, satisfied nod at the orderliness of it.

Of course, one thing was missing.  The warrior brushed her fingertips along the empty half of the sleeping furs idly, wondering what her partner was up to. She missed Gabrielle's warm presence, even though it had been her idea for the bard to stay behind and she didn't regret that.

With a sigh, she pulled her pack over and set it between her legs, opening the top section and rummaging around to see what she could find for a cold dinner. A wrapped packet was on top and she tugged it out, examining it curiously. "Hmm.. what have we here?" She unwrapped a corner of it, then grinned as a tasty scent rose up and caught her nostrils. "Mm.. and where did you come from, huh?" She finished unfolding the wrapping, revealing a pair of very plump meat pies in pastry done by a familiar hand, and a dark, scribbled writing on the inside.

"When in Hades did she do this?" Xena wondered softly to herself, as she lifted a pie and took a bite, smiling a little around the familiar taste Gabrielle knew she liked. "Mm.. that's better than mom's."  She leaned back and exhaled contentedly, taking a swig of her water skin and munching her pie, as she spread the wrapper out along one leg and savored the words more than the food.

Hey, partner!

I hope you get to read this someplace other than on the trail, because if you're still pushing those poor kids along, you might want to give them a little break, you know? You can be pretty hard to keep up with if they're not used to the pace you set, like I am.

Xena let out a soft chuckle. "If you only knew." She murmured softly, remembering the months of deliberately slowing down her progress, to give a young girl a chance to stay by her side.

I know you like these… I had to pull rank, unfortunately, and kick Esta out of one of her ovens to make them..  I hope she forgives me. I gave her the recipe as sort of a consolation prize. I think she thinks I'm a little crazy when it comes to you, though.

A little crazy?  The blue eyes regarded the fire, and the shadowy forms of the Amazons surrounding it. She pictured her soulmate gently shoving aside the protesting cook, and bit her lip, touched by the small, but loving gesture.

Well, good luck… I hope it's a easy rescue, okay?  I know it's kind of silly for me to sit here and worry about you, but I do, and a big part of me wishes I was there with you, because these Amazons can get careless sometimes, and they have something very precious to me with them.

You know?

I know. Xena's lips pressed into a smile. I wish you were here, too, Gabrielle.. my back feels very bare without you watching it.

Be good. I love you.

G

I love you too.  Xena carefully folded the wrapper and tucked it inside her armor, then started to work on her second pie, letting her head lean back against the cool rock and directing her eyes to the stars.

A rustle of motion made her glance up as Eponin approached, though, and she raised a brow as the dark haired Amazon settled cross legged next to her. "Hey."

Pony was gnawing on a piece of jerked venison. "Whatcha got?"

Xena held up a fist with it's prisoner pie. "Meat pies."

The weapons master snorted in disgust. "Figures. The rest of us are gnawing on centaur hooves." She edged closer and peered at the pie. "How'd you rate that? Didn't think Esta made those."

"She didn't." Xena took a bite and chewed contentedly. "Gabrielle did."

Eponin sighed. "Must be nice." She nibbled on her jerky.

"It is." The warrior responded softly. "When I was running my army, I got stuff done for me all the time… boots shined, armor cleaned… my tent put up.. but I never had anyone do anything for me and not expect something in return." She paused. "Until I met her."

Pony glanced down, picking at the lace on one boot aimlessly as she considered the words. "You ever do anything back?" She asked, lifting warmly golden eyes to meet Xena's.

"Sure." The warrior admitted, glancing around to make sure no one was listening.

"Like what?" Eponin edged closer, giving her a look of interested curiosity.

Unaccountably, Xena felt herself blushing, and she was glad of the darkness, and the firelight covering that. "I don't know.. just.. things I know she likes." She glanced at Eponin's face. "Why?"

"Mm." The Amazon shrugged. "Just wondering…I do stuff for Eph sometimes.. but it always gets kinda weird."

Xena thought about that, then let a wry grin edge her lips. "That's because you two are so much alike." She advised her friend. "You've both got that Amazon ego to deal with."

The dark brows snapped together immediately. "What? What ego?" She protested indignantly. "I aint' got no ego… you nuts?"

A laugh forced it's way out of  Xena's chest, and around her mouthful of meat pie, almost causing her to spit it out onto the ground. "C'mon, Eponin…gimme a break." She wiped her mouth and took a sip of water. "It's that tougher than dried centaur hide crap…the whole damn village has it."

"Oh.. and like you don't?" Pony snorted, ignoring the looks beginning to flash their way.

"Of course I do." Xena lowered her voice, and gave the Amazon a dire look. "But Gabrielle doesn't."

"Oh." Pony chewed a minute.

"Yeah, oh." The warrior repeated. "We're very different from each other." She exhaled. "Fortunately… but it makes it easier to share stuff like that."

"Oh." A pause. "You know, I love having these sensitive chats with you, Xena."

Blue eyes flicked over, and one dark brow lifted sharply. "This was not a sensitive chat." The warrior growled. "It's not my style."

"Right." Pony scuttled over a bit and plucked at the bit of wrapping sticking out of Xena's armor. "Saving this for some reason?"

Xena smacked her hand, and gave her a dour glare. "Watch it, Eponin."

The Amazon grinned, not in the least intimidated. After a moment, the warrior relaxed, and grinned back, noticing the visible relaxing of the other Amazons across the fire as they heard the light banter.

"You did that on purpose." Xena remarked, in a low voice.

A rakish grin and a shrug responded. "Yeah.. I can be subtle, but I gotta really work at it." She muttered back.

Xena regarded the circle of faces thoughtfully, then she broke off half her pie and handed it over. "Here."

Eponin accepted it with a smirk. "Heh… that worked pretty good too.. I think I'm getting better at this political stuff"  She nibbled a bit of the pie. "Damn… you get stuff like this all the time?"

"Yeah." Xena replied quietly, a quiet, crystalline memory surfacing, of a playful moment between her, and her soulmate.. a race for fruit stuffed dumplings she'd openly begged for, and the bard laughingly agreed to.

That one, last playful moment before the Furies found them, and her world descended into a pit she'd never thought she'd ever get out of It had been the last time she'd asked Gabrielle for anything for a very, very long while.

"Xena?" The voice had come from behind her, and she'd turned, to see Gabrielle approaching, her, carrying her saddlebag over one shoulder. They were on a short journey from home, just over to Potadeia, and she'd been careful to take it slow, mindful of her soulmate's progressing pregnancy.

"Hmm?" She'd answered, taking in the familiar, sturdy form with a feeling of almost sad affection. Gabrielle had only just started to show and the bard was still a little self conscious about it, wearing one of her partner's shirts to disguise her gently expanding waistline.

The bard had settled down next to her, letting her hands rest on the bag. "I thought I'd make some sandwiches.. we've got that venison left over, and I collected watercress.. sound okay? It's a little hot for cooking."

A round, glistening apple had tumbled out of the bag at that point, and Xena had picked it up, studying it wistfully for a moment before handing it back. "Sure.. sounds fine." She'd replied, pushing down the sudden desire for the roasted apples Gabrielle had made for her at one time, a long time before.

Asking.. was not an option. It touched an area still too sensitive, too raw from her soulmate's recent brush with death, and the memories she still held of their estrangement. Whatever Gabrielle decided to make, was fine. She never complained, never asked, never pushed the bard any more than she had to.  "Sure you don't want me to do that?"

Green eyes studied her intently, backed by a soul who knew hers like no other ever had. "Xena."

She'd smiled ruefully. "Yeah, I know.. stop being such a hen."

A hand had touched her chin, making her look up in surprise, to find a quietly compassionate gaze fastened on her. "You know.. if there's something you want.. it's okay to ask me." She'd said softly. "You haven't.. for a long time, and I wasn't sure if…I mean… I wanted you to know it's all right."

Xena had taken a breath, not knowing what to say in response. She'd finally simply nodded. "Thanks.. I'll… remember that."

The hand had retained it's grip. "Is there something you want right now? I thought maybe… um… " Gabrielle's speech had faltered. "Nevermind."  She'd finished in a whisper,  letting her hand fall to her lap and releasing a breath.

It was, Xena had suddenly realized, as important to Gabrielle as it was to her, that this tiny, outwardly insignificant trust was shattered, and the bard looked on it not as an imposition, but as a mark of their relationship.

One that the bard, apparently, missed.

"Um." Xena had nudged open the bag, and let the apple fall out, catching it in her hand and turning it in her fingers. "I.. don't suppose you could.. ah… do that thing you do with the nuts.. and the um… "

"Sure."  Gabrielle had answered quickly. "I've even got some of that honey you collected near the river… if you make a fire.. we could have them for dessert."

And so they had, a rich sweetness that Xena could still taste, in the back of her mouth, having little to do with the honey, and everything to do with the love that had gone into their making.

It had been a long journey home, all right.

"Well, you're one lucky son of a hydra, I'll tell ya that." Eponin had chewed on her meat pie with an exaggerated sigh. "I love Eph, but Artemis knows, I cook better'n she does."

A ring of laughter greeted her words, and Solari stood up, brushing off her leathers. "Hey.. I'm no bard, but  you all want to hear about the last boar we had to run down?" A chorus of encouraging murmurs sounded, and she started in, laying her voice over the fire's snapping, and the hooting of  a lonely, hunting owl.

************************************************

An errant spark from the bonfire spiraled upward, and Gabrielle let her eyes follow it, until the ember joined the canopy of stars overhead. They'd ironed out a few more details after the break, then decided nothing more could really be done until Xena and Aslanta returned.

Gillen and Tyldus had signed on, though, and were prepared to send warriors to Amphipolis, to join those Gabrielle had committed to, and that, she supposed was a definite victory. If Aslanta also agreed, then their job here was done, and they could start for home, and the enormous task waiting for them there.

A soft drumming started, and the bard glanced up, to see a ring of dancers forming in the outside arena they'd chosen to eat a late meal in, since the dining hall simply wouldn't hold all the women both resident and visiting. She was seated on a padded platform overlooking the bonfire, with Ares at her side and a platter of mostly untouched fare by her.

The bard exhaled, and took a sip of the cold honey mead in her mug as her fingers riffled slowly through the wolf's fur. She was still unsettled by her violent reaction earlier, and the subtle, but perceptible undercurrent of excitement she could now feel in the Amazons wasn't making her any more comfortable.

They wanted war. Gabrielle had felt a chill, hearing the low, intense voices talking. They wanted this.. it touched them in a deep way she didn't really understand, bringing a vibrant energy to the village that almost frightened her in it's strangeness.

And in it's utter familiarity, coming from a place she so often saw reflected in the pale blue eyes of her soulmate.

You'll never be like them. Xena had once told her, with a duck of her head also including herself in that statement. You feel too much.  Gabrielle sighed again and shook her head, viewing the dancing with weary eyes. Maybe Xena had been right after all… certainly she felt no excitement, no anticipation… only the impending sadness of knowing people she knew and loved would be in grave danger…and that surely some would be lost to her.

How could anyone want that? It was a part of Xena she'd truly, honestly never really understood, that she'd only accepted along with the rest of her.

The need, she understood. To sacrifice yourself for your friends… that, she understood more than most. But to take joy in it?

No. She'd seen too much of loss to ever understand that.

Footsteps crunched nearby, and she raised her eyes to find Ephiny looking back at her, the regent's hazel eyes darkened in the firelight. "Hey… what's up?"

Ephiny took at as an invitation and stepped up onto the platform, settling at her side and gazing out over the square. "I came over here to ask you that… you seem pretty quiet." She turned her head and regarded her friend. "I thought the evening session went pretty good."

Gabrielle nodded slowly. "It did…it achieved everything I was hoping for." She replied softly.

The regent studied her. "But you hate this, right?"

Green eyes gone ochre in the light met hers. "I'm in the minority,  I think."

Ephiny sighed, dropping her gaze to her hands, twined together as she clasped her arms around her upraised knees. "In a way.. but not really, Gabrielle."  She answered. "The younger warriors.. sure… they've never seen war."  She turned her head and met the bard's eyes. "Those of us who have….it's a mix between knowing what it's like to see friends… and family die, and the knowledge that to do this, and do it successfully, you need to be confident."

Gabrielle thought about that for a bit. "That's what Xena says, too." She finally admitted. "It's all in the attitude… to lead people, you have to first lead yourself… if you're confident.. if you believe in yourself,  they'll pick that up, and follow along."

Ephiny chuckled softly. "She should know."

Fair lashes flicked as the bard blinked. "Yeah.. I've seen her do it dozens of times… but I guess it's different for me, because  I know what the truth is… I know her doubts, and her fears…and just how much of that is an act."

A silence fell. "Incredible." The regent finally said, very softly. "I never thought…I always assumed… " She looked at her friend in bemusement. "I always thought if there was anything Xena believed in absolutely, it was herself."

A slow, almost sad smile crossed Gabrielle's face. "No…if there's anything she believes in absolutely.. it's my belief in her." The bard's hands moved through Ares's fur. "It took me such a long time to understand that."

Ephiny was silent.

The drums picked up their tempo, and more dancers joined in, bodies swaying with seductive rhythm.

"Eph?"

"Hm?"

"Can you teach me that?" Gabrielle lifted her chin, and indicated the dance.

Ephiny slowly released a breath, then nodded, pushing herself to her feet, and holding a hand out. "Sure."

The bard took it, and rose, padding towards the firelight and the drums,

**********************************************

A faint splash of purple dimness reflected off the fingers of a hand resting on the moss covered tree bark. It's owner stood quietly in the pre dawn mist, peering past leaves damp with dew, into a silent, foggy valley.

Not even a bird rustled, as the world waited, watched by colorless eyes that took on a hint of the sky as the sun inched towards the horizon. Xena watched the slowly emerging town with quiet, enigmatic eyes, studying the surrounding space intently.

A dim, pearl gray outlined the building's structure, showing a closed, silent gate, and the still forms of watchers on the walls. Off to one side, a thick stand of trees rustled, tucked between the river's curve and a granite mountain wall.

"Fools to leave woods so close." Aslanta murmured softly. "We can cross the river there.. " She pointed a long finger past Xena's shoulder. "And come up near the sluice gate."

Pale blue eyes flicked over the site intently, then Xena shook her head. "No."

The tall blond lifted an eyebrow at her. "Why? It provides us with perfect cover."

"Provides them with a perfect snare." The warrior burred, in a low tone. "They'll catch us between the walls and the river… it's deep there, and see how fast the water's running?"

Aslanta studied her quietly. "You really do think it is a trap, then."

"Oh yeah." Xena answered. "All right.. Pony, take five others and go this way." She pulled the weapons master off and pointed, murmuring to her in a low voice.

"But.. " Eponin protested.

Xena gave her a look, and she subsided. "Aw… you get all the fun." The Amazon grumbled. "Awright…c'mon, you lot.." She selected her group and moved off, leaving Xena with Aslanta, Cait, one of Gillen's choices, and Solari.

The warrior returned to her post, observing the town in the growing dawn quietly. "Looks like they're expecting trouble." She noted, pointing at the warily pacing guards.

"What do you propose we do?" Aslanta inquired.

A faintly wicked smile appeared on Xena's face. "Give em what they're looking for."  She stepped back, then adjusted her cloak over her armor, reaching back and detaching her sword. "Gotta give em a reason to let us in first, though."

'What do you mean?" Solari asked, with a hint of nervousness.

"Get some rope." The warrior ordered, turning towards Cait. "C'mere… let me hang this off your back."

Cait's eyes grew round as she obeyed, feeling the weight of the sword as her idol affixed it to her. "Gosh…whatever for?"

"Here's the rope, but.. "Solari offered it. "What are you up to?"

Xena turned, and held her hands out, crossing them at the wrists. "You're bounty hunters." She let a grim smile cross her face. "You caught me."

Solari's face was utterly shocked. "You've got to be joking." She stated, hesitantly. "Right? You don't really mean you want me to tie you up, and haul you in there."

The warrior nodded solemnly. "That's exactly what I want you to do."  She told her calmly. "It'll get us inside."

"You're insane." Aslanta choked out. "They'll never believe it for a minute.. they'll slap us all in chains as well." She shook her head. "Amazons would never turn in each other."

"Wouldn't they?" Xena's reply was sardonic. "We had to fight off a half dozen of them in the mountains… I've got a ten thousand dinar price on my head."

Shocked looks went around. "Ten thousand?" Aslanta breathed. "What's to keep us from doing it for real then? Once we get you trussed up?"

"Me, for one thing." Cait answered placidly. "I'm afraid I'll simply have to cut your heart out if you try it."

The Amazon queen stared at her, then at Xena's calm, slightly amused expression. "Insanity…. What do we do once we're inside?"

"Depends on the layout. You'll just have to follow my lead." The warrior drawled. "My guess is, the majority of the guards aren't in the entrance square…. I figure we can take out the ones that are, then create a diversion and get the rest of the Amazons out. "

"Diversion.. and what makes you think the guards aren't there?" Aslanta wondered. "This'll never work."

Xena's face remained impassive. "If it doesn't… you just take your reward, and leave… I'll take care of getting myself out."

Cait drew in a sharp breath, but remained silent as icy blue eyes pinned her. A tiny scowl appeared on her face, however, and she folded her arms across her slim chest.

"Let's get this over with." Xena held her arms out again. "Move it, Solari.. .we don't have forever."

The warrior stood patiently as ropes bound her wrists, then watched as Solari carefully tied loops around her booted feet, giving her just enough slack to take a shuffling step. To be honest, she was a touch nervous about the whole thing, given what she knew they were walking into, and she winced to think of what Gabrielle would have had to say about it, but she also knew it was the quickest way to get into the town with the least chance of getting any of them killed outright.

Once inside, however… Xena sighed, and tested her bonds, finding them annoyingly tight and restrictive. "All right.. let's get going."  She turned carefully, then paused, and lowered her hands, pulling aside her cloak a little. "Cait… take that."

The young Amazon approached, and took the chakram off it's hook reverently, running her fingers over the slightly raised design in it's surface. "I'll take great care of it, Xena." She promised softly.

"I know." The tall warrior replied. "Be careful.. it's very sharp."

"Rather." Cait gingerly looped a bit of leather thong through it, and affixed it to her belt, giving it a pat before she straightened and nodded. "Right…let's go."

*************************************

Gabrielle woke in semi darkness, her breath coming short, with a gnawing in her guts that made her double over in bed, holding her stomach and trying to control the panic that started her heart fluttering in her chest.

After a moment it subsided, and she could breathe again, as she straightened out and gazed up at the ceiling half shrouded in the dim pre dawn. "Xena, you better not be in trouble." She told the wooden supports. "You promised me."  With a sigh, she sat up, a groan escaping as her head pounded, reminding her of the previous nights overindulgence.

"Ugh…. I think I overdid it, Ares." She mumbled, rubbing her face with one hand. The wolf glanced up from his position curled up on the end of the bed and yawned, then put his head back down and closed his eyes. "Gee, thanks."

Gabrielle climbed out of bed and paused, grabbing onto one of the posts for support as her stomach rebelled violently, and she stood there for some minutes simply swallowing, and trying not to throw up. "Oh yeah. That was stupid." She finally muttered, making her way slowly to where Xena's kit was tucked, and rummaging in it.

"I think these are the right ones.. ." She squinted at the packets, trying to remember what her soulmate used for hangovers. "Thank the gods I don't need them often." She shook out a handful then sniffed it, grimacing. "Oh yeah… that's it."

Into a cup they went, along with a good quantity of cold water, which she swirled around until she'd steeled herself for the taste. Two gulps were fortunately enough, and she held her nose as she  swallowed, hoping her stomach wouldn't send the mess right back up. "Ugh."

Ares whined.

"Yeah.. yeah.. I know.. that was dumb."  Gabrielle dropped into the chair nearby and rested her head in her hands. "I didn't think I had that much."  She closed her eyes and concentrated, trying to remember. "Two.. three… nope, I'm right.. I didn't."

Three cups of honey mead was all, but on an empty stomach, she realized, which hadn't been a good idea. To her credit, she remembered the whole night, learning the dance, which hadn't been hard, and the candlemarks of practicing it, the movements blurring into the crowd of Amazons in a foggily remembered haze of sweating bodies, and drums, and casual touches which had finally crossed the line.

Gillen's eyes on her, and the older Amazon's hands on her waist, pressing against her suggestively. "C'mon Gabrielle… it's the best part of being an Amazon." Those eyes had gazed knowingly at her, as fingers brushed her bare stomach. "Don’t' tell me it doesn’t feel good."

And it had. Gabrielle knew it was an accepted thing in the tribes as well, casual contact that relieved tension, and.. how did Ephiny put it? Expanded the horizons. Even Xena knew it.. had commented on it several times, giving her the impression that her soulmate would understand if she felt she wanted to try it.. to explore a little outside her admittedly narrow experience.

Certainly, Xena had.

It had felt good, and Gillen was very good looking, and Gabrielle's skin, already sensitized by the mood, and the music tingled in response, urging her to give in and accept the offer, amplified by the brushing of warm bodies against hers, as the rest of them continued their dancing.

"No thanks." She'd taken a step back, moving away from the fire, and the dancers, and the touching. Not wanting that complication in her life, or on her conscience, no matter how much everyone said it was all right.

The drunken Gillen had laughed. "Still a little shepherd inside, eh?"

It had stung, and Gabrielle had replied without thinking. "No… nothing here can match what I'm used to."

Low whistles came from the Amazons around her who heard, and a round of sloppy chuckles.  The bard had blushed, but the fire had covered it, and she'd made her way back to her quarters unaided, to crawl into her bed and hug her pillow, half ashamed, and half proud in a mixture of thrumming emotion.

She blushed again now, feeling the heat against her fingertips. "I can't believe I said that." She sighed, blinking in relief as the herbs began working, and her head started to clear. Her stomach was also quieting down, and now she wondered if her waking had been due to her illness, or from their connection.

She hoped it was from the mead. With a sigh, she pushed herself to her feet and drew in a deep breath, glad to feel the nausea receding. Her brows knit in thought, then she grunted softly and walked back to their gear, rooting around in Xena's kit until she found two neatly wrapped trail bars, which released a scent of fruit and honey as she brought them closer. She trudged back to the bed and climbed into it, curling up against her pillows and taking a bite out of one end of a bar. Ares immediately crawled up and stuck his nose up close to her face, his tail wagging against her leg.

"Oh sure." The bard mumbled around her mouthful. "You never share anything with me."

The wolf put his muzzle down on his paws, and gazed up at her plaintively through dark lashes.

"Don’t' even try it… you know that only works with Xena." She warned him, smiling a little at the way Ares tail beat rapidly against her at hearing her soulmate's name. "You know who that is, huh?"  She chuckled, then relented and broke off a corner, offering it to him. "Okay.. but just a little. You get sick from this."

White teeth parted and accepted the tidbit, which Ares swallowed with out the benefit of chewing. "Arorrr." He nosed her hand, then licked it, and she ruffled his fur affectionately.

Then she rolled half onto her back and gazed out the window, where the early morning light was beginning to outline the leaves outside, and a fresh breeze brought hints of woodsmoke and the first stirrings of the watch.

What, she wondered curiously, feeling mostly anticipation in her guts, was her soulmate up to now?

************************************

The gates got larger and larger, at the slow pace they were forced to keep to allow Xena to walk without tripping. They knew they were under scrutiny as soon as they crossed the river, and the ex warlord obligingly kept her head down, and her shoulders slumped in an attitude of surrender.

Cait, walking alongside her, held one end of a rope that was tied around Xena's neck, and the expression on the girl's face, a combination of fierce pride and caution paid tribute to the trust Cait knew her idol had laid on her. "Are you all right?" The young Amazon hissed softly.

"Never been better." Xena replied, in a low voice. "Just keep moving."  Solari and Aslanta were ahead of them, and the two others behind, and she spared a brief wish that the walk, at least, were over. The shortened stride was putting a strain on her back, and she had a fierce itch between her shoulderblades.

Hoots greeted them from the guards, and Xena forced herself to remain still as a packet of lazily thrown mud skimmed past her head, hitting the ground behind her with a sodden thump.

"Hold." A male voice barked, and she heard a creak as the gate opened, then footsteps coming closer. "What have we here?"

"You have a bounty out for Xena of Amphipolis." Solari stated flatly, her voice cold and hard. "I've come to collect it."

There was dead silence for a moment, then the man exhaled. "Son of a bacchae." He stepped cautiously closer, then unsheathed his sword and dug the tip of it into her chin, forcing her head up.  Xena kept her eyes unfocused, and appeared dazed. "She drugged?"

"Of course." Solari snorted. "Whaddya think I am, nuts? She's got enough in her to keep her like this for maybe… eight, nine candlemarks. After that, she's your problem."

It felt good just to stand still. Xena let her muscles relax, and tried to prepare herself for the next phase of the plan. If they let them in, she'd have to make a quick decision one way or the other, and Cait was hair triggered next to her, ready to slice through her bonds in an instant.

"Awright… bring her inside." The man chuckled. "I'm gonna get promoted for this… you betcha."  He slapped Xena on the cheek with the flat of his sword, then let it drop. "Son of a bacchae."

"You show me the dinars first." Solari shook her head. "Or no deal."

The captain of the guard stared at her in disdain. "What.. you think I carry em around in my pocket? You want your reward… come on then. I'll give you a chit, you'll have to take it to Andreas. He'll give you your dinars… don't you worry about that. He wants her bad…real bad."

Solari paused, appearing to consider the offer. "Best I'll get. " She sighed. "Throw in a nights board and lodging for us, and it's done."

The man's eyes roamed over the women's bodies, and he smiled. "You got it." He turned his head. "Open the gates… and get the big cell ready. Shackles, the works." A cheer went up. "And get me a messenger!"

Xena felt a very gentle tug on her neck rope and she started forward, slowly raising the angle of her head so that her peripheral vision could take in as much as possible.  As they cleared the gates her eyes swept the interior, spotting the cages holding the mountain Amazons immediately.

Rapid glances brought pictures into her mind, and she noted the small group of watching soldiers, the guards on the walls, the craftsmen in the background.

The guards jeered in derision at her.

Her mind counted opponents.

A clump of dirt hit her shoulder.

Xena smiled. "Cait."

The gate closed, the sound covering the soft whisper steel parting the rope that held her hands together.

The captain chuckled softly and drew his sword. "Now we've got even more Amazons to sell… take them!"

Xena got a hand on her sword hilt and pulled, then ducked under Aslanta's lunging body and took the man's weapon out of his hands with a single, almost negligent swipe. "Think so, huh?"  She tipped back her head, and let out a wild, ringing yell,  as the soldiers charged forward.

The captain dove for his sword, then came up in a roll. "Very slick, but we were waiting for you, Xena." He laughed. "Sound the alarm!"

A horn rang out, as the Amazons engaged the guards. Xena took out one with a kick, then cleared some space around her and started to work, drawing her dagger and using both weapons effectively.

Cait let out a laugh and stayed with her, the twin blades she carried flickering in the weak sunlight as she slipped under a fighter's arms and came up behind him, stabbing him viciously in the chest with both hands and sending a double spray of blood outward. He dropped with a gurgle, and she released him, going after a man coming towards Xena with an exultant shout.

Over the clash of weapons, a dull roar sounded, and Xena could hear the yells of many men, along with another sound that set her spine tingling.

"Hear that?" The captain taunted her, dodging a forward thrust and catching her sword on his own in defense. "You're trapped!"  He slammed his hilt against hers and pushed her back. "Get the gates open!"

"You don't wanna do that." Xena warned, with a grin, as she crouched, then pushed off the ground, flipping over his head and landing behind him, then slamming a kick off his back and sending him flying. "Trust me."

One man rushed to the gates and lifted the bar, trying to clear it from the holders. "Give me a hand!" He yelled, then screamed, as Cait's blade found it's way between his ribs, and sent him sagging against the wood.

The warrior eyed her companions, who were driving the guards back neatly, then she turned and bolted for the cages,  where the occupants were clustered, hands clutching the bars and voices raised in support. "Back off!" She yelled, raising her sword hilt and bringing it down on the first cage's lock.

"They've got an army outside Xena!" That was a familiar voice. "Get outta here!"

The warrior yanked the door open. "I know.. .move it!"

Amazons streamed past her, as the battle moved to the gates, the Amazons keeping the soldiers from opening it. A hammering was heard on the other side, and Xena cast a glance that way, before she went to the next cage and kicked it open. "Move!"

A creak warned her, and she turned, to see the guards tugging at the doors. "Amazons!" She yelled, at the top of her voice. "Over here!"

They ran towards her, and she pointed, "Get up there.. c'mon.. move! Move!!!"

"What?" Aslanta yelled. "Are you nuts?"

Xena shoved her hard. "Just move!" She broke open the last of the cages as a crash sounded behind her, and a dull, overwhelming roar filled the town.

She took off running, pushing the last straggling Amazons before her, and hit the steps up to higher ground just as a wall of water caught her behind the knees, sending her sprawling, unable to catch her balance.

Damn. The wave slammed her against the edge of a low wall, almost knocking her out, and she went under, the muddy, turbulent water getting up her nose and almost choking her. A box slammed over her head, and she was pinned in place, in a rushing darkness that hit a sudden, violent chord of memory.

Strength was relative.

Mind over matter.

Xena got her feet under her and shoved with everything she had, overturning the weight above her and getting her free, as her head broke through the water's surface and she saw a pole flash by.

She grabbed it, and held on, as the water rushed past her body, slamming debris against it, then she slowly inched her way up until she was free of the current.

Only then, did she hear the yells of the Amazons, and see them racing along the rooftops, with Solari in the fore, ready to throw a rope down to her. She held up a hand, then paused a moment, before pulling herself up the rest of the way onto the roof with them, their heads breaking out over the walls to see the forest beyond.

"Xena! Are you okay!" Solari reached her first, and grabbed hold of her without thinking twice, peering at the warrior anxiously.

The ex warlord spat out a mouthful of mud and nodded. "Never been better. "She turned and put her hands on her hips, staring down at the town with a look of quiet satisfaction. "Let's get out of here."

It was chaos below. The entire town was filled with churning, roiling muddy water, which swept people, and wagons, and animals before it, throwing them against walls and houses, and sweeping some out the same gates it was coming in. Muted screams could be heard, and they could see people struggling to stay afloat, all far too busy dying, or trying not to die to spare them even the briefest thought.

Xena walked to the edge of the roof and peered over, observing the flooded woods with a darkly satisfied smile. Men were struggling there, too, though she could see bodies and supplies floating out towards the flooding river's path. "C'mon.. we can reach those trees."

She led the Amazons into the branches, and they made their way through the forest, above struggling men who never even saw them pass. They emerged on the far end and waded through the flooded ford, gaining the opposite side as Eponin's group rejoined them.

Aslanta had come up next to her. "How in Hades did that happen?" The Amazon queen wondered, catching her breath.

Xena pointed to the granite face opposite, which showed fresh score marks in it. "There was an avalanche waiting to happen up there.. I just had Eponin push things along a little. The rocks fell right into the river bed, and diverted it."

The Amazons gathered around her, gazing behind them at the ruined town. "You knew it was a trap. " Aslanta murmured. "You knew everything."

A soft cough interrupted them, and Xena turned. "Jonae."

The highland Queen nodded, running a hand through her short hair. "We were bait for you."

The warrior nodded. "I figured."

Jonae let a tiny smile crease her face. "You came anyway." She exhaled. "Well, I hope you can use us.. because we're all yours." The words were low, and honest, as the woman gazed at her with respectful eyes. "If I wasn't sure before, I am now."

Xena remained silent, aware of the cluster of Amazons all around her, all of them watching her face intently.

"I as well." Aslanta added quietly. "That was brilliantly done."

Huh. Finally, Xena allowed a wary smile to move her lip. And I didn't even have to beat any of them up. "All right."  She replied, with a tiny nod of acknowledgment.

A roll of thunder rattled the air, and they all looked up. "Let's find a place to hole up and let that pass." Xena decided. "Come on." She started up the slope, and they followed, falling into line behind her as the first patters of rain dotted the dusty rock.

*******************************************

Continued in Part 11

These characters, and boy, are they ever characters, are mostly the property of Renaissance Pictures, Universal MCA, and whoever else owns stock and interest in Xena: Warrior Princess. This fiction was written for my amusement only, and not in any way, shape or form for profit - and it is not intended to infringe on the copyright holders of the characters.

Some of the characters are mine, and the story ideas.. well, who knows where they come from? Must be one weird place, that's for sure.

Specific Story Disclaimers:

Violence - this is a Xena: Warrior Princess story. This is not Teletubbies. Even though there are some rumors of similarities. Some of the violence is graphic, but we try not to dwell on it.

Subtext - Considering that the TV Series just aired an episode establishing Xena and Gabrielle as eternal soulmates, any disclaimer of subtext on my part is really kind of goofy in the extreme. The two characters are in love with each other, and have been for years. You can choose to see them as just friends, but then you might not want to read this fanfic, in case it changes your mind or anything like that.

Emotional Content - this is not one my more comedic efforts. There are moments of humor, however.

********************************************************************

Dark Comes the Morning - Part 11

By Melissa Good

They'd found a cave up range, far enough from the town so that they felt safe in stopping, and large enough to hold their now three score sized group. Xena let herself sink down against a boulder and wrapped chilled arms around her knees, glad to be out of the cold wind that had been blowing against her wet body.

The rain was falling outside, lashing against the rock with some violence, and she'd thought she'd heard hail more than once. Across from her a group was clustered around some wood they'd found, and she could hear the soft crackles of a fire being born, bringing a welcome warmth as the fire built and grew in the circle they'd constructed.

The rescued Amazons were in pretty good shape…after whatever they'd been given wore off, they'd been left pretty much alone, and aside from a few cuts and scrapes, and one fractured hand, they'd gotten out fairly intact. Likewise, Xena's Amazons had managed to escape major injury in their battle, save a bump on Solari's head, and a bruise on the arm that the Amazon had gotten from an errant blow of a compatriot's.

In fact, Xena mused wryly, she was probably banged up the worst, having suffered a number of painful thumps in her water travels, including a twisted knee that ached in the cold something fierce. With a sigh, she put her chin down on her arm and debated getting up to retrieve some herbs from her pack, as well as a dry shirt to put on.

"Hello." Cait's voice floated near, and the young Amazon seated herself carefully at Xena's feet.

"Hey."  The warrior replied quietly.

"You're awfully wet."

Xena nodded. "Uh huh."

"Wouldn't you like something dry to wear? It's a bit chilly." Cait asked. "I could bring your pack over, if you like."

The warrior mulled this over, then decided getting out of wet clothes couldn’t possibly be regarded as a sign of decadent weakness. "Sure.. if you don't mind."

Cait got up and captured her gear, bringing it back with her and setting it down with a thump. She reseated herself and rested her elbows on her knees, watching Xena tug a thick, warm shirt from the pack and start to undo her armor. "You see, Gabrielle isn't here, so someone really aught to make sure you're all right."

Xena's hands stopped and she peered at the younger Amazon. One eyebrow lifted.

Cait gazed right back at her, unabashed, with a cheeky grin on her face.

"Did Gabrielle tell you to keep an eye on me?" The warrior countered, slipping the shirt over her head and tugging it into place.

"Certainly not." The girl solemnly shook her head. "But I know she'd do it if she were here."

The warm fabric felt wonderful against her chilled skin, and Xena felt her body relax, as it's shivering abated. "Yes she would… thanks, Cait." She lowered her voice.

"You're welcome" The girl responded promptly. "Um… Xena?"

"Mm?"  The warrior glanced up.

"You've got rather a nasty cut on  your head there… may I take care of it for you?" Cait blushed visibly as she asked, the blood very evident against her pale skin.

Ah. So that's what the headache was from. "Um.. sure." She pulled her healer's kit form her pack and opened it. "Do you know.."

"Quite." Cait gently took it from her, and removed the clean linen pads, and cleanser. "If you'd just lean back there so I could reach."

Xena did so, letting her head rest against the rock and closing her eyes as she felt Cait's hesitant touch against the side of her face. She could smell the sharp scent of the cleaner, and feel the slight tremor in the girl's fingers as she carefully wiped the area clean, leaving behind a sore stinging sensation. "Must have happened under water." She murmured.

"Actually… a box quite hit you just before you went under." Cait replied softly. "I was ever so nervous about that." She put a bit of salve on the cut.

"Ah… yeah." Xena nodded faintly. "That's right…brought back some bad memories."

Cait had finished, but she was still sitting quietly at Xena's side. "Really?"

The blue eyes opened, and gazed thoughtfully at the rock ceiling. "Yeah.. Gabrielle and I were heading out to Potadeia once… the river flooded and went over it's banks. Some … wagon got washed down stream, and we helped the people in it out."

"Hmm."

"We got caught in it though… somehow we got trapped under a fallen tree, with the water rising."

"Did you? That's horrible.. how did you ever get out?" Cait asked, curiously.

She'd always wondered and now, at last, the memory had returned to her, of those last, anguished moments under the tree.

The water had risen, chilling her and making Gabrielle's teeth chatter as the bard clung to her, refusing to move, refusing to try and make it out the small opening above their heads.

Xena had wanted her to, had desperately wanted her to live, she was so young, and had so much left to do… surely the world would be better off with Gabrielle in it, and her gone…

But the bard had simply refused to go, throwing her arms around Xena's neck, and making her choice. To go where Xena went, even if that meant dying along side her. Better that, Gabrielle had whispered, than living without her.

And so there she'd been, with the water rising, now almost up to the bard's mouth, and Gabrielle had lifted her eyes, determined to keep them fastened on her partner for as long as she was able.

A gentle pressure, and Xena had felt the body in her arms go limp, and she was faced with their impending death alone, to spare her soulmate the horror that was drowning.

"I'm sorry." She'd whispered brokenly. Regretting all the things she'd ever done.. she'd ever said that had hurt Gabrielle. Regretting all the things Gabrielle would never get to do. She could feel the rapid heartbeat against her skin as the water crept higher,  and one hand lifted of it's own volition and cradled the bard's head gently against her chest, as she pressed her lips to the damp hair, the grief rising and wringing helpless sobs from her as tears rolled down to join the raging river's waters.

No gods to pray to that would listen to her. No rescue possible… no one would even know they'd died for a very, very long time.. if ever.

And then she'd looked up, at that damned tree, and felt anger replace the grief as she glared at the unmoving wood. The anger had built, and built, until it overran her conscious thought, and she released Gabrielle's unconscious body, and put her hands against it, pitting her strength against it's weight in a fury of unreasoning rage.

She could feel safety barriers in her breaking down, and knew, no matter what happened, she'd never live through this.

But Gabrielle just might, and so with everything she was, and everything she had, she exploded her body outward and upward, daring the tree to deny her.

She'd tasted blood in her mouth, and felt it running down her face as the unmoving surface moved, and the water roared, given a new outlet.

And then there had only been silence, and friendly darkness, as the world faded away, and she never even felt the river take her.

"I did." Xena murmured, one hand lifting to her ear, from where blood had poured, in reflex. "I.. threw the tree over somehow."

"Well." Cait laughed softly. "Of course you did… it must have been awful, though."

A brief memory of a seashore, and a doorway with light surrounding it tantalized her. "Yeah.. it was… um.. " She paused. Maybe.. maybe it had been… her willingness… to sacrifice everything for Gabrielle's sake that had given her that glimpse, at long last. "It was a mess.. but it worked out."  Xena exhaled. "Thanks, Cait." She gave the girl a smile, and sat back, regarding the cavern quietly. "We'll wait for the rain to stop.. then get moving."

"Right." Cait answered softly, seeing the new light shining from the pale blue eyes that so intrigued her.

***************************************************

The golden red rays of sunset felt good, Gabrielle decided, as she sat at her desk and scribbled in her diary. It had been an uneventful day, most of the morning spent recovering from the party the night before, and the rest of it occupied in getting things packed, and ready for the warriors to leave.

She paused and reread her entry, then looked up at the sound of approaching footsteps. Running footsteps, actually, and she half stood as Ephiny ducked inside the door. "Hey!"

"Hey!" Her regent grinned. "Guess who's back?"

Gabrielle felt a smile take over her face, without her permission. "Yeah?"

"Yeah." Ephiny nodded. "The outer guard post just relayed a message… looks like the mission was successful." She loved watching the bard's eyes light up like that, it took years off her age, and made the regent remember a feckless kid that used to follow around a grumpy ex warlord. "I've got my folks getting space cleared… it's gonna be crowded around here for a few days."

Gabrielle stood up and closed her diary, stretching her body out into the sunlight with a feeling of pleasant expectation. "How long till they get here?" She asked, pretending she was concerned about the preparations. "Do we have enough supplies?"

The regent chuckled. "About two candlemarks…and we're out of edible underwear, but Esta's going to bake more."

"Oh.. good." Gabrielle nodded absently. "What time is it now.. " She glanced out the window, then jerked, and turned her head back towards Ephiny. "We're out of what???" She put her hands on her hips. "Are you pulling my leg?"

Ephiny put a hand on her shoulder. "A little." She gave the bard a rakish smile. "Some things never do change with you, do they?"

Gabrielle opened her mouth to protest, then closed it, and let her eyes drop to the floor, only to raise them a moment later. "I guess not." She admitted softly. "My heart still skips a beat when I see her.. and  I hope that never changes." She exhaled and shook her head. "Damn.. I'm glad that's over.. I was really nervous about this one.. .looks like my jitters were off base for once."

"Mm." Ephiny chewed her lip. "Listen, I'm sorry about last night."

The bard cocked her head. "For what?"

"Gillen."

"Oh." A shrug. "It's okay.. it wasn't your fault."

"I know you were uncomfortable.. I should have said something beforehand…it's just that you get so used to it.. I forget sometimes." Ephiny admitted. "You know we're like that.. it doesn't mean anything, Gab…it's just a little fun, relaxation… nobody minds."

"I know." Mist green eyes fixed on her. "I don’t even know if Xena would object… but I didn't feel right about it." She paused, considering. "It's…that's always been something special for me.. I guess because I just don't… I mean… " She paused again. "With Xena, it's…it's more than just the act."

Ephiny cocked her head. "I don't understand."

The bard's face pursed into a faint scowl. "I don't know if I do either.. I just know it didn't feel right." She sighed. "Maybe because I know how I'd have felt if it had been Xena doing it… even though I know she's had a lot more.. um.. experience… since we've been together it's just been…well, you know what I mean."

"Uh huh." Ephiny nodded.

"I know if it had been her, and she had, I'd have been really hurt." Gabrielle admitted. "Even though in my mind, I know it doesn't mean anything." A shrug. "So… I don't know if she'd feel that way, but I have no intention of ever finding out."

"Ah." The regent nodded. "Okay, I get it."

Gabrielle gazed at her. "I'm not making sense, am I?"

"No.. well.. I mean, yeah.. I mean… " Ephiny had to laugh. "It's just so much more complex with you… but I should be used to that."

The bard nibbled a fingernail. "You 're  saying you wouldn’t mind, if it were Pony?"

Ephiny shrugged. "Of course not… it's good to get experience elsewhere sometimes.. keeps you fresh." She hesitated. "So things don't get boring."  She watched the confusion seep across Gabrielle's face. "Let me guess. You're never bored."

"Uh." Green eyes widened a little.

Ephiny rubbed the side of her head. "Artemis.. how did I get into this conversation." She muttered. "Look.. never mind.. I understand, okay? I'm sorry she hit on you.. but your answer's gonna go down in Nation history."

"Okay." Gabrielle smiled. "Listen, I'm going to go for a walk.. um.. "

"Let me guess… towards the valley." The regent supplied dryly. "I'll join you."

They left the queen's quarters and walked through the busy village, as the red tinged light drenched them from the west.

"Hey, Eph?"

"Mm?"

"What's edible underwear?"

Ephiny's jaw dropped for a  few seconds, then she cleared her throat. "Tell you what.. why don't you ask Xena about it?"

"Mm.. think she'll know?" Gabrielle asked seriously.

"Uh… yeah.. I'm sure she will." The regent nodded.

"Okay." The bard agreed mildly. "Do you really bake it?"

Ephiny rubbed her ear, and started whistling.

*******************************************************

They had elected not to stop after their lunch break, and by the time the sun was lowering over the trees the land had begun to slope upward towards the Amazon village. Xena was in the lead, with Cait pacing alongside her, and the rest of the troop in single and double file following behind.

Four Amazons were spread out to either side, as well, just to make sure there weren’t any snoopers around, though Xena was fairly sure her senses would have picked that up. However, the trek was almost over, and she was content to maintain a good pace, glancing around her at the rustling leaves of the forest.  A low rumble reminded her, though, that it had been a long time since lunch, and she reached behind her into her pack and pulled out a trail bar.

Despite the long day, and the early start, she found herself in an unusually good mood, and she reflected on that as she chewed her snack. Maybe it was because of her morning success… even she had to agree that the plan had worked, for once, without a hitch, and given that it was a last minute choice, and she had almost no one clued into the whole thing, she had reason to be pretty darn proud of herself.

Certainly, the Amazons were impressed… she'd heard snatches of conversation drifting up all day, most of it complimentary, some of it downright embarrassing, and while her ego didn't generally require any stroking, she wasn't beyond admitting it felt nice for a change from this particular group.

They'd gotten out of it with only a few scrapes, with all the captive Amazons intact, and had practically ruined a significant outpost of Andreas. Damn, Xena. She grinned up at a bluebird flitting overhead. You may still have it in you. The strategy of war had always caught her imagination, and she found herself seriously welcoming the chance to shake out the cobwebs, and flex mental muscles long dormant.

It felt great.

A half candlemark and two more bars later, Xena’s eyes picked out the hidden mass of the furthest of the Amazons outposts, and she lifted a hand to wave at it, grinning when the leaves parted, and a brown haired head poked through, responding to her signal. “Well, they know we’re here.” She commented to Eponin, who had ambled up alongside her.

“Huh.” Pony agreed. “Think they’ll hold dinner for us?”

Xena wasn’t sure if an affirmative was a good thing or a bad thing, so she rocked her head noncommittally. “Depends…if they get word back soon enough.” She found herself wondering if the word might also bring a curious Gabrielle out along the trail as well, and she made a bet with herself that it would.

Two lousy days, and she found herself eagerly awaiting the reunion with her partner as though they'd been parted for a month. Xena shook her head ruefully. How was that for pathetic? But she was bringing good news, and new allies, and she could hardly wait to see the look on Gabrielle's face when she told her.

High spirits bubbled up, and she bounced into a flip, startling Cait who jumped in alarm next to her, and causing several snorts to float up from behind them. "Sorry." She apologized to the young Amazon.

"Good grief.. I thought we were being attacked." Cait glanced around nervously. "That was quite sudden."

"Yeah.. what's made you so damn bouncy today?" Eponin asked, giving her a strange look. "Something in those fruit things of yours?"

The sun had dropped almost behind the walls of rock, spilling warm red light through the leaves, and a tired silence had fallen over the Amazons before Xena lifted her head and focused pale blue eyes on a small, roughly hewn path across the last chasm bridge between them and Amazon territory.

“Why does this damn walk always seem longer going this way?” Solari groused. “I swear it only took us a candlemark on the way out.”

“Shut up.” Eponin grunted. “Let’s get over the bridge, then maybe ‘someone’ will think about giving us a break.”

Xena lifted an eyebrow at her. “Tch…getting a little lazy, arentcha?” She drawled. “Weren’t you the one who was telling me last time how you went on for two days once without stopping?”

Eponin glared at her from under rust colored brows.

“Yeah, that was her.” Solari supplied, helpfully. “Or was it three days.. I forget.”

“You both think you’re sooo funny.” Pony growled, as Cait muffled a giggle.

Xena chuckled. “Tell ya what… once we get across the bridge, I’d say a break would be in order.”

“No no.. “ Pony held up a hand. “Forget I mentioned it.”  She stomped onto the bridge, causing it to shake.

“Hey… take it easy.. we’ve got other people to get across.” The warrior called, as she put her boots on the wooden surface, pulling the rope supports and bouncing a little, which sent a wave down the bridge and nearly tossed Eponin on her head.

“Yeow!” The weapons master grabbed for the rope railings, then turned and glowered at her.

Xena gave her a charming smile, and waved a hand at her, motioning her forward as she stepped onto the bridge herself and approached the other woman, aware of the other Amazons following her by the shifting weight on the bridge.

“You’re cruising for a bruising, champ.” Eponin snorted, as she approached. “Gabrielle isn’t here to protect you this time.”  She turned and shook her head, continuing on across and moving away from the bridge to allow the others to exit.

“So.” Xena strolled up, feeling unusually mischevious. “You think Gabrielle protects me, huh?”

A snort. “You know she does… one wrong look and WHAP!” Pony pantomined being hit in the head with a staff. “You think you’re dangerous? Hades, Xena.. you can’t even compete.”  She walked backwards, gesturing with her hands. “I tell you what, I’d never get within range of that stick, no way, no how.. .uh uh.. that's one dangerous woman you've go there, let me tell ya….yeow!” Eponin yelped, finding herself being lifted off the ground by strong arms wrapped around her middle. “Hey!!!”

“So, I’m dangerous, huh?” A gentle voice whispered in her ear.

Eponin froze and rolled her eyes back, to see brilliant green ones peering back at her at very close range. “Oh.” She chuckled wanly. “Hi, Gabrielle.”

The bard released her, and brushed her hands off. “Hi.” Her eyes slid past the flustered Amazon and fell on her partner, who winked at her. Gabrielle’s brows knit on seeing the visible cut on her soulmate’s face, but she kept quiet, walking over to her and giving her a pat on the belly, then moving past and extending an arm to Jonae. “Welcome to our lands.”

The Amazon queen exhaled wearily and met her grasp. "It's good to see you again, Gabrielle… and thank you for sending help."

"No problem.. " Gabrielle motioned Ephiny to come forward. "This is my regent, Ephiny… Eph, this is Jonae, the queen of the highlands Amazons."

"We've met." Ephiny smiled, holding out a hand. "At the river valley market, two seasons ago, I believe."

Jonae's face lightened, and she nodded. "I remember.. yes…you won the archery competition, and stole that bag of gold right out from under the prince's favorite… well done!"

Ephiny's head inclined, accepting the compliment graciously. "So I did… it feels like a long time ago."

Gabrielle smiled quietly. "Looks like everyone could use a break. "She gave her soulmate a wry look, then bit off a chuckle. "Jonae.. why not introduce Ephiny to your people..we've got about another candlemark's walk to get to the village."

"Good idea." Jonae exhaled. "Your champion there sets quite a pace… my feet are killing me." A soft round of laughter went up, and Jonae motioned Ephiny to join her, followed by a curious Eponin.

Xena seated herself on a rock and stretched her legs out, gazing up as her soulmate came over and slid both arms around her neck in a quick hug. "Hey.." She circled Gabrielle's waist and returned it, giving the bard a tiny nibble along the ribs as she did so. She felt her ear tasted in return, and they both chuckled.

"How'd it go?" The bard asked, raking fingers through Xena's dark hair affectionately. "Looks like you got everyone… didn't take you long."

"It went perfectly." The warrior responded, with a frank grin. "We got in, released them, and got out.. in under a quarter candlemark.. and neutralized the outpost on top of it." She gazed up into the bard's sunset painted features. "Aslanta's in… Jonae's in."

Gabrielle smiled back at her. "Gillen  and Tyldus as well." She announced proudly. "And we've settled on a way to consolidate the villages, to conserve resources and provide for security while the warriors are gone."

Xena's smile deepened. "Good work, my bard.. not that I had any doubts."

Gabrielle's eyes twinkled, and she wrinkled her nose in a big grin. "Thanks." They regarded each other for a moment, then the bard gently touched the cut on her soulmate's face. "If it went perfectly, what's this from? You and Pony sparring?"

"Ah." Xena exhaled. "Part of the plan required a flood… and I was a little slow getting out of it's way..I bounced off a few things." She shrugged. "It's.."

"Nothing.. just  a scratch." Gabrielle finished her sentence effortlessly. "I've had worse." She continued with an impish grin. "Did I leave anything out?"

"Mmhmm.. don't worry about it." Xena supplied. "Cait took good care of me." One dark brow cocked. "She seemed to think someone had to since you weren't there."

"Ahhh… .I see." The bard continued to riffle her hands through the dark hair, watching her partner's eyes flutter closed in contentment at the touch. "That all you got?" The surface under her fingertips moved in a nod. "Mm….did it happen this morning?" Another nod. "Ah."

The liquid blue eyes opened, tinged with the sun's fire and peered at her. "Why?"

Gabrielle exhaled, then looked up as voices approached. "Tell you later." She promised, brushing her fingertips across the warrior's lips, and finding them lightly captured, then released, the strong white teeth leaving tiny chills in their wake that skittered up and down her arm.

Boring?  Gabrielle sucked a breath in, and tried to calm her body down, as Jonae and Ephiny, joined by Aslanta and Eponin closed in on them. "Well.. we ready to keep going?"

Ephiny smirked at little, at the flush evident on her friends face despite the sunset's masking and folded her arms, giving the waiting warrior a wry look. Wide, round blue eyes blinked back at her innocently.

She could feel the animal sexuality that oozed from the seated woman even from where she was, and thinking about it, conceded that Gabrielle probably did have about all she could handle or ever need in that respect.

But, she wondered, how did Xena feel about it? Was the far more experienced warrior equally content with her younger partner?

Interesting question. "I think we are…. We can have a light supper when we get back.. and put a few plans together for tomorrow." Ephiny tilted her head at time. "You two planning on taking off?"

Gabrielle considered the question. "We'll stay another day.. just to get things tied down, then head back." She glanced at Xena, who nodded. "We've got so much to do at home… and I know you all do here, too."

"Great." Ephiny nodded briskly. "That gives me another night to get things settled."

"Somehow.. " Xena drawled, with a sly grin. "I smell a party coming."

The regent put her hands on her hips, ignoring the clustering Amazons, most of whom were grinning. "A party? Xena, why is it that every time we mention the words group, Amazons, and night, you assume it's a party?"

"Because it always is." Xena and Gabrielle answered in harmony.

Ephiny gave them both a mock insulted look, then stalked off, with Eponin in tow. "C'mon… let's get moving."

They let most of the Amazons pass before Xena rose and they joined the crowd, the warrior draping an arm over her partner's shoulders as Gabrielle reciprocated with a snug hold around her waist. "Party, or no?" The warrior whispered, as they walked along.

"Are you kidding? That's all she was talking about on the way out here." Her soulmate responded, bumping her with a hip. "It's a good idea, though, Xena… to get all these Amazons to mix around a little…break down some of that us and them stuff."

"Mm." Xena agreed absently. "Yeah… a little wine, a little dancing… that'll work." She glanced down when there was no answer, and saw the tense line of Gabrielle's jaw in the fading light. "Hey."

The bard turned her head and peeked up, a faint apprehension perceptible in the lines of her body. "Yeah?"

"What's wrong?"

Gabrielle took in a breath. "What makes you think anything is?"

Xena gazed at her in worried silence.

A yell caught their attention, and they looked up to see Ephiny waving at them. Gabrielle sighed. "Let's get back… then we'll talk, okay?"

The warrior's good mood vanished, replaced by a dull, gnawing in the pit of her stomach that threatened to expel it's contents. "Okay." She answered quietly, as they threaded their way through the crowd towards the regent.

Her only solace was the firm grip on her hand by the bard's, which never loosened in the slightest.

************************************************

It was full dark before they got everyone settled, with Jonae's people in the far orchard in already pitched tents, which they crawled into gratefully. The dining hall put out large quantities of cold foods, fruits and breads, cheeses and dried meats for anyone who was hungry, and Xena found a plateful of it shoved in her hands by a harried looking Eponin as she passed by.

"Here… I know Gab's usually hungry… I need to get me out of these leathers I think I got ants in em."

"Thanks." Xena replied quietly, as she took a deep breath and looked around, spotting Gabrielle ducking away from a group of Amazons and heading for her quarters. "I"l be over there if you need anything."

"Sure..sure.. " Pony ruffled her hair. "Hey… you're not off the hook for today, y'know… I'm gonna get you back for that."

"Yeah.. okay." Came the absent response, as the warrior slid away into the darkness, heading in the direction her partner had gone.

Eponin stared after her in puzzlement. "What's up with her?" She asked Ephiny, who was just passing by. "Been quieter than a mouse since we got back.. you say something to her?"

The regent stared after the tall figure. "No…beyond asking her about the outpost's layout… she seemed okay.. a little short on the words, but whenever is Xena not like that?"

They both watched the warrior duck inside the Queen's quarters, then shrugged, and went on towards the dining hall's open door.

Gabrielle was flat on her back, enjoying the blessed silence when she heard the footsteps approaching, and turned her head, to see familiar blue eyes peering at her from the doorway. "Hey… thank that gods that's over."

Xena entered, and put the plate down on Gabrielle's desk, before walking over to the chair and sitting down. "Pony sent that."

The bard hitched herself up on her elbows and looked. "Ah… did you get some?"

"Wasn't hungry."

Gabrielle studied her friend's quiet composure, to anyone else a picture of peaceful unconcern.  To her eyes, though, Xena's tense upset was painfully evident. She sighed, then rolled up and off the bed and padded barefoot over to where the warrior was sitting, nudging her over on the low bench and dropping down next to her, with their thighs and shoulders brushing.  She felt Xena lean against her a little, and she looked up, searching the taller woman's face. "It's been a weird day."

"Mm."

"I woke up pretty sick… I overdid it last night, even though I thought three cups were pretty safe."

An eyebrow twitched.

"They had one of those outdoor things last night.. there's not enough room for everyone inside the dining hall."  Gabrielle drew in a breath. "Xena… the Amazons have these traditions… "

Xena felt a band tighten around her chest, and she swallowed carefully. "Yes, they do." She forced her voice to a normal register.

"They have this.. whole thing with the dancing, and all that…and how that usually ends up with people just… " Gabrielle paused. "Sort of ending up with each other." Another pause. "You know what I mean."

The warrior carefully took iron control of her body and merely nodded. "Yes, I know." It was hard to breathe, but she managed.

"How do you feel about that?" Gabrielle asked, gently.

Xena was caught speechless, shoving down waves of emotion that threatened to swamp her before she could slam a lid down on that, and answer the question. "Well. "  Her voice sounded distant, and she was surprised at it's calm tone. "I guess it has it's uses."

Gabrielle put a hand on her knee, feeling the vibrating tension just under the skin. "That's what Ephiny said… that they did that to help relieve tension.. or to give people experience."  She traced a careful pattern on the soft skin. "I had Eph teach me that dance last night." The muscles went very still. "But I couldn’t." She finally looked up at the warrior's face, finding Xena's eyes on her. "It felt so wrong."

The eyes fluttered closed, and Xena licked her lips a few times, her jaw muscles tensing and moving under the skin. "I'm glad you felt that way." Came the very mild response. "Though you are a grown woman, Gabrielle, and you've got the right to choose what you want to do with your own body."

"Mm." Gabrielle acknowledged that. "How would you have felt if I had?"

Xena was quiet so long, the bard had almost decided she wasn't going to answer, and she was about to withdraw the question. But as she opened her lips to speak, the dark head lifted, and Xena looked at her, with a very open expression. "That would have  really hurt."  She admitted softly.

The rawness of it scraped along her nerves, and made her reach for Xena's hand, folding inside both of hers and feeling the uncharacteristic chill of her skin. The fingers tightened around hers and she saw some of the tension relax around the warrior's eyes. "Ephiny tried really hard to convince me it didn't matter….I don't understand that, Xena.. how could it not matter to them?"

A faint shake of the warrior's head. "Maybe for them it doesn’t." She spoke very quietly. "But when two people have gone through what you and I have… just to be together… just to stay together… little things take on a very deep meaning." She hesitated. "Everything matters."

It made sense, in a way that her heart understood, going past mere logic. "Mm… you're right." She agreed softly. "We've never talked about this before."

Xena exhaled. "No, we haven't."

Gabrielle studied her profile. "I wasn't… sure, I mean…"She fished around for a way to explain. "I guess I could have asked you.. but after that whole thing with Toris.. I don't know.. you seemed okay with it.. I wasn't really sure just how you felt about… that.. sort of thing."

The warrior remained quiet for a few beats, then she looked up. "I wasn't okay with it."

The bard blinked. "Wh.."

"It bothered me a lot." Xena admitted slowly. "It still does."

Gabrielle stared at her, in shock. "Why in Hades didn't you say something?"

Xena expelled a long breath. "How could I? I knew how much you wanted a child…and I knew I couldn't give that to you."  Her gaze dropped to the floor. "I was stuck between two very sharp swords."

"Xena…" Gabrielle felt sick.

"And… we hadn't been back together again that long I thought…" Now the warrior's voice was shaking. "And after everything… how could I deny you that?"

"Oh gods." The bard pressed her head against her partner's shoulder.

Xena took in a shaky breath. "So.. yes, it would have mattered to me, Gabrielle." Now the dark head lifted, and she was faced with stark, intense blue eyes. "You're mine, and I don’t' want to share you with anyone."

She'd never felt the bond between them so strongly. It was almost visible to her, as she met that fierce gaze and returned it with one of her own. "I think you know I feel the same way about you." Gabrielle responded. "I'm sorry… gods, I'm so sorry you felt like that about Toris… I wish you would have told me.. Xena, don’t you know yet that you're the most important thing in my life?"

Xena blinked. "I'm sorry. You're right. I should have." She replied, quietly. "It was very hard for me to think straight then."

Gabrielle sighed, and dropped her head. "It was for me too." She admitted. "Or I would have thought about making sure you were okay. " A hesitation. "I think I was trying so hard to give you…back… something I'd taken…" She stopped, and looked up, hoping for understanding, and finding more of it than she'd dare expected. "You knew that."

A hand lifted and cupped her cheek. "Yes." Xena's eyes were sad. "I wanted the same for you." She took a few breaths. "When I saw that birthmark.. I thought maybe both our dreams had come true."

The bard's eyes gentled, and she drank in the words, tasting their sweetness in simple pleasure. She covered Xena's hand with her own, then turned her head a little and kissed the palm lightly. "They have."

Xena reached over and took hold of her, and she was pulled willingly into the warrior's lap, wrapping her arms around her partner's body and hugging her with all her strength. She felt Xena stroke her hair, as she always did when comforting her, and the awful tension that had racked the warrior's body relaxed, as it melded into hers in a tangle of warmth and relief.

The darkness gathered around them, as the last of the twilight faded, leaving only a single candle to cast a golden light across the room. Outside, the sounds of moving warriors surrounded them, but a comfortable silence reigned within, as the soft, cool breeze brushed back dark and pale hair, tangling it in fitful gusts

"Are you okay?" Gabrielle finally asked, in a whisper.

"Yeah." Came the quiet answer. "I'm glad you told me."

The heartbeat under her ear was now slow, and steady. "I remembered what you said about wanting to know." She paused a few moments, closing her eyes.

"I'm a little surprised at Eph." Xena remarked, with a sigh. "I didn't think she… well, anyway."

Gabrielle's brows knit. "Hm?" Then she put two and two together. "Oh.. no.. she… I mean, she showed me the dance, because I asked her to, but she never.. um… gods, Xena.. she's a friend of both of ours…no.."

"I thought… " The blue eyes caught the candlelight, reflecting in the dimness.

"Gods, no.. it was Gillen." The bard shook her head. "I mean, everyone was getting kinda…touchy.. " She flicked a glance at her soulmate. "But then she crossed the line.. and I told her no thanks."

"Ah." Xena felt better about that.

"Yeah.. she called me a bumpkin."

"Bitch."

Gabrielle cleared her throat a little. "Well, I.. um.. sort of told her no one there could live up to what I was used to."

That surprised a little clucking noise out of her partner. "You did?"

"Uh, yeah…. Sort of at the top of my voice… "

"Ah… "

"In front of the entire crowd."

Xena didn't answer.

Gabrielle smiled into the darkness. "You're blushing. I can feel it."

A soft knock came at the door. "My queen… the other queens and Ephiny are asking for your presence in the council room."

Gabrielle sighed. "They can bite me." She muttered, then took a breath.

"The queen is occupied." Xena answered for her, in a low, but no nonsense voice. "And will be all night."

Silence from the door. Gabrielle expelled the breath she'd taken, and snuggled back down into her warm nest with a satisfied little grunt.

"But.." The voice came back.

"If anyone's got a problem with that.. they can just come and discuss it with me." Xena growled. "Personally."

Silence again. "Yes, ma'am." The voice finally, meekly receded.

Peace descended once again.

*********************************************************

Xena didn't often see the sun rise from the comfort of a bed. But this time she watched placidly as the golden bars came across the floor and painted the covers, which were tucked neatly around her and the dozing bard wrapped in her arms.

Outside, she could hear the noises of a beginning day, but she had no intention of stirring until Gabrielle did, to Hades with the Amazons, or anything else.

Emotions, she reflected, drained her more thoroughly and for a longer period of time than fighting entire battles.. after their talk last night she'd been completely exhausted, and this morning she still felt tired, content to let her eyes drift half shut as the sun glistened off the bard's pale hair and turned her skin a golden hue.

Still, she was glad Gabrielle had told her. It said good things about the stability of their relationship that the bard felt she could broach the subject, more as an honestly curious question than as a perceived betrayal..given that both of them had taken a lot of hits in that area not that long ago.

And if she'd stopped to think about it, how was Gabrielle to know how she really felt, huh? Like she ever said one way or the other? The furthest she'd gone was to admit some discomfort when Gabrielle had asked, the day she and Toris…. Xena sighed inwardly. I'm still lousy at handling my own feelings.. even after all these damn years.. and what in Hades would I have done if she'd gone ahead and slept with someone else?

She winced in pure reflex. Gods. I'm glad she didn't.

The sun crept a little higher, outlining dark brows that suddenly twitched, and lifted slightly, as the warrior remembered what the bard had told her erstwhile suitors, and a faint, somewhat embarrassed smile curved into being on Xena's face. That musta stung…if it's one thing the Amazons prided themselves on besides fighting, it was their ability to please each other, and Gabrielle had bluntly announced that none of them could ever measure up to her consort.. chosen conspicuously from outside the Nation.

Oo. The warrior regarded her contentedly sleeping partner in bemusement. Like you'd know one way or the other, huh?

Gabrielle half woke and nestled closer, producing a low mumble of pleasure as her grip tightened and their bodies wound around each other. Xena closed her eyes as the rush of blood in pure reaction sent tingles all over her and she let out a breath, acknowledging something very important.

It had nothing to do with her skill as a lover. It was their bond, the connection between them along with the bone deep friendship that made the difference between Gabrielle, and any other person she'd ever made love to. Every touch, every caress carried layers of meaning that pure physical contact could never duplicate.

She almost felt sorry for the Amazons.

One blue eye lazily opened, as she heard boots approaching. But not too sorry. She detected Ephiny's voice nearing, and recognized the thump of Eponin's accompanying stomping. And if they wanted to believe she was Aphrodite's gift to humanity…  An impish smile gathered in the sunlight. Who was she to object? They'd never find out one way or the other either.

Ephiny's curly head poked in the door and  Xena stretched her body out luxuriously, draping a protective arm over her bedmate. One eyebrow cocked. "Yeeesss?" She drawled, enjoying the look of consternation on the regent's face.

The Amazon leaned on the doorframe, putting a hand on one hip. "You gonna stay in bed all day?"

"Wouldn't you?" Came the sleepy answer, as pale green eyes opened, and peered towards the door. Gabrielle had her hands pressed against her partner's stomach, and she felt the vibration as Xena laughed silently.

The naked body wrapped around her smelled warm, and nice, and the temptation was definitely there to let herself drift back down into the sensual haze she'd drifted off into last night, after they'd spent hours simply indulging in each other. Her body felt very satiated, and she had no desire whatsoever to move.

However.  There was that queen of the Amazons thing to deal with.

Muskrats. Reluctantly, Gabrielle rolled over, pressing herself back against her partner's curled body and propping her head up on one hand. A long arm slid over and clasped her around the middle, and she lifted her brows inquiringly at her regent. "The treaty's signed, we're not going anywhere until after your party tonight, and… " She cocked her head, hearing a low rumble. "It's gonna rain soon."

Ephiny sighed. "True, true, and true…and yes, by the way, I would." She drawled in response, obliquely complimenting the tall warrior, who inclined her head graciously. "But I didn't want you to miss the games… I'd kinda like you to judge some of them."

"Mm."

"If it's not too much trouble." Ephiny added wryly.

Gabrielle let her head drop back to rest against Xena's collarbone, and felt the gentle pressure as the warrior slowly rubbed her belly. It took all her will power not to just close her eyes and give into her body's cravings, and for a  long moment, she toyed with the idea of refusing.

Then she sighed. "Okay.. but you gotta give me time to get a roll or something… if I judge those things on an empty stomach, I'll end up disqualifying half the people in them."

Ephiny shook her head in mock despair, then turned and ambled out the door, pausing just past the frame and looking back. "I'll have something sent over." She gave Pony a shove and snorted, as she walked away.

Gabrielle giggled softly. "She's gonna kill us, isn't she?"

"Mm." Xena ducked her head, and nibbled the back of her partner's neck, hearing the sudden intake of her breath, and feeling her body react under the drifting fingers of her other hand. "Maybe."

The bard rolled onto her back and gazed up through half lidded, darkened eyes. "You looking to give me a reputation, partner?"

Xena grinned sexily back. "Just returning the favor, my Queen."

"Ooo…" Gabrielle bit back a laugh. "I'm in deep trouble."

The warrior leaned over her and nibbled her belly, nipping around her navel with gentle, teasing touches. "Yes, you are." She breathed on the soft skin, as the muscles under her tensed, and fingers ran lightly through her hair.

"Mmmm."  The bard uttered a soft moan as fire erupted in her guts, and spread out, making her body react, and sending her hands reaching for the solid warmth now brushing up against her. "Xena, we can't…"

The touches grew lighter, then danced up her breastbone, and when she opened her eyes, she was looking straight up into Xena's, which had gentled and were gazing apologetically at her.

"Sorry."  The warrior lowered her head and their lips met, tasting each other. Then Xena touched her forehead to her partner's and rubbed noses with her. "We have stuff to do, I know."

Gabrielle let out a long, wistful sigh, lifting a hand to caress her soulmate's face. "Do you know what I wish?"

Xena's mouth eased into a smile. "Yes."

The bard smiled back, as they locked eyes for a long, peaceful moment.

Then Xena rolled over onto her back and sat up, running long fingers through her disheveled hair  and rubbing her neck. "I'd get some clothes on before they send one of those juniors in here, and we get made the talk of the village." She eased out of bed and tossed Gabrielle a clean shirt from their pack, then got one for herself and slid it over her head.

"Yeah, yeah." Gabrielle did likewise, then got up and padded over to the water basin, thrusting her hands in an yelping a little, as she splashed the cold water over her head. "Ow.. that's like ice!"  She took the piece of linen her partner held out and scrubbed her face, leaving it flushed and tingling. "Okay. I'm awake."

Xena laughed, and took her turn at the basin, then wandered over to the window, leaning against the sill as she regarded the preparations outside.  Already, a group of warriors were sparring, the solid sound of swords hitting each other distinctive across the grounds.

Hmm. Xena felt the ends of her fingers tingle in anticipation, and she let a calculating smile appear.

"You thinking of joining in this time?" Gabrielle's voice came at her shoulder, a note of curiosity in it.

"Mmhm." The warrior replied readily. "I could use the practice." She flexed her hands. "I've still got a lot of work to do on that."

Gabreille rubbed her back gently. "I think I'll pass this time." She waited for her soulmate to turn, then she tugged on her shirt hem. "Will you dance with me tonight?"

The tanned face broke into a frank grin that was it's own answer.

************************************************

"All right.. .we're about ready." Ephiny sighed, and folded her arms, as she came to stand next to the quietly watching Gabrielle. The square was filling with Amazons, the older women dressed in their best feathers and leathers, outdoing each other in beads and finery. The youngers gathered in small groups and talked over the days' competitions, some sporting the odd bang and bruise, and others draped in the ribbons that showed their prowess on the field.

In the center, a fire was carefully tended, and the cook staff knelt nearby, filling wooden platters with roasted meats and fish, and a selection of breads and fruits. The smell was wonderful, a combination of woodsmoke and cooking, and the sounds of laughter rang over the crowd, as the women began settling down on wooden platforms to enjoy the night.

A soft drumming started, as the musicians warmed up, and a wild piper sent a few notes soaring upward, as Ephiny turned to watch her friend's face as the bard studied the crowd. "Thanks for the help today… those two contests really needed some negotiation… you're incredible at that."

Pale green eyes turned her way, and Gabrielle smiled easily. "Thanks… it was kinda tough, with all those fighters… they got really competitive."

Ephiny nodded. "Yes, they did…there were a lot of feathers flying.. and ribbons given…" She noted Eponin was approaching, wearing her own set of colorful trophies, and carrying a wooden box. "Only one left to give."

Gabrielle held out her hands and took the box from the weapon's master, opening it to find a pure white, braided token inside. A tiny smile edged her lips up, then she closed the box quietly. "Okay.. let's do it."

The gathered Amazons, hundreds strong crowded into a space almost too small to hold them quieted as Gabrielle stepped to the front of her platform, elevated over the space, with Ephiny at her side. Gillen, Aslanta and Jonae joined her, ranging themselves around her and making last minute adjustments to leathers fairly dripping with ornaments.

The bard cleared her throat gently, and glanced down at her own, new, fawn colored leathers, with their intricately tooled belt and matching bracers. "Don't we look spiffy." She muttered to Ephiny, in an undertone.

The regent muffled a chuckle, and gave her a nudge. "G'wan.. get it over with.. so we can eat. I'm starving, and if I don't get these stupid arm bands off, they're gonna drive me nuts."

Gabrielle shrugged her shoulders a bit, settling her cloak into place and lifting her head. She took a deep breath, and dropped her diaphragm, projecting her voice across the crowd with practiced ease. "Welcome, Amazons."

A low murmur responded.

"We welcome our friends here, to gather with us, and join us in a great undertaking, to join a force which will turn back a great evil."

Another muted shout.

"Today, Amazons have proven, in every contest, the skills that will achieve this." Gabrielle went on. "Many of you wear the ribbons of success. I congratulate you."

A louder yell this time, and cheers.

The bard took a deep breath, and stood a little taller, if that were possible. She could sense the eyes of the other Queens on her, and Ephiny's supportive presence at her elbow. "And as each contest could only have one winner, so too, can there be only one who stands above all the rest, and claims the field undisputed."

Now, a total silence fell.

"Would the overall champion please come forward."

The quiet sound of rhythmic boots on the wooden platform echoed, as the tall form appeared in the ring of firelight, moving through a crowd that visibly swayed, and parted as she passed, the long, dark cloak dusting shoulders on either side.

Green eyes met pale blue and held, until bard and warrior were face to face and Xena halted, a barely perceptible smile on her face. She squared her shoulders and lifted her chin as Gabrielle removed the ribbon from it's box, and handed the wooden container to the waiting Eponin.

For a moment, Gabrielle merely studied her soulmate, standing there so proud and still, dressed in her black leathers and brass armor, head and shoulders above almost all the Amazons and larger than life with her neatly draped cloak, and full set of weapons.

She hadn't just won, either. The bard couldn’t keep a smile back as she stepped forward and looped the ribbon over her partner's neck. She'd taken the field by storm, defeating Amazon champions in everything from archery to boxing, culminating in a sunset sword battle that had lasted almost a candlemark and ended with Xena shattering her opponents sword in three pieces as the last rays of light backlit her triumphant form.

Then raising her weapon in salute to her queen, who just so happened to be standing there watching.

Of course.

Protocol required her to give the winner an arm clasp. Instead, the bard reached up and circled Xena's neck, pulling her head down and kissing her soundly, then releasing her to a round of wild cheering.

A pleased smile crossed the warrior's face, then she reached out and touched one of the feather clasps dangling from Gabrielle's outfit. "May I?"

The bard glanced at it, then up at her in puzzlement. "Sure." She unhooked it, then hesitated. "Do you… um.. "

"Yeah." The blue eyes twinkled gently.

Gabrielle attached her token to the strap on Xena's armor, where it swayed gently in the breeze. "There…great job, tiger." She whispered, giving the warrior a proud smile, then offering her a hand, which Xena took, and pulled her to her side as they faced the crowd. Their hands remained clasped as the Amazons acknowledged her with yells of approval. The warrior lifted a hand in acknowledgement, then they moved back, and seated themselves on the leather padding, as the music spiraled up again, and the servers started moving among the crowd.

Xena stretched her legs out along the platform and gazed down at her chest, where the ribbon stood starkly out against her dark leathers.

She hadn't really intended on doing that.

Really.

She'd started out by just doing a little sparring, just to loosen up her muscles, and get some badly needed practice in.. then Pony had showed up.

And dinars had started passing.

And then it had become a matter of pride, and the gods only knew, she had more than her share of that. Once she'd started, she knew she had to go all the way, so…she'd sucked it up, and just done it, throwing every bit of energy she could muster into the events, until she'd looked around, and realized she'd won.

"So." Gabrielle broke away from her conversation with Jonae and patted her leg. "How's it feel to be the top featherhead?"

Xena leaned back on her hands and wiggled her booted feet. "I'm gonna regret this in the morning." She warned. "I took a beating in some of those damn lists."

"Tch.. poor old thing." Gabrielle reached over and patted her cheek. "I'll have to give you a rubdown later." She glanced up as a server arrived, and accepted two mugs. "Thanks." She handed one to he warrior. "Here… you earned it."

Xena pulled her boots in and sat cross legged, taking the mug and cradling it between her hands as she rested her elbows on her knees. She was aware of the eyes on her, and she looked up, watching the crowds of Amazons as they talked, and grabbed platters, no longer able to sort out which Nation they belonged to.

That was good. They'd be an effective force, once she got them trained, and for the first time, she began to feel a little better about their chances. If Gabrielle could get four Amazon nations to agree, and toss in the centaurs too…

Everything else should be a snap.

The food platters were starting to come around now, and Xena relaxed, lying down on her side and extending her long legs out towards the edge of the platform, leaning on one elbow and nursing her mug with her other hand.

She felt eyes on her, and she casually looked around, meeting Gillen's hooded stare for a long, speculative moment.

Then a nudge came on her leg, and she broke off the eye contact, half turning her head to see Gabrielle settling in the curve of her body, bearing a platter of goodies, one of which was promptly offered to her.

She accepted it with a delicate snap of white teeth, and smiled in reflex at the look of undisguised affection on the bard's face. Xena glanced around casually as she chewed the tidbit, finding Gillen's eyes on her again.

A dark brow lifted, and a feral grin appeared.

Mine.

She flexed her very best warrior princess attitude and curled it around the woman leaning against her, fluffing out her cloak a little and tucking it around the bard's legs, wryly aware of just how primitive the attitude really was.

Gabrielle leaned back against her and the firelight caught the tattoo on her arm, reflecting back the hawk's stare to her partner's watching eyes. She reached up and traced the outline of it, watching the goosebumps rise in a trail after her fingertip.

When she looked back, Gillen's eyes were firmly fixed on something else.

"What's that smirk for?" Gabrielle asked, as she offered up a neatly wrapped meatroll.

"Was I smirking?" Xena burred. "Imagine that."

*****************************************

The fire was burning low, before the drums changed their rhythm, becoming insistent patterns that captured the spirit. Without prompting, bodies began to shift  and circle, and a low chanting rose, meeting the pipe's music as the tempo increased.

Gabrielle was content to watch, until they were alone on their platform, the other queens having gone down to join the fun, steps swaying a little under the wine's influence. She was leaning back against her partner, who had her chin resting on the bard's shoulder as they both gazed out into the heart of the fire, breathing in gentle unison.

"Hey, Xe?" Gabrielle was aware of a slight slurring in her words, but figured her partner would fill in any missing pieces. She was bright that way.

"Mm?" The low purr was right in the bard's ear, and it almost tickled.

"Eph tol me to ask you bout this… "

"Mm?"

"Ebid… evid… " Gabrielle stopped and cleared her throat. "Edible unerware."

Blue eyes grew round and blinked. "Excuse me?" The wine she'd drunk had certainly taken the edge off, but she wasn't in as fuzzy a state as her younger companion.

"Edib…panties you can eat." The bard changed tactics. "What's that about?" She pulled at the warrior's leathers. "Do you have any?"

"Um." Xena cleared her throat. "No.. well, not right now.. um.. it's a…sort of a… um.."

The bard tipped her head back and eyed the warrior. " You're babbling."

"Yeah, I know…it's.. they're something from the far east, Gabrielle.. made of rice paper. " Xena managed to get out. "You um… you can wear them, but they um… dissolve in water."

"Oh."

"Or other fluids."

"Ah." Gabrielle pondered that. "That's pretty stupid, Xena… how.. how long could they last?"

Xena shifted, and leaned back, pulling her partner with her. "They um.. aren't supposed to last long, honey." She murmured in a pink ear. "They come in flavors.. you kind of.. nibble them off."

Dead silence, as blond brows knit into a puzzled frown. Then Gabrielle burst into laughter.. "You've got to be kidding."

Xena laughed too. "Nah… that's nothing…what I haven't seen… well, I'll get you some if ya really want em."

"No thanks." The bard giggled. "What challenge would that be? Getting you out of those leathers is much more fun."

Xena looked at her for a minute, then started chuckling. .

They both watched the dancing for a while, the circling throwing off the occasional pair who wandered off, arms and hands busy as they melted into the darkness. Laughter floated over to them, and they could see heads turned their way, and eyes regarding them with some amusement.

"You know… they really do think I'm a bumpkin." Gabrielle sighed, resting her head on her soulmate's thigh. "I can tell… even after everything." She looked up quietly. "Why?"

Xena cocked her head in thought. "Well…most of these women were brought up in Amazon villages… they're taught to think of… well, not to think much of people who were born…um… in places like we were."

"We?" The bard rolled the word around in her mouth, tasting it.

"Mm..' Xena put a finger on her nose. "Your family were shepherds.. mine were innkeepers… you and I don't come from very different backgrounds, Gabrielle." It was a simple statement of fact. "So.. if you're  a bumpkin.. so am I."

Gabrielle blinked a few times in bemusement. "Wow." She looked up in wonder. "I never thought of it that way… we always talk about how different we are… but in some ways, we aren't really, are we?"

"Nope."

"Hmph.. maybe that's why we get along so well."

"Maybe."

They were quiet for a bit, then the bard slowly sat up and rolled onto her side, exhaling a little as she listened to the drums. After a minute, she turned her head. "Wanna go show em how bumpkins dance?"

Xena pushed a bit of pale hair from her eyes. "You betcha." She hauled herself to her feet and offered her partner a hand up, then kept hold of it as they walked down towards the fire.

They eased through the first layer of swaying bodies and found a small, clear space. Or maybe the space cleared itself, as they were recognized, Gabrielle wasn't sure. She started in the steps, and found her soulmate doing the same, obviously knowing the dance as well as any Amazon did.

But it was so different than the last time.

The rhythm caught her, and she stepped forward as Xena did, both of them moving together as their eyes met, and they traded smiles. The warrior brushed by her, and she let her fingers trail down a nearby arm, feeling the leatherwork of Xena's bracer under her touch.

They turned and stepped in again, and this time it was Xena's knuckles, brushing lightly against her cheek as she moved by, leaving a hint of a smile behind. "You know.." she murmured as the warrior eased around her, pulling her hair back out of the way as she passed. "This isn't so bad."

"No?" The whisper tickled her now bare ear, and she felt teeth nibble the edge of it.

"Nu uh." Gabrielle could feel the drums inside her now, and her body moved with them, welcoming the touch that slipped around her neck, and brought her closer to her partner, as her hands dropped to catch Xena's waistline.

The drums seemed to fade a little, as they moved in towards each other, and she started to feel the body heat being generated between them. A glance up showed her the grin on Xena's face, and she knew hers was the same as she indulged herself in the animal attraction she could sense coaxing her in.

Closer.

She could smell the leather and brass now, and the hint of spicy musk that triggered a reaction deep in her guts. Xena's hands ran slowly down her shoulders and a soft sound escaped her. "I think I'm getting this now."

"I think you are too." Came the teasing answer, along with an assault on her sensitive ears, which put her in an excellent position to taste Xena's neck, and find her pulse point, which jumped under her lips, in the same rhythm as the drums.

Their bodies slid together, and she welcomed it, wanting the touch of her partner's skin all over her. They moved in perfect harmony, matching the drum's rhythm, and placing their steps with an ease that paid tribute to their closeness, and the partnership that bound them together.

Gabrielle slid a hand down, and felt the strong curve of muscle along Xena's thigh, then the sudden warmth of an arm sliding around her back and pulling her up. She left her hand where it was but crooked the other one around the tall warrior's neck, as their lips met, and the bard lost track of everything for a little while.

"Xe?" She was breathing hard, and she could feel the sweat.

"Uh?"

"We better get outta here, or you're gonna lose that armor."

Xena blinked, then took a quick look around, seeing hastily averted eyeballs skittering all over the campfire circle. "I don’t' think we're gonna have that bumpkin problem anymore." She murmured, as she simply picked Gabrielle up in her arms and felt the bard wrap herself around as much of her partner as she could. "Nope… " Teeth nibbled her ear, as she made her way past gaping Amazons, leaving the drums, and the pipes, and the dancers far behind.

****************************************************

Gabrielle leaned on the railing of the porch around the council chamber, enjoying the sunlight that poured in over her body, and the cool wind that blew her pale hair back off her forehead.

It was very quiet.  Only the faintest of popping sounds came from the slumbering bonfire, and the early morning activity she was used to seeing the Amazon village was almost completely absent.

Not even the dining area was stirring, and the bard suspected the camp would be munching on cold leftovers, which was fine by her, since Xena had already collected a tidy trail breakfast, and was packing it along with everything else as they got ready to leave.

A thin, blue haze hung over the village, mostly leftover smoke from the fire, but a little fog from the river too, and she sucked in a deep breath of the air with a feeling of animal well being. She bounced up and down on her toes, and felt a smile break out as she enjoyed the surge of happy energy, waving as she spotted Ephiny trudging across the grounds towards her. "Morning!"

"Shhh!" The regent waved a hand weakly at her. "Would you be quiet?"

The bard cocked a curious head at her. "I wasn't being that noisy, was I?" She peered at her friend. "Isn't it a great morning?"

Ephiny plodded up the stairs and leaned on the railing next to her, raising a hand to shade bloodshot eyes and peering grumpily at her. "You know, if you weren't the queen, I'd kick your ass."

Gabrielle grinned feistily at her, and put her hands on her hips. "I'm not wearing the mask… wanna try it?" Her eyes sparkled. "I'm in the mood for a little sparring this morning."

The regent gave her an evil look. "Do you have any idea what you started last night?"

The bard pointed a thumb at her own chest. "Me?" Her brows contracted. "What did I do? We just did that dance thing like everyone else did… and not for that long, either."

"Uh huh." Ephiny rubbed her head. "Then, you left."

"Uh.. yeah." Gabrielle blushed, and grinned. "It was getting a little..um.. intense."

"No, really?" The regent raised both eyebrows at her.

"Mm.." The bard stepped closer, and shaded her eyes. "Eph.. is that a bite mark?"

"Hm? Oh, this?" Ephiny pointed at her arm. "That's nothing. You should see what my…." She watched the dull red start to go up Gabrielle's neck. "Don't you dare blush, Gabrielle! It's all your fault!" She waved an arm. "Great Artemis, woman… you kicked off the longest orgy in the history of the damn village… do you have any idea how much sleep I got  last night? About a quarter candlemark!"

Widened green eyes blinked at her. "I did that?" Gabrielle's voice was completely astonished. "How?"

Soft footfalls caught their attention, and they turned to see Xena headed their way, leading Hercules and Iolaus, the early morning sunlight dappling both horses and warrior with rich warmth, and providing shadows for the energetic Ares to frisk through.

Xena had her hair pulled back, and hadn't put on her armor over her leathers yet. She was covered in glittering droplets of water that shone on her, flying off in a spray when she shook her head vigorously, then looked up, the blue of her eyes contrasting vividly against her tanned skin.

"Morning." The warrior greeted Ephiny cordially. "You the only one up?"

Ephiny growled at her, receiving a startled growl back from the wolf trotting at her heels.

"Apparently.. and it's all our fault." Gabrielle told her soulmate plaintively.

Xena stopped walking, and put her hands on her hips, lifting a brow sharply in question. "Our fault?" She eyed Ephiny. "Nice bite… Pony run out of snacks or something?"

Ephiny just groaned.

The warrior chuckled. "C"mon, Gabrielle.. let's get outta here before everyone wakes up."  She shook her head then mounted Iolaus by vaulting into the saddle, collecting the stallion's reins and settling her legs into place snugly around the horse's barrel. She ran fingers through her damp hair and freed it from it's hold, letting it fall down across her shoulders. "Great morning."

Gabrielle went over and gave her friend a hug. "Well. .I'm not sure what we did… but sorry about that… we'll see you guys soon, right?"

Ephiny returned the embrace. "Yeah.. I figure we'll be on the road in a fortnight… " She glanced at Xena. "Depending on how long it takes everyone to recover."

The bard snorted, laughter spilling out. "C'mon, Eph… " She put her hands on the regent's shoulders. "How bad can one night of um…partying… be?"

Ephiny's hazel eyes twinkled soberly. "You really have no clue, d'you?"

Hesitantly, Gabrielle shook her head. "I don't think so, no."

The regent laughed softly. "I tell you.. there were a lot of folks who were wondering if Xena'd  display her prowess in that list as well as everything else." She murmured. "Lot  of people wanted to be in  your boots last night."

Gabrielle scratched her jaw, her eyes catching her partner's over Ephiny's shoulder. She glanced back at her friend with a wicked little grin. "Well, you can tell everyone that I said… um… " The bard paused, then poked a finger at the regent's belly. "She's mine, and I.. don't… share." She leaned forward. "Got me?"

Their eyes met and held for a moment, then Ephiny laughed, and gave a single nod. "I got you."  She watched as Gabrielle trotted down the stairs and joined her waiting soulmate, who latched on to Hercules' bridle while the bard mounted competently, if not gracefully. "See you in a while." She lifted her hand in farewell.

Xena nodded, and started out of the village, the horses hooves sounding loud in the still, silent air. They went out through the gates and entered the long, leaf covered path that would lead to the pass down through the mountains.

Gabrielle glanced back as they went around the first bend, to see Ephiny still standing there, leaning on the railing and watching them. She peered at her friend for a moment, then turned to her partner. "That was weird."

"Hmm?" Xena gave her an inquiring look. "What was?" She stretched in the saddle, happy to be on their way home.

"That whole thing." The bard tugged her ear. "Xena, we didn't really do anything, did we?"

The warrior chuckled softly under her breath. "Part of leadership is inspiring your followers, Gabrielle."

"I don't think they meant THAT, Xena."

"Hmmm…. "

"Besides, I'm certainly not..um… personally inspiring to anyone."

"Yes, you are."

The soft wind blew through the trees, masking the horses footfalls for a long space of time.

"I am?"

"Mmhm…yes, you are." Blue eyes regarded her in mild amusement. "Certainly in my eyes."

Gabrielle studied her, then nudged Hercules a little closer. "Really?"

"Oh yeah."

"Hm."

**********************************************

Gabrielle strode across the central square of Amphipolis, nodding a hello to the groups of men and women who were assembling there, some packing wagons, others strapping supplies to the backs of horses.

The wind that blew across the space was cold, and damp, and the bard was glad of her warm cloak and the leggings her soulmate had insisted she put on that morning. It was seven days since they'd gotten home, and now, the first group of fighters, and support people were about to move out to the valley.

That would include herself, and her partner, along with their daughter, Toris and his family, and their resident Amazons.  The young children and the elders of the village would come next, escorted by the larger group of Amazons, set to arrive in less than a week.

Three more villages nearby had been completely destroyed. Their refuges had arrived a day after they'd gotten home, and Gabrielle had seen the grim set of her soulmate's jaw when the youngest of them, a boy no older than Solon had been, told of watching his father and mother cut down before his eyes.

"Gabrielle."

The bard halted, and turned, to see her mother approaching. She backtracked to meet the older woman. "Morning, mother… you're up early."

Hecuba's face tensed into a wistful smile. "You as well… I'm glad to see you're at least wearing something sensible today." She straightened the bard's cloak collar. "Why, you've gotten a trim, haven't you?"

Her daughter ran a hand through pale hair cropped a little shorter than was usual for her. "Er… Dori got into some of the tar they're using for the horses hooves yesterday… Xena said it was easier to trim it off than try and get it out." She made a face. "It was kind of a mess."

"Goodness… she's a terror." Hecuba smiled. "And you were such a quiet child."

"Mm… so I hear." Gabrielle sighed. "Are you and Lila ready to go when the Amazons get here? I'd feel a lot better knowing you were safe."

Her mother nodded. "Yes…we haven't much to pack." She commented softly. "I've been helping Cyrene get things settled - Gabrielle, she is such a sweet woman."

The bard wasn't sure she'd characterize her sometimes mercurial mother in law quite that way, but she nodded in amiable agreement. "I've always really liked her… even at the very beginning."

Hecuba studied her a moment. "She says much the same of you." She shook her head a tiny bit. "What a strange journey you've been on, Gabrielle." A shout caught their attention, and Hecuba looked up to see Lennat trotting over.

"Morning, sis." The blond man smiled at Gabrielle. "Mom, we've got some kind of weird problem with Gabriel… could you come look?"

"Of course." Hecuba cleared her throat, with a touch of self importance. "Excuse me, Gabrielle… I know you must be busy."

"See you later." The bard smiled at them, then proceeded on her way, pushing  open the door to the stables and glancing around, spotting her soulmate near her work table, the warrior's attention on a well folded map. "Hey."

Xena looked up and gave her a quick grin. "Hey… how are things?" She picked up a biscuit from a plate nearby and took a bite.

Gabrielle came around the table and slipped an arm around her. "Thought you just had breakfast." She teased. "And you give me a hard time."

The warrior shrugged. "All that drilling." She munched on her biscuit contentedly. "We're all packed…I figure I'll carry Dori in her backpack, that'll be easiest."

"For everyone." The bard chuckled. "Did you guys get that tar out of here? I don’t want to go through that again, Xena… what a mess."

Xena ruffled her hair affectionately. "Coulda been worse… you could have ended up with one as short as Toris" She advised her soulmate. "I had to pretty much scalp him… he looks ridiculous."

"Mm.." Gabrielle ran her fingers through the dark locks. "You got off easy." She accused.

"Hah.. I was smart enough to keep my head away from her hands." Xena snorted. "All right… let's plan on riding out in about a candlemark then…I've just got to get my armor on." She folded up her map and tucked it inside a saddlebag, then snagged the last biscuit and steered Gabrielle towards the door. "Here." She tore the treat in half and offered it to her partner.

"Thanks." Gabrielle nibbled the offering, as they walked across to the cabin. "Hey… there's honey in this."

Xena studied the birds overhead seriously.

"You're so bad." The bard laughed, bumping against her.

The warrior chuckled, reaching forward to open the door and allow her partner to enter the cabin. "Hey, Ares."

The wolf was crouched in the corner, his ears down. In front of him, Dori was seated, one of Gabrielle's quills clutched tightly in one tiny fist. The baby looked around as they entered.

"Mama!"

Gabrielle crossed to her and sat down. "Hey, honey… whatcha doing there?"

Dori blinked, then waved her quill, smacking the wolf in the nose with it. "Doo!"

Ares whined unhappily, and licked his nose.

"Tch.. Dori, no… that's not nice." Gabrielle reached for the quill, which was immediately pulled back. "Dori…"

The baby got carefully to unsteady feet, and looked around for a new victim. "Boo!" She spotted her favorite plaything and cooed with delight.

"Uh oh… look out, honey.. she's heading for your knees." Gabrielle laughed, as the baby toddled over, waving the quill and aiming for the warrior's unprotected legs.

"Hey!" Xena hopped out of the way. "Dori, no."

"Boo!" The infant protested, ambling after her. "Boobooboo.."

"Dori…" Xena's voice dropped a full octave, and rolled the r in the baby's name.

Dori stopped, and looked up in question, then giggled and held up her hands. "Dup!"

The warrior dropped to a knee, and circled the tiny body with both hands, then lifted her up and cradled her in an arm. "Hey.. where did you get one of mommy's quills, huh?" Xena removed the object from her offspring's fist and held it up. "Um… this one's got ink on it."

Dori clutched after her prize, her face scrunching up in displeasure.

"Uh oh." The bard got to her feet and retrieved the quill, examining it. "Where did I have these….hm….I thought I put… oh, centaur poop."  Gabrielle went over to an overturned box  on the other side of the bed. "How in the world did she get this? Xena, that was up on my desk!"

Xena peered at her daughter, who was sucking her thumb, watching her mother with bright, interested green eyes. "How'd you get up there, hmm?" She walked over to the bard's desk and glanced at the top. "Oo." She picked up a piece of parchment, and held it up. "Gab?"

The bard peered over at her. "What in… " She walked over and took the parchment. "Is that her hand?"  In the center of the item was a perfect, tiny print of a palm, and five bitty fingers.

Xena had uncurled her daughters fist and sighed. "Uh huh." She looked around. "I wonder what else she put her stamp on?"  The baby's palm was a grayish black color. "Ares, c'mere."

The wolf slunk over and crouched at her feet, his ears drooping. Gabrielle knelt and ran her fingers over his fur, near his head and ears. "Did Dori get ….oh boy." She pulled her hand away, covered in ink.

The warrior sighed, and shook her head. "Dori, you are something else."

"Bck." The baby investigated her playmate's shirt, and found a biscuit crumb, which she immediately stuffed in her mouth. "Mmm."

"Hey.. you had breakfast." Xena scolded her.

"Like that stopped you?" Gabrielle looked up from wiping off their hapless pet. "She is so your kid."

Dori nestled closer to her and looked up blinking dark lashes over her mist green eyes. "Gav." She smiled up at Xena, sucking her thumb contentedly. "Mm."

Xena sighed. "I'll get her hands cleaned off…is all her stuff packed?" She carried the baby into the bathing room and sat her down on the table, taking a piece of linen and some soap and scrubbing the ink of the tiny fist.

"Who's gonna clean me off?" Gabrielle appeared in the doorway, with an ink covered towel and blackened hands. "Xena, Ares is covered in the stuff."

"Mmph.. " The warrior was working on a finger. "He's black, at least."  She glanced up, then started chuckling. "Did you have to scratch your nose?"

"Huh?" Gabrielle blinked, then looked in the small mirror. "Oh… rats." She sighed. "Stripes."

"C'mere." Xena reached out and pulled her over, then scrubbed the bard's face with her soap. "There… no more stripes."

"Mama!" Dori giggled, crawling over to where Gabrielle was standing and clutching at her shirt.

"Put your hands here." The warrior then worked on her ink covered hands, while Dori stood and began exploring Gabrielle's face. "Hey… don’t pull mommy's nose, Dori."

The baby scowled, and went for the bard's lips instead. Gabrielle surprised her by opening her mouth and capturing the tiny fingers in her teeth.

"Ahhgotcha."

Dori tugged back, startled to find her hand stuck. "Bck!"

Xena dried her partner's hands off. "There you go."

The bard released her daughter's hand, then turned her around and circled her with both arms, pointing at the mirror. "See, Dori? There you are."

The warrior smiled at the picture, as the baby peered at her reflection, entranced. Then she put her arms around both mother and child and rested her chin on Gabrielle's shoulder.

"Wow." Gabrielle smiled in reflex at the mirror. "That's a cute picture."

Dori pointed at the surface. "Boo!" Xena stuck her tongue out, and the baby giggled.

"All right.. c'mon." The warrior sighed. "We gotta get going…you ready to take a walk, Dori?"

"Wak." The child repeated obediently. "Wak wak…" She bounced up and down a few times.

Gabrielle laughed softly. "I think she's glad we're back." She kissed Dori's head, and smoothed the thick, dark hair down. "I missed her."

"Even with ink?" Xena smiled. "Hang onto her a minute, while I get my armor and her sack on."

"Mm." Gabrielle played with Dori's hands, and rubbed noses with her as she listened to her soulmate trade her linen tunic for her heavy leathers. "You put on leggings too, okay?" She called in. "And you're not going to wear your sword on your back, are you?"

"No." Xena responded, her voice faintly muffled. "I was afraid Dori might get hurt by it."

"Hmm." Gabrielle regarded her sturdy offspring. "I was afraid she might draw it and cut Iolaus' tail off.." She muffled a laugh. "C'mon, chickpea… let's go terrorize Boo."

"Booooo." Dori gurgled happily.

*************************************

Continued in Part 12

These characters, and boy, are they ever characters, are mostly the property of Renaissance Pictures, Universal MCA, and whoever else owns stock and interest in Xena: Warrior Princess. This fiction was written for my amusement only, and not in any way, shape or form for profit - and it is not intended to infringe on the copyright holders of the characters.

Some of the characters are mine, and the story ideas.. well, who knows where they come from? Must be one weird place, that's for sure.

Specific Story Disclaimers:

Violence - this is a Xena: Warrior Princess story. This is not Teletubbies. Even though there are some rumors of similarities. Some of the violence is graphic, but we try not to dwell on it.

Subtext - Considering that the TV Series just aired an episode establishing Xena and Gabrielle as eternal soulmates, any disclaimer of subtext on my part is really kind of goofy in the extreme. The two characters are in love with each other, and have been for years. You can choose to see them as just friends, but then you might not want to read this fanfic, in case it changes your mind or anything like that.

Emotional Content - this is not one my more comedic efforts. There are moments of humor, however.

********************************************************************

Dark Comes the Morning - Part 12

By Melissa Good

The weather had worsened, as they approached the valley. Xena pulled up from her position near the lead of the column and motioned it forward, standing a little to one side as she reviewed the rest of the group. Dori was asleep in her carrysack, the baby's fists clenched warm against the back of her neck and the warrior was hoping she'd stay that way until they got to their destination.

Gabrielle would be grateful… the baby had discovered the hanging nut trees they'd traveled through, and delighted in pulling the hard nuggets off, and tossing them at the bard, bouncing them off unexpected places with uncanny accuracy.

"Almost there." She turned her horse and kneed him in alongside her partner, digging a  handful of the nuts from her pouch and offering Gabrielle some.

"Thanks." The bard accepted them. "We've got a lot of work to do when we get there… just to make things livable." She remarked. "Going to be a late night."

"Mmhmm." Xena tightened her fist, and cracked a nut, discarding the shell and chewing on the nutmeat. "Yeah… you want to take the Amazons and set up base camp, and I'll deploy the watch, and get outposts going?"

Gabrielle nodded. "Sounds good…I'll have them unpack that weapons cache you said you stored there.. they can check that stuff out."

"Good." Xena agreed. "They'd know more about it then the militia." She heard hoofbeats behind her and half turned. "Take Gran too… you might want to put her in charge of that."

Gabrielle held her thoughts as Granella caught up to them,  and settled down on her other side. "How's it going?" She asked her sister in law.

"Feels great to be out." The ex Amazon admitted, giving them both a lopsided grin. "The kids are with Toris, in the back of the wagon. He's not used to riding long distances."

Xena snorted. "I know…he's been on horseback as long as I have, and he still sits in the saddle like a damn sack of turnips."

"Well." Granella smirked. "He says boys have a natural disadvantage."

They all exchanged looks and chuckled. "Oh yeah." Xena drawled. "Anyone bring the powder?"

Two of the Amazons riding along heard, and laughed. "You hear about the one where a guy goes and buys a saddle with an eight inch long saddlehorn?" Granella inquired, with a saucy grin.

"Is that the one that ends with him thinking it was to dry his socks?" Xena asked, relaxing a little and flexing her shoulders.

"Right…only they sell him a flask of oil with it."

Gabrielle stared at her own saddle with a puzzled look, then glanced at her soulmate. She started to ask something, then closed her eyes, and turned brick red. "Oh.. that's disgusting."

Xena chuckled, then stood a little and peered ahead. "There's the opening into the valley." She carefully unhooked Dori's sack and handed it over to Gabrielle. "Hang onto her for a minute.. I'm gonna go check things out."

"Uh huh…and you'll take Gran with you, right?" Gabrielle checked her daughter's sleeping form. "Just in case?"

Granella chuckled at the warrior's expression, then gathered her reins, nudging her mount into a canter to follow as Xena moved off.

Xena slowed as they approached the entrance and motioned Granella to move off to one side as she went to the other. They stopped, and she turned her ears into the wind, closing her eyes and concentrating on anything out of place.

Crickets.

Birds.

The subtle gurgle of water.

A soft rattle as rocks settled.

Squirrels.

Xena lifted her head and looked over at Granella, who was half standing in her stirrups and watching everything. The ex Amazon looked over and shook her head, giving the warrior the all clear hand sign.

All right. Xena guided Iolaus through the valley's opening, a space about twenty bodylengths in width. She eased past the gap and up the small rise, then paused and peered over it, into the space beyond.

It was a beautiful place. Xena sat for a moment, having forgotten that in the intervening years. The walls sloped up to high peaks on either side, leaving the space in the center clear, and grassy, bisected by a healthy looking stream. Stands of trees moved up the slopes on both sides, and the far end of the valley was full of them as well.

It was lonely, with no signs of habitation, not surprising considering it's remoteness. Beyond the valley rose the high mountains, effective barrier to any warlord's ambition. This was a redoubt, and in her time, in that dark place she'd been in, this would have been her last stand, as close to home as she could manage, when home was no longer open to her.

She waved a hand at Granella, then stood in her stirrups and let loose a yell, waiting a moment till she heard the sounds of horses approaching before she settled back down. Gran trotted up and peered inside the walls.

"Nice."

"Mm."

The rest of the group rode over, and circled her, waiting expectantly.

Xena took a deep breath. Things changed here. Here there was a line, and with steady, deliberate intent, she crossed it. "All right." She pointed. "I need twenty of you to stay here. Take out your saws and axes.. we need a gate." She paused, as they dismounted. "Toris, take ten people, go to the back entrance, and find a way to secure it."

Her brother nodded quietly, and motioned ten of the militia to follow him..

"Gabrielle, take your group in and start getting things set up." The warrior told her partner. "I'm going to stay here and get this gate going." She paused. "There's a cave system on the back side of this wall… be careful. Send a torch in first - I'm not worried about people, I'm more worried about bears." She snapped her fingers. "Ares, go with Gabrielle."

"Right." The bard gathered her reins, and settled Dori securely on her back. The baby had woken up, and was now peering around with absorbed interest. "Let's go, people… we've got a lot of work to do." She patted her leg and glanced down as the wolf joined her, bounding through the grass eagerly.

Xena watched the wagons and Amazons disappear down into the valley, then she turned and surveyed the entrance. "First things first." She kicked her boots free of the stirrups and slid off the stallion's back. "Those trees gotta come down." She unstrapped her ax from her saddlepad, and picked one at random.

************************************************

"Ugh." Gabrielle sighed, as she lifted the torch in one fist up and looked around the irregular cavern. "I'd forgotten how much I hated the smell of rock dust."

"Bck." Dori complained, tugging on her hair.

"Yeah, I know, honey… it's nasty in here, huh?"  The bard expelled a breath, listening to the sound of the wagons being unloaded in the larger cavern behind her. "Water.. I hear water." She explored on, ducking through a crack about twice the width of her body and held the torch out, smelling the dampness ahead of her. "Hold on… what have we here? Is that light, Dori?"

The infant gurgled.

Gabrielle moved through the small corridor in the rock and towards the dim glow ahead of her, finding another, larger opening that she poked her head through. "Ahh…"  The next chamber was obviously a rain catch. It featured a huge crack in the rock, reaching all the way up and allowing in a solid slice of sunlight, and a pool that looked deep and cold. As she turned, she saw a bulge in the wall, that curved out and sloped up, leading to almost a platform tucked into the rock. "You know what, Dori?"

"Mama?"

"We're gonna pick this one, okay? Will you promise me not to go jumping in the water?"

"Bck."

"No, honey, please.. promise me… I really want to put Boo in here, where we get some light, and it's not so tough on her, okay?"

"Boo!" Dori squealed, pulling on her hair and bouncing in her sack as she recognized the name of her beloved playmate.

"Yeah, sweetie…you want to help your Boo, right?"  Gabrielle leaned on her staff thoughtfully, her thumb caressing the well worn wood. "I'm gonna try it… she's gonna be so much happier in here." She planted her torch in a crack in the wall, and made her way back through the opening into the smaller chamber, which now was being explored by Granella. "Okay… I'm gonna take that back room for us."

The ex Amazon looked up and nodded. "Okay… I picked a spot over on the other side…this cavern connects to it by that back opening. " She pointed. "We've got the supplies out in the big room, and they found a place we can put a cook fire, if we're careful about drafting."

"Good." Gabrielle nodded. "On the other side of the big cavern is that smaller one, with all the weapons in it, and just past that is a long narrow thing we can make a hospital in, I guess… there's running water in there."

"Yeah." Gran put her hands on her hips. "It's gonna be tough here, after living in Amphipolis." She admitted, giving the bard a wry look. "I can't believe how sore I am after just that damn ride… it's embarrassing."

"Mm." The bard sighed, and stretched out her back with a wince. "I never did get used to it…and believe me, it took me a few days to stop falling asleep on Xena's shoulder when we started traveling again last month."

"Mm." Granella sounded noncommittal, but she looked happier. "Hey… you looking for a sparring partner?" She nodded towards the bard's staff. "I could use it."

"Sure." Gabrielle smiled. "I think Xena's going to be a little busy."  She motioned towards the main chamber. "Let's go.. .sooner we get this stuff started, the better… maybe we can finish the basic setup before dark."

****************************************************

"Is that it?" A tired voice sounded in the torchlit darkness. "I think that's the last one."

Xena stepped back and regarded the sturdy structure, looming dark in the dim light, and let her aching arms drop to her sides. "Yeah." She expelled a breath, and winced, as she felt the bite of yet more splinters in her hands. "That'll do."

A glance up showed her the moon nearly setting, marking the time as well past midnight. But the gate was finished, and she felt she could head for the caverns and some rest, finally.

"All right.. let's go." She walked over and picked up her ax, hoisting it to her shoulder and moving through the gate, where she waited for the rest of her crew to join her, then watched as it swung shut, the doors slanting outward to follow the shape of the walls, and make it hard, if not impossible, to break them inward. "Good job." She spoke quietly, seeing the exhausted faces around her. "Glad we only gotta do this once."

Low murmurs of agreement came back at her, and she lead the way towards the cavern, where torches could be seen burning outside the entrance.

The light flickered, as Xena put a hand on the hard stone, before she took a deep breath and ducked inside, letting her eyes flick around the interior as she edged further, blinking a little in the surprisingly bright cavern.

"Wow." She murmured, honestly impressed. The contents of the wagons had been unloaded, and a working habitat set up, including a cook fire, where a pot was bubbling, and work areas for the craftspeople that would be joining them. A familiar presence made itself known to her right and she turned, glad to see Gabrielle heading towards them.

"Hey."

Gabrielle took one look at her partner, and bit off several choice curses, putting a gentle hand on the warrior's arm instead. Xena was covered in dirt and bits of tree, and she could see several long scrapes half hidden under the sap and mud that turned her soulmate's tan overtunic to a dull shade of rust. "Come on."

"You did a great job here." Xena stated, resisting the tugging and looking around. "Good work, Gabrielle." She complimented the bard.

"Xena."

"Hm?" The warrior leaned closer, as her partner had lowered her voice.

"You're going to come with me, and let me take care of you, right now." The bard whispered. "Okay?"

The dark head cocked at her in puzzlement. "Gabrielle… thanks, but I'm fine. I've just got a couple of splinters… that's all. " She paused, getting that look from her soulmate. "Honest."

Gabrielle smiled, giving the group of militia passing by a little wave. "Humor me." She returned her attention to her tall companion. "Hm?"

Amiably, Xena shrugged. "Sure." She allowed herself to be lead through the large cavern, and through an opening in the rear. "Hey… good idea." She approved the use of the narrow chamber to hold sturdy barrels of food supplies. "Where are we going?"

"Come." Gabrielle lead her through the second entrance, and into the chamber she'd chosen for them.

"I don’t' see wh.. " Xena ducked inside, then straightened, and looked around. "Mm." She made an agreeable sound. Gabrielle had brought their things inside, and had set up a double pallet on a raised slope towards the back of the chamber. Torches fluttered in wall sconces, freshly hammered into the rock, with the smoke traveling up and through a wide crack that admitted a  solid stripe of stars into the place.

The view of the open sky calmed her, and she felt the low anxiety she always felt underground dissipate. Her eyes turned towards her soulmate, who was watching he with a gentle smile. "Thanks."

"I thought you'd appreciate that." Gabrielle replied. "Water too. Why don’t you take a look at what you look like."

The blue eyes bestowed a puzzled look on her, but Xena complied, trudging over to the pool and dropping to one knee, looking at her reflection in the surface. For a moment there was total silence, then the warrior cleared her throat. "Ah." Now she understood why Gabrielle had dragged her back here. "Wow… that's scary."

The bard stood up from tucking Dori's blankets in a little snugger, and giving Ares' head a pat. "Why don't you wash off, and I'll get those splinters out, tiger."

"Good idea." Xena admitted, with a tired sigh She stood and stripped off her tunic, then unlaced her leathers and pulled them off over her head. She looked down and held her arms out, almost laughing at the contrast between her dirt covered skin and the rest of her. "Glad we got that done."

"Me too." Gabrielle told her, pulling the healer's kit from their packs.

Xena sat down and unlaced her mud covered boots, tugging them off, then got out of her leggings and trudged to the pool, testing it with a cautious toe. "Oh boy." Steeling herself, she stepped in, feeling a chill that sent a shock through her, but she kept moving until she was mostly submerged in the cold water. Gingerly, she scrubbed her arms and face, then ducked under the water and washed her hair clean of the bark and mud that had fairly plastered it to her head.

She surfaced with a splutter, then got out, to be met at the edge with a piece of warm linen. Gabrielle gently dried her off, and as she bent her head to allow the bard to tousle her hair, she felt a wave of exhaustion almost swamp her. "We all set up here?" She asked, shoving the tiredness aside as she followed Gabrielle back up the slope and accepted a thick shift from her. "Both the gate and the outpost are done… we've got a watch on tonight. Tomorrow I want to check the perimeter, and see what resources we have here."

"We're mostly set up." Gabrielle gently pushed her down onto the pallet. "We need some daylight to finish tomorrow… but we're okay." She sat down on the other side of the bed and pulled her legs up under her, taking Xena's hand and putting it on her knee. "Granella organized the unpacking of those weapons you mentioned.. she said the gut's gone on a lot of them, but otherwise they're not in bad shape."

"Good." Xena nodded. Her eyes drifted closed, and she forced them open. "I want  to go see them.. " She started to sit up, then found a strong hand on her shoulder, shoving her back. "Gabrielle."

The bard gave her a direct look. "Look… those guys you sent back today.. at midnight because they couldn’t stand up anymore told me you were doing most of the work there yourself."

Pale blue eyes gazed back at her. "It was important, Gabrielle.. it had to be done."

Gabrielle lifted a hand and laid it on her cheek. "You can't do this alone." She told her gently. "I know you feel responsible for all this, Xena."

"It was important." The warrior repeated insistently.

"*You* are important." Her soulmate replied. "You are what holds this all together.. if something happens to you.. If you get hurt, or you get sick, we're in deep trouble."

Their glances fenced in silence. Finally, Xena's eyes dropped to the bedding in quiet surrender, knowing Gabrielle was right. She exhaled, and studied the hand Gabrielle resumed working on. "I'm going to do it right this time, Gabrielle." She murmured. "I'm not going to let them down. Not again."

The bard's lips tightened in sympathy, as she removed an ugly splinter. "I know you won't." She smoothed the angry skin with a fingertip. "Your job is to get us all through this. My job is to get you through this. " She worked out another piece of wood. "So lay down, and let me do my job."

The warrior lowered herself down until her head hit the pillow, her eyes on the light softened profile bent so intently over her. "Thanks."

Mist green eyes lifted, and met hers, warm and gentle. "You're welcome."  She finished with one hand, and started on the other, spending a few moments after she'd gotten all the bits of wood out just stroking the roughened skin, then looking up to see Xena's eyes closed, and her breathing slow and even.

The bard gently put the hand she was holding down, feeling the twitch as Xena's fingers moved to hold on to hers, and the warrior's brow tensed.  Eyelashes fluttered, and pale blue eyes peeked out at her fuzzily.

"It's okay.. I'm here." Gabrielle reassured her, gently applying salve to the long scrapes on her partner's neck. "Go on.. close your eyes." She tugged the warrior's shirt up and dabbed at the nasty looking cut on her hip. "Honey, you gotta be more careful."

"Ungh." The warrior muttered. "Was me or the tree.. damned if I was gonna let the tree win."

Oh yeah. Gabrielle shook her head as she gave the cool skin a friendly rub with her fingertips, frowning a little at the prominent ribs under her hands. The last thing her partner took care of, when stuff was going on, was herself, and the bard made a mental note to keep an eye on her, and make sure she didn't forget minor items such as eating and sleeping. "Well, you won, champ."

"Mm." Xena's eyes had closed, and her breathing had started to even out again.

With a sigh, Gabrielle slid under the furs and pulled them up, tucking  the edges around herself and her sleeping partner, putting her head down on one broad shoulder and letting the sight of stars take her off to sleep.

*********************************************

Granella slipped through the quiet cavern, glancing outside where a soft gray light indicting the coming dawn. She checked the main fire, then stuck her head out the main entrance, casting an eye at the lowering clouds.

Damn good thing they finished that gate yesterday, she mused, smelling rain heavy on the air. Even if Xena had to drive everyone half to Hades in doing it.. at least they could watch both main gate and secondary from snug wooden shelters, and they had all their things tucked away out of the weather.

The dark haired woman sucked in a deep breath of air, then went back inside and paced into the food storage area, tugging out a few things and stifling a yawn. Toris was still sleeping, as were their sons, and she was glad of the quiet time in the morning for her to think, and count off stuff they had yet to do.

Like unpack those weapons, and start working on them. Granella smiled a little, glad she'd been chosen to oversee that. It had felt good to get back into things, and she'd found herself enjoying the efforts the previous day, and working alongside the determined Gabrielle.

She'd found her respect growing for the bard at the same time.. having never had the chance, really, to watch her perform the organizational and diplomatic duties she had really no call to use in Amphipolis. She got people to work together, and do things, and she did it in a way that made you happy just to be doing her a favor.

Interesting. She'd always liked Gabrielle, and they'd spent quite a bit of time together when they'd both been pregnant, but this was a different side to the woman and she'd begun to see how the unlikely partnership between bard, and warrior really did sort of work. That had always sort of puzzled her. She never doubted that they loved each other, that much was obvious even to a blind and deaf person standing two towns away, but she did often find herself wondering how they worked together without driving each other nuts.

Granella chuckled, then put a loaf of bread and two large pears on a wooden plate, then she slipped through the storage area and poked her head into the chamber Gabrielle had chosen. The light from outside filtered in, reflecting off the rain pool, the granite walls, and two sharp blue eyes that pinned her the moment her body filled the opening.

The warrior was still curled up in bed with Gabrielle, but a brow edged up at her in question, lowering when Granella held up the platter, then set it down on a rock just inside the entrance. She waved silently and Xena responded with a smile, then she ducked out.

Wow. Granella suspected if she'd been an enemy soldier, she'd now be entertaining missing bodyparts. "Gotta remember not to surprise her." She muttered, shaking her head and moving back into the main cavern.

***********************************************

Xena lifted her head and surveyed the platter, then lowered herself back onto the bed's surface and let her body go limp again. Ho boy. She flexed her hands and winced. Ow. She rolled her head to the left and peeked into Dori's crib, grateful that the baby was still sleeping, which gave her time to stretch out a few kinks before she had to get up and take care of her.

Gabrielle's gonna lecture me but good. The warrior sighed. Maybe I can just ease out from…

"If you roll over, I'll give you a back rub." The bard's sleepy voice rumbled through the gray light.

Xena looked plaintively up at the ceiling and sighed.

"C'mon." Gabrielle eased away from her and gave her shoulder a tug. "Over."

The warrior gave up and complied, stifling a groan as she did so. The bard yawned, as she slid her partner's shirt up and started to work. "Good grief, honey." She leaned forward, putting pressure on the painfully tight muscles she could feel across her partner's back and shoulders.

"Ungh." Xena let out a soft complaint. "I didn't even do that much.. I don't know what the Hades is wrong with me."

Fortunately she couldn’t see the face Gabrielle was making at her. "Well.. if you ask me, tiger.. " She tickled the warrior's ribs lightly. "Your body's fine.. it's your memory I'm worried about."

"Huh?" Xena's brows knit violently.

"Apparently you've completely forgotten all the trees you carried last night, along with the gate you apparently raised yourself, and all the dirt for the gate foundation you packed in from the river."

Silence.

"Didn't seem like that much." Xena grumbled.

Gabrielle made another face, sticking her tongue out at the smooth, tanned back she was rubbing. "Better?"

"Mm." Xena stretched her arms out, coaxing her shoulders into place with a nasty pop.

"Ugh.. you know I hate that sound." Gabrielle winced.

"Sorry." Her partner responded mildly. "And yes.. that feels a lot better.. thanks."

The bard rubbed her fingertips lightly over the area, then bent down and kissed the birthmark on her soulmate's back before pulling her shirt down, and rolling over on her side. "I could get to thinking you just do that for sympathy. " She teased the warrior gently, giving her a poke on the arm.

Xena folded her arms under her head and regarded the fair haired woman thoughtfully. "Maybe I just love your back rubs."

"So… you could just ask." Gabrielle laughed a bit. "I ask you when I want one."

"Mmph." Xena exhaled, and rocked her head back and forth. "I know… old habits, I guess." She admitted. "Remember what it took to get me to ask the first time?"

"Oh.. .my gods, yes." Gabrielle buried her face in one hand and mock shuddered.

*********************************

It really should have been just a quick thing, go in, take the bad guys out, get out, and be on their way. It had started out well,  they'd ridden into the town, and faced off against the raiders, who fought for a little while then spooked, and took off.

Xena had been content to let them go, it had been raining, and cold, and they'd done what they'd come to do. She'd ridden out a ways to make sure they were gone, then came back, and…

Xena herself wasn't sure exactly what happened. Only that one minute they were riding up the sloping path to the village, and the next, Argo's feet were coming out from under her, and the mare was twisting in mid air, startling her rider who just simply didn't have time to get her feet out of the stirrups and jump clear.

Argo had landed hard, and rolled, trapping Xena under her for a fraction of a second, then the mare had gotten her feet under her and scrambled up, leaving the warrior motionless for a frightening moment before she, too, got to her feet.

Gabrielle had bolted towards her, and pulled up a few feet away, her heart beating so fast she was surprised the warrior hadn't heard it. "My gods.. are you all right?"

Xena's face had been white as a sheet, and the warrior's motions had been very hesitant, as she'd walked over to Argo, and checked her with visibly shaking hands. "Yeah.. I'm fine." She'd muttered. "Hey girl.. you okay?"

The bard had come closer, as she'd seen Xena's grip close on Argo's saddle and hang on, the knuckles whitening with effort. "Xena?"

"Just catching my breath." The warrior had insisted, her face tense as she stood still for a few minutes, then finally nodded, and took several deeper inhalations. "She just went down.. " Slowly, Xena had turned, and surveyed the path, her eyes searching it.

"There." Gabrielle had pointed. "There's a hole there.. see? Where the water's going through it."

And the warrior had nodded. "Yeah." She'd fallen silent, as though considering what to do, her hands never leaving the saddle, and Gabrielle had realized by the tensed muscles in her arms that she was holding herself upright.

"Hey.. ." The bard had stroked Argo's shoulder softly. "They offered us room and board overnight… maybe we should stay."

Xena had only nodded, then taken the reins in one hand and turned, walking slowly alongside Argo as they made their way back to the village. "I'll check her out… go see about the room, okay?"

"Sure." Gabrielle had nodded. "Let me get our stuff off her back."

She'd gone ahead, and made the arrangements, then put their things in the room, turning as she heard Xena at the door. One look at Xena's face had told her there were something very wrong, this warrior who could remain impassive while an arrow stuck out of her chest was so obviously in pain, it was all Gabrielle could do to not rush over, and grab her.

"Xena…" She'd said instead, then fallen silent as the warrior had looked at her.

"I need you to do something for me." The warrior had said, very quietly.

"Anything." Gabrielle had responded immediately, setting her feet free and going over to her. "What's wrong?"

"I tensed up when she rolled over me." Xena had seemed half angry, half embarrassed. "My back muscles are all spasmed up… I can't reach them… could you..  if I lay down.."

"Xena…you're white as a sheet.. let me go get the healer." Gabrielle had started past her, only to be stopped by a quiet hand on her arm.

"No.. he can't do anything more than you could.. and I'd rather you do it." Xena had muttered.

And so she had. She'd helped the warrior out of her armor, and taken the pungent smelling salve Xena had told her to take from the healer's kit, and put it on her hands. Xena had lain down and she'd started to work on that strong back, watching the grip her friend's hand had on the headboard slowly relax as she succeeded in easing the painful cramping she could see tensing all along the warrior's long torso. "Wow… that must really hurt."

"Happens sometimes." The warrior had replied gruffly. "Just goes out once in a while."

"Mm." Gabrielle had kept going, acknowledging a guilty enjoyment in this prolonged touching of her usually unapproachable traveling companion. "Am I doing okay?"

"Fine." Xena had replied softly. "You're doing just fine, Gabrielle."

"Well… " The bard had started talking aimlessly. "It's not like I have a lot of experience, I realize… I mean, Potadeia is big on shearing sheep, and baking and… well, lots of ordinary things like that.. but you know, it's not really that hard, I mean it's sort of like..you can see where the problems are, especially on you, so it.."

"Gabrielle."

"Sorry.. I'm babbling, right?"

"Don’t' worry about it… I've never … I don't usually trust people this close to me, so whatever you're doing is fine. It feels great."

"Oh." Gabrielle had thought about that. "So what do you do when it happens, then?"

A faint shrug of one shoulder had spoken volumes. "Live with it."

Live with it? Gabrielle had been shocked, remembering the look of agony on her friend's face. How could someone live with that? Then she'd realized that in the position she was in, Xena was almost completely defenseless. Even Gabrielle, who could barely spear a fish, held the warrior's life in her hands, if she really wanted it.

It had been a very sobering thought.

"Well." She'd finally said. "You won't have to do that as long as I'm around." She'd patted the broad shoulder. "You just ask me anytime, okay?"

And that, at last, had made Xena smile.

That same smile was facing her now, as the warrior stretched out again, and indulged in a yawn.  "Granella left some breakfast." Xena commented, cocking her head as thunder sounded. "We can work inside today… get things arranged."

Gabrielle nodded, scrambling out of bed and retrieving the platter, then chuckling. "That's not breakfast." She clucked her tongue and went to their backpacks, digging out some nuts and berries, and a trail bar each and coming back over.

Xena rolled over and sat up, then peered into the cradle, where Dori was just opening sleepy eyes and blinking. "Morning."

Dori pouted, making a face.

"Yeah.. that's exactly how I felt, too." Xena told her, reaching over and picking her up, then standing up and walking over to where Gabrielle had set their wash basin and the baby's diapers. "Not for the same reason, though."

The bard chortled. "Gods..that'd be a picture… but I don’t' know.. you'd look kinda cute in a diaper."

Blue eyes surmounted by dark, lowered brows peered back at her. "Do not go there, Gabrielle."  Xena warned, then turned back and finished her task, tickling Dori on her chubby belly and making her kick in outrage. "You hungry?"

"Boo.." Tiny fists reached for her.

"That's me." Xena agreed, picking her up and bringing her back to the bed, where Gabrielle was industriously mashing up some of the pear. "If you add a little honey to that, she'll like it better."

Gabrielle peered up at her through pale lashes. "Uh huh.. and how did we find that out?"

Xena put the baby down and grinned. "Accident… she threw her bowl at me when I was putting some on my biscuits."

Dori crawled over the bed and made a grab for the pears, clutching a handful and stuffing them into her mouth. "Mmm." She took another fistful and tossed it at Gabrielle, who started laughing as she fended the bits off.

"Dori.. cut that out."

A tiny finger pointed. "Um!"

"Can you say please?" The bard held the berries up.

Dori pouted. "Mama…"

"Oh.. gods.. not that look.. if you taught her that I'm going to… " Gabrielle gave her partner a dire look. "Xena, stop laughing. It's not funny."

"Mammmammma… " The tiny lip poked out, and Dori looked at the berries with a woebegone expression.

"Xeeeennnaaa…. "

The warrior lost it, sitting down on the side of the bed and holding her stomach as she laughed.

"You are toast, warrior princess…" Gabrielle gave the berries up and exhaled, shaking a finger at her soulmate. "It's not funny!" She picked up a berry and bounced it off Xena's head.

The warrior caught it in mid air, and let her chuckles wind down. "Sorry.. " She popped the berry into her mouth and chewed it. She split the loaf with the bard and spread some of the butter Granella had left on it, tearing of a tiny, soft chunk and putting it where Dori could reach it.

The baby peered at the offering, then snatched it, and stuffed it into her mouth along with the berries. "Mphf." She went back for more pears and chewed industriously.

"Good grief." The bard watched her daughter, while she plucked a few berries and bit into them. "Where does she put it all?"

Amused blue eyes regarded her. "Whose kid is she?" Xena inquired, in a teasing drawl.

Gabrielle stuck a blue tinted tongue out at her.

******************************************

"Okay… that looks good." Gabrielle leaned on her elbows, reviewing the list of supplies Granella had brought her. "Wow.. that's a lot of stuff… and you said most of it's good?"

The ex Amazon nodded. "I was kinda surprised…but besides the gut, it's not bad. Those shelters, and the bedding's in real good condition."

"What are these?" The bard traced a line with one fingertip.

"Um." Granella hesitated. "Just…stuff, I guess.. tools…bits of harness… I think I saw an armor making kit there." She looked away, finding something in the rock wall interesting.

Gabrielle regarded her, evaluating the audible words and the inaudible ones. "What else?"

Silence, then finally the dark haired woman replied. "Just.. stuff warlords have, Gabrielle."

The green eyes blinked twice. "What part of Xena's past do you think you're keeping from me?" Gabrielle asked, shrewdly.

Her friend gave her a brief, guilty look. "It's easy to forget about that, y'know."

The bard sighed. "I know… but that doesn't mean I don't understand what that past is, and who Xena was." She reminded Granella gently. "So what is it?"

"Shackles… chains." Granella answered quietly. "Whips… things like that."

Gabrielle rubbed her jaw. "Let's go take a look."  She stood up and walked out, heading for the storage cave.

"Son of a bacchae." Granella scrubbed her dark hair with one hand. "I shoulda just had em toss that stuff." She exhaled, then got up and trailed the determinedly striding bard across the stone floor.

The storage area was a little chaotic, filled with people sorting through boxes and trying to get things labeled and counted.  Gabrielle spotted a group of crates off to one side, conspicuously isolated, and she made for them, aware of the startled, quickly averted eyes that followed her inside the room.

The first crate had been pried open, and the top was tacked lightly down. Gabrielle pulled it off and peered inside, jerking her head back as a strong smell of iron, rust, old leather, and what her mind identified as blood floated out.

After a moment, she reached inside and pulled the first item out, a set of rusty shackles, complete with a set of keys attached to one link with a twist of metal. She studied them, then dropped them on the floor, and stuck her hand back in the crate. This time, she pulled out a leather harness, stiff with blood, obviously meant to keep a person confined and motionless.

She examined a few more items, then got to a collar, with rusty spikes on the inside, and felt a sick churning in her guts. She kept the piece of leather, and put the rest back, then she closed the crate up and left the cavern, an awkward silence following her.

*********************************

Xena detoured past the front chamber, and snagged some bread and cheese, then continued on past the busy main cavern and into the smaller area they'd set up as a nursery. In there, two of the older women who had accompanied them were watching over Dori and the twins, and they smiled when they saw her.

"Hey.. mind if I take her off your hands for a few minutes?" Xena inquired, smiling at the, for once quietly, playing babies.

Dori looked up at her voice and dropped the ball she'd been holding, waving a fist at the warrior instead. "Boo!"

"C'mere, honey." The warrior knelt and picked her up and cradled her against her tunic, smiling when Dori clutched at the laces holding her shirt closed. She stepped past the barriers they'd put up to keep the babies inside and walked through the storage space, and into the room their chamber. "Look at that!"

Dori stared, entranced. The rain outside had found it's way down the mountain, and through the crack in their room and was pouring down in a sheet into the pool, shimmering in the light and sending a ghostly mist across the rocks.

Xena sat down on the bed and simply watched it, feeling the breeze blow lightly in and carry the tiniest bit if moisture back to her as the light peeked in, scattering rainbows across the water. "That's pretty, huh?"

"Goo!"

"Goo, huh?" Xena cradled her daughter in the crook of her arm and studied her, running fingers through the thick, dark hair that covered Dori's head. "Boy, you're getting so big." She murmured, holding out one tiny arm and watching the fingers of that hand clutch at her wrist.

Dori watched her in absorbed fascination, kicking out her legs a little. Xena took hold of a foot and fit it inside her palm, feeling the child's strength as she pushed against the surface. Already standing a head over her cousins, and a quarter again their weight, Dori had also learned to walk sooner, and her vocabulary, while limited, was more varied than theirs was.

Xena tried not to point that out too often, at least not to her brother, or his wife, but she couldn't prevent other people from commenting about it, and everyone seemed to agree that her daughter was both very bright, and very precocious for her age.

Just like she'd been, according to Cyrene.

She put a fingertip on Dori's snub nose, and the baby clutched at her hand, giving her a little scowl. Xena smiled at her, and the baby smiled back, giggling as the warrior tickled her belly a little.

Her daughter. Xena let out a quiet breath. "You like those rainbows, Dori?"

"Bck."

"You think there's fish in that pool? How about we see if there is.. I bet your mama'd like some fish for dinner, huh?"

"Mama."

"Yeah… she likes fish just like you do." Xena informed the baby, with a grin. "Think we can find some?"

Dori waved her fists enthusiastically.

Gabrielle leaned in the doorway, quietly watching her partner and their daughter. She could see Xena's profile and heard the quiet joy in her voice as she spoke to the infant and played with her.

After a long, pensive moment, she sighed, and continued on into the room. "Hi."

Xena looked up in surprise. "Hey… " A smile crossed her face. "Thought you were busy…I'd have brought lunch for you too." She nodded at Dori, who was industriously chewing a bit of the waybread.

The bard sat down, and gathered her thoughts, glancing over to see  her soulmate's face go tense as she picked up Gabrielle's mood. "We were going through those crates."

"Yeah." Xena's response was quiet.

Gabrielle lifted her hand, with the collar in it, and held it in front of her, where Xena could see it. "We found a bunch of this stuff."  She studied it for a second, then lifted her eyes to Xena's face.

She had no idea of what she was expecting. Regret… embarrassment… But Xena surprised her by merely cocking her head to one side, and issuing a speculative grunt. "Do you know what it is?"

"Sure." The warrior reached a hand out and touched the leather with one fingertip. "I had no idea we kept it, though.. must have been back with that bunch of supplies no one really knew what to do with."

"Boo.." Dori tugged at her shirt impatiently. "Moo!"

The warrior glanced down, then tore off a bit more of the bread, and smeared a tiny bit of cheese on it. "Sorry, honey.. here you go." She handed the bit to the baby, and watched her chew at it. "Good girl." Then she turned her attention back to the bard. "We'd sacked a fairly large city state east of here about six months before I set this place up."

"Mm."  Gabrielle studied her face seriously.

"We picked up all kinds of stuff from them… I got rid of most of it, but there was a bunch of stuff I never got to go through.. that must have been in there." Xena regarded it with a wrinkled nose. "Nasty."

"Ah.. so you… " Gabrielle faltered. "This wasn't…. um… " She became aware, suddenly, of the utter stillness of the body next to her, and she looked over, to see Xena's eyes fixed on the collar.  Then the warrior's eyes slowly lifted to her face in stark understanding, the color draining from her skin as she realized what the bard was asking.

Then her eyes dropped to the rock floor. "No."  She answered quietly.

Oh boy. Gabrielle winced inwardly. I think I just made a big mistake. She quietly put the collar down and laid a hand on Xena's back instead. "Great.. we can just get rid of them then… most of it's rusty stuff, nothing worth keeping, I don't think."

The warrior nodded silently.

She didn't even have to have the reinforcement of their connection. The pain and disappointment was written across her partner's face so clearly anyone could have seen it, and Gabrielle exhaled softly, before she circled the warrior's upper arm with her free hand. "Honey?"

"Mm?"

"I'm sorry. I shouldn’t have made that assumption."

The shoulder under her hand moved in a shrug. "Why not?" Xena's voice took on a bitter taint. "I'm sure everyone else did."

Dori fussed a bit, clutching at Xena's shirt and reaching for the bread. "Bck!"  The warrior silently handed her a bit more, gazing at the baby's face with an unreadable expression. "Wonder how much time I've got before she starts hearing stories."

Gabrielle felt like she'd gotten hit in the gut. "Xena.. you know that's not.. "

Blue eyes pinned her. "If the person who knows me best in the whole world thinks that, what more is there to say, Gabrielle?"

The bard took a few moments just to breathe, hurting for both of them.

Xena looked away, and shook her head. "Why the Hades am I yelling at you? It's my past.. it's not your fault have to live with that." She looked down as Dori tugged her sleeve again, imperiously demanding more lunch.

"Because you have the right to expect better from me." Gabrielle told her quietly. "You have the right to expect me to remember who you are now, and not assume absolute crap like I just did."

A lost look took over the warrior's face. "Who knows? If I'd have known those were there, maybe I would have used them."  Abruptly the warrior handed Dori off to her mother. "Here." She got up and walked towards the water, sitting down at it's edge and letting the spray hit her.

Dori's face scrunched up unhappily as Gabrielle cradled her, the baby obviously looking for her playmate. "Boo!"

Gabrielle regarded her daughter quietly, then looked over at the silent, seated form. "Xena."  She took a breath. "Please come back over here."  She waited, seeing the slump in her soulmate's shoulders before she got up and walked back over, to stand quietly waiting.

"What?"

"Sit down." Gabrielle nodded her head at the spot next to her.

Enigmatic blue eyes regarded her for a long moment, before Xena exhaled, and did as she was asked, sitting down next to her partner and extending her booted legs out along the rock floor.

Gabrielle released the squirming Dori, who immediately clambered over onto her partner's lap and started pulling herself up by tugging on Xena's shirt. The warrior reflexively circled the baby with her arms and watched as Dori cooed contentedly, chewing on her shirt laces.

"Boo."

Xena sighed.

Gabrielle collected her thoughts carefully. "You've told me a lot about what you were like before we met." She hesitated. "In fact, you've told me a lot worse things about yourself than anything I've heard from anyone else.. isn't that true?"

Xena considered in silence, then nodded.

"Was what I asked a totally out of bounds thought about the person you used to be?"

A single, slow shake of the head.

"Do you think, for one minute, that if I thought you were still that person, that I'd be here right now?" Her eyes went to Dori. "That I would have agreed to spend my life with you… raise a child with you… fight, and if I have to, die at your side?"

Xena just looked at her with wide open eyes, an unfathomable expression on her face.

Gabrielle gently lifted a hand, and pressed it against her soulmate's cheek. "I'm sorry I hurt you by asking that… and I'm very glad it turned out those weren't yours." She felt, at the moment, as though their positions had been reversed, and she was the older, wiser partner, gently counseling a younger.

And, she realized, in some ways, it was that much younger Xena she was seeing a glimpse of, down deep in those pale blue eyes. Maybe it was that Xena she was talking to.

The eyes blinked, and the expression shifted, to one of quiet gratitude. "Thanks." Xena's gazed dropped to the squirming child in her arms, who looked up at her and clutched a lace. "You're right, Gabrielle…I just got caught offguard. " She looked back up. "Knowing I'm going back into this… I think it's made me a little oversensitive."

Hadn't thought of that. Gabrielle realized. All these reminders…must be a little hard on her.  "I should have realized… it's tough, I know."  She picked up the collar, and examined it. "If I'd have thought it through, I would have realized this wasn't anything you had a hand on."

"Why?" Xena asked softly.

The bard held it up, displaying the inside. "I have known you what… five years now?" She pointed at the rust and stains. " You would never in a zillion years leave a piece of equipment like this."

It was absurdly logical. Xena blinked at the collar. And it was also completely true. She was meticulous in her care of all their gear, and Gabrielle knew that, having teased her more than once about her obsessive cleaning of even the spare pieces of Argo's tack while they were on the road.

"Duh." Gabrielle hit the side of her head.

Xena put an arm around her shoulders and pulled her closer, kissing the spot, and the bard circled her with both arms, including Dori in the gentle hug.

Dori burbled, then she put her arms around Xena as best she could and hugged her too. "Booboobooboooo.."

Gabrielle looked up, to see a smile forcing it's way onto her soulmate's face. "We love you." She commented softly.

"I love you both, too." Xena spoke quietly, closing her eyes.

They stayed like that for a moment, then the sound of running footsteps made them sit up, and look at each other. "Well.. it's been a whole morning." Xena commented wryly.

"Now what?" Gabrielle sighed, and turned towards the door, standing when Toris appeared in the doorway. "Hey.."

"Raiders at the gates, Xena." The tall man stated, breathing hard. "Demanding we take them down."

So. Xena kissed the tiny head tucked against her chest. It starts. "All right." She stood, cradling Dori in her arms. "I need a dozen militia… with staves and scythes. Nothing professional looking." She rocked the infant, who giggled. "Let's go."

Gabrielle followed her out the door, grabbing her staff on the way.

**********************************************

It was raining steadily as they made their way up to the gates, cloaks snapping fitfully in the wind that blew the cold water into their faces. "Didn't figure them to be out in this."  Xena commented, tugging her collar closer.

"Maybe they're into mud." Gabrielle replied, shifting her grip on her staff a little, and swinging it back out of her way.

"Gabrielle, no one's into mud." The warrior replied, a touch testily, as she avoided a small outcropping of rocks and took a route through a series of puddles, sending brown splotches everywhere, including over herself with vigorous abandon.

"Mm." The bard reached up and scratched her nose, but didn't reply.

The gate loomed up, and one of the sentries trotted out to meet them, shielding his face from the rain. "About a dozen of em… they want to know what we think we're doing in here."

"Oh, they do huh?" Xena snorted, as she jumped up onto the watch platform. "All right.. c'mere, Toris."  She peeked through the watch slit, and spotted the group, a round dozen warriors on horseback, with serviceable armor, and weapons.

The man in the lead was slouched in the saddle with the air of someone long used to riding, and he held a crossbow cocked negligently against one thigh. The entire group had an attitude of complacency about them.

Her brother climbed up next to her. "Yeah?"

Xena gave him a push. "Talk to them… ask them who they are, and what they want."

"Me?" Toris protested. "Why me?"

His sister just looked at him, the rain plastering her dark hair down and giving her a dour expression.

"Okay..okay.. " He stepped to the edge of the platform and peered down at the raiders. "Who are you, and what do you want?"

Xena rolled her eyes and slapped her head, muttering in an obscure language as Gabrielle crawled up onto the platform with her, resting a hand on her knee and peering through the slot.

"Not your business." A loud, firm voice answered. "We've got business in this valley. Open those gates or we'll tear them down."

"Nice." Gabrielle muttered. "Xena, why do all these guys have to wear black, and smell like old leather?"

The warrior got up and joined her at the slot. "Gabrielle.. I usually wear black and smell like old leather." She reminded her soulmate, as she watched the soldiers shift restively outside.

"Yes, but you look good in black, and you smell like very sexy, kinda spicy leather." Gabrielle murmured in response.

Toris glanced at his sister. "What do I say?" He muttered.

"Say no." Xena murmured back

"No? Just no?" Her brother asked doubtfully.

"Just say it." The warrior clouted his leg. .

"All right.. all right." He stood up and cleared his throat. "No." He pronounced loudly.

An arrow thudded into the wood next to his head, and he ducked in reflex, giving Xena an outraged look. "Hey! I can't catch these.. why don't you get up here and give them some lip?"

"You'll get that one warning." The voice went on. "You've got sixty seconds to open these gates, or we start tearing them down, and when we get inside, we'll kill you."

Sometimes, she sighed, you just gotta do things yourself. Xena shook her head and sucked in a deep breath. "Go to Hades, you pieces of centaur dung!" She yelled derisively. "You couldn’t pull down your own damn pants!"

"Nice." Gabrielle pulled her hood a little closer to her. "Now what? They're going to try and break in, Xena."

"Yep." The warrior agreed, hopping off the platform as it shook under an angry blow. "They sure are." She pushed the militia members, huddled near the walls aside, and laid her hands on the wood, feeling the blows through it, matched with angry yells, and growls from the men on the other side. "You call that pulling down? What a bunch of girls you all are!!"

"Hey!" The bard raised an eyebrow. "You're a girl, remember?" She scrambled off the platform and backed away from it, as a heavy thud shook splinters from the newly joined wood.

Xena's face was intent, and interested, and she cocked it to one side, listening. The impacts redoubled, and she heard the distinct sound of an ax chopping into the wood.

"Are we just going to stand here? They'll be through that in a few minutes, Xena.. and they've got crossbows!" Toris hissed angrily. "We're not all impervious to those, remember??"

"Bring the horses." Xena motioned to two men standing nearby. "And the plow hitch." They ran off, and she pulled two of the militia to one side. "All right… listen up." They gathered around her, with Toris and Gabrielle in the back. Sounds of chopping interspersed her words, but the warrior didn't seem to hear them.

"Two lines, half of you on one side, half on the other.. when we open the gates, I want you to go through, and attack."

Eyes glanced back and forth. "Xena… " Toris looked around. "Those are armed and armored men on horseback out there.. we're in tunics, carrying sticks." He cleared his throat. "You did remember that, right?"

"Sure." The tall ex warlord grinned. "Just be ready." She turned as the men came back with the horses, and she helped them throw the plow harness over them, grabbing two coils of rope and tossing them back to the men. "There are two iron rings in the doors, tie these off to them."

Mystified, they did.

"Oh.. " Gabrielle peered at the ropes. "I see… "

"Ready?" Xena called out softly.

The men lined up on either side, and watched her nervously.

"Gabrielle… stay back on that side." Xena warned, jumping up onto the plow hitch and picking up the reins. "Eeehhaa!!!" She smacked the reins against the two horses rumps, and they bolted, churning through the mud and lunging against the plow harness as they reached the end of the rope.

With a tremendous creak, the gates slammed open, the prow shaped walls arcing out and throwing the raiders against the surrounding granite walls with thundering force.

With a yell, the militia poured through the opening, waving their staves and frightening the horses left standing by their riders on foot at the gates. The two men still mounted took one look at the mud covered, screaming men and whirled their horses, digging in their spurs and sending the animals flying down the road and away from the gates.

Xena pulled the horses to a halt and jumped down, bolting for the gates with long, powerful strides. She reached them just as they were being feebly pushed back by the stunned men and headed for one, leaping up and kicking it back open with a wild yell.

Then she whirled around the edge of it and yanked it towards her, pulling her sword from it's sheath with a low, evil growl.. "Who's gonna die, slugbait???"  She grabbed the raider captain, and threw him against the wall, making him drop his ax and stagger backwards. Behind her, she could hear the rattle as the militia engaged the rest of the dazed raiders, so she concentrated on the captain.

The man was tall, and well muscled, with dark hair and well kept armor. Xena bounced forward and boxed him in the ear before he could recover, and he held a hand up, stumbling to one side. She followed her advantage up and grabbed him, evading his hands and slamming him up against the rocks "Now.. you listen to me, dirtbag."

He panted, his hands tugging at her forearms as she held him pinned in place.

"You don't come here. You don't have any business here. You take your scum sucking pieces of horse crap and you get so far away I don't want to smell you on a night breeze less than fifty leagues from here, you got me?"

"You got no.."

"I've got all the right I need right here." Xena released one hand, and drew her sword, pressing it against his neck with a low growl. "And the only reason I don't use your head for a decoration on my gate is because I want you to tell everyone you see that this is my place, and they better steer clear." She pressed the blade home, breaking skin. "Do you understand me, scum?"

Peripherally, she was aware of danger approaching, from behind her and to her right, but she kept her eyes pinned on the captain, watching his eyes narrow at her. "You don't know what you're doing, dirtbag." He snarled at her.

"Don't I?" Xena's manner suddenly chilled, hearing the man behind her, even to the slight whistle as he lifted his weapon, and headed it in her direction. "Really?"

The captain smiled nastily.

Kathunk.

Xena heard a soft, very distinctive grunt, then another impact, and a splat. The captain's face sobered. "Now. Get out of here." The warrior told him softly. "Before I have you stripped naked and whipped like a dog." She heaved with both arms, and sent him stumbling down the path, towards the group of fighters being guarded by a ring of muddy militia.

The warrior strode to the center of the doors, and put her hands on her hips, letting the rain lash her cape back and outline her distinctive form. "Don’t' come back, boys… next time we wont' be so friendly."  She jerked her jaw towards them. "Escort em out of the valley."

Toris drew his sword and poked the nearest man. "Go on.. you heard the lady. Get moving."

The group started moving, after giving Xena dark, angry stares, and the rain came down harder, blocking their view after a dozen more steps.

Xena sighed, and ran her hand through her dripping wet hair. "Thanks." She half turned her head, to see her soulmate standing there, hands braced on her staff.

"That guy got pretty close, Xena… I didn't think you heard him." The bard stepped closer, and lowered her voice.

The warrior chuckled softly. "No.. I heard him all right.. I just knew you were there."  She turned her head and watched the last glimpse of their attackers disappear. "You make the cutest little noises when you fight."

"They're going to be back, Xena.. this isn't the end of that….you really pissed them off."

A cold smile edged Xena's lips. "I know." She turned and put her arm around her partner, nudging her back towards the caverns. "That's what I'm hoping for.. I want their attention focused here, and on me."

Gabrielle took a few more paces, prodding the ground thoughtfully with her staff. "So they'll leave everyone else alone?" She mused  softly. "You want Andreas to know where you are, don't you?"

The pale blue eyes glittered softly in the rain. "I want to be the only thing he thinks of. I want him to know I'm out here… planning something… challenging him."

The bard chewed her lip. "But Xena… we've got less than two dozen people here.. if he comes now, we're not going to be able to stop him."

"He doesn't know that." Xena reminded her. "And he won't just come out here not knowing.. he's too smart for that."

Gabrielle exhaled, giving her partner a worried look. "That's a dangerous game, Xe."

Another smile. "That's the best kind."

**********************************************

The sound of hammering rang over the grass, as Gabrielle strode through it, the mid calf length stalks whipping against her boots and the leggings she wore against the chill. She glanced around, evaluating the progress, and had to admit her soulmate certainly knew how to get things done.

Already, six of the caverns had been transformed into storage and living quarters, with rude but serviceable cots built from stripped down branches and tables with chairs constructed from the packing crates the cache had held.

In only five days, the group had fitted out a kitchen area, collected herbs and roots to add to the hunting they'd been doing, rigged up a corral, and put together some training pells and other items that Xena designed, her tireless form striding from location to location as she directed the projects.

Incredible. The bard shook her head. Of course, she hadn't been slacking off either, directing the organization of the supply areas, and stocking the hospital. It was showing her a different side to her partner, though, as Xena took charge, very aware of her responsibilities in setting up the camp.

In Amphipolis, the warrior tended to keep to herself, really. She worked alone, or with one or two others with the horses, and she didn't socialize beyond the family meals, and the occasional market fair they'd go to. Not that she was unfriendly, no…  Gabrielle's eyes found the tall form and she angled her steps. But she didn't go out of her way to interact with a lot of people.

That had to change here. She had to instruct, and supervise, evaluate and involve herself with the militia and the supporters who had come to the valley with them, and Gabrielle found herself a little surprised at just how easily her normally taciturn soulmate adjusted to her new role.

It was like seeing a whole new side of Xena, and Gabrielle paused as she closed in on the small group standing near the cave entrance, hearing her partner speaking.

"All right… this is what I want you guys to do." Xena had a piece of chalk in one hand, and she turned to the granite wall. "See where the valley narrows here? " She drew the back side of their new home. "I saw five or six wild horses back there… I'd like to try and capture them." She sketched in a cone. "If you stretch the corral ropes this way, and here.. " She looked at them, then back at the wall. "Then get around behind them and make noise, they'll run right into the nets."

"Aye." One of the militia men nodded. "Shouldn't take long.. and I thought I saw some blackberry bushes back in there… knock off two birds, so they say."

"Good." Xena nodded, and clapped him on the shoulder. "G'wan… if you need a hand, let me know."

"Will do, chief." One of the younger woman grinned, as they turned and headed off.

The warrior juggled her chalk, then turned her eyes to her waiting soulmate. "You're a sight for sore eyes."

Gabrielle blinked in mild surprise. "Well.. thanks." She laughed a bit . "How are things going out here? We're about done inside."

"Pretty good." Xena exhaled in satisfaction. "They finished those pells.. and did I show you the Amazons quarters?"

The bard shook her head. "No… you said you were working on them, but.."

"C'mon." Xena circled her shoulders with a long arm. "I want to get your stamp of approval… last thing we need is them getting their feathers in an uproar."

"Sure." Gabrielle replied amiably, as she allowed herself to be led along the wall, past the opening to the main cavern, on towards the second series of caverns they'd explored the past few days.

Xena paused outside a craggy entry, and stood back, motioning the bard to precede her.

With a smile, Gabrielle did, feeling a warm hand touch her back as her partner followed her inside. She straightened as she cleared the rock, and peered around with interest. "Hmm."

It was a long cavern, of decent width, and moderate height. Xena's workers had built plain, but sturdy looking bunks along both walls, wide enough to accommodate a single occupant and two layers high, to maximize space. It would be cramped, but livable, she decided, but had a concern. "Xe… we can't put all of them in here together."

The warrior nibbled her lip. "No?"

"Uh uh." The bard shook her head. "Not all the nations… you know how they are." She wandered over to an irregular opening and peeked inside. "What's this one for?"

"Storage.. I figured they could keep weapons… do group stuff in there." Xena leaned on the wall next to her and peered in. "There's a path back there down to that cavern with the water…I thought they'd like that."

Gabrielle put her hands on her hips, then sighed. "Honey… I love you, but this isn't going to work." She looked back over her shoulder at her crestfallen soulmate. "Aw." She walked over and leaned against her. "Don't worry.. I'll take care of it… I lived with them for a month.. I can make this happen."

Xena poked a lip out. "This is how I set up the barracks for the rest of the guys… I didn't want to be accused of favoritism."

Gabrielle gave her a friendly belly rub. "Relax… just give me a day or so, and I'll fix it." She eyed the caverns, and mentally started rearranging them. "You can't put the elders in the same place as the kids, for one thing… and the queens'll have to have a separate cave.."

One dark brow lifted. "Gabrielle.. this is a temporary military arrangement." The warrior reminded her testily. "I'm not going to coddle them."

The bard sighed. "Xena…" She straightened the warrior's collar on the dusty work tunic she was wearing. "It's not coddling.. exactly… I just don't want there to be squabbling when we all need to work together."

The warrior scowled engagingly. "Amazons."  She muttered. "All right… you fix it."

Gabrielle hugged her gently. "Thanks… what's next on your list?"

They walked slowly back to the entrance and moved back into the cool, bright air. "Well… shoring up the gates, then laying out those weapons and figuring out how much gut we'll need to fix them, then I've got to check out the back outpost, and hopefully by then those horses'll be there.. I'd like to get a start on them… " Xena ticked things off on long fingers.

Gabrielle grabbed one. "Lunch."

"Hm?" The warrior peered at her in confusion.

"Lunch.." The bard repeated. "Have you eaten yet today since I saw you grab that apple in the kitchen this morning?"

Silence, broken by their footsteps crunching lightly against the rock and the sparse grass. "Um…"  Xena laid a tentative hand over her stomach, which growled conspicuously.

"That'd be a no." Gabrielle sighed. "C'mon."

"Gabrielle.. I've got a ton of things to do.." The warrior protested. "I can pick something up later.." Her voice trailed off as gentle green eyes fastened on her face. "Bu…"

Fingers folded around hers, holding her securely. "You've been working non stop for five days… I'd like a couple of minutes just to have lunch with you, if that's okay."

She's right. Xena inhaled, acknowledging that other than sleeping in the same bed, she'd hardly seen her partner for days. "Sorry.. I was just …"

"I know." Gabrielle tightened her grip. "But getting yourself sick isn't going to help…and I've missed you."

Xena's eyes dropped for a moment, then lifted. "C'mon… let's grab a couple of sandwiches.. I found a spot I think you'll like."

******************************************

Gabrielle extended her legs out, enjoying the contrast of warm sun, and the cool breeze as it ruffled the grass around her. She was seated on a small slope, overlooking the pond at the base of the boxed in end of the valley, watching ducks float by.

Xena was sprawled next to her, one fist propping up her head as she finished taking a swallow from the skin the bard had brought out with them. "Nice day."

"Mm." The bard agreed quietly. "I like it here… it's really pretty." She reached over and combed her fingers through her partner's hair, and scratched her gently on the back of her neck. "Is this where you found those horses?"

Xena nodded. "Yeah… " She arched her neck, enjoying the bard's touch. "I've been over the valley a dozen times.. I want to make sure we don't miss anything… or find out there's a way in I didn't account for."  She took another swallow of the cider, rolling it around in her mouth before letting it slide down her throat.

Gabrielle eased closer and curled her body around her partner's, smiling a tiny bit when Xena shifted unconsciously, and snuggled up to her. "It's been amazing watching you."

"Hmm? Has it?" The warrior leaned back against her and exhaled.

"Yeah… it's like you're all over everything." The bard told her, continuing her gentle ruffling. "I get tired just trying to keep up with you."

Xena stayed quiet for a bit, tiny muscles in her face twitching visibly as she thought. "I didn't…" She started, then stopped. "There's just so much to do." A slow exhale. "Feels strange to be thinking this way again."

“Doesn’t seem like it’s bothering you.” Gabrielle stated quietly.

Xena regarded the horizon. “When I led armies before, it was for myself.”  The warrior’s voice was remote. “The only expectations were mine…if I didn’t live up to them, it was just between my ego and me.”

Gabrielle watched the muscles tense in her partner’s jaw. “This is different.”

“Mm… it sure is.” The corners of the ex warlord’s mouth twitched. “I thought it was bad just around the Amazons… Gabrielle, damn near everything in this depends on me.”

The bard let her hand rest on her partner’s shoulder. “It doesn’t have to.  When the Amazons, and everyone else gets here, you’ll have a lot of experienced people around… you can use their knowledge.”  She watched the tiny muscles around Xena’s eyes move. “Can’t you?”

The blue eyes swiveled and met hers. “Can I admit something to you?”

Gabrielle blinked in mild puzzlement. “Sure.”

Xena cocked her head a tiny bit. “I don’t play well with others.” She stated flatly. “I can’t run a war by committee.”

“Ah.” The bard absorbed that. “That could be a problem… there are some strong minded people coming here."

“Yeah, I’ve been thinking about that.” The warrior pulled up a stalk of grass and chewed on it. “Any suggestions?”

Gabrielle looked at her. “You’re asking my opinion?”

A shrug. “You’re my best friend.. who else am I gonna ask?” Came the quiet response. “Besides.. you’re good at making people work together.” She examined the stalk, then chewed it some more, the pungent taste clearing her senses after the large lunch they’d just eaten.

Part of her was worrying about all the things left to do, and nudging her towards doing them, but another part was content to stay where she was, simply enjoying Gabrielle’s presence here in the warm sun. She was admittedly nervous, uncertain of her ability to fully take back the reins of command, so invitingly held out to her, but she was also nervous of the other half of that – falling back into her old patterns completely.

“Hey, Gabrielle?”

“Hmm? I was just thinking… about what you asked.” The bard replied softly. “I don’t have any solid answers right now.”

Xena nodded. “That’s all right… listen… I..um.” She squirmed around and faced her partner. “There’s some not nice times coming up.”  Her eyes met the bard’s squarely. “And I know I’m.. going to be doing some things you’re not gonna like.”

Gabrielle regarded her seriously.  “Then you know I’m going to question you.”

The blue eyes dropped, studying the ground for a long moment. “Yeah, I… “ Xena exhaled. “I know.”

Pale brows knit slowly. “You don’t want me to do that?”

“No, that’s… I value that, Gabrielle… you know I trust your heart a lot more than my own.” The warrior hesitated, putting together words for ideas she hardly knew how to articulate. “And I’ll always listen.. but sometimes… I might have to do something anyway.”

“I know.”

They both fell quiet, remembering the long journey to a seaport, when Xena had confessed a piece of her past, and the bard had been….

Disgusted.

“There’s nothing noble about war, Gabrielle… there are no good choices… there’s just surviving, and I might have to make some very ugly decisions to make sure we not only survive this, but win.”

Gabrielle was silent.

“There’s a lot at stake here….we both know it.”

A nod.

“I understand the greater good, and I know you do too.”

Green eyes gazed into hers.

“If there’s even a chance that winning this means losing you, I’m not doing it.” Xena’s voice was quiet, and almost gentle. “I’ll stop right now.”

Gabrielle inhaled slowly. “And doom the rest of this land to his torture?”

“Yes.”

“For one person?”

“For the other half of my soul, yes.” Came the whispered answer. “I won’t give that up.”

What do you say, Gabrielle wondered, when you’re told you’re more important than the greater good? She knew Xena meant it… she  knew they’d come to that line and faced each other over it, and that if she said she couldn’t live with what she knew might happen, then Xena would simply walk away from it with her.

She remembered the hurt in her partner’s eyes the other day, as her past raised a spectre to haunt her.

She knew it had been this side of Xena that had pushed the wedge between them the last time.

A squirrel ran up the tree behind them, and she watched it scamper across the branches, clutching with strong toes at the bark. Finally, she turned, and regarded her friend, who was waiting patiently, eyes fastened on a point some distance away. "I'm not the same person I was before Chin." She considered her words. "I don't see things in black and white anymore…. " Gabrielle reached out and laid the back of her hand against the warrior's cheek, rubbing the skin gently, and feeling the pressure as Xena leaned into her touch. "And you, my friend… have more shades of gray than any other person I've ever known.. or ever will know."

Xena looked at her.

"Whatever road you end up on, I'll be there."  Gabrielle said softly, feeling the shift of the muscles under her fingers. "No matter how far, or how long, or how hard it is to get to, or where we end up, I'll still be right there beside you." A pause. "I promise."

The warrior exhaled, her entire body relaxing as though she'd been holding her breath. Which, Gabrielle realized, she had been.

However…  The bard drew in her own nervous lungful. Now seemed a good time to get all the serious stuff out of the way. "Feel better?"

Xena nodded. "Yeah… it was on my mind."

Affectionately, the bard ruffled her hair, then sobered. "Now that we're talking."

The ex warlord's eyes flicked up sharply.

"I have something I need to ask of you."

"Anyth.. " Xena found her lips stilled by two fingers.

"I'm going to lead the Amazons into battle." Gabrielle told her steadily. "And I want you to teach me the basics of how to use a sword."

*****************************************

Gabrielle leaned on her staff for a long moment, regarding the outpost, before she continued towards it, a light pack on her back. She let her boots crunch conspicuously against the gravel, and smiled as the guard stationed there turned to see who was approaching.

"Evening, ma'am." The young man greeted her respectfully, taking a better grip on his own quarterstaff. He was one of Xena's better students, actually, and usually spent his watch evenings on the river outpost outside Amphipolis.

"Hey, Jeris." The bard crossed into the light cast by a shielded torch behind the watch station. "It's a pretty night, isn't it?"

"It sure is." He scrubbed a hand over short blond hair. "You just out looking at the stars? I know you do sometimes.. I seen you out by the bridge."

Gabrielle sighed soundlessly. "Actually.. I'm here to relieve you.. go on in and get some dinner." She patted her staff and gave him a reassuring look. "There's a really big pot of fish stew on."

Jeris blinked at her. "You sure, ma'am?" He looked around. "It's awful lonely out here."

The bard pulled a bound set of parchment from her sack. "I've got a little writing to do.. it's easier for me where it's quiet."

He scratched his head. "Okay…"

Gabrielle took his place near the shielded torch as he waved, and broke into a trot, waiting for his footsteps to fade before she settled down on the wooden seat and peered through the watch slit.

She let her eyes get used to the darkness outside, and spent a few minutes scanning the area, seeing nothing out of the ordinary for a mountain slope in the middle of the night. A bat flew across her field of vision and she watched it, the moonlight reflecting off it's wings as it dodged an unseen obstacle, and settled on a branch nearby.

Then she exhaled, and leaned back, opening her diary and settling it on her knees.

Well. If I'd thought about it, I'd have found a lot better way to bring that subject up. I mean.. what was I thinking of? Here, Xena has just laid it on the line for me, and there I go, throwing a mud ball all in her stuff.

She's mad.

Boy, is she ever mad… but it's the kind of mad I like to see in her. All yelling, and throwing her hands around, and getting loud, and exasperated.

I can live with that kind of mad.

It's the quiet, cold kind I can't take.. not anymore. Where she turns her back on me, and pretends I don't exist… or I get nothing but grunts, if even that. That's the kind I had to face after the Furies messed with her, and I hate it. I just hate it.. I hate what it reminds me of, and I hate knowing what it led to.

But no, it was the good kind of mad this time.. if you can say any kind of mad is good.. the kind where, when I go back there in a little while, she'll be grumpy, and glower at me, and stomp around, but if I go up to her and put my arms around her, I'll get a hug back.

Gabrielle chewed on her quill, sucking the feathers lightly as the taste of mint tickled her tongue. At least I hope so. She sighed inwardly. She was so mad.

I guess she doesn't really understand why I asked her to do help me… but that's okay, because I hardly understand it myself. It's just that I know this fight's coming, and I committed my Amazons to it. I can't stand by and not fight with them, when it's time, and I can't just do that with a staff.

The problem is, and I know this is what's bugging her.. is, can I use a sword for defense… and nothing else?  Xena can.. she uses that sword like it's an extension of her arm. If she.. kills anyone with it, it's because she makes that choice to, not because she stumbles into it.

I thought about this a lot.. about just how much I could do.. and I realized there's a line out there that I just won't… can't.. cross.

Xena's point was, in the heat of battle, you can't stop and think of that.

I feel horrible for her… she's so torn by this. Half of her wants to make sure I'm ready to be a part of the battle, half of her wants to hide me away in the deepest cave she can find, and on top of it, there's Dori.

I should have waited to talk to her about this.. until after the Amazons were here, and things were settling down.

Too late now.

Gabrielle closed her diary and leaned on it, remaining still for a while. Then she tucked the book away into her pouch, and set it on the floor, turning her attention back out to the slope.

*****************************************

"Well, I don't know.. I'd better find Xena and ..whoops!" Toris bounced off his sister, who had just ducked into the weapons cavern, a scowl on her face. "Hey.. just who I was looking for."

"You found me." The warrior muttered tersely. "What is it?"

Toris cocked his head. "What crawled up your shirt and nested?"

Identical blue eyes met his coldly. "Toris, what is it?"

Her brother backed up a step, and the two men who were with him quietly escaped, ducking through the door Xena had just come in and leaving the two siblings tactfully alone. "Are you all right?" The dark haired man asked seriously. "Did something happen, that I should know about? You were fine just a while ago."

Xena stared at him for a long moment, then her gaze dropped, and found a pebble on the rock floor. "Yeah.. I'm fine… " She responded quietly. "What is it you needed me for?"  Damn it, Xena.. don’t take this out on him. It’s not his fault. She schooled her features to a more patient expression and looked up at Toris.

Once, Toris considered her quietly. I would have snapped back, or backed off. But somehow, in the last two years, she's become my sister again. He squared his shoulders and reclaimed his lost step. "Something bothering you, sis? Anything you need to talk about?"

It threw Xena off balance, that was for sure. The warrior blinked, and her brows snapped inward towards each other. Then she visibly relaxed a little. "Nothing you want to hear, Toris.." She sighed. "But thanks for the offer."

They glanced awkwardly at each other for a minute. "Was there something you wanted?" Xena finally muttered, after clearing her throat. "I um…  I was going to go pick up Dori.. and I.. "

"I'll walk with you." Toris offered. "It's not really that important.. I just noticed something in those crates we were unpacking.. I wasn't sure what it was…"

Xena's back stiffened. "Where is it?"

Toris gave her a mildly startled look, but then shrugged and lead the way into the storage cave, moving to a large crate in the corner and prying the top off. "It's this… I was trying to figure out what in the heck you'd use this for.. but I dunno…" He hauled out a large wooden cask, which split in the center, and had a wrought iron crank poking out of the side.

Xena's jaw dropped a little, and she took it, turning it over in her hands and shaking her head. "Damn… I had no idea this was in here.. haven't seen it in… gods, has it been ten years?"

Toris frowned. "Nice.. great… glad you missed it.. what in the Hades is it, Xena?"

The warrior fitted top on, and turned the crank. "It's… um… you can make a kind of.. um..dessert, I guess.. with it."  She explained wryly. "You put cream and fruit, and other stuff.. and you mix it.. put it in cold water… " A lost memory resurfaced, of a hot summer's day, and a shade tree, and one of the few times she'd shared something other than death, and blood with her followers. "It's cold, and sweet…"

"Sounds like something Gabrielle'd like." Toris joked, crossing his arms over his chest.

Xena exhaled, and studied the contraption. "Yeah." She acknowledged softly.

Her brother studied her in silence. "You two fighting?"

The warrior's head snapped up, and she stared at Toris in surprise. "Why?"

"Doesn't happen often.. but when it does, you're pricklier than a hedgehog." Her brother responded dryly. "What's up?"

Xena considered, then perched on a corner of the crate. "She wants me to teach her how to use a sword." She gave an exasperated snort. "That's all."

"And?" Toris shrugged.

"What do you mean, and?" His sister snapped. "This is Gabrielle we're talking about, Toris!"

"Uh huh.. the same Gabrielle who spends her time running around in fights watching your butt.. and getting in the way of pikes, and spears.. yeah, I know." Toris answered sharply.

Xena looked at him in surprise.

"I've been meaning to mention that… you spend gods only knows how much time making sure you know damn well how to kick ass, Xe…you're a damn perfectionist, and we all know it."

"I am not."

"Yes, you are." Toris shot back. "You wouldn't put yourself out there otherwise.. but whatever wild and wooly fight you get yourself into, she goes right there with you."  He stood and raised his arms, turning in a circle. "A thousand guys? No problem… she's right there.. right in the middle of everything, with a gods be damned stick to defend herself, and you sometimes with." He dropped his arms to his sides. "What's up with that, Xena?"

"What do you mean, what's up with that? She doesn't kill people, Toris! You haven't clued into that yet?" Xena put the device down and stood up, putting her hands on her hips. "And I am not going to teach her to."

Her brother walked over and faced her. "Who said anything about killing? I carried a sword for how many damn years and didn't?" He shook his head. "You think you can't kill someone with a quarterstaff? You know that's not true, Xena…it depends on whose hands it's in."

The warrior remained silent, regarding him warily.

"You can't keep her out of the fight." Her brother stated, more gently. 'If you're there, she's gonna be right there with you, sis.. give her every chance you can to make sure you both come out of this thing we're falling into."

Xena blinked a few times, then sighed softly. "I'd keep her out of it if I could." She admitted. "Maybe you're right… I don't know."

Toris patted her gently on the stomach. "Think about it, huh?"  He consciously lightened his tone. "So.. tell me about this dessert stuff, now?"

The warrior smiled a tiny bit. "I'll see if I can get the stuff for it." She remarked quietly, then she looked up. "Thanks."

Toris wrinkled his nose in a grin back at her. "Hey.. what are big brothers for, anyway, huh?"

A shout traveled through the rock, and they both looked up. "Sounded like an alert." Xena headed for the door. "Who's on guard duty?"

*******************************************

If you really watched the outdoors, it surprised you.  Gabrielle had been studying a family of field mice on the slope just beneath her, as they scurried around collecting food. The mother mouse.. well, she supposed it was the mother mouse, kept circling her little babies, who nosed around as though bemused, or lost.

The papa mouse was purposefully gathering grains, and dragging them back to the entrance of their hole, stuffing them down there with an air of nervous triumph.

"You know, Gabrielle.. you could be wrong. That could be the pappa mouse taking care of the kids, and the momma mouse doing the rough stuff." She commented softly. "You should know better than most people not to pay attention to traditional roles."

She regarded her own life, for example. Sure, they each had specific tasks… but she'd tended to notice, right from the beginning, that they were divided by skills, rather than by expectations.

Gabrielle cooked because she could. Xena had gruffly explained, in the first few days of their traveling, that she'd never had an interest in learning, and if Gabrielle wanted something more than raw nuts, and half cooked meat to eat, she'd have to do it herself.

Secretly, she'd been delighted… because it was one small way she could contribute to their partnership, and it was something Xena herself admitted she couldn’t do. On the other hand, the first time she'd torn a hole in her skirt, and was at a loss to what to do…

"Give me that." Xena had said, and taken it, stitching it up with such skill you never knew the hole was there in the first place.

It had been interesting, finding out each other's strengths and weaknesses. Interesting, watching their friendship develop, despite their vast differences. She still remembered the tingle of pride she'd felt the first time Xena had introduced her with "This is my friend, Gabrielle." Instead of just her name.

Funny, how, only now when she looked back through the insecurities of her younger self, did she see the hurt in Xena's eyes when she told her she was leaving.. to go to the Academy.. or back home…she'd been so sure the warrior would be glad to be rid of her.

"I was so blind." Gabrielle whispered to the mice, busy with their own lives. 'It was right in front of me the whole time…I just let that act of hers stop me from seeing it."  She sighed, suddenly having an intense urge to go and find her soulmate, to work out the anger between them.

Unfortunately, she glanced around. She had come out here to relieve the watch, and leaving the outpost unmanned was something Xena would be very disappointed in her for.  A sigh. The watch was four candlemarks, and she'd been here more than one… the relief would come soon enough.

Or… Gabrielle pressed her eye to the slit and smiled a little. Maybe she'd hear bootsteps coming up behind her before then, as Xena sought her out, for the same reason.

It was quiet, and she watched the mice finish their business, and scurry into their hole as the wind died down and brought the sound of rustling grass to her, along with a soft tinkle as a few rock flakes came off the mountain.

The world seemed to hold it's breath for a few heartbeats, and Gabrielle blinked, moving slightly so she could see better. Then she cocked her head and listened, closing her eyes to concentrate as Xena had taught her to do.

Focus.  She'd thought she'd heard… no, that was the wind again, and a tree creaking…or was it? Was that her heartbeat, or….

Horses.

Wheels against dirt.

Far off, a scream.

"Oh boy. " Gabrielle got up and bolted to the ledge, taking a deep breath and putting all her effort into one loud, distinct whistle. She paused, waiting impatiently for what seemed like forever, then an answering whistle came back. "What is it.. what is it… oh yeah.. that's right.. two, then one, then two. " She drew breath again and sent a signal skyward, biting her lip until she heard the reply, then a soft sound of running feet.

She dashed back to the outpost, and jumped on the seat, peering over the wooden partition and shading the moonlight from her eyes. She could hear the horses more clearly now, and as she stood on tiptoe, and blinked, she could make out a cloud in the distance, and hear yells, and the sounds of a whip snapping.

Another scream, this one more distinct, and with a desperate edge. Gabrielle grabbed her staff and tossed it over the wooden structure, then put her hands on the top edge and vaulted over.

Forgetting the height of the wall as she fell through the air far longer than she'd expected, hitting the ground with a painful shock and finding herself rolling downslope, her hands scrabbling for a hold.

"Ow. "She finally grabbed a bush and stopped herself, then got up, wincing as a sharp bolt of pain hit her as she put weight on her left leg. "Boy… that was pretty darn stupid, Gabrielle." She walked a few paces, and felt the pain in her knee subside, then looked around, spotting her staff not far away.

"Lucky." She limped over and grabbed it, then headed towards the oncoming sounds, breaking into a painful trot as they got louder.

***************************************

"The outpost sent an alert."

Xena nodded, as she swung up on Iolaus' bare back, nudging him forward with a knee. "Get everyone to the gate… who's on watch up there… Jeris?"  The warrior stopped, as she spotted the man she'd just named running towards her. A sudden suspicion dropped a cold ball into her gut as he came up, his face warning her. "Who relieved you?"

"Gabrielle did.. she said.." He got out, seeing the look on her face. "She told me.. "

Xena bit off a curse and whirled her horse in place. "Figures." She turned her head, seeing a dozen militia mounting clumsily on the stock and draft horses they'd brought with them. "C'mon.. let's get moving."

She lead the group up towards the main gate, and gave a nod to the watchmen, backing a nervous Iolaus as the wooden barrier opened outwards. Then she urged him on, breaking into a canter as she cleared the entrance and crested the tiny rise, seeing down across the slopes and spotting the disturbance. "There!"

A wagon, it's horses careening desperately was charging ahead of a group of chasing riders, the wagon's driver urging them on in a panicked voice as crossbow bolts fired on either side of him. The only reason he was staying ahead was the team he drove, eight huge animals, who were making a light burden of the wooden cart they were dragging behind him.

He ran out of luck, however, as he came towards the edge of the valley. The wagon wheels hit a log along one side of the path, and the wagon tipped up, the horses plunging and stumbling as the weight dragged them to one side.

The wagon tipped over, and Xena could hear the ribald yells of the chasers, as they closed in,  moonlight flickering over drawn swords as the driver jumped clear and ran back, tugging at the doors in the back of the wagon frantically.

The lead rider reached him and drew back an arm to take a swipe, and Xena leaned forward, urging Iolaus faster as she let out a curse, knowing she wasn't going to be there nearly in time. Not even the chakram could stop it.

The sword descended, then jerked to one side as it was deflected off a long wooden staff. He yelled, then ducked, but not fast enough to avoid a clout to the ribs that almost took him cleanly off his horse, and put Xena's efforts into a much higher gear.

Gabrielle leaped up onto the collapsed wagon, and stood in front of the driver, facing the two dozen men with nothing more than guts and her staff.

***************************************

"Stay down" The bard yelled, as she ducked an incoming spear, and held her staff ready, the riders now heading for her. "There's help coming!"

"You're crazy!" The man she was protecting yelled. "They'll kill you!"

Gabrielle ran out of time to worry about it, as she was nearly ridden down by a raider, only just barely dodging his ax blow and getting in one of her own, which made him drop the weapon.

"Oh boy." She hopped off the wagon and got between two of the men, who were reaching for and made them run into each other, then she scrambled out of the way as one of the horses tripped and fell, spilling it's rider nearly at her feet. She gave him a whack on the back of the head and he went down, and she jumped over him, just in time to miss a spear thrust.

This was more than she could handle. Gabrielle realized quickly, as she ducked and swung her staff at another rider, who slammed her in the back with a club. She rolled with the hit, though, and ended up back near the wagon.

Two of the raiders spotted her, though, and closed in, and she realized she was trapped in place. She lifted her staff as one sped by her, and tried to take him off his horse, but the end of the staff caught in his saddle, and he tipped, but kept going.

Unfortunately, it wrenched the staff out of her hands, and she found herself facing the other raider weaponless, as he lifted his club and spurred his horse at her. She drew in a breath and crouched, her eyes flicking back and forth to find a way out, until he was close enough for he to see the grin on his face as he raised his arm, intent on smashing the life out of her.

Never hearing the approaching horses, or the sound of rasping steel, or the change in air pressure as a large, fast moving body slammed into him with a force great enough to take him right out of the saddle, and send his horse sprawling to the earth with a tortured scream.

He died in mid air, his chest split open from neck to groin in a shower of hot blood, which drenched Gabrielle as she ducked and covered her head, flooded with the tingling nearness of her partner that made the gore insignificant.

After a moment's pause to allow herself to resume breathing, she straightened, and glanced around, finding Xena's savagely fighting form not two body lengths from her. The warrior was engaged in practically dismembering a raider, and as the bard watched, a wild yell erupted from her, sending chills down Gabrielle's spine.

Ah. She exhaled, spotting her staff lying on the ground, and pounced on it. Then she set to work in her long familiar role, defending her partner's back from anyone stupid enough to try and come at her.

Just another fight.

And then it was over, and she'd found the wagon's driver, half buried under a fallen horse and cursing his legs being trapped.

"Here… " Gabrielle gently urged the horse up, and it groggily obeyed her, nostrils flaring at the overwhelming scent of blood in the air. She knelt at the driver's side and exhaled. "You all right?"

A hand on her shoulder made her look up, to see blue eyes gazing back, as Xena also knelt and put an arm around her. She leaned gratefully against the warrior's body as she returned her attention to the driver.

"Who in Hades are you people?" The man asked, with a groan. "I didn't think there was anyone for leagues." He gazed around, seeing bodies piled about. "They all gone?"

"Yes." Xena replied quietly. "Dead or running."  She fingered the tunic she'd ripped off one, with it's impudent lion's head on it. "Andreas' boys, eh?"

The man stared at her. "You know his mark then." He let out a shaky sigh. "They took our village last moon's rising… the gods know we tried to pacify them, but it… nothing was ever enough. "

Gabrielle put a comforting hand on his boot. "We know…we've seen a lot of places like that."

"Where were you headed?" Xena asked.

He slowly shook his head. "Anywhere…I've got some… " His eyes drifted to the wagon, where they could now hear whimpers. "Do you have a healer?" His lips trembled. "I don’t  know if there's much they can do.. but I had to try.. I had to get them out of there."

"I'm a healer." Xena stood and went to the wagon, pulling aside bits of wood as she went. She unlatched the back section and tugged at it. "Toris.. gimme a hand here.. "  The siblings joined forces and lifted the back door off the wagon and peered inside, as Gabrielle stood to join them.

It stank of blood, and worse. Xena found herself looking at what seemed to be seven or eight bodies, with dull, glinting eyes that peered back at her, mouths opened in piteous, soft cries of agony.

In pure reflex, the warrior turned, and grabbed the bard, turning her head. "Don't look." She whispered, hearing the choke which forced itself from Toris' throat. "We need to get this thing up right… get them inside."

Gabrielle was too stunned to protest, finding her head held gently, but inflexibly to one side, and feeling the tremor in Xena's hands. She took a deep breath, then lifted her own fingers and pulled at her soulmate's. "Xena… let me go."

"No." The warrior replied, pulling her close and wrapping both arms around her tightly. "Gabrielle… you don't want to see this."

The bard gave her a hug back. "I know… but you should know by now trying to protect me from this stuff doesn’t work." She told her soulmate quietly, giving her a tiny pat. "C'mon.. let me go."

Slowly the pressure around her relaxed, and she turned, staying close to Xena as she allowed her eyes to focus on the wagon.

And felt the blood drain from her face so fast, she'd have fallen if the warrior hadn't been hanging on to her.

They were children, the youngest perhaps six.. the eldest not much younger than Gabrielle herself. Scourge marks covered their bodies, and worse. One was missing a limb. Another had bandages tied around his head over his eyes, and bloodstains around them. They stared at their rescuers in dumb silence.

"Let's get this up." Xena's voice sounded loud, over the snapping of the torches, as her men looked on in horror. "Get these poor kids some help."  Then her eyes flicked to the driver, being held up gently by two militia. "Where's your village?"

He gazed at her tiredly. "A day..little more maybe… " His head jerked in the direction.

The ex warlord slowly nodded. "How many of them are there?" Xena's voice had taken on a cold tone.

The man hesitated. "Three score.. maybe a couple more than that."

Xena turned, and looked down the road in silence, hawk's eyes studying something the rest of them could only wonder about. Then she nodded, and returned her attention to them. "All right.. let's get moving."

The militia gathered around the wagon, those that were uninjured, and after a few anxious moments had righted the wagon, and everyone started moving, leaving the dead raiders bodies lying mutely in the road.

Xena watched them a moment, then exhaled and looked down at the silent figure still tucked under her arm.

Gabrielle looked up at her and they exchanged a soundless understanding. Then the bard exhaled and leaned against the warm body surrounding her, watching the moonlight gild the slowly moving wagon.

The warrior simply whistled for Iolaus,  who came trotting over. She boosted Gabrielle up onto the stallion's back, then pulled herself up as well, stopping only to give a long look back the way the travelers had come from.

She knew eyes were out there, watching her, wondering what she'd do next.

Xena smiled, and turned her back on them.

They'd find out soon enough.

********************************************

Continued in Part 13

These characters, and boy, are they ever characters, are mostly the property of Renaissance Pictures, Universal MCA, and whoever else owns stock and interest in Xena: Warrior Princess. This fiction was written for my amusement only, and not in any way, shape or form for profit - and it is not intended to infringe on the copyright holders of the characters.

Some of the characters are mine, and the story ideas.. well, who knows where they come from? Must be one weird place, that's for sure.

Specific Story Disclaimers:

Violence - this is a Xena: Warrior Princess story. This is not Teletubbies. Even though there are some rumors of similarities. Some of the violence is graphic, but we try not to dwell on it.

Subtext - Considering that the TV Series just aired an episode establishing Xena and Gabrielle as eternal soulmates, any disclaimer of subtext on my part is really kind of goofy in the extreme. The two characters are in love with each other, and have been for years. You can choose to see them as just friends, but then you might not want to read this fanfic, in case it changes your mind or anything like that.

Emotional Content - this is not one my more comedic efforts. There are moments of humor, however.

********************************************************************

Dark Comes the Morning - Part 13

By Melissa Good

Granella strode back into the makeshift hospital, carrying a stack of dry linen as she moved among the men and women clustered around the pallets. Xena was their chief healer, that was true, but several of the other village residents had been trained in the art, a prudent precaution when your primary caretaker also happened to be your military leader.

She'd been shocked, no doubt about it, when the wagon had pulled in, and they'd started carefully moving the youngsters into the torchlit room. As an Amazon, and a lifelong warrior she'd seen wounds, and blood in large quantities before, but the casual and deliberate cruelty displayed was outside her experience.

With a sigh, she shook her head and knelt at Xena's side, handing the warrior a piece of the clean linen. "Dear gods."

"Yeah." Xena grunted, her hands covered in blood as she carefully stitched up the stump of the young boy's arm.

Granella was silent, watching the ex warlord's steady motions, and the calm, almost disinterested look on her face. She'd already taken care of two of the other children, the most severely injured, with the rest being attended to by two of the others and Gabrielle. "How could they do this to kids?"

Xena finished her task, covering the raw skin with salve and putting a bandage over it. Then she released the pressure point she'd put on the lad, and sighed as he moaned in pain. "Easy." She motioned a tall villager forward. "Get some of that into him… not a lot."

"Xena!" Toris called, from across the room where he was kneeling next to Gabrielle. "Can you take a look at this?"

Nodding, the warrior stood, wiping her hands off. "Keep an eye on this one, Gran… would you?" She edged around the pallet and strode across the room, stopping when the wagon driver moved into her way.

"Did I hear that right…. Are you really Xena?" The man had a fractured arm, and was holding it awkwardly in a makeshift sling they'd put on him. His voice was tired, but had a tinge of wonder in it.

The warrior gazed at him. "Yes." She admitted briefly. "Excuse me." She brushed by him and went to Toris' side, putting a hand on Gabrielle's back as she eased down next to them. "Damn."

It was the smallest child, the one with the bandages over his eyes. Gabrielle had removed them, and was clenching them in one fist as she gazed in stark horror at the boy's face. "Xe… "

Xena exhaled heavily. The child's eyes had apparently been gouged out, leaving a bloody mess, and his mouth was open, issuing tiny cries as he breathed. "Hey." She put a gentle hand on his arm and he jerked in reaction, his breathing speeding up in fear. "It's okay… I'm not gonna hurt you."

"M…m.. mama?" The child whispered hopefully. "M. mama it hurts."

Toris curled his hand into a fist in front of his face and bowed his head, and Gabrielle looked down, quiet tears staining her tan tunic.

Xena leaned closer, and carefully put her other hand on the boy's head, brushing back the light brown hair. "Just take it easy… your mama's not here, but we're gonna take good care of you, okay?" She peered closer and reached for a nearby candle, sucking in a breath as it's light revealed the boy's injuries.

Not gouged, no… but his eyelids had been cut clear off, creating a mess of blood, and scabbing that obscured his eyes. Xena let a held breath out. Probably blinded him anyway, she wearily concluded. "Okay, listen to me." She lowered her voice, and he shifted a little. "We're gonna have you drink something, and you're gonna go to sleep, okay?"

He squirmed away, and cried out, hiccuping in panic.

"Whoa.." Xena held him carefully, glancing up at the driver, who was watching anxiously. "What happened to him?"

The man licked his lips nervously. "They caught him sleeping in the field during work… poor thing… after the second time, they .. I guess they figgered it would stop im from it."

The warrior gently hit a pressure point, and the boy relaxed, slumping bonelessly on the pallet. "When I find the person who did this… " She remarked calmly, taking the basin of warm water nearby and a piece of linen to clean the boy's eyes with. "I'm going to skin him alive." She carefully washed the horrible wounds, cleaning off the crusted scabs with gentle fingers.

Gabrielle silently handed her a fresh bandage when she needed one, and she put it on, then released the pressure point, holding the boy down as he writhed and screamed in pain. It took several minutes, but eventually he quieted, his cries subsiding to tired hiccups. Xena released his shoulders and sat back, looking over at the quiet bard. "Okay."

Gabrielle pulled the clean blanket up over the child and smoothed his hair back. "I know it hurts… but it'll get better, honest." She told him softly. "Okay?"

He curled up and put his arm over his head protectively. Xena sighed, and stood up, wincing as she straightened up and shaking her head a little as she surveyed the hospital. Not the way she expected to end the night. "All right… I need two people to watch these guys through the night.. the rest of you get some sleep." She moved away a bit to allow Gabrielle room to stand, then turning her attention fully to the bard as she heard a sharp intake of breath. "Hey."

Gabrielle bit her lip and straightened up slowly, trying not to put any more pressure on her leg. "Ow… " She exhaled as a hand closed firmly on her upper arm. "Must have twisted something…" Hot jolts of pain were stabbing upward, reaching her groin as she eased her leg straighter. She'd forgotten that in her haste to take care of the children, but the long stint of kneeling had allowed the injury to stiffen up.

"You didn't tell me you were hurt." Xena snapped at her. "Damn it, Gabrielle."

"It wasn't that bad.. " The bard protested, attempting a step and letting out a yelp. "Ah.. Xena.. could you yell at me later? This is kinda.."

The warrior moved in and got an arm under her knees, lifting her partner up and cradling her. "Wasn't that bad, huh?" She gave Gabrielle a dire look as she moved away from the pallets, and headed towards the entrance of the hospital. "I should leave you here."

The bard prudently remained silent, sliding her arms up and clasping them around her soulmate's neck and laying her head down on Xena's shoulder as the warrior ducked through the opening and padded towards their chosen chamber. She gazed up at the sharp profile, tensing her lips into a tiny smile as Xena glanced down and their eyes met, the stormy blue gentling perceptibly.

"What am I going to do with you?" Xena finally sighed, as she stepped into their cavern.

Patient, gentle green eyes gazed at her. "Anything you like." Gabrielle drawled softly, with a little, shy smile that gathered her soulmate in, and shattered her icy reserve in the space of a breath. She was lowered to the bed and she released her hold on her partner's neck, settling back and absorbing the quiet concern on Xena's face. "It really wasn't that bad, Xena.. it must have kinda…gotten stiff while I was working in there. " She put a hand on her knee and grimaced, as she felt the swelling. "I kinda twisted it when I was running."

"Uh huh." The warrior pushed her back and untied her belt, pushing her tunic up to get at the laces holding on her leggings. "I thought you looked a little off balance."

"Mm." Gabrielle laid back and studied the ceiling, making a little face as her body dealt with the conflicting sensations of pain from her leg, and a warm arousal from her partner's touch as Xena unlaced her leggings and tugged them down. "Urf."

The warrior paused, as she was easing the fabric past the injured limb and leaned on the bed, gazing at her partner's face. "What was that?"

"Nothing." Gabrielle put her hands behind her head and wiggled the foot on her uninjured leg. "It's horrible what they did to those kids, Xena."

"I know." The warrior went back to her task, gently removing the bard's boots then studying her discolored knee. The bruise extended through the joint, and partially up her soulmate's thigh, and she traced the line with a finger. "I'm going to make that village my first priority when the Amazons get here."

"You think that little boy's mother is still there?" The bard asked wistfully. "That’s so awful."

"Yeah… poor kid." The warrior agreed, with a heavy sigh, as she probed the swollen skin, hearing a soft intake of breath as she pressed a little too hard. "Sorry… you really did a number on this, Gabrielle." She stroked the soft skin on the inside of the bard's leg comfortingly.

"Ungh." Gabrielle put an arm over her eyes. "Great." The leg throbbed, but she felt a soft, warm touch on it and glanced down, to see Xena's cheek pressed against her leg, a look of quiet sympathy on the warrior's angular face. "Ow."

"Yeah." Xena straightened the leg out with careful hands, flexing the joint a little, stopping when she heard the pained hiss and saw the bard's fingers clench on the blankets. "You've got a lot of swelling inside there."

The bard blew out a frustrated breath. "Can you do anything?"

Xena chewed her lip pensively. "Wrap it… put some cold water on it… keep you off it." She replied, ticking off three fingers. "If you try and bounce around, it's gonna swell up a lot worse."

Gabrielle rubbed her face with one hand. "Good grief, Xena.. I can't just lie here." She protested. "I can use my staff as a crutch, can't I?"

"We'll see." Her partner pronounced darkly. "Maybe this'll keep you quiet for a day or two."

The bard reached a hand out and clasped her soulmate's fingers. "Still mad at me?" She asked quietly, sensing the residual prickliness in her partner's manner, and suddenly wanting it to be over. "Please don't be."

Xena exhaled, sending a warm tingle up the bard's leg. "You scared me out there."

Gabrielle made a face. "I knew you were coming… it was just a matter of holding them off.. and I goofed, Xena.. I shouldn't have tried levering that guy off his horse.. .that was really stupid." She felt a little disgusted with herself. "You'd think I'd know better after all this time."

The blue eyes took on a warm, wistful tint. "Gabrielle.. you held off a dozen armed, mounted men with a quarterstaff." She put a hand on the injured knee. "Don’t apologize… you're one of the better fighters I've ever been around."

The bard was rendered speechless.

"Listen.. I'm gonna carry you over to the water.. get your knee in that to take some of the swelling down." The warrior went on quietly. "I'll go pick up Dori… and a couple of meatrolls or something." She straightened up and got an arm under her partner's knees again. "Put your arms around my neck."

Gabrielle obeyed readily, then she tightened her hold and pulled her soulmate's head down, kissing her with passionate sincerity. When they parted, she gazed into the shadowed eyes intently. "I'm sorry."

Xena touched her forehead to the bard's. "We've got a lot better chance of making it through this…if you're ready to deal with anything that comes at you." She murmured. "I realized that today, Gabrielle.. I almost didn't make it there in time."

Oh. The bard slowly let out a breath. "I didn't know that."

Xena glanced down. "And Toris pointed out something which should have been obvious to me…that I've put you at a disadvantage all this time by not showing you how to use a blade defensively." Her voice dropped lower. "I just…. ' She hesitated awkwardly. "Maybe I just hear you asking me that after.. Perdicus."

"Yeah… I thought of that after I asked you." Gabrielle admitted. "But I'm not the same person I was then."

"I know." The warrior kept her head down.

"You're not the same person either."

"I know." The answer was much softer. "But there's a part of me that so… wants to protect you from that, Gabrielle…even after all that's happened." Xena looked up. "Please don’t hold that against me."

"I don't." Came the answer. "And a part of me wants to give into that…just to curl up and let you protect me." The bard tangled her fingers in the dark hair. "But my conscience won't let me."

Xena sighed.

Gabrielle kissed her head gently. "And anyway.. it's a moot point until I can walk again." She reminded her partner wryly. "Isn't it?"

Xena nodded, finally raising her head. "I can teach you some tricks sitting down." She said straightforwardly. "I had to teach myself some of those, once upon a time."

The bard smiled wistfully at her, feeling the tension she'd had coiled inside her relax. She spent a moment simply reveling in their closeness, before she straightened and let out a tiny curse. "Poop."

Xena blinked. "What was that for?" She glanced down. "Your knee hurting that bad? Lemme go get something for you to swallow, then."

"No.. " Gabrielle sighed aggrievedly. "I left my diary up by the outpost." She gazed at her partner. "I'd really rather not have one of those kids reading it."

Xena ruffled her hair with deep affection. "I'll go get it for you." She turned as Ares trotted in, promptly diving under the bed with a whine. "Ares… what's up, boy?"

Toris appeared in the entryway, clearing his throat a bit at their intimate pose, and rocking Dori in his arms. "Sorry… um… she was driving the nanny's nuts screaming for you."

"Mama!" The very unhappy baby squirmed in his grasp.

Xena released her partner and stood, running a hand through her hair as she crossed the rock floor. "C'mere, honey." She took her daughter from Toris. "You're screaming huh?"

"Boooooo….aga." Dori pulled at her collar angrily, a scowl on her face. "No go!"

The warrior blinked. "Are you yelling at me?" She growled at the baby, who clouted her in the nose. "Hey!"

"Man, she's got a temper." Toris shook his head. "You okay, Gab?"

The bard rested her weight on her elbows. "Twisted my knee.. but yeah… bring her over here, Xena.. maybe she's hungry."

"Maybe." The warrior murmured, bringing the angry infant over to her mother and sitting down on the bed. "Here.. I'll be right back… see if you can settle her down." She released the baby to crawl over the bed and stood, joining her brother at the entrance.

"Boo!" Dori yelled in outrage, pointing at her.

"Shh.. honey… take it easy." Gabrielle gathered her daughter up in her arms and cuddled her. "Boo will be right back.. she's going to get us some goodies."

Dori scowled unhappily, and started chewing on one of Gabrielle's laces. "Bad."

The bard stroked her hair gently and kissed her head. "No.. it's okay, honey… she'll be right back, okay?" She glanced up at her partner's concerned face. "Better make it quick, I guess."

With a puzzled look, Xena disappeared, followed by an equally bewildered Toris. Gabrielle rubbed Dori's arm gently. "What's the matter, Dori?"

The baby's eyes were fixed on the entrance and she hiccuped, then started to cry fitfully, despite the bard's efforts to calm her. She kept it up, worrying her mother, until Xena returned, a concerned look on her face.

"She been like that the whole time?" The warrior brought her burdens over and put them down, breathing a little hard. "Maybe she's sick."

Dori picked her head up at the sound of Xena's voice and stopped crying, sucking on a finger instead and hiccuping. "Booo."

"Okay.. okay… " The warrior curled up next to Gabrielle and stroked the baby's face with gentle fingers. "What's the matter, huh? You not feeling good?" She held out a finger and the baby latched onto it, grasping her hand and pulling it closer. Then she settled down peacefully, curling her other hand around the bard's collarbone and resting her head on Gabrielle's shoulder.

Warrior and bard exchanged bewildered glances. "I don't get it." Gabrielle's brows knit.

"Me either." Xena confessed, honestly. She shifted a little and pulled the wooden tray she'd brought over, then reached down to unlace her boots. Dori picked her head up to watch her, then put it back down when it was obvious the warrior wasn't going anywhere. "Think maybe she's upset with all the changes?"

Gabrielle stroked her daughter's hair gently. "I don't know… " The baby was content to lay in her arms, and was not struggling to get over to Xena, she just seemed to want the warrior to be nearby.

Well. The bard smiled a little. She is my daughter, right? Maybe that's hereditary too. "I think she doesn’t like us to be gone from her all the time." She leaned closer to the baby. "Is that it, honey? Do you miss us?"

"Bck." Dori sucked on a finger contentedly.

"Hm." Xena regarded the infant. "That could be a problem." She remarked, hauling herself off the bed and grabbing a piece of folded linen, then going to the pool and soaking it in the cold water. "It's gonna get busy here real soon now." She stood and walked back over, kneeling and wrapping the bard's knee with the cloth.

"Yeow!" Gabrielle yelped. "That's cold!"

"Mama." Dori protested, turning her head to watch Xena. "Boo."

"I know it's cold.. that's the whole point." The warrior glanced crossly up at her. "How does it feel?"

"Cold." The bard replied promptly, getting a look in return. "Oh.. wait… yeah." She felt the tense throbbing start to ease. "Yeah.. that's a little better." She sighed in relief. "Gods, I feel so stupid for doing this."

Xena settled back beside her and accepted another meatroll. "Why? It happens, Gabrielle." She chewed the pastry covered meat thoughtfully. "It was dark.. you twisted your leg…Hades knows I've done it."

"Yeah..well.." The bard gave her a sheepish look. "That's not.. um… actually, I jumped over the outpost wall, and forgot the slope was there."

Xena covered her eyes with one hand. "Gabrielle." She peeked out at her partner, unable to hold back a smile at the chagrined expression on her face. "You're lucky you didn't break something."

Gabrielle sighed. "That's what I get for hanging around you all the time.. I start to think stuff like that's something anyone can do." She let Dori curl her hand around one finger. "Even me." She added softly.

Xena circled her with both arms and hugged her. "You did do it, my bard… didn't you hear that guy talking to the watch? You saved those people." She told her partner gently. "If you hadn't sent the alarm, then held off those men, they would have died… all of them."

"Mama." Dori warbled sleepily, yawning and curling her fists. "Boo."

Oh yeah. Gabrielle closed her eyes, reveling in the sensation of being surrounded by love. I guess I did do that..

"And despite you scaring me half to death, I was so proud of you." Xena went on, with a smile.

Gabrielle turned her head, and gave her a look of adoration that brought a memory of the young kid from Potadeia sharply to the warrior's mind. "Thanks." The bard replied simply, having outgrown the need for that approval, but never the craving for it.

They shared their dinner in peaceful silence as Dori snoozed contentedly, with Xena getting up a few times to replace the cold compress on Gabrielle's knee. "Hey, Xena?" The bard asked, when they were finished, and she was snuggled into the warrior's embrace.

"Hm?"

"Are you really going to skin that guy?"

A sigh. "No."

"Oh."

"Honestly, Gabrielle… I'm … and even then, I always was, an instant gratification kinda gal." The warrior admitted. "Never had the patience for torture."

Duh. I knew that. "Ah." A green eye rolled in her direction. "Except for torture by tickling. You seem to have an unlimited amount of patience for that."

Xena's face relaxed into a rakish grin. "You've always been the exception to the rule, Gabrielle."

Mm. Gabrielle tucked that thought away as she leaned against her soulmate's warm body, letting the anxieties and strain of the day ease away from her, as her eyes blinked, and grew heavy.

The warrior watched as her partner's breathing deepened into sleep, tucked as she was securely in the circle of Xena's arms, with Dori curled up over her heart. For a while the blue eyes merely settled contentedly on them, before drifting outward to the dimly seen stars in quiet contemplation.

*******************************************

The rain woke her up. Dori lay quietly in her cradle, rocking it back and forth a little as she watched the water come in, and fall into the pool nearby. "Bck." She pointed at it, then lost interest and turned her attention in the other direction, to the large bed, dimly seen in the half light.

"Mama." She whispered, seeing the pale hair closest to her. There was no answer, so she tried again. "Mama!"

It got a response, but not the one she'd expected. A pair of blue eyes appeared and a smile that made her smile back in response. "Boo!"

The low, raspy voice she loved to hear answered. "Hey kiddo.. you're up early."

"Bck." Dori decided she wanted to be closer, so she wriggled around and got her covers off, then clambered out of her cradle, landing on the floor with a thump. "Goo."

"Hey.. careful."

Rock was hard. She decided she didn't like it. She stood up and toddled over to the bed, holding on to it's edge with both hands and looking up. "Mama."

"Shh." Boo made a noise. "Mama's sleeping.. don't wake her up."

Mama was, she could tell. Mama was holding on to Boo, which was all right, and Dori knew she liked to do that also. Boo was nice and warm, and it felt good to hold onto her. She decided to get closer, and walked around the edge of the bed to the other side. "Boo!" She held up her hands imperiously. "Dup."

Dori liked when Boo picked her up. It was like flying, much faster than when Mama did, or the other people. She giggled and reached for her Boo, liking the nice smell around her. Then she saw Mama's nearby ear and pulled it.

"Hey." Mama's eyes opened up wide. Dori giggled. She looked so funny when she did that.

"Whoops. Sorry about that." Boo's voice distracted her, and she looked up, but Boo was looking at Mama, who rubbed her eyes. "Dori, that wasn't nice."

Uh oh. Dori pouted. Boo was mad. She didn't like that. Boo made her itch, and she slapped at Boo's hand. "Bad!"

Boo and Mama laughed. Dori didn't like that, so she made a face. Then Mama put her arms around Boo and hugged her. Mama's face always looked so interesting when she did that, all nice and happy. It made Dori want to smile, so she did.

She was hungry. Boo usually had a treat somewhere, so she crawled up and pulled at the strings around Boo's neck. "Umm.." That got her a berry, which she stuffed into her mouth and chewed. "Mm."

"You like that, huh?" Boo asked her, but then gave another berry to Mama instead of to her. She didn't like that, so she slapped Boo, to get her attention back. "Boo!"

"Hey.. watch it." Boo's voice went all growly and low, which she loved, so she laughed in delight.

"Oh.. you're so intimidating." Mama laughed, and poked Boo, which made Boo jump, which made Dori laugh.

This was fun. She liked being with Mama and Boo, and decided she wasn't going to let them go away anymore. A noise got her attention, and she saw pointed, fuzzy ears poking up over the bed. "Guff!" She grabbed for the ears, almost tumbling off Boo, but getting a good hold on them.

The fuzzy made a noise and she tugged harder, until Boo got her hands loose and let the fuzzy go. It ran away and hid under the bed and she scowled, wanting it to come back. "Bck!"

"Hey.. cut that out." Boo was mad again. "Be nice, Dori."

Boo always said that. Dori had no idea what she meant, though. She was just having fun. She pulled on Boo's strings again, and giggled, bouncing up and down on her, and getting her to smile. Maybe they could go flying today. Dori missed that.

She laid down on Boo, though, and decided to take a nap, until then.

"She's a character." Xena sighed, putting a protective hand over Dori's body, now sprawled over her chest in peaceful abandon.

"Mm." Gabrielle snuggled closer, and yawned. "Poor Ares…he's going to end up without ears at this rate."

The warrior snorted softly. "How's your knee feel?" She reached down under the covers and touched the joint. "Still swollen."

"Ungh." Gabrielle winced, as she flexed her leg a little. "Ow." It ached, and when she tried to bend it, pain lanced up her leg into her stomach. Muffling a groan she eased the limb out straight and exhaled. "Centaur farts."

"Hm." Xena rubbed the back of her neck comfortingly. "You're staying in bed today, my bard. That's an order."

"Xena… c'mon.. there's way too much to do." Her soulmate protested. "I can't just lay here all day.. I'll go nuts!" She frowned. "Hey.. I can go into the main cave… peel vegetables or something."

The sound of boots trudging across the rock alerted them, and Xena glanced to the opening as her brother poked his head in, his dark hair very tousled and his eyes half closed. He blinked at them. "Don't you ever sleep?"

Xena ignored the question. "What's up?"

Toris stifled a yawn. "Just got word from the main gate… looks like we're getting company…. An advanced scout showed up saying the Amazons are due here about lunchtime."

"Yippee." Gabrielle groaned, burying her face into Xena's shirt. "I haven't fixed their cave, Xena."

"Well." The warrior chewed her lip a bit. "No.. but that's useful." She commented. "We can get four of em… and they can carry you around on their shoulders."

The pale head lifted, and Gabrielle crawled up Xena's body to stare at her. "Don't even joke about that."

The warrior grinned. "I wasn't joking." She turned her head. "Whaddaya think, Toris.. four of em good?"

Toris leaned against the wall, crossing his legs at the ankles. "Oh… yeah, that'll be enough… I got some mats, they can fan her while they're walking, too." He agreed amiably. "Everyone's talking about her anyway."

Gabrielle felt a blush coming on. "I'm gonna hurt both of you." She warned fiercely. "Cut it out."

"But Gabrielle.. you wanted to get outta bed… " Xena protested, then paused, seeing the storm clouds gathering in the mist green eyes so close to hers. She reached up and patted the bard's cheek instead. "Okay.. no Amazon bearers."

"Mmph." Gabrielle let her chin rest on her partner's shoulder.

"Thanks, Toris… I was gonna get up anyway." Xena sighed. "With this weather, it's gonna be a mess in here after they wander in."

"Ungh." Toris yawned, and waved at her. "I'm going back to bed. Have fun in the mud, sis." He trudged off.

Warrior and bard regarded each other in the low light. Xena gently tweaked her partner's nose, which twitched in reaction. "Gonna be busy from now on."

Gabrielle nodded quietly. "Yeah…" She turned on her side and laid a hand on Xena's stomach, rubbing the skin absently with her thumb. "You weren't serious about the Amazons, were you?"

Xena chuckled softly. "I think you deserve it… I think you'd look damn cute if they did.. but no." She pushed the hair off Gabrielle's forehead lazily. "We' d never hear the end of it."

"Mm." Gabrielle's fingers found their way beneath the soft fabric of her shirt and touched warm skin. "Hey, Xe?"

"Yeeess?" The warrior responded, in a low, sexy tone.

"Do you..um… have… to get up right now?" Gabrielle asked, affecting an innocent tone.

Without a word, Xena got up and tucked Dori away in her cradle, then returned to the bed and stood for a moment, backlit by the dull gray light and the odd flash of lighting. "Did you have something else in mind?" She drawled softly.

Gabrielle rolled over onto her back and let her lips move into a smile, as she reached up and grasped the edge of Xena's shirt, giving it a tug. "Yeah, I did." She answered in a whisper.

Xena lowered herself slowly, bracing an arm on either side of her soulmate and suspending herself over her, meeting her eyes, and seeing the lashes half lower, then lift, exposing shaded green orbs gazing at her with unconcealed desire.

The warrior took a breath against the sensual jolt that hit her, reinforced by the hands that slipped under her shirt and shaped themselves over her skin. She bent her arms and met the waiting lips, then ducked her head and teasingly removed a lace from the front of the bard's shift, tugging it free and nudging the fabric aside to give her a tiny nibble.

"Something along these lines?" She murmured, working on the other lace, getting in a few little licks as the shirt parted.

It took Gabrielle a moment, before she could get enough breath in her lungs to answer. "You read my mind." She slid her partner's shirt up and lifted herself off the pillow, tasting the warm, musky skin with a sense of decadent pleasure.

"Oh yeah?' Xena's low rumble sounded almost inside her ear, as the warrior's teeth teased their way around the edge of it, biting gently on the lobe as a soft sound escaped her. "Sorry.. didn't catch that."

Gabrielle lost track of the answer as she felt the cool air in the room drift across her skin, immediately replaced by a tingling warmth as Xena's body rubbed lightly over hers. The sound of the rain falling took on a rhythm and she let herself fall into that, surrendering to the moment and the passion of their souls.

*******************************

Xena ambled through the area they'd set aside for cooking, with Dori tucked into the crook of one arm. She waved an amiable hello to the villagers there and headed for the pot of hot cereal they'd left on. "Whatcha think, Dori… oatmeal?"

The baby's face wrinkled up. "Bck."

Xena laughed. "Just like your mama." She collected a bowl for herself and some biscuits and fruit for Dori, then sat down at one of the makeshift tables where a few militia were scooping down breakfast.

"Morning, Xena." Jeris gave her a shy look, and held up a pitcher. "Would you like some cider?"

The warrior pushed her cup over. "Sure." She swallowed a mouthful of cereal, and handed Dori a piece of biscuit, then mashed a bit of apple for her.

"Um.. how's Gabrielle?" The man next to her asked. "Her leg doing any better?"

"Not really.' Xena replied, taking a sip of the cider. "I'm trying to make her stay in bed today." She scooped up another mouthful of cereal and chewed it. "Anyone check those kids yet?"

"I did." The young woman across from her answered quietly. Elena was one of their assistant healers, a short, muscular woman with gentle hands and a purposeful manner. "They're all right… mostly they just need time, and some kindness." She sighed, turning an apple over in her fingers. "Xena, what kind of people do things like that?"

The warrior shook her head. "People who've lost all respect for themselves, or anyone else." She mashed up some pear and watched her daughter shove it into her mouth with both hands. "Dori.. take it easy, okay.. it's not going anywhere."

The baby's green eyes blinked at her, and Dori thrust a pear covered fist at her. "Urg?"

"No thanks." Xena offered the baby her spoon. "Want some of this?"

Dori stuck her tongue out.

"Suit yourself." The warrior swallowed some cider. "All right.. we've got around three hundred people coming in today, if nothing went wrong."

"S'bout right.. " Jeris stated. "That's what the advance scout said… them Amazons, plus the elders and kids from Amphipolis."

Xena sucked off her spoon, and nodded. "They'll take a while to settle in… I'll talk to them when they get here.. make sure they know the ground rules."

Quickly hidden smiles flicked around the cavern. "We'll break em in, Xena." Elena reassured her. "We know how you like things." A chuckle met that, and nods of agreement followed.

Involuntarily, the warrior shivered. "Well, you know Amazons.. they've got their own traditions." She drawled softly, curious as to what they'd say.

"We had to adapt… they have to also." Elena stated quietly, yet firmly. "No offense to Gabrielle, but we've gotten to know them over the last year…and we're not going to let them come in here and start messing around with how you've got stuff."

Eyes were on her, Xena could feel them, though she kept her reflective gaze on her bowl. Hers, Jocelyn had said. She'd forgotten exactly how the felt.

"Boo!" Dori scowled and thumped her arm with a baby fist, out of pears.

Xena smiled to herself, then lifted her eyes. "It'll be a different discipline, that's for sure… you're right to be concerned." She mashed a little more fruit for her demanding daughter. "We're all going to have to work together, but Gabrielle'll make sure they know what they can push on, and what they can't."

"Right." Eleana agreed. "So.. Gabrielle's in charge of all of them, right?"

The warrior nodded. "Yes." She stood and picked up her dishes, taking them to the washing basin. "She constructed the treaty that's bringing them all here.. and got them to agree to it."

"Wow." Jeris grinned. "And they're always going on about true Amazons, and all that…musta burned em to have her knock em all into shape."

Privately, Xena found the whole thing delightfully ironic, but she merely inclined her head. "It's not about that. We're all here to do a job.. let's remember that, all right?"

Everyone nodded seriously, as she scooped up Dori, and tucked her into the crook of her arm. "They'll be bringing in a lot of supplies..let's make sure the caverns are clear for it.. I don't want them tripping over stuff trying to get those wagons unloaded." A roll of thunder echoed overhead. "Specially in this weather."

A murmur of agreement met her words, and she wandered out, pausing in the entrance for a moment to watch the rain fall. The valley, already a verdant green, bent under it's force, and she could smell the thick scent of bruised vegetation as the wet wind blew in her face.

"Bck." Dori tugged her hair in annoyance, wiping at her face with her other hand as the mist covered her.

"Whoops.. sorry." Xena used her sleeve to dry off her daughters face, then ducked back inside and padded into the main storage cavern, prowling around and checking the boxes, making a mental list of supplies they'd have to get to provision as large a force as she was hoping to have here.

It was quiet, as most of the militia were setting up pallets in further caverns, and she paused, listening, as she thought she caught a sound, faint, and far off.

Dori moved restlessly, and she laid a calming hand on the baby's head, then stiffened, as her senses came alert and presence long absent made itself felt, jangling against her nerves with a sickening force.

"Haven't felt you in a while." Xena felt her voice dropping into a snarl. "So show up, or get out."

There was a moment's pause, then a thick pop, and the scent of cold, dry air washed through the cavern, a thin mist surrounding the tall, dark haired figure that sauntered out of it and faced her, brilliant eyes watchful. "Incredible how you do that."

Xena stared at him, her expression icy. "What do you want?"

"Ah.. c'mon, Xena… " Ares took a step, pausing when the powerful body facing him stiffened menacingly. "Still have those hard feelings rolling around in that beautiful head, huh?"

"Remember that conclusion you came to, Ares?" Xena responded bitterly. "About how I'd feel if you ever…ever… touched Gabrielle?' A faint, not humorous smile. "You were right."

He held up his hands. "Ah ah ah.. I didn't touch her…not a single finger, Xena…I didn't throw her down that pit.. she jumped, remember?"

The warrior felt the cold anger she'd been holding erupt. " You didn't have to touch her… you said all you had to… or didn't you think she'd tell me?"

Ares scratched his beard, and lifted a hand. "Frankly, Xena.. I didn't think she'd be doing anything but be a cinder." He looked back into the barely restrained rage. "But if you think I'm going to apologize for keeping you alive… ah… sorry." He smiled at her. "No can do, beautiful."

Xena stared at him stonily, wishing she hated him as much as she really wanted to. "What do you want?" She asked instead.

He took a chance and moved a little closer. "Look, sweetheart… I know I'm not your favorite person… and, I'd feel bad about that, but.. you know how it is, Xena.. you gotta do what you gotta do.. and toasting your lovely buns was not in my best interests."

No answer. Cold blue eyes just watched him.

"Not even a thank you?" Area coaxed. "C'mon, Xena… it turned out all right, didn't it?"

"No thanks to you." The warrior ground her teeth. "And no, no thank you, Ares… you and I both know staying alive wasn't something I wanted that day." Xena roughly pushed aside a brief, vivid memory of those agonizing moments of realization as her lunge missed her soulmate's falling body.

"But it did turn out all right.." Ares reminded her. "Just think, Xena.. if I hadn't stopped you… " He raised his eyebrows questioningly. "That woulda been a rude shock, huh?"

"What." Xena shifted Dori, who had been thankfully quiet. "Do… you…. Want." She glared at him. "I sure don't need one of Dahok's servants around here."

Ares face twitched. "Not nice, Xena."

"Truth hurt?" The warrior inquired, making her pale blue eyes widen in mock concern. "How was the taste of his boots, hmm? Did you enjoy being his little stud?"

"Watch it, Xena." The god warned softly.

"You sell out your own kind, and you come here and threaten me?" Xena spat at him. "Get out of here, Ares.. go back to whatever little backwater Olympic outcropping you landed on."

Ares studied her coolly. "So it's not just hard feelings, hm?"

"No."

The god sighed, and walked over to a crate, perching on it's edge and putting his large hands on his leather clad thigh. "All right."

"Bck." Dori blinked at him, then looked up at Xena questioningly.

The warrior watched her unwelcome guest with wary suspicion. Ares wanted something, that much was absurdly clear, and she was damned if she was going to cooperate with him in any respect, not after she'd watched him sell out like that.

The bearded face turned her way, and blue eyes regarded Dori speculatively. "Cute kid."

Xena stared at him icily.

"You think it's all my fault, don't you?" Ares asked softly.

"No." Xena replied with equal quietness. "No… no, you tried to warn me, Ares… and I didn't listen to you. I have to live with that."

He made a face, chewing at lower lip. "Didn't think you'd admit that… you know, Xena.. you're almost the only person I know with the capacity to still surprise me."

Xena snorted in quiet self disgust. "It's why your argument worked." She walked across the cavern, realizing he wasn't leaving until he had his say, and settled down on a box. "I know exactly whose fault it was, Ares."

The warrior's eyes were on the ground, and she missed the unexpected look Ares gave her, before he stood and strolled around the space. "Yeah, well.. I know you're really into that guilt trip thing, Xena.. and far be it from me to interrupt a really good one, but you're missing the point here."

Xena let Dori play with a finger. "There's a point? Oh.. you mean, you're here for some reason other than to piss me off?" She laughed without humor. "Let me guess… you're here to tell me Andreas is under Dahok's influence?"

"I always said you were bright." Ares came closer, and took a seat on the box next to hers. "He's too well organized, and he's got too many troops, Xena… you don't have a chance."

Cold, blue eyes lifted and met his. "What are ya gonna get for this, Ares? Dahok throwing you a bone? Or do you get to polish Andreas' boots?"

"Bck!" Dori added, pointing at him in childish displeasure.

Ares face darkened in anger. "You're gonna push me too far, Xena."

The warrior rolled her eyes. "Give me a break." She stood up, rocking the infant. "Get out of here, Ares.. I don't need you telling me what I can't do."

"Xena.."

"Don't you Xena me." She turned angrily. "Go back to your master, Ares…and give him my regards."

A bolt of light crashed by her head, smashing into the rock and dusting her with particles.

Xena didn't even flinch. "You're lucky not a crumb of that touched her.. or I'd pick you up and throw you out of here myself." She growled at him. "Get out!"

Dori chewed her fingers, getting upset at Xena's evident upset. "Boo!"

"Shh." Xena put a protective hand over her. "He can't hurt you, Dori.. don't worry." She glared at the angry god. "What's your percentage in this, Ares? What do you win this time.. another.. mate…" The words tasted bad in her mouth. "Andreas doesn’t' believe in gods.. is this your final revenge on your kind? Let him take over everything, and then all the gods just fade away?"

Blue eyes studied her. "I did what I had to do, Xena." Ares stated quietly. "To survive.. and you know better than anyone exactly what that's like." He walked forward, all mocking gone from his attitude. "I just don't see the point in you wasting your time fighting him.. you can't win."

Xena kept her eyes on Dori. "It's the fight that counts, Ares… haven't you learned that yet?" She looked up, suddenly finding herself feeling sorry for him. "I have to fight him, because that's what I do."

"To die for no reason?" Ares snorted. "You've gone soft in the head, Xena."

The warrior eyed him quietly. "Maybe Andreas is right." She mused. "Maybe you're not worth believing in."

Silence fell, as they studied each other. Ares attitude subtly shifted, and he stepped closer. "How can you not believe in me, Xena?" He lifted a hand and brushed it's fingers across her cheek. "You'd have to not believe in y….in a lot of things."

Xena stared at him, their eyes on a level, his fingers touching her face. "Why do you care if I live or die?" She finally asked, in a whisper. "I'll never go back to you.. we both know that, Ares."

He almost answered. She saw the bearded lips tense, and shift, then press together as Ares let his hand drop. "Hate to see so much talent for destruction go to waste, that's all." He replied with forced cheerfulness. "But, as usual, you seem to have your mind made up."

Slowly, the warrior nodded. "Do you?"

He had turned, and now he stopped, facing away from her. "Do I what?"

"Have your mind made up?" Xena asked, quietly, letting a little of her icy reserve fade. Two can play this game, can't they?

Ares turned, regarding her seriously. "Despite what you obviously think, Xena… I'm not in his camp." He lifted a hand towards her. "I was just trying to give you a friendly warning."

The warrior stood and eyed him with quiet intentness. "Ares, you're not telling me anything I don't know." She replied. "But what other choice do I have?"

He held out his fingers invitingly, one eyebrow lifting. "I can help you beat him.. but on my terms, Xena." He answered softly. "You come back… and everyone you care for gets to live.. in freedom."

Xena expelled the breath she'd been holding. "So." She nodded quietly. "There it is…victory handed to me in a basket… all I gotta do is hand over the tattered excuse I have for soul, is that it, Ares?"

"C'mon, Xena… how many mortals would get the offer?" The God of War laughed softly. "You're so hot to sacrifice yourself… hey, I'll take you up on it… the state of your soul never bothered me much."

Xena gazed down at her daughter, and tensed her lips into a sad smile, then looked up at Ares. "Moot point, Ares. Tattered or not, it's not mine to give."

"Gaboo." Dori tugged on a lace, then put it in her mouth and chewed industriously. She pointed at Ares. "Go!"

The god's face darkened in anger, and he walked over, to stare menacingly down at the baby, who glared back at him fearlessly. "Say goodbye to your friend here, pipsqueak. She's gonna be a puddle of bones shortly." He leaned over to peer at Dori.

The infant scowled, then reached up and grabbed his beard, tugging hard on it. "Bad!"

He jerked back out of her grasp and lifted a hand. "Why you little.."

"Don't." Xena's voice was very soft, yet colder than ice. "Touch her, and I'll break you."

Their eyes met and locked. "Getting bold in your old age, aren'cha?" Ares forced a smile. "I don't know why I bother with you Xena… you're past your prime, and you've got a lousy attitude." He stepped back and snapped his fingers, disappearing into a twirl of light.

The warrior slowly sat down, relieving shaky legs that threatened to collapse under her. "Oh boy."

"Boo?" Dori gazed anxiously up at her, patting her jaw with a tiny hand. "Mama…"

"Yeah… let me take you back to mama." Xena breathed, then realized the baby was looking over her shoulder. She turned, to find green eyes looking back at her with quiet intensity.

Gabrielle slowly limped in, using her staff to support her until she reached the box, and her soulmate, letting a hand rest on Xena's shoulder. "Hey."

The warrior inhaled. "How much did you hear?"

"Most of it.. I guess." The bard replied, giving the shoulder under her fingers a squeeze. "Enough to be incredibly proud of you." She tilted her head and smiled at her daughter, who made a face back. "And of you, sweetie." She gently nudged Xena with her hip. "Talk about a chip off the old block."

That got a tiny chuckle out of the taller woman, who then sobered. "He came to warn me." Xena stated, simply.

"Xena.. you know him well enough to know he loves to play games." Gabrielle argued. "He's got his own agenda." The bard sat down and exhaled. "He may not lie outright, Xena.. but he tells his own kind of truth."

The warrior didn't answer for a bit, as she allowed Dori to play with one of her much larger hands. Then she took a careful breath. "Ever since she was born….I've felt like I was living on borrowed time, Gabrielle." She finally replied. "Waiting for the other shoe to fall." Now she looked up, and into her soulmate's stricken eyes. "Here it is."

"No." Gabrielle's answer was as natural as breathing. "I don't buy that, Xena…he's trying to scare you." She stared into the pale blue eyes, willing them both to believe that. "Don't let him manipulate you like that." Like he did me, that last time. She added silently. Never again.

Was he? Xena thoughtfully regarded the dim rock wall. Maybe, maybe not, but either way it wouldn't change what she intended to do, and going further with her thoughts would only upset Gabrielle for no real cause. "Yeah." She sighed. "He never gives up though, huh?"

Gabrielle closed her eyes in profound relief. "I'd worry if he did." She leaned against her partner with a sigh that matched Xena's, as their heads touched.

"What are you doing out of bed?" The warrior asked.

"Coming to see why I had a stomach ache." Her soulmate answered.

"Ah."

"Now that one reason's gone… I'll go grab some breakfast." Gabrielle rose with a groan, leaning on her staff. "Good grief, Xena…how come it didn't hurt this bad yesterday?"

The warrior tucked an arm around her in support, as they walked towards the kitchen area, blue eyes distant with somber thought.

**************************************************

It was chaos. Gabrielle leaned against the wall, her staff replaced by a makeshift crutch Xena had come up with, from some springy wood she’d found in the back of one of the caverns. Over two hundred Amazons made more noise, she decided, than an entire flock of geese being plucked feather by feather. "Hey!" She called out to a passing Eponin. "Pony!"

The Amazon halted, and glanced around puzzled, until she spotted the bard, then reversed her course and ambled over. "Hey… shouldn’t you be sitting down?"

Gabrielle exhaled. "It’s easier to yell standing up." She muttered. "What is all that mess over there?" She pointed.

Pony looked, then crossed her arms and furrowed her brow. "Um…." She squinted. "Spare masks." Her nose wrinkled. "They’ve been in storage for a while."

"Ew." Gabrielle winced, as a waft of musky, nose twitching leather and old feather smell hit her. "Can we store them outside?"

Eponin gave her a look. "It’s raining." She objected.

"They’ll get clean." The bard replied instantly.

"They’ll fall apart." The Amazon countered.

"You could tell the difference?"

Pony scratched her head, and grinned sheepishly. "Okay.. I’ll see what I can do with them." She moved off towards the pile, grabbing two other Amazons as she did so.

Gabrielle sighed, and looked around for some other problem to resolve that didn’t require her moving. She’d spent so much time protesting she was fine this morning, after her soulmate had carefully bandaged her leg, that she knew she’d be busted big time if she complained now, even though the ache had worked it’s way up past her knee to her hip, and her entire body was protesting the strain of adjusting to the injury.

Cait entered, her blond hair plastered to her head and every inch of her covered in either mud, rain, or wet leathers. "Hello." She greeted Gabrielle courteously. "We’ve gotten the centaurs quite settled across the way.. they’re awfully happy with the place Xena found them."

"Great." The bard let out a relieved breath. "At least someone is." She heard a stifled yell, and glanced over to where two Amazons were trying to wrestle a huge box through a small opening. "Good grief.. you’d think we asked them to set up camp at the bottom of the River Styx."

The floor didn’t look far from it, actually. It was covered in mud and muddy footprints, as the large group had made their way inside, bringing the weather with them. The cavern stank of wet leather, wet fabric, wet tempers, and Gabrielle was getting a headache from it, and the noise of that many people moving around and yelling.

They’d hated the sleeping area, as she’d expected. They hated the barracks feel of it, and the queens had thrown a collective hissy fit the size of the Aegean sea over having to share a smaller, darker chamber in the back.

Not that Gabrielle could really blame them, or even say much, because after all, she wasn’t sharing it with them, was she? So she’d calmed them down, and offered to let them wander through the complex, and pick their own places if they liked. So far, they hadn’t taken her up on it, being too busy trying to settle the combined forces down a bit into the original cavern, along with a second, larger one Toris had discovered behind a small rockfall.

That, at least, they liked a little better, and with the main groups split half and half, there was room to move around a bit. It didn’t help the noise, though, which echoed off the rock walls and ceilings, and pounded into Gabrielle’s sensitive ears. She noticed Xena had disappeared again, and suspected her partner had found a nice, quiet place to hide in.

"Well.. it’s really quite different that what we’re used to." Cait replied diplomatically.

Gabrielle reached over and pushed a clump of mud out of the girl’s eyes. "I know… it’s going to take a few days for everyone to settle down… we realized that." She shifted her weight a little as her good leg cramped. "I know Xena wanted to… hm." The bard looked around. "I wonder where she is…"

"Oh.. up by the gate." Cait answered promptly. "It’s ever so muddy up there.. she’s digging out a trench, or something like that. I was helping."

Mud. Gabrielle sighed. Figures. "Ah… I see."

"Quite.. it was lovely, and Pally’s still up there digging away.. but she asked me to see if I could wrestle up some sandwiches or whatnot."

"Yeah… she missed lunch." Gabrielle mused. "I think we’ve got some fish rolls… c’mon." She led the way slowly out of the barracks cavern and into the food prep area, where it was almost as busy, but much quieter, and a good deal more organized.

Cyrene’s presence, she suspected, had a lot to do with that. "Hi mom." She smiled at the innkeeper, who was supervising the unloading of her precious herbs.

"Hey cutie." Cyrene glanced over. "Goodness, Gabrielle… would you please sit down? You’re making me ache just looking at you."

"Better not." The bard admitted wryly. "If I do, I might not get back up, and we’ve still got lots of stuff to do." She leaned on a box. "Do we have anything we can send up to the gate? They’re digging ditches up there."

Cyrene nodded. "Sure…" She motioned to one of the women helping her. "Give me a few of those rolls we had for lunch.. that’s it." She tucked them into a small basket. "Here.. and some bread.. right."

Gabrielle glanced around, then heaved herself off the box and limped over to a side table, capturing two pieces of soft, crumbly cake and adding them. She licked her fingers and ignored the chuckle from her mother in law. "There."

"You didn’t tell me it was for Xena." Cyrene wagged a finger at her in mock irritation. "What’s she doing digging in the mud, anyway? Can’t she get someone else to do that?"

The bard sighed. "I think she likes it." She admitted ruefully.

"Oh.. quite." Cait agreed. "She’s all over filthy…and having ever so much fun." She took the basket from Cyrene. "Thanks." She gave them both a smile then slipped out of the door, heading back outside.

Cyrene and Gabrielle exchanged looks, then they both laughed. "Some things never change." The innkeeper shook her head.

A commotion drew their attention, and they looked up towards the inner door. Footsteps approached rapidly, following a tiny, distinct patter. "Uh oh." Gabrielle muttered. "I think I recognize that sound."

Sure enough, Dori pelted around the corner, and skidded to a halt, swaying before falling down on her behind with a thump. "Gramma!" The infant squealed, scrambling to her feet and toddling forward, ramming her grandmother in the shins and grabbing on.

"Aww." Gabrielle wrinkled her nose into a frank smile. "That’s so cute."

"Hey sweetpea…" Cyrene laughed, reaching down and lifting her granddaughter up. "My gods, you’re getting big, huh?" She gave the infant a squeeze, making Dori grunt in surprise. "I missed you!"

The nanny had dashed in after her, and was now standing with her hand on her heart, catching her breath. "Goodness…. Dori.. you’re such a bad girl."

"Bck." Dori threw her arms around Cyrene’s neck and gave her a sloppy kiss on the neck. She then peeked over the innkeeper’s shoulder and spied Gabrielle. "Mama!" She held out a hand imperiously. "Come!"

"Ooo…" Gabrielle laughed, despite herself. "Listen to you!" She got her crutch under her arm and limped over, taking Dori's fingers in her hand. "Aren’t you a demanding little thing."

The baby smiled, showing her dimples, and batted long, dark lashes at her mother, giggling softly.

Cyrene patted her back and chuckled. "Tell you what, sweetpea… we’re about done here, how about you and me and your mama getting some warm stew, hmm??" She nudged Gabrielle in the direction of a couple of makeshift chairs in the corner.

"No.. I’ve…" Gabrielle straightened her shoulders, and glanced behind her. "I’ve gotta get this stuff settled, mom… and I wanted to visit my mother and Lila, just to make sure they’re okay." She shifted her weight and winced.

"Gabrielle." Cyrene gave her a serious look. "Just because you’re married to my daughter, doesn’t mean you have to take after her worst habits, okay? Come over here, and sit the Hades down before I pick you up and spank you."

"B.."

"Right now." The innkeeper overrode her sternly, lifting an eyebrow at her. "You don’t want to make me mad, do you?"

Gabrielle opened her mouth to answer, then turned as footsteps approached. Oh good. She sighed mentally. That’ll take her mind off me. "Hey."

Xena was covered from head to foot in a deep, brown coating of mud, only the whites of her eyes providing any indication of her features. Her entire body was slathered with the stuff, which smelled of earth and wood, tiny bits of it dropping off her clothing as she inhaled. "Hi."

Gabrielle tried to think of something nice to say, and failed. "You are a mess." She remarked, wondering which parts of the brown muck were skin, and which were her leathers.

"Yeah, I know." The warrior was unobtrusively cradling one arm. "I um.. "

The bard realized the dark substance dripping on the floor wasn’t all water. "Good grief, Xena..what did you do?"

"Just a tiny cut." Xena waved her off. "Needs a stitch or two.. but it’s getting so bad out there we had to stop."

"Yeah… or risk drowning." A glum voice agreed, as Paladia trudged in, even more covered in mud, followed by a drenched Cait "I got mud in places I don’t wanna mention."

"Quite. Please don't." Cait pulled her wet, blond hair back and wiped the droplets out of her eyes.

"You coulda helped." The taller Amazon grunted, pulling a clump of rotted wood from behind her ear. "Insteada just standing there watching."

"I was guarding." Cait replied, unruffled. "Besides, you're ever so much better at mud."

"Huh." Paladia rolled her gray eyes

"There's water in the back of the new quarters." Gabrielle told her, kindly. "It's a little cold."

"Figures." Paladia stomped off, shedding bits of crud as she did so.

Cait chewed her lip, then exhaled. "I'd better trot along with you… you'll never manage that mud otherwise." She followed the taller woman out, who didn't deign to answer, but whose steps slowed until the younger Amazon caught up.

Xena sniffed, then scratched a mud covered ear, exchanging amused looks with her soulmate. "I think I'll.. um.. " She pointed towards the exit, and their chamber.

"Good idea." Gabrielle grimaced. "I won't tell you what you smell like."

The warrior's nose wrinkled. "Like I can't smell it?"

Dori blinked, then scowled, as she peered at Xena. "Boo?"

Xena was busy studying her soulmate. "How’s the leg?"

"Fine." Gabrielle answered briskly.

One eloquent eyebrow lifted at her almost invisibly.

"Really.. I've been staying off it." The bard told her, blithely. "Weren't you going to go wash?"

"Yeah." Xena scowled at her, then moved towards the door.

"Want some help?" Gabrielle called gently after her, keeping back a smile as the blue eyes shifted, and met hers, then one closed in a solemn wink.

"Xena…" A voice at the door, and the warrior turned, finding her brother in the cavern entrance. "You gotta come see this."

"What is it?"

"Horses… hundreds of em." Toris replied. "And some woman who says she knows you."

Xena sighed, and grabbed a cloth, wiping the worst of the muck off her face. "Now what?" But her nerves jumped, hearing of the horses.

She hadn't considered raising a cavalry, mostly because acquiring the animals would have been expensive, and tough, and getting them wild would have taken too long for even her to train them.

She followed Toris outside the cavern, and ran for the gate, the driving rain sloughing most of the mud off her body, leaving her relatively clean as she arrived at the fortification and leaped up onto the watch gate.

The smell of wet animals met her as she looked over, seeing a sea of wild eyed beasts, coats drenched and steaming, driven by six mounted figures in water darkened cloaks. The leader of them shoved forward through the animals, and threw a soaked hood back, meeting Xena's eyes.

Damn. The warrior was startled at the surge of recognition.

"Think you lost these, there, Tiger..." The woman drawled, with a rakish grin. "Want 'em back?"

The militia eyed her in startlement, then watched Xena for a reaction.

The tall, dark haired warrior stood tall, letting the wind and water drive against her body, and laughed in delight. "Open the gates!"

It was almost dark outside before Gabrielle made her way slowly into their chamber, pausing inside the entrance and leaning against the wall. Alone now, she dropped her determinedly energetic act, and closed her eyes, letting a little moan escape as she tried to find a position that didn’t ache.

"Wow." She rested a moment, then glanced around, blinking a little as her eyes fell on the new items she found there. "Oh…. " A chair had been added, with cushions made of burlap sacks stuffed with something soft looking, and there was a fire burning in a neatly made stone circle. Gingerly, she limped over to the chair and settled into it, slowly letting go of her crutch and letting it clatter to the floor. "Ungh."

She let her head fall back and rest on the cushion and extended her legs carefully, glad just to be sitting down in peace and quiet. The Amazons were settled. The centaurs were settled. The Amphipolitans were settled. Her family was settled.

Four hundred horses, and six deserters from Andreas were settled, sort of.

Xena was in her glory, surrounded by fighters and animals, and her dash into the rain had even removed most of the mud, as she’d come dancing back, wet but mutely exuberant. They were the horses she’d released from his city, and though she hadn’t realized it at the time, three of the stable hands and Dani and two of her friends had followed them out, chasing the animals down through the river valley until they’d gotten clear of the city, and taken off.

So now they had horses. Of course, they were disorganized, and most of them unbroken or badly broken in, and the Amazons weren’t mounted fighters, but… as Xena had said, they’d learn.

Gabrielle sighed, glad of the fire’s warmth against her body, which ached from head to toe from a combination of the previous day’s fight, and her struggling all day with the need to stay off one leg. She was hungry, but not enough to want to move, and she decided to close her eyes for a few minutes, then go and get Dori.

The chair rocked soothingly under her weight, then slowly went still.

Xena leaned over her worktable, studying the lists strewn over them, and the newly changed map which lay over top of most of the surface. In one hand, she held a quill, the other spread long fingers over the parchment, as she skimmed the writing, looking for mistakes.

Ah. She scribbled a note in one corner, then straightened, easing a crick in her back with a satisfied sigh. Her eyes lifted and regarded the large opening, giving her a view of the twilit valley, still misty with rain, but now holding a large, shifting herd towards it’s far end, clustered around the small lake.

Horses. Xena smiled to herself, crossing her arms over her chest. They changed everything. Her prior strategy, based on shadowy hit and run tactics, now also held a cavalry potential. Four hundred horses… rawly broken, true, but if she could just get them even rudimentarily war trained…

It would give her an incalculable advantage, and the fact that Andreas had been deprived of them was even more important. She reached a hand up and rubbed her neck, nodding quietly as she reviewed her plans for the next few days.

If the weather cleared, that is. She’d have the Amazons start the process of helping her to train the horses.. and at the same time, school themselves to be better riders. They were natural born warriors, and that, at least, she didn’t have to teach them. But if she could get a decent number to learn the art of fighting on horseback, then added that to what other troops she picked up….

Yeah. Xena gazed out at the rain, watching the dark form of her friend, the black stallion gallop across the grass, shaking his head to rid his mane of the excess water. That had certainly been a surprise… along with seeing her friend Dani again, too.

And speaking of… boots scuffed along the floor outside and the former innkeeper ducked inside the cavern, her clothing drenched and droplets of water dusting off her light brown hair. Hazel eyes met Xena’s and a crooked smile covered the tall fighter’s face. "Interesting bunch you got here, Tiger."

Xena let a brow lift and propped one booted foot up on her chair. "Gonna get a lot more interesting for you if you keep calling me that." She drawled warningly.

The woman chuckled and shook herself, scattering water everywhere. "Your little buddy does."

"Gabrielle.." Xena extended the bard’s name, rolling it over her tongue slowly to give it emphasis. "Has earned the privilege of calling me whatever the Hades she wants to." The warrior rolled up her documents and looped a piece of leather over them. "But that’s an exclusive arrangement."

The tall woman considered that, then shrugged. "If you say so." She folded her arms. "Them ponies are all settled in.. I think Blackie likes it here." She arched her back. "Not a bad spot…Hades of a place to find though… lucky I ran into that bunch of raiders who got their butts whipped round about here last night."

Xena nodded. "Yeah… they were chasing some folks who’d gotten out of a village they’re holding not far away." She tapped the edge of the parchment against her chin, and considered the situation. A small group… at least, she’d planned on sending out to check the place over….but maybe she’d just go herself.

Mmm. Yeah. "Anyway… did they set you up with bunk space?"

The woman nodded. "Yeah.. me and the boys…over by the folks from your home village, I guess." She cleared her throat. "What’s with all the birds? They really Amazons?"

"Oh yeah." Xena scratched her ear. "That’s what they are…. I can get you in there with them if you’re interested." She gave the innkeeper a speculative look. "You’re just their type."

"Hey.. what do you mean by that?" The woman growled, giving her a dark look. "No thanks… they’re weird." She shook her head and exhaled. "I’m gonna go get dry…I hear there’s good ale around."

Xena tucked her parchment under her arm. A cold mug of ale sounded like a great idea. "In the big cave." She started for the entrance, after blowing out the candle on her worktable. "See ya there later." She ducked through the crack in the rock and went through the narrow hallway between the caverns, oblivious of the interested and speculative eyes that followed her through the semi darkness.

"Yeah.. .all right." Dani murmured. "Exclusive arrangement, huh? Mmm." She sauntered out after Xena, watching the powerful, rhythmic stride as the warrior moved across the rock floor. "We'll see."

The kitchen area was warm and bustling when Xena crossed through it, the smell of roasting meat and the soft buzz of voices washing over her in a welcome wave. She was halfway through when a familiar form intercepted her, and she came to a neat halt, giving her mother an expectant look. "Looks a lot better in here." She admitted, with a slight smile.

"I should think so." Cyrene snorted softly. "I see you scraped most of the mud off you."

"The rain did me a favor." Xena nodded. "Took a while to get things settled…but that's gonna be a huge advantage for us… and a big whack at Andreas." She gave her mother a satisfied look.

"Glad to hear that, honey." Cyrene gave her a pat on the arm. "You headed anywhere in particular?"

"Yeah.. I’m going to go check on some supplies… I need to see if we’ve.." She paused, at her mother’s upheld hand. "What?"

"Where’s Gabrielle?"

Blue eyes flicked over the cavern in confusion, then came back to rest on her. "Gabrielle? I don’t know.. around here somewhere.. I saw her a while ago before I went over to the workroom.. why?"

"I think you should go find her." Her mother suggested gently. "I don’t think she was feeling too good, honey."

Damn. Xena felt a surge of guilt, knowing the innkeeper was right. "Yeah.. she got banged up a little last night.. I.. um… " She hesitated. "You’re right."

Cyrene gave her a pat on the belly, but kept silent.

Xena moved past her mother, and entered the winding passage that eventually led back to their quiet cavern. She paused in the entry, spotting the still form curled up in the chair and cursed at herself under her breath.

The fire lit the cavern with golden light, and she set her parchments down as she crossed the rock floor and knelt at the bard’s side, hesitating before she lifted a hand and gently stroked the soft cheek. "Hey… "

The bard’s breathing caught, then her eyes blinked open, revealing darkened green eyes that stared for a confused moment at the warrior before they cleared. "Oh… damn." She struggled to sit up, jarring her knee and letting out a tiny yelp. "Yeow.."

"Hey.. hey.. relax.." Xena told her softly. "Take it easy…." She supported her partner carefully, sliding an arm around her shoulders. "Damn it, Gabrielle.. why didn’t you tell me it was this bad?" She felt the bard's tense grip on the chair arm relax a little.

"It wasn’t.. " Gabrielle protested faintly. "I was just a little tired.. so I came in here… and sat.. " She yawned, wincing as her jaw cracked. "In this nice chair.. did you make it?" She patted the arm, smoothing her fingers over the neat craftsmanship. "I bet you did… it looks like your work."

"Yeah." Xena muttered, still upset at herself for ignoring her partner. "Let me take a look at this." She straightened the bard’s injured leg out, and started working on the wrapping.

Gabrielle stifled another yawn, then relaxed a little, reaching out and running her fingers through her partner’s dark hair. Her nap had made her feel a bit better, and she checked a tan warrior ear idly. "You’ve still got mud back here, you know."

"Oh yeah?" Xena murmured absently, as she unwound her bandaging and made a face at the swollen and bruised joint revealed underneath. "Hmph… no wonder this is killing you." She moved the leg carefully, and felt Gabrielle’s fingers tighten on her arm, though the bard remained silent. "Sorry."

Gabrielle gazed unhappily at her leg. "It’s worse today, isn’t it?"

Blue eyes lifted to her face in silent accusation.

"I know.. I know. .it’s my fault." The bard sighed, letting her head fall back. "If I’d stayed in bed, it’d be better, right?" She rolled her eyes towards her soulmate. "I thought I got a lot done today, though."

With a cross look, Xena lifted her, and walked the several paces to the bed, putting her down carefully. "You did…. But it’s gonna cost you tomorrow, Gabrielle.. because damn it, you’re staying right here!"

The bard folded her hands on her stomach, and regarded her tall friend. "Okay." She agreed simply.

Xena eyed her suspiciously. "Okay, but what?"

Innocent green eyes peered back at her. "But nothing." Gabrielle replied. "You’re right… it was killing me today, and I’d have felt a lot better staying right here flat on my back." She almost smiled at her soulmate’s nonplussed look.

"Riiiggghtt." Xena drawled slowly. "So.. you’re not gonna argue with me tomorrow?"

"Nope." Gabrielle nodded. "That’s right… besides, do you know how bad a mood being in pain puts me in?" She sighed. "I almost slapped a few people today.. and that’s not good, Xena." It was a hard admission, especially since some of the people had been friends of hers. "I thought I had a better grip on myself than that."

Xena sat down on the rock floor and circled her knees with both arms. "Gabrielle, to be completely honest…I react like that even when I’m feeling just fine." She gave her partner a wry smile. "I don’t have a lot of patience." She exhaled. "I should have checked up on you today.. I’m sorry."

A shrug. "For what? Xena.. I’m a big girl… if I’m dumb enough to hop around all day and refuse to lie down, it’s not your fault." The bard reached out and captured a hand, bringing it close to her body and rubbing the skin gently. "Hey.. I’m feeling a lot better.. why don’t you go grab Dori, and we’ll get something for dinner, huh?"

"How about I go grab Dori, and dinner, and we relax in here?" The warrior countered. "I’ve got a surprise for you."

"We’re going to get teased all over the place if we…. " Gabrielle stopped, and pondered. "Surprise?"

Xena nodded, a tiny sparkle evident in her pale blue eyes. "Yep."

"Hmm… what kind of surprise?" The bard inquired. "The good kind?" She was fully willing to be convinced, at this point.

"Oh yeah.. you’ll like it." The warrior assured her. "I promise."

"Hmm. Okay." Gabrielle allowed her body to relax, wiggling her toes a little. "A bed, a surprise, and you.. can’t ask for more than that."

Xena smiled quietly, and regarded the floor for a moment. "I’ll be right back." She slipped through the opening and left the bard to her quiet reflection.

It lasted all of ten or so seconds, before Gabrielle reached down and picked up her diary, setting it on her lap and twirling her quill before her lips. A box next to the bed provided a stand for her ink, and she uncorked the jar, dipping the tip of the quill in and staring at the page for a minute.

Well, the Amazons are here. It actually went better than I thought it would, what with those caves and all, but I think since they’d been marching in the rain for the better part of a day, anything dry looked okay to them.

The queens were in a big time snit, but I managed to get them all calmed down… they’re mostly in separate rooms now, but Eph decided to stay with our people, and she and Pony are bunked down in the big dormitory, which kind of settled everyone's feathers down a little.

Everyone keeps asking me what happened to my leg. I don’t really want to get into it.. I’ve sort of been telling them that I just tripped and fell, but Eph gave me a funny look when I did that, so I’m not sure what’s going on there. I guess I’ll have to come clean about it.. maybe tomorrow.

Gabrielle glanced up as she heard toenails clattering, then smiled as Ares trotted in and jumped up onto the bed, curling up in a ball and putting his muzzle on her good ankle. "Hey boy… where have you been? Hiding from Dori, huh?"

The ears drooped, and Ares gave her a pathetic look.

"I know.. I know..she’s a terror." The bard laughed quietly, shaking her head, as she bent over her book again.

Speaking of Ares, he dropped in today. It’s the first time we’ve seen him since..

She stopped writing, and leaned on her arms, allotting herself a moment of memory. Then she exhaled, and continued.

Since Dahok’s pit. I can’t say I’ve missed him, and he’s up to his usual bag of tricks, but Xena really told him off today.. I was almost scared for her, he got so mad, and started throwing bolts around, but you know.. she didn’t even turn a hair. And then, when he made like he was going to hit Dori, she told him… gods, she told him she’d break him if he did.

I don’t understand what’s between them sometimes. I know Xena doesn’t like him, but sometimes… it’s almost like they understand each other just like she and I do. She’s not afraid of him, and sometimes I wonder if it came right down to it, if she could break him. They fought each other right to a standstill that time… so I do wonder.

I bet he does too. I bet he pushes her only just so far, because he knows if he goes too far, anything could happen.

And he’s a god.

That’s so weird.

Or maybe it’s not, if you really think about things.

He warned her she could be in real trouble if she keeps going with this army thing.

Look at that. I can’t even write the truth, I have to go all around in circles with it, because what he really said makes me hurt so much I just can’t do it. What he said was, she’d die.

And I think she believes it. I know she does… there’s a place in her, down really deep, so deep I can’t get a touch on it, that’s hurt very badly. As much as I love her, and as much as she loves me, she still has this horrible… hurt…and the worst part about it is.. I’m at the center of it.

Me. The problem is, the more she loves me, the more she remembers all the stuff that happened, and all the stuff we did to each other, and knowing all that is killing her. It’s like.. every good thing that happens, she waits for the bad side.. for some punishment to just dump all over her because she can’t believe she deserves any happiness.

I want to just hold her sometimes.. just hold her, and tell her it’s okay.. and to just live her life, and be as happy as she can, because that’s the best anyone can do.

And she does, a lot, I know that. We have fun.. more than most people, I think… and she gets such a kick out of Dori, and all the friends we have here, even the Amazons. I guess I should take my own advice, and really think about those times, and not think about the few dark spots we go through.

I think Ares was playing her. I think there’s a chance something bad could happen, but it’s a war, you know? There’s always that chance.. for all of us. People die during wars. Sometimes, they’re not even the ones fighting it, like my da. And poor Alain.

But you can bet anything that I’m going to stick right by her during this whole thing, no matter what happens. If anyone wants to get to her, they’re going to have to go through me first.

Gods. Listen to me. You’d think I was Hercules, the way I talk.

Gabrielle sighed, and chewed on the edge of her quill, then closed the book up and set it aside as she heard familiar footsteps, combined with childish warbling. She let a smile take over her face as Xena entered, Dori in one arm and a pot of something slung over the other. "Well, well well.."

Dori had been squirming around, and now she stopped, hanging over Xena’s arm with a wide eyed look. "Mama!" She lunged, trying to get to her mother, making the warrior squawk in alarm.

"Hey! Dori.. cut that out.. you can’t fly." Xena scolded the infant, as she moved closer and allowed Gabrielle to grab onto the active infant.

"Not yet, anyway." Gabrielle cuddled her daughter, tickling her and making a face at the giggling baby. "Don’t worry, though, honey… Boo will teach you that soon."

"Very funny." Xena had tugged off her boots and changed into a clean shirt, then she retrieved two wooden bowls from their gear and filled them from the pot. "I’d forgotten something about caves." She lifted her head and winced as a discordant tone echoed through the rocks. "Gods."

"What’s that?’ Gabrielle looked up from her play, then frowned, as the odd noise got louder. "What on earth?"

"Singing." Xena returned to the bed and handed her partner a bowl and spoon. "Amazons singing… mom cracked a keg open." She curled up next to the bard on her side and took a bite of the stew, chewing it slowly and swallowing it. "I got stopped."

"Yeah??" The bard munched on a carrot. "They want you to join in?"

"No." Xena kept her eyes on the bowl, moving the pieces of meat around. "They wanted to know what happened to you."

"Gods." Gabrielle sighed aggrievedly. "And you told them, huh? With proper embellishments, right?"

Xena’s eyes peeked up, a faintly devilish twinkle in them. "Yep."

"You’re toast." Her soulmate swore. "Xena… what did you tell them?"

Wide, innocent blue eyes. "The truth." The warrior offered up a bit of carrot to her soulmate, but it was snatched out of her hand by a hungry infant. "Hey.. you had dinner."

"Mm." Dori crawled up and started investigating her favorite plaything's bowl. "Nmm…" A piece of venison found it's way into her mouth, and she sucked at it with interest. "More."

"Oo." Gabrielle grinned in delight. "That’s a new one."

Dori turned and grabbed her mother's nose, smearing stew all over her face. "Mama.. good."

Xena scooped up her stew and managed to swallow several mouthfuls in succession, watching her partner as she tried to remove the mess from her skin. "Nice…" She leaned over, past Dori's body and gently took the sauce off with her lips and tongue.

Gabrielle stayed quite still until she was finished, then she slowly released a breath, letting the tingles run all down her spine. "Ohhh…. Thanks Dori." She gave her daughter, who was watching with a puzzled look, a smile. "You can smear stuff on me any time, okay?"

"Mama?" The infant burbled. "More." She pawed at the bard's dish, retrieving a piece of soft root and stuffing it into her mouth. "Mm."

"C'mon now Dori… I saw grandma giving you two cakes tonight.. don't tell me you're still hungry." Xena scolded her. "I think that's where that 'more' comes from.. my mother." She managed to get another spoonful into her mouth before the little thief came visiting, snatching a carrot from her. "Hm… that's okay. You can take those."

"Xena." Gabrielle gave her an exasperated look. "You know she copies you… if you don't eat your vegetables, she won't either."

"And who talked her out of liking cereal?" The warrior shot back, lifting both eyebrows. "Madam 'give me fruits and nuts or give me death' Gabrielle?"

The bard poked her tongue out, then they both laughed. "Ah.." Gabrielle slid over a little, until their shoulders were touching. "I don't know about you, Xena.. but I think I really like being a mom."

The dark head nestled against hers. "Me too." Xena replied quietly. "It's been the second best thing in my life." She met Gabrielle's eyes as the bard looked up at her, and they exchanged smiles of understanding based in emotion so complex it staggered the imagination.

Gabrielle captured a carrot, and held it up, grinning when white teeth closed gently over her fingers, removing the tidbit and lips sucked her skin clean. "Mine too." She leaned over and kissed her soulmate, tasting the spices on her lips before they parted. "But I hope you'll say that when she starts going out on dates." The bard gave her partner a wry look.

Xena was quiet for a moment, as she gazed thoughtfully at the busily exploring Dori. "I think she'll be able to take care of herself." She stated softly, letting the words fall into a charged stillness. "She has your spirit."

"No way." Gabrielle's voice took on a deeper tone. "She's going to need her Boo…for a long time." A pause. "Just like I do." The bard finished, in a much softer tone.

The warrior could feel the tension, and see the faint flaring of her partner's nostrils as Gabrielle fought to stay calm, and focused. She looked into the intense green eyes for several heartbeats, her instinct for trouble warring furiously with her heart, which shied away from hurting Gabrielle with vague premonitions.

Strangely, her heart won, and after all, now she had cavalry, right? Maybe it would make the difference…or maybe Gabrielle was right, and Ares was just trying to scare her. She nudged the bard a little. "Ah… by that time, I'll be so worn out, I'll have to throw rotten apples at em from the porch." Xena let a relaxed smile cross her face. "And let my reputation do the talking for me."

Gabrielle let her head rest against the muscular shoulder next to her and felt almost lightheaded with relief. "Somehow I doubt that." She responded in a playful tone. "I think she's going to have her work cut out for her, getting around you." She sighed. "Gods only know I always do."

Dori took the opportunity to snatch Xena's spoon, and sucked it's end, then dove in looking for more booty. "Mm."

Xena lifted a sardonic eyebrow. "Oh yeah.. I can see that now." She retrieved her eating utensil. "Gimme that."

The infant scowled at her, an endearingly familiar look on a face that wasn't quite suited for it. "Mine." She grabbed for the spoon, which Xena held up out of her reach. "Boo!" The baby crawled up her playmate's body, scrabbling at the warrior's face with her hands. "Mine!"

Gabrielle captured the baby fists, and held them, then pointed at Xena. "Uh uh." She wagged her finger at her daughter. "Mine."

Dori sat down with a perplexed look, peering first at her mother, then at Xena.

"It's all right Dori." The warrior captured a tiny foot, and squeezed it. "You're ours."

The green eyes blinked at her solemnly.

Xena stifled a yawn, then glanced over her partner's shoulder towards the entrance. "Your sister's coming."

Gabrielle didn't move a muscle, content to leave her head resting on her soulmate's shoulder. "Nifty… " She murmured, then she shifted, and eyed Xena. "Didn't you mention a surprise?"

A slow, almost sexy grin eased across Xena's face. "Oooohhhh yeah……" She reached up and eased Gabrielle back onto her pillows, as the doorway darkened with Lila's presence. "Be right back."

The bard indulged herself in a yawn, as she turned her head. "Hey, sis."

Lila entered, tugging a pretty blue shawl around her shoulders. "Hey… I came to see how you were feeling… " Gabrielle's taller, dark haired sibling crossed over to the bed and sat down on the edge of the chair. "Hey there, Dori.. past your bedtime huh?" She glanced over towards the water. "Hi, Xena."

"Bck." The baby was playing contentedly on top of the covers, having discovered one of Gabrielle's quills there. She shredded the feathers off, tossing bits of them all over her mother.

"Evening." The warrior waved absently, from where she was kneeling.

Gabrielle stretched her body out, easing the aches as she settled more comfortably into the stuffed mattress. "I'm doing all right." She put her hands behind her head. "You guys settle in okay? I wanted to go check you out, but I kinda got sidetracked tonight."

"No problem… we got everything sorted out." Lila said quietly. "Mom's busy with Cyrene, and I've been chasing after Gabriel all night. He seems to think this is one big playpen." She studied her older sister. "You sure you're okay? You looked so wiped today.. I was kinda scared about you." Lila leaned forward. "Is it true you held off fifty soldiers? I heard that tonight."

Gabrielle hitched herself up on her elbows and glared in the direction of her soulmate. "Xena."

Devastatingly innocent blue eyes peeked from over one cloth covered shoulder. "Yeeesss?"

"Fifty?"

"I'm sure I said fifteen." The warrior replied reasonably. "They must have heard wrong." She was working over a wooden cask, busily putting something in three bowls.

"Oh.. what about the runaway horses, then.. and the hundred spears?" Lila asked with interest.

"Xeeennaaa…" The bard growled.

Xena stood and walked over, handing a bowl to each woman, and then seating herself on the edge of the bed. "Um…. " She dug a spoon into her dish and took a taste. "You should try this.. it's great."

"Hah." Gabrielle gave her soulmate a very annoyed look. "Do you really think you can make me forget about you telling some wild story about me just by…. " A pause. "Mmmm…. What is this?" The bard rolled the cold, and sweet substance across her tongue, tasting the honey and fruit most.

"Wow." Lila had already tasted the treat. "Xena.. this is amazing.. "

Xena stretched out on her side, crossing her bare legs at the ankles, and assuming a smug look. Dori immediate crawled over and stuck her hand in the warrior's bowl, stuffing her fingers into her mouth and sucking them. "Hey….cut that out."

"I don't blame her." Gabrielle disagreed, absorbed in her treat. "Good gods, Xena…this is fantastic."

"Mm." Dori scrambled up and stood unsteadily next to Xena, holding onto her shirt and reaching after the bowl, which the warrior held out of reach. "Boo!"

Lila laughed at the sight, as Xena rolled onto her back and the baby climbed up onto her, sitting on her chest with an injured look. "She's so cute." She told her sister. "Oh look.. when she makes that face, she reminds me of you when we were little, and ma wouldn't give you those little nutball treats you loved."

"Thanks, Li." The bard muttered, seeing the look of mischevious glee on her partner's face. "Don't get any ideas, Boo." She pointed at the warrior warningly.

Lila merely grinned, and finished off her dessert, while watching her sister's household from the corner of her eye. Xena was indulgently sharing her bowl with Dori, who was seated on the warrior, bouncing a little, and Lila spared a moment to reflect on how unlikely the scene would have seemed to her not that long ago.

But she knew Xena now. The tall, imposing, sometimes impatient fighter had this whole other side to her that peeked out now and again, a lot more now than when she'd first met Xena, on that day by the river.

She'd feared for her sister's life those long years of isolation and nomadic roaming, with good reason, having heard some of the stories of the things they'd done. But every time she'd seen Gabrielle, the changes in her sister had made her understand those things, though tempering the bard's optimism, were shaping her into a powerful, dynamic, fearless person.

And strangely, an apt partner for the dour, sometimes violent, secretive woman she chose to make her life with. They were, in their very diversity, a good fit for each other, and Lila had been amused to see how skillfully her sister drew out the kinder and gentler side of her intimidating partner, just like Xena's fierce abilities drew out the feisty aggressiveness that had always been a muted part of Gabrielle's personality.

Even after everything, they'd managed to hang onto each other, something that Lila kept in the back of her mind, to remind people when they complained of the little things that annoyed them about their partners.

"All right.. that's all there is." Xena gave the last spoonful to Dori, who smacked her lips appreciatively. "C'mon.. let me get you cleaned up." She sat up, then stood in one smooth motion, picking the baby up and taking her over to the small wash basin near the fire.

Lila laughed softly, then turned her attention to her sister's injured leg, propped up on a stuffed sack. "Wow… bet that smarts."

"Yeah." The bard set her bowl down and regarded her knee with a scowl. "Looks like I'm stuck here tomorrow…got any chores I can do lying down?" She looked up at the snarky snicker coming from her soulmate. "Hey… no comments from the cheap seats, okay?"

Lila sucked on her spoon and thought. "Sure…we've got a whole basket of herbs they just tossed together, that needs sorting.. I could bring it by, and we could do that.. might be nice just to spend a little quiet time with you."

Gabrielle nodded. "Great.. I'd like that too.. though I'm not sure how quiet it'll be with the miniature tornado over there around."

"Hey." Xena looked back over her shoulder.

"I meant Dori." The bard drawled.

"Oh." The warrior displayed a grin. "I could take her with me."

"In to the mud, to mess around with Amazons and horses? I don’t think so, Xena.. it took me a candlemark to get all that muck off her the last time." She watched as her partner tucked the baby into her cradle. "As long as you block off the entrance there before you leave with that box, we should be okay."

Lila stood and stretched. "It's a deal then.. I'll grab that basket and head over here after breakfast… see you then, sis." She glanced over. "Night, Xena."

"Night." The warrior resumed her place on the bed as the dark haired woman left the chamber.

Gabrielle squirmed over. "So." She traced a bit of Xena's collarbone. "That really all there was of that stuff?"

Blue eyes regarded her from under lowered lids. "Whhhyyy?"

"Because I really liked it." The bard rested her chin on Xena's shoulder and blew into her ear, causing a shiver to convulse down the long body. "And I want more."

"Oh really?" Xena drawled softly, a wicked smile shaping her lips. "What's it worth to ya?"

"Question is.." Gabrielle went to work on the sensitive ear with tiny bites and licks. "What's it worth to you.?"

Xena found herself very uncharacteristically speechless, stunned by her body's reaction to the gentle touch. Not that she hadn't always been responsive to the bard, but… "Ares." She managed to rasp out. "Door."

A scrabbled of toenails registered as she closed her eyes and listened to the low laugh in her ear. She let the chills chase up and down her, before she lazily turned her head and found honey scented lips waiting for her. "You." She explored their softness with a sense of decadent indulgence. "Are worth everything to me."

"Mm." Gabrielle eased closer, running a light touch over the soft cotton, before slipping her hand underneath it to get to warm skin. She stroked downward, feeling the muscles tense under her fingers, and the ribs expand outward as Xena's breathing deepened.

It was such an interesting sensation of power. The bard slowly moved her attentions downward, feeling the strong body under her shift as she followed a familiar line down the warrior's belly, pausing a moment to playfully tickle her navel, surprising a soft laugh from her, that whispered out past their joined lips.

Gabrielle let her eyes drift open, and saw blue eyes darkened almost to purple gazing half lidded back at her, alive with a sensual desire that sent a jolt straight to the bard's groin. She leaned forward, letting her body brush against the warrior's and feeling a hand curl over her hip. "Mine." She rasped out, catching Xena's lip in her teeth in playful seduction, feeling Xena's body shift again as her fingers slid slowly across the suddenly tensed muscles of an inner thigh.

"Oh yeah." Xena felt a faintly giddy smile twitch across her lips at her soulmate's adorable possessiveness. "All yours." She purred, surrendering willingly.

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Continued in Part 14

These characters, and boy, are they ever characters, are mostly the property of Renaissance Pictures, Universal MCA, and whoever else owns stock and interest in Xena: Warrior Princess. This fiction was written for my amusement only, and not in any way, shape or form for profit - and it is not intended to infringe on the copyright holders of the characters.

Some of the characters are mine, and the story ideas.. well, who knows where they come from? Must be one weird place, that's for sure.

Specific Story Disclaimers:

Violence - this is a Xena: Warrior Princess story. This is not Teletubbies. Even though there are some rumors of similarities. Some of the violence is graphic, but we try not to dwell on it.

Subtext - Considering that the TV Series just aired an episode establishing Xena and Gabrielle as eternal soulmates, any disclaimer of subtext on my part is really kind of goofy in the extreme. The two characters are in love with each other, and have been for years. You can choose to see them as just friends, but then you might not want to read this fanfic, in case it changes your mind or anything like that.

Emotional Content - this is not one my more comedic efforts. There are moments of humor, however.

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Dark Comes the Morning - Part 14

By Melissa Good

Cyrene dusted her hands off on her apron as she peered into the two pots perched on sturdy tripods over the fire. While a lot of things were still in boxes, and scattered over the makeshift tables, she was cautiously pleased with space she'd taken over and was working on organizing.

It was early yet, but the light coming in from outside was still gray with rain, and she could hear the rattle of it on the rocks overhead. "I'll tell you, Eustace.. I'm damned glad we're inside." She muttered to her faithful cook, who was busy peeling dried vegetables. "It's going to take me a moon to dry out those boots I was traveling in."

"Yes, ma'am.. that it's going to." The heavyset woman shook her head. "My wool cloak was so heavy, I could hardly lift it off.. thank the gods Xena was there, or I'd be wearing it still."

Cyrene scratched her jaw, hiding a smile. "She was all over the place last night…wish I had her energy." She went to a box and pulled out her spice jars, setting them on the table, then looked up as gentle footfalls came closer. "Well, good morning, Cait."

"Hello." The slim blond woman padded into the room, putting a piece of leather around her neat braid. "Grand morning, isn't it?"

Cyrene leaned over and peered through the barely visible opening. "I thought it was raining?"

"Oh, it is." Cait agreed. "But it smells so wonderful when it rains."

"I thought it smells like mud when it rains." Eustace gave her a puzzled look. "Nasty stuff."

"Not nearly so nasty a smell as when those vegetables are boiling." Cait commented, glancing at the table. "It's a nice and clean smell mostly, rain is… I was just outside. Lovely."

"Mm.. that's why you're dripping." Cyrene commented. "Is everyone up now?"

"Well.. sort of." Cait straightened her leathers. "They're sort of milling about." She put her hands behind her back. "They're not really sure what to do, you see."

Cyrene ladeled some cereal into a bowl and added a biscuit to it, then gave them both to the girl. "Why not? What's the matter with them?"

"Er.." Cait put her bowl down, and tugged an ear. "They're sort of waiting for Xena."

The innkeeper put her hands on her hips. "For Xena? Why? Isn't she there?"

"Um." Cait chewed her lip. "No.. actually.. that's why I'm here. I'm rather looking for her." She peeked behind her. "Before a hunting party starts in."

"Hm." Cyrene's brow creased. "I haven't seen her…. But I thought she just went out earlier than I get up..she usually does that." A head shake. "All right.. you all stay here. Let me see if I can find her."

"I can go look." Cait offered instantly.

"Goodness, ma'am, let me do that for you." Eustace added, at the same time.

Cyrene looked at them. "Are you silly, or just suicidal? I may have to wake her up." She shook her head at them and headed out, down the small narrow cavern between the kitchen area and the spot the kids had chosen. As she approached the entrance, she saw a familiar black form sprawled across it. "Uh oh." She stopped, pausing to peer down at the wolf, who peered back up at her glumly. "Hey, Ares."

He sighed. Cyrene peeked into the chamber, then stepped over the wolf and walked silently across the rock floor to stand at the foot of the bed, gazing quietly at it's occupants. Gabrielle was in her usual position, half sprawled over her taller bedmate's body with her head nestled into one shoulder.

Xena had both arms wrapped securely around the bard, though, which was unusual, and her normally active at first light daughter was very definitely soundly asleep. She moved to one side and peered into the nearby cradle, relieved to see Dori also snoozing, curled up on her side with one tiny arm under her head. "Incredible." Cyrene murmured, then shook her head as she moved around to Xena's side of the bed, and eased down on one knee.

"Honey?" She touched Xena's arm gently. "Xena?"

It took a moment before the taller woman responded, her face slowly taking on tension, then the dark lashes blinked open, and revealed dazed blue eyes. "Uh…."

"Hey.. " Cyrene, now concerned, put a hand on her daughter's forehead. "Honey, are you sick?"   She felt the skin carefully. "You feel cool."

Xena lifted a hand and rubbed her eyes, then swallowed, obviously disoriented. "Yeah.. I.." She carefully untangled herself from her partner's warm embrace and straightened a little. "I was dreaming.. I.." Her eyes went to the opening, then widened a little in shock. "Wh.."

Cyrene bit back a smile. "Easy… you just overslept, honey. It happens to the best of us."

"Mother, I don’t.. "  Xena struggled to sit up, forcing back the unnerving desire to curl back up around Gabrielle and go back to sleep. "Damn."

"Here." Cyrene handed over a nearby waterskin. "Take a drink of this and find your wits, Xena… " She put a hand back on the warrior's head. "Are you sure you're all right?"

The water was cold, and it helped her separate herself from the foggy feeling. Xena sucked the skin almost dry, then was able to take a few deeper breaths, and regain a little of her normal alertness. "Wow." She rubbed her face in mild embarrassment. "Not sure what happened… I must have been more tired than I thought."

Her mother snorted softly, then patted the bed. "Well, your Amazons are looking for you so… " She looked behind her. "Tell you what.. I'll take care of Dori.. you get going, okay?"

Xena yawned. "Okay." She accepted the offer gratefully. "Thanks." She watched Cyrene pick up the stirring infant and cradle her, then stroll out, making nonsense noises at the child.

That left the cavern in silence. "Wow." The warrior rubbed her face again, and studied her partner. "Gab?" She smoothed the soft, pale hair back from the bard's eyes. "Hey.."

"Mmmm." Gabrielle protested crankily, reaching out to take a better hold on her soulmate. "No…"

"C'mon… " Xena reluctantly loosened the bard's grasp. "Gabrielle, I gotta get moving."

A resentful green eyeball appeared and glared at her. "You could sleep in for one morning."

The warrior reached out and took hold of her head, turning it so she could see the light.

"Oh." Gabrielle's other eye opened and she blinked, then peered up at her partner in puzzlement. "Wow. It's late."

"No kidding. Mom just woke me up." Xena admitted wryly. "She's got Dori."

"Yikes." Gabrielle pulled herself up to a sitting position and ran a hand through her disheveled hair. "Sorry about that…" She turned to look at her partner. "You okay?"

Xena had drawn one knee up and was resting her chin on it, gazing thoughtfully out over the pool. "Hm? Yeah… how's your leg?"

"Mm." Good question. Gabrielle flexed it a little, then pushed the covers down and regarded her injured knee. "Hey.. it doesn't feel that bad.. better than yesterday, anyway." She poked at the skin, which had lost some of it's tenseness, and bent the joint a bit, pleased at the lack of sharp pain. "A lot better."  She smiled at Xena. "Good night sleep helps.. you always say that."

"Yeah." Xena inclined her head, and studied her partner's muscular leg. The swelling had gone down significantly, and she smiled a bit as she ran her fingers lightly over the smooth surface. "Looks good."  Her eyes drifted and took in the rest of her soulmate's naked form, and her smile widened.

"Hmm… yeah, it does.." Gabrielle glanced up and caught the look coming her way, and she found herself blushing a little. "Something wrong?"

The blue eyes twinkled. "Nope." Xena winked at her, then she reluctantly scrambled out from under the covers and stood, stretching her long body out before ambling over to the small worktable and retrieving a piece of linen. "You should still stay off it." She advised her soulmate, glancing briefly over her shoulder at the bard.

Appreciative green eyes were fastened lazily on her.

"Something wrong?" The warrior inquired.

"Nope." Gabrielle grinned, the skin around her eyes wrinkling as she showed white teeth.

Xena lifted an eyebrow at her, then shook her head and went to the side of the pool, steeling herself for a moment before she dove in.

All traces of sleep vanished in a heartbeat, as the vibrant chill of the water shocked her almost senseless, before it sent a surge of adrenaline through her. She surfaced and shook her head, then took a deep breath of air. "Whoa.. that's cold."

Gabrielle had the bedfurs wrapped around her shoulders. "You're making me cold just watching." She advised. "Get out of there, Xena.. you're going to get sick."

Xena ignored her, using the bit of soap she'd taken and scrubbing herself industriously. Once you were in the water, it wasn't so bad, she reasoned, as she rinsed her hair. Besides, Gabrielle had mentioned some mud yesterday….. She rubbed an ear, devoting a portion of her mind to what she wanted to accomplish that day, and another part to what wild excuse she was going to give the Amazons for spending half the morning in bed.

A roll of thunder made her look up, past the sheeting rain falling, and she sighed. That meant either drilling them outside, or keeping them inside and occupied.

Oh gods.

Well, she could always drill with them. They liked that, and it wouldn't do her any harm at all. Xena walked to the edge of the rainfall and let it spill over her, the fresh water slightly warmer than the pool she was standing in, warm enough to almost feel pleasant as it washed the soap off her skin, and from her hair.

The faint current in the pool took the suds out, through a passage in the rocks, and Xena watched them idly as she finished her bath. Then she hoisted herself out of the water and got a piece of dry linen, drying herself off and feeling much more alert and awake. Gabrielle, she noticed, was scribbling in her diary with a totally absorbed expression on her face. "Whatcha doin'?

The bard finished her writing, then peered up over the parchment, nibbling her quill. "Writing." She informed her watching soulmate brightly. "Just… some poetry.. you know.. spur of the moment kinda stuff."

"Mm.. spurs. Thanks for reminding me." Xena muttered, as she pulled on her blue leathers, shrugging the body armor into place with a practiced motion. "Gonna have to make those…and tack for all those damn horses."  Then her eyes brightened. "Hey.. that's a good project for a rainy day, huh?" She grinned to herself. "And they'll need that stuff before we can start…heh."

Her problem solved, Xena finished lacing her leathers up, and paused, regarding her metal armor. If she wasn't sparring, no sense in carrying that around, was there? With a shake of her head, she sat down on a box and pulled on a pair of the socks she'd scoured the seaside markets for then tugged on her dry boots.

Gabrielle had introduced her to the things, having brought several pairs back from Chin with her. The fabric provided a cushion between the boot's leather and her skin, and she'd become very fond of them over the past year. "I'll have mom bring you in something for breakfast." She told her soulmate solicitously, as she crossed over and examined her leg. "If you stay off it today, you should be all right tomorrow."

"Mm."  The bard agreed solemnly. "Okay."

Xena gave her a pat, then stood and walked towards the door.

"I'll just relax here and write poetry about you all day… yeah.. then recite it at dinner… how's that?" Gabrielle called after her.

Xena slammed into the rock wall and bounced off as the words penetrated. "Wh.. hey!" She turned and gave her partner an outraged look. 'What?" She put a hand on the rock to steady herself, and rubbed her head with the other one.

Gabrielle clapped a hand over her mouth to contain the giggles. "Oh gods.. that was funny." She chuckled. "Sure… what else is there to do in this cave, Xena?" A pause. "Alone, I mean."

The blue eyes widened. "Gabrielle!" She put her hands on her hips. "I'll be back." She warned. "Be dressed." Then she stalked out, leaving  a helplessly laughing soulmate behind her.

******************************************************

"Listen, Xena.. we're not a bunch of damn cobblers."

The warrior bit the inside of her lip, holding back the obvious response that rose to them. "No one said you were.. but we need this stuff, and there's  no other way to get it." She gave Gillen a borderline impatient look. "You rather be outside in that?" Xena pointed over the Amazon's shoulder, to where the torrential rain could be seen outside.

"We could be drilling." Gillen disagreed stubbornly. "Not hanging around in here cutting leather."

Xena silently counted to ten. "Gillen, when that weather clears, we're gonna have a lot of work to do with those horses.. you'll be glad of a day or two spent at this."

"You think you're going to get us up on those?" The Amazon queen laughed shortly. "No way… Amazons fight on the ground, or in the trees. We don't ride around on the backs of horses."

Damn stubborn piece of Amazon pinheaded…  The warrior felt her temper rise.

"Hi." Gabrielle limped over, and settled on the table next to where her annoyed partner was standing. "Hey.. are you scared of horses too? I sure was." She remarked to Gillen, in a conversational, friendly tone. "Took me the longest time before Xena could coerce me into riding Argo alone."

Xena exhaled, and allowed a faint smile to cross her face. Leave it to Gabrielle.

"Scared?" Gillen snorted. "Not hardly." She glanced outside, to where the herd was clustered, their backs turned to the rain. "What's there to be scared of?"

"Well.. they're huge." Gabrielle ticked off counts on her fingers. "They step on you, the knock you down, they bite you.."

"Hey!" Xena put her hands on her hips. "Argo never bit you."

Green eyes flicked her way. "I was making a general comment." She turned her attention back to Gillen. "Anyway, I was around her so much, I eventually got used to her."

The Amazon queen grunted. "We're not animal handlers."

Gabrielle turned her head. "Xena, would you excuse us, please?"

Outraged blue eyes rounded at her for a long moment, then the warrior made a noise somewhere between a sneeze and snort and stalked off towards a group of fighters, working over a large piece of hide.

Gillen folded her arms, watching the bard warily.

Gabrielle rolled her staff between her fingers, studying the wood for a moment before she looked up. "You know, when I first got this… " She spun the staff a little. "After I got my right of caste, and was accepted into the Amazons, I just carried it for a while."

The older woman leaned against the table in silence.

"I had no idea what to do with it.. they gave me some really basic lessons in the village, but it takes time to… " Gabrielle paused, then sighed. "Anyway… I wasn't really sure what to do… so I just carried it.. used it to poke things.. until one day, I was just tired of carrying the thing, so I sort of asked Xena if she'd show me how to use it."

"Mm."

"And you know what she said?" Gabrielle tilted her head. "She said sure.. that she'd just been waiting for me to ask." She let a little silence fall. "That's how she is… she never volunteers stuff like that. What skills.. what knowledge she has, she's really had to struggle for, and she doesn't give it up easily at all."

Gillen sniffed. "There's a point here, I'm sure."

Gabrielle nodded. "I'm not an expert..but I think Xena's probably one of the best fighters on horseback that I've ever seen. It's really incredible what she can do.. with horses, and with a weapon while she's on a horse… and she's offering to teach that to the Amazons. "

The woman looked at her.

"That's a totally amazing thing." The bard told her, gently. "Even the people in Amphipolis had to come ask her.. and she's here, offering to teach you guys. Don’t throw that away."

Gillen chewed her lip thoughtfully, and gazed after the retreated ex warlord. "You eventually got used to her, eh?"

"Yeah.. and Argo too." Gabrielle concurred, deadpan.

The older woman paused in mid chew, and gave the bard a startled look.

Gabrielle burst into laughter, then let that continue as Gillen stalked off, shaking her head. She waited for the Amazon to join a group of her mates, then hopped off the table and limped over to the cave entrance, peering out at the gray skies as she leaned on her staff.

Xena watched her covertly as she spread the new hide out over the saddle tree. "Look… we got lucky, finding these old frames packed away.. this isn't that hard."

Pony was sucking on a thumb, having hit it with her mallet. "Just painful." She muttered, watching the taller woman stretch the hide. "You ain't gonna make me sew something, are you? Hades, Xena.. you ever see my tunics?"

Blue eyes looked up at her, with a dark brow edging up over them. "Where'd ya think I learned how?"  She snorted, then looked back. "Just tuck this edge here, and cut… then stitch it around like that….if you keep the stuff wet, you're fine. Don't let it dry out."  She straightened, allowing the reluctant Pony to edge back towards the project, then strode on, going from group to group to check their progress.

Over to one side, the Amphipolis blacksmith was busy, his head down and hammer ringing, with a group of interested villagers and a few Amazons watching him as he pounded out roughly hewn bits and stirrups. The cavern presented an air of damp, slightly resentful productivity, and Xena felt somewhat satisfied with it.

At least they'd stopped bitching.  Of course, it'd helped that their raucous ribbing of her had stopped dead at Gabrielle's "But.. she was doing something for me.." comment, complete with those all innocent, all the time wide green eyes.

Xena snickered to herself,  as she rubbed an ear which had turned quite pink at her soulmate's demure smile. That's my bard.  She looked up as footsteps came closer, and gave the approaching Dani a nod. "They all right out there? I don't want them spooked.. they'll go haring off right into the lake, or into the gate."

"Nah.. they're fine." The former innkeeper stated, folding her large arms across her chest and reviewing the cavern's activities. "They like mud almost as much as you do."

Xena's eyebrow lifted at the casual familiarity. "I'm not fond of it." She remarked coolly.

"Yeah? Coulda fooled me." Dani replied cheerfully. "I figured you for a down and dirty girl all the way."

The warrior's spine stiffened, bringing her pale eyes slightly higher than Dani's. "I don't appreciate the comments."

It didn't phase the younger woman a bit. "You appreciated the horses… I guess you'll put up with it huh?"

Xena simply moved, with an economy and speed of motion that had her behind Dani, and grabbing her arm, forcing it up as she shoved the innkeeper against the rock wall with stunning force.

For a moment, only breathing was heard.

"No, I don't." Xena growled, very softly. "And I'm not going to have you undermining my authority here, you got me, little girl?" She shoved, and felt the bones strain under her fingers, as Dani sucked in an agonized breath. "Do ya?"

"Yes." Dani rasped.

"Good." Xena released her and stepped back a few paces, relaxing against a nearby work table. She folded her arms as the innkeeper recovered, and let her eyes drift around the awkwardly silent cavern.

Slowly, the buzz of voices rose, and everyone went back to their tasks, glancing furtively at the two women near the door.

Dani brushed her shirt off, and gave Xena a wary look, then ducked through the door way and headed towards one of the workbenches.  The warrior merely watched her, feeling the tiger lay back down inside her as her breathing returned to a more normal pattern. A soft uneven thunk caused her head to turn, and she saw Gabrielle standing there, leaning on her staff with a speculative look.

"What was that all about?" The bard asked, limping over.

"Nothing much." Her soulmate replied quietly.

"Xena.. you don’t usually body slam people for no reason… that's a little drastic, don't you think? What did she say to you? It couldn’t have been that bad.. she was only over here a minute…"

"She got a little too familiar with me." Xena replied.

Gabrielle pondered that. "Familiar?"

Xena nodded.

"Hmm." Gabrielle reached up and scratched her nose reflectively. "Guess she got off easy then."

One dark brow edged up. "Because you weren't here?" Xena drawled, a hint of a smile crossing her face. Her sometimes hot tempered soulmate did have a decided possessive streak, she knew.. and she wondered what Gabrielle would have done if she'd have heard the innkeepers comments. "Yeah, she's a lucky woman."

Gabrielle cleared her throat. "Anyway.. um… " She peered around. "This is going pretty good, huh?" The subject change was painfully evident.

The bard missed the quietly affectionate look from her partner. "Yeah… if this damn rain ever stops, we'll be able to get started." Xena sighed, folding her arms over her chest. "I know things are getting done here, but… "

"You want to get going." Gabrielle finished for her.

"Mm." Xena responded. "So damn much to do." She shook her head a bit. "Not to mention getting a late start as it is…. How's the leg?"

Gabrielle flexed it, then bent it at the knee. "Not bad at all, Xena…I.."

"Xena!" An out of breath sentry came in, dripping rainwater off his cloak. "There's a small band of troops approaching."

"Ah." Xena perked up immediately. "It's either friends, or a fight." By her face, it was hard to tell which thought was making her happier. "All right… let's go." She made for the cavern opening, only to be bodily hauled down by her soulmate. "Hey!"

"For Artemis' sake, Xena." Gabrielle grabbed the warrior's cloak from the nearby rack that had been set up for them and slung it over her shoulders, working the clasp around her neck as the impatient warrior shifted restlessly. "Oh, just calm down." The bard lifted her hood and gave her a look. "There."

"Are you done? Or should I go put a muffler around my neck too?" Xena rolled her eyes.

"Mm…" Gabrielle eyed her speculatively.

"Nevermind.." The warrior shook her head and escaped, slipping out into the rain and mud with a definite relish.

"Hey, Xena!"

The warrior sighed and turned, walking backwards, to see her soulmate in the opening, smiling at her. "What?"

"I love you."

It was damn lucky she had the reflexes she did, Xena cursed, as she almost tripped, and ended up hopping a few paces, scattering mud everywhere. She ended up with her hands on her hips, and her most severe glare on her partner.

The green eyes sparkled with gentle amusement, as the warrior whirled and stalked off, muttering.

But not before the long hands formed the sign that echoed Gabrielle's words.

The bard leaned against the rock, watching the tall figure move thorough the downpour, heading towards the gate with her cloak swirling damply around her.  Xena's walk was always very distinctive, she decided, even if she hadn't know who it was, she'd have known… from the way the warrior carried her head and shoulders, shifted just a tiny bit to her left to counteract the weight of her sword, and with a that slight bounce to her stride that was always a little more pronounced when she was wearing her metal armor.

It was a nice walk, Gabrielle decided. Strong, and assured, and .. she smiled a the little swagger. Very sexy.

It had been morning, but a very uncomfortable one. Gabrielle had forced herself awake, blinking nervously into the still unfamiliar grass and dirt she was lying on. Her body was stiff, and she hurt all over, but she kept her lips clamped shut as she rolled over and sat up, trying to ignore the pounding headache that made her a little nauseus.

Of course, the camp was quiet. Xena was out somewhere, doing something.. like she always was, leaving Gabrielle to roust herself out of bed after the warrior roughly shook her to start the process.

So she yawned, and rubbed her eyes, and gazed blearily around, wondering for the hundreth time what had possessed her to go running off from Potadeia, where at least she'd had a comfortable bed, if a boring life to go along with it.

"Well, it was your choice, Gabrielle, so get your butt off the ground, and get moving." She'd told herself, then had gotten up and rolled her sleeping blankets up neatly, tucking them next to Xena's already packed things. Nearby, Argo was grazing, tugging up strands of thick green grass with evident relish.

"Easy for you, huh?" The girl had murmured, digging in her bag for some nuts and berries, saved from the previous day. She munched on them hungrily, then picked up a bit of soap and some linen, and headed for the nearby spring to wash herself.

The day had been warm, the sun beating down on her back as she walked, her shoes scuffing the loose sand a little. Off to one side, a thicket of bushes promised thorns and birds, who danced over them and scolded each other. Gabrielle had leaned closer, and spotted a bunch of berries hiding in there, and paused to retrieve them, having learned over the past month or so not to pass any chance at food by.

She'd only stuck herself twice, before gaining her prize, then she'd continued on, munching on a few of the sweet  fruits as she turned the bend in the path and had a view of the water.

"Ah." Xena had been swimming lazily towards her, the warrior's dark hair slicked to her head and accentuating her strong profile. "Morning!" Gabrielle had called out, a little surprised she'd made it down to the water before the warrior had finished her swim, as usually Xena was dressed and waiting for her by the time she'd even started.

"Morning." Xena had answered, moving closer into the shallows, then standing up and letting the water sheet off her body as she splashed forward.

It was, Gabrielle remembered, the weirdest feeling she'd ever had. A combination of lightheadedness, and shortness of breath, a strange rubbery feeling in her knees, and the oddest sensation deep in her guts.

She'd never seen Xena like this..like…just completely naked, her entire body on sleek, powerful display, the light bathing her leaving nothing to the imagination. Even with the subtle tracing of the few scars, a legacy of a life spent fighting, the warrior was, to the watching girl's eyes, beautiful. She'd never seen anyone who looked like Xena did.

She'd realized she really liked that.

"Hey!" Xena had barked. "What's wrong with you?"

"Uh." Gabrielle had swallowed the sudden lump in her throat, and found something else to stare at, other than the sun glided body facing her whose subtle play of skin over muscle was so interesting, and so…  Oh, it had been so hard not to look. She'd raised a hand to her neck and rubbed it. "Must have slept wrong.. I've got a crick." She'd mumbled.

"Hmph." Xena had walked over and brushed her hand aside, moving the bard's head around with expert fingers. "Yeah.. hang on."

Gabrielle had felt the coolness of the damp skin behind her and she'd concentrated on staying still, aware of the clean, spicy scent of her companion's body consciously for the first time.

"That better?" A sharp question.

"Yeah." Gabrielle had answered softly. "Um… much. Thanks."

Xena had leaned closer. "You all right?" A hand had touched her head. "I think you've got a fever."

Gabrielle had taken a few deep breaths. "NO…. I mean, no, no. .I'm fine, thanks, Xena.. um.. it's the sun!" She'd pointed up. "The sun.. see? It's all nice and warm, and sunny, and sun like.  You know?"

"Sure." The warrior had shrugged, then moved off. "Whatever… hurry up, willya? We've got places to go today."

"Oh. .right.. sure…um.. I'll just go wash, and it'll take a minute.. um.. okay? Here.. " Gabrielle had offered her the berries, thrusting them out. "Have some."

Pale blue eyes had slowly come around to meet hers, as Xena had walked into her line of vision, the long fingers reaching out and taking a single blackberry, rolling it around before popping it into her mouth. "Thanks."

Then she'd shaken her head, and left, disappearing behind the brush and leaving Gabrielle to let out a long breath, and walk down towards the water on faintly unsteady feet.

Ending up in the water herself, with some very interesting thoughts.

Gabrielle smiled in reflex, shaking her head at her younger self. "Oh… Gabrielle.. if you only knew."  She murmured, listening to the falling rain.

**********************************************

Xena surreptitiously tugged her cloak closer as she headed across the muddy ground, glad Gabrielle had taken the time to force the garment on her.  It was a little game she and the bard played, of course. She would be vocally grumpy about the fussing, Gabrielle would be amusedly patient with her…. It was a warm and comfortable feeling, and one they'd slowly grown into over the years. Xena had come to secretly cherish the moments, and she tended to hoard them, finding herself almost disappointed when, through busyness or inattention Gabrielle let an opportunity go by her.

The guards on the gate half turned as she approached and one climbed down off the ladder and approached her, ducking his head against the driving rain.

"What is it?" The warrior asked crisply

"Not sure." The man admitted. "They're standing out there, just  watchin us." He wiped water out of his eyes. "Looks to be three half, four score."

"Mm." The warrior brushed by him and put her hands on the lower platform, boosting herself up onto it and stepping forward, the other guards parting to let her come up to the wooden wall. "Let's see what we got."

Slowly, she let her head surface over the edge of the gate, and peered through the mist, blinking a few times as the rain hit her eyes. The ground was rich with mud, and the opposing force was standing just out of the largest patch of it.

Xena exhaled, letting her chin rest on the rough wood surface. The soldiers were drawn up in disciplined ranks as their captains conferred, dark armor sucking in the light and making the group a large, ominous block. Their weapons were evident, crossbows braced on armored legs, and sword crosshilts visible in dark leather scabbards. Who were they?

The fact that they didn't immediately attack was encouraging, but Xena studied the silent watchers, wondering if they weren't just taking their time to work out a plan of attack.

Well. One way to find out for sure. Xena put her hands on the top of the wooden gate and vaulted onto it, exposing her tall form to the wind and the eyes facing her. Then she leaped out into space, tucking her body into a neat pair of flips before she hit the ground, sending a spray of mud and water flying outward.

She straightened.

The soldiers stiffened, and several crossbow muzzles shifted her way as she faced off against them, her dark outline almost indistinguishable against the rain. Xena flexed her hands, catching the sound of scrambling behind the gate and reflecting that she probably should have warned the guard staff what she was doing.

Her hands tensed, as she hoped all the crossbows didn't fire at once.  Then a gust of wind blew her hood back, and exposed her head to the weather, and she saw the soldiers go very still.

She found herself smiling, a part of her reveling in the knowledge that it was who she was they were reacting to. Then the captain stepped forward and threw his own hood down, and she smiled for a totally different reason.

"Genr'l" The word boomed across the muddy ground, as the tall form loped towards her.

Xena put her hands on her hips. "Hello, Bennu." She extended an arm and felt strong fingers grip it. "Didn't expect to see you here."

"Ah, well." Bennu turned, and gestured back towards the group. "King figgered even with the wall, and all of us, no way he'd hold off the bistard… so's when he heard you were hauling up a force in the hinterlands, he kept enough lads about to put a show on, and sent t'rest of us up here…said we'd do better w'you, and he'll just make his best peace "

Xena considered that, as she started a slow walk towards the waiting group. "I don't know that I'd agree with that." The warrior commented. "That's a pretty defensible city."

Bennu rubbed his bearded jaw. "Mebbe with you in it." He told her frankly. "King's a good guy for training, but fer strategy, he's no in yer league."

"Hm." Xena grunted, as they came to a halt next to the troops. She straightened, meeting the eyes under the closely fitted helmets, as they watched her. "All right… let's get inside, then." She turned and lifted her hand in a signal to the gate. "Any swords are welcome.. and these look like good ones."

Backs stiffened in reaction, and Xena could feel the brief, distinct wave of excitement at her words. Bennu lifted a hand "We were hoping you be feeling that way."

A shorter man moved forward, edging through the crowd and working a knotted cord off a thick burlap wrapping off the end of a pike he was carrying. The soldiers broke ranks a little and clustered around them, and Xena found herself in the center of a warm block of bodies as she watched the soldier at his work.

It became very quiet, only the soft rasp of the man's fingers against the heavy twine was heard over the rain He cleared his throat, then dropped the rope, and unwrapped the fabric, carefully exposing a vivid, silky banner in bright yellow, and inky black.  Matter of factly, he footed the base of the pike and lifted the pole up, allowing the flag to spread out into the wind.

Xena sucked in a breath of air, full of rain and the scent of leather and brass, and tasted something wonderful, in a rich and seductive way. The snap of the fabric sent a little shiver down her spine and she tipped her head back to gaze up at the banner.

Mine.

"Hope it's all right we brought it." Bennu remarked placidly. "Figured you'd need one anyhow."

A faint hint of a smile pulled at the corner of Xena's mouth. "Yeah.. that'll do." She reached up and tugged lightly at one corner, feeling the silk warm between her fingers. "C'mon…let's get inside."

Bennu turned and joined her as they walked towards the gates, the solid tramp of booted feet behind them.

"How are things in the city?" The warrior asked politely.

"Doing well, they were, until this bistard Andreas started in." Bennu scratched his jaw. "Our Silvi's just buddin, she is… and we was hoping for a little prince."

Xena smiled. "That's good to hear…she doing all right?"

"Right as can…" The tall man nodded, then brightened. "Ah.. and how's your Gabrielle?"

My Gabrielle. Xena tensed her lips, then inhaled. "She's fine…she had a little girl." She paused. "You'll have to come by and meet our daughter.. she's really something."

Bennu grinned. "Course she is.. given her.." His warbling stopped as he apparently realized what he was saying. His eyes went to Xena's profile, then scanned her body, then went back to her profile, then focused out somewhere over the trees. "Ah.. I mean…"

The warrior refused to bail him out, having found through trial and error that the best way to deal with the question was not to deal with it. Instead, she plowed on through the rain, ignoring the troop captain's blushing.

Xena watched the eyes of the guards focus on her, then lift to the banner flying over her head, and she paused as they cleared the gates. "Hold it." She held out a her hand for the flag, hefting it lightly, then taking a long stride towards the watch platform and leaping up to land lightly on it's wet surface.

"Is that yours, Xena?" The guard to her left asked quietly, a man younger than Gabrielle, who had probably been just a child when it had last flown.

"Yes." The warrior replied, lashing it into place on the battlements.

"It's nice." The man comment. "I like it."

Xena rested her hands on the flagpole and gazed at him, suddenly feeling the years separating them. "Thanks." She commented briefly, then hopped down from the ledge, and rejoined the troops. The gates swung closed as she lead them towards the caverns, aware both of the eyes watching her from there, and the sense, in a very small corner of her soul, that part of her had finally found it's way home.

***************************************

"Looks like it's friends." Ephiny commented softly, as she came up behind Gabrielle. The bard was standing in the entranceway, watching the group of soldiers move across the valley towards them. "Do you recognize them?"

"Mm." Gabrielle tore her eyes from the gold and black sigil now flying over the gate and turned. "A city southeast of here… we helped them straighten out a mess a while back… I guess it was around a year ago or so…that tall guy next to Xena's their captain of the guard."

"Ah." Ephiny nodded. "You told me about that.. I remember… wonder why they're here?"

The bard turned and looked at her in honest puzzlement. "Eph.. we're here building and army, and soldiers show up… you're wondering why they're here???"

Hazel eyes twinkled soberly. "Sorry… I meant, I expected they'd have to stay with the city."

"Oh." Gabrielle blushed a little. "I don't know…. I guess we'll find out shortly." She turned and regarded the group again, who had fallen into orderly if not regimented step around her partner. Xena's head was slightly turned, and she was talking to the taller Bennu, who was obviously listening intently.  The warrior was gesturing with one bracered arm towards a section of the cliff wall, and turned her steps that way, shaking her head to clear the wet hair from her eyes.

Five years.

Gabrielle silently turned, and took her own cloak off the wall spike, settling it over her shoulders and securing it. "You'd better go let Gillen and Aslanta know we're moving some new fighters in, Eph." She took a more secure grip on her staff and headed out into the rain, angling her steps to intercept her soulmate.

"Bu…" Ephiny blurted, then sighed. "Okay, sure." She lifted her hands a little and let them fall to her thighs, then turned and headed towards the work chamber.

The bard could hear Xena's low speech as she closed in, the familiar tones and cadence audible long before the words were.

"Once we get everyone settled in, we'll work people into the watch rotation." Xena decided, her eyes flicking over the compound restlessly. "Then we can start cross training… you've got the close order tactics down, but the Amazons are hit and run specialists and.."

"Amazons?" Bennu almost stopped short, his boots kicking up a splash of mud. "Naw… really? Got yer a few of them, eh, Genr'l?"

"Three hundred." Xena answered absently. "Your fighters are horse trained, right?" She kept walking, then halted, realizing she was by herself. Slowly she turned to find scores of round eyes and slightly dropped jaws looking back at her. "What?" She put her hands on her hips.

"Th..th…th…" The tall man stuttered, then closed his mouth, as his eyes focused on something just over Xena's shoulder. "Ah."

Startled, the warrior turned, to see a lone, cloaked form making it's way toward her, leaning on a staff and masking a slight limp.  "Thought I told you to stay in the cave." She growled at Gabrielle, as the bard neared. "It's wet out here."

Under her hood, a barely visible eyebrow lifted. "Really?" Gabrielle edged past her and held a hand out. "Hello, Bennu… it's really nice to see you."

He gingerly took it. "Same t'you, ma'am."

"All right, let's get moving." Xena gave them all an annoyed look. "That way." She pointed, giving Bennu a nudge in the right direction. They all started moving and Gabrielle fell into step next to her, straining a little to keep up with the warrior's longer strides.  "As I was saying….we can start sword drills tomorrow…and I've got to get those horses up to some basic level of training."

"Ah… we've been doing some light horse…" Bennu rumbled. "Mostly run by's and slashes, the like."

"That'll do… at least you won't be falling out of the saddles." Xena replied, with a sigh. She lead the way into the furthest of the caverns, one they hadn't really had time to set up as yet. There were mostly built, and partially lashed together bunks scattered around, and boxes "It's not pretty…" She shook herself as she cleared the entrance and left the rain behind. "But it's dry, and you can put things the way you want them."

"Right." Bennu nodded. "Awright… let's get t'work."

The soldiers started to filter around them and the cavern soon filled with the sound of low, male voices and the smell of wet hide. Xena leaned back against the wall, watching the activity in some contentment. After a moment, she turned her head to find quiet green eyes regarding her. "What?"

A tiny shake of the head. "Nothing." Gabrielle rested her weight on her staff, propping her chin on one wrapped fist.

"That wasn't a nothing look." Xena accused. "That was a 'something's bothering me' look."

Gabrielle turned fully. "Is it?"

A nod.

"I didn't know I had one of those."

Another nod, this one almost hesitant.

"Mm." The bard eased back and settled against the wall next to her.

They were quiet for a moment. "Is it the battle flag?"  Xena finally asked softly.  "We have to have one, and I…"

"No…" Gabrielle shook her head. "I like it… I was just wondering…" She let her eyes scan the busy room. "Xena, you're more comfortable with these guys than with the Amazons, aren't you?"

Leather creaked softly as the warrior inhaled deeply, then exhaled. "I don't know.. I.." A beat. "Yeah, I guess I am." Xena seemed to consider this. "My army was mostly men."

"Hm." The shadows on the bard's face shifted as Gabrielle moved her jaw around a little. "They accept you as their leader without questioning that."

Blue eyes shifted back and forth, then the warrior nodded briefly. She remained silent for a bit, then cleared her throat. "In battle… there's no time for debate, Gabrielle."

"I know that." The bard answered instantly. "In the middle of a fight, have I ever questioned you? No matter what was going on?"

"No."

"Do you think the Amazons are going to do that?" Now the bard's voice was honestly curious. "They're not stupid, Xena."

"I don't know." The warrior answered, with a sigh. "That's just the trouble, Gabrielle.. I don't know what they're going to do.. I don't know if I can trust them to go and do and be what I need in the middle of a fight." She lifted a hand and gestured. "These men.. they're used to following direction.. if I tell them to attack here, defend here.. they'll listen to me, and do what I want.. even if they don't know the reasons why."

Gabrielle thought about that. "The Amazons want to know why." She acknowledged quietly. "That's true."

"Mm…"

"Why can't you just tell them why?"

Xena pushed off the wall and straightened, tugging her cloak a little bit. "Because in battle…you can't show your hand like that, Gabrielle… you have to keep your strategy up here." She tapped her head. "The more people who know the whole plan, the more chances you have for your enemy to find it out."

The bard felt a little dumb. "Well.. sure.. I mean, that makes sense, but…" She paused. "Do you really think the Amazons would reveal that?"

"I think we were attacked twice inside the Amazon village itself." Xena reminded her. "And whoever did it, is still out there…in fact, they could be inside here right now."  She gave the cavern one last look. "C'mon." She started out the door, only to be tugged to a gentle halt. "Now what?"

Gabrielle reached up and tugged her hood into place, pushing dark hair back from her eyes. "One thing we definitely don’t' need, is you sick."

Xena scowled at her. "I'm not going to get sick, Gabrielle. It's just a little rain."

Then she sneezed.

******************************************************

IT had been a very quiet dinner. Gabrielle had seated herself with the Amazons, and spent the time diplomatically trying to get across some idea of teamwork, while her soulmate had pulled Bennu, Aslanta, and Gillen over to her table for an impromptu strategy session.

Neither of them, she suspected, had been particularly successful. Gabrielle sighed as she made her way back towards their quarters, and stopped in the entryway, spotting Xena's form slumped in the chair nearest the rudely constructed fireplace.

The tall, dark haired woman had one elbow braced, and her head resting on her fist as she watched the flames, a faraway look evident even from where the bard was standing. Dori's cradle was next to her, and she was rocking it gently with one booted foot.

What was she thinking? Gabrielle allowed herself a moment to wonder, watching the sharp profile outlined in the firelight. Then she continued inside, and crossed to the chair, as the warrior lifted her head and turned. "Hey." She smiled, keeping her voice light.

Xena smiled back. "Hey, yourself….everything get squared away with Eph?"

The bard perched on the chair arm and waggled a hand. "Eh… I think so. The rain's finally stopped outside, so they were able to air some of those old furs out, and it's smelling a lot better in there."

"Good." Xena grunted. "One less thing to complain about." She let her head rest against Gabrielle's hip and closed her eyes as the bard's fingers wound their way through her hair. "Bennu and his guys are set… I told him we'd start some basic drills tomorrow.. I want his cavalry trained guys to give me a hand with those horses."

"Oh. Okay." Gabrielle rubbed the tense neck muscles. "I told the Amazons we really needed their cooperation.. and that it was going to be a tough learning curve for all of us."

"Mm."

"Did Dori get dinner?"

"Uh huh."

"What'd she get?"

There was no answer for a moment, then the warrior shifted her head. "Fish… and some peas." She murmured, reaching out and circling the bard's leg with her arm. "Peas were a bad idea."

"Why?" Gabrielle traced an ear.

"Missiles."

"Ah."

"She was using her spoon as a catapult." Xena remarked idly. "Damn good aim.. she nailed Toris right between the eyes."

Gabrielle studied the almost limp form leaning against her. "So.. did she tire you out or something? You look exhausted."

A shrug.

"Xena?" Gabrielle put a hand against the warrior's cheek, finding it cool to the touch. "What's wrong?"

With a sigh, her partner straightened up and opened her eyes. "Nothing.. I was just thinking." She drew in a breath. "Maybe I was wishing the next few days were over…I'm not looking forward to it."

Gabrielle was a little startled, surprised her partner was being so open. "Oh, maybe it won't be so bad… I think I got them to understand how important this was… they could surprise you, Xena… they know this isn't a game."

The blue eyes blinked, then shifted up to her face. "Well, I guess we'll find out." She smoothed her hand over the bandage covering Gabrielle's knee. "How's this feeling?"

"Pretty good." The bard straightened her leg, then lowered it. "Another good night's sleep'll take care of it, I bet… you game?"

"Yeah.. I'm a little tired.." The warrior stifled a yawn. "Must be the damn weather. " She stood and picked the cradle up, carrying it over to the bed and setting it down with it's sleeping cargo carefully. Then she walked over to the crate they'd turned into a rough linen press and pulled out a shift, trading her loosened leathers for it as Gabrielle did the same.

"Xena?"

"Hmm?"

"If they sent Bennu here… that means Andreas has gotten pretty far, hasn't he?"

Xena shook her armor out carefully, then laid it over the edge of one of the crates. "Yeah."

"Mm." Gabrielle eased herself down onto the double pallet, and regarded the rock ceiling. "Are you worried about that?"

"Of course I am." Xena sat down on an edge of the box. "What kind of question is that, Gabrielle?" She asked irritably.  "If he takes control of the whole region across the mountain pass there, it'll block anyone coming from the south to join us." Her voice echoed a little off the granite.

"I'm just asking, because I want to learn, Xena." The bard retorted, as she put her hands behind her head and leaned back. "I don't know.. I've never been involved in planning a war before." She glanced down as Ares trotted in, and leaped up onto the pallet, curling up against her leg.

The warrior was sullenly silent for a moment, then she reached up and rubbed her eyes with one hand. "Yeah… maybe I don't want you to know." She stood and paced over to the water, looking up at the now visible stars overhead.

Gabrielle nibbled her lip as she watched her partner in some concern. Xena had been fine earlier, if annoyed at the sniping between the three groups they were trying to make into an army. What had brought on the moody depression? Ale, maybe… she reflected, having seen the warrior down several cups past her usual dinnertime norm. "Hey.."  She watched the broad shoulders slump a little before Xena turned to regard her, and she held a hand out invitingly. "C'mere."

Xena hesitated, then complied, crossing the rock floor and settling down on the pallet as she took the bard's hand, folding her fingers around her partner's.

The bard considered carefully what to say, deciding on a tough, practical stance. "Look." Gabrielle gave her hand a firm squeeze. "You know tomorrow it going to be the worst, Xena… with all of them nattering on at each other… at the very least, you're going to have to kick a few butts." She paused, then drew breath to go on.

The warrior thought about that for a moment, then she smiled suddenly. "Yeah.. you're right." She relaxed onto her side, and gave the bard a friendly tickle, visibly in a much better mood. "Thanks, Gabrielle."

"Uh." The bard felt her mental wagon run off the road at the unintended effect her words had caused.  "Sure, honey… anytime." That wasn't what she'd really meant, but…she made the decision to take her victories where she found them, and allowed a return smile to cross her face.

Xena tugged the bard's knee over, and started unwrapping the bandage she'd secured it with, making a pleased sound deep in her throat when the final bit came free, and exposed the joint to the firelight. She smoothed practiced fingers over the skin, and probed gently. "Swelling's down."

Gabrielle looked down at her own leg, moving it a bit and watching the sturdy muscles shift just under the surface as she did. "Remember when I got this?" She asked idly, tracing a thin, curved scar along her calf.

"Sure do." Xena stretched her legs out and crossed them at the ankles. "Never ran so fast in my life… I still can't believe you managed to fall right into a boar's den and got out of it with only that."

"Mm… I remember it smelled really bad." Gabrielle laughed gently. "I wanted to take my skin off to get that stink out….but you took care of that."

A smile. "Yes, I did." The warrior fondly recalled a long session of soap, and warm water, and her insistence in making sure every square inch of her partner received attention after she'd sewn up the long, ragged gash on her leg. Even more memorable was the bard's shy wonder as her new lover had taken complete control, and dominated her in a way neither of them had explored until that moment.

But that had been a long time ago, Xena sighed inwardly. Before they'd both changed, and life had dealt them circumstances which had altered their relationship forever.

And that knowledge had been weighing more and more heavily on her lately, she'd come to realize, bringing on bouts of depression that were getting harder and harder to shove aside.  But, she took a breath. This was no time for one of them.  "I think I used a month's worth of soap on you." Xena added, with a teasing grin.

Gabrielle laughed. "I know… I had to con that merchant at the next market we went through out of his supply of that nice smelling kind, remember?"

"I remember." Xena rolled over onto her back and chuckled. "Then we found out it didn't agree with either of us."  She allowed her body to relax, feeling the stuffed mattress flex under her. "That was a mess."

"Mm… I still itch when I think about it." Her soulmate agreed, with a yawn. "That was a good idea to give it to those traveling salesmen, though."

"Yeah." Gabrielle regarded the ceiling thoughtfully. "Think they've forgiven us yet?"

Xena smiled, feeling the skin tighten around her eyes and mouth. "Nope."

They both laughed, then Gabrielle rolled over and settled into her favorite position, squirming around a little to get a good hold on her soulmate's long body and sliding her knee up over the warrior's thigh. "You know.. it was funny. I was asked to step in and judge a fight between two of Gillen's people tonight."

"Why is that funny?" Xena curled an arm around the warm body sprawled over hers.

"Well, not funny laughing, funny weird." Gabrielle mused. "It was two partners… you know, like we are?"

Xena lifted an eyebrow.

"Well, not just like us, but you know what I mean."

"Mm."

"Anyway… one had gone off to visit another village, and while she was there, she made a deal to help support another woman there, because they were um… " Gabrielle drummed her fingers on Xena's belly. "You know."

An unseen smile faced the granite ceiling. "Yeah, I know."

"Okay.. so.. anyway…the first woman said she was just obeying her sense of honor.. because she'd promised to help out.. but the second woman, the one she'd left behind, said she'd broken her honor, because she got involved with someone else."

"Ooookaayy…" Xena drew the word out. "So.. what was the problem? It's not against Amazon law."

"Well, that's why they called me in." Gabrielle explained. "Because it's not really against written law, no.. but it was sort of a moral question." She paused, thinking. "Gillen seems to think I've got a better handle on that than they do, for some reason."

"Can't imagine why." The warrior remarked mildly, her eyes twinkling as she got the expected startled look. "I'm kidding, Gabrielle."

"I knew that." The bard poked her tongue out. "So, anyway…the question was, should the Amazon in question stay involved with the woman in the other village, or should she keep out of that situation, and stay responsible to her original partner?"

"Tough question. " Xena stated thoughtfully. "What did you decide?"

"What would you have decided?" Gabrielle turned the question around on her.

The warrior remained silent for a bit, thinking. "Hard to say… I probably would have forced her to honor her original commitment."

"She'd have resented that." The bard remarked.

"Shouldn't have gotten her feathers in someone else's leathers." Xena replied, practically. "She made the choice."

"That's true." Gabrielle sighed. "I told her she'd have to choose one or the other. That it wasn't fair to either of her partners to have to share like that…you can't have everything."

"What'd she choose?" Xena asked.

"To go to the new village." Gabrielle replied softly. "I thought that if I forced her to stay where she was… she'd be unhappy, and the original woman would be unhappy, and the new one would too. This way… well, at least two of them were okay."

"Mm… I guess that was the best decision." The warrior admitted. "Tough, though."

Gabrielle nodded slowly. "Gillen asked me if I'd have done the same thing if it'd been you."  She felt the surface under her stop moving, and heard the clear, distinct skip of Xena's heart.  She looked up to see wide, round eyes looking back at her. "Xena, calm down.. I laughed my head off." She patted the warrior's stomach gently.  "She must have thought I was nuts."

A warrior lip poked out. "I'm going to have to tap her for sword instruction tomorrow." Xena muttered darkly.

"Oo." Gabrielle reached out and snuffed the candle. "She's supposed to be really good.. at least, that's what I hear from her people. They were talking about it today.. she's got some award kind of thing from their yearly festival."

"Really?"

The bard could hear the smile in her partner's voice. "Yeah."

"Heh."

*************************************************

The morning dawned bright, and Xena paused as she eased out into it, gazing up and letting it drench her body as the brisk wind blew her hair back. "Mm."  She reveled in the clean warmth, glad the rain had stopped, at least for now.

She'd woken up earlier to find herself in a great mood, for a change. Gabrielle's leg had improved again overnight, and the bard had celebrated by treating her bedmate to one of her rare bouncy bouts of silliness, crawling all over her and tickling the warrior until Xena had been practically helpless with laughter.

It had felt great.. and the depression of the night before had vanished, leaving her with a sense of hopefulness that she clung to with both hands, as she played with Dori, and got ready to start the day. "I just need to hold on to that." The warrior murmured, closing her eyes for a moment, and allowing herself to feel that warmth all the way inside. "Do what I need to do not to lose it."

She took a deep breath, and let it trickle out of her lungs, as she nudged her will to life and opened her eyes again. "And I will."

The valley was a rich green, and the horses were clattering down at one end, splashing through the lake's shallows in play. Xena watched them idly as she bounced up and down a few times, and rolled her shoulders to loosen them. She had her padded gambeson on, and the scent of the worn fabric rose to her nostrils as she tightened the straps, feeling surge of well being that started her jogging across the long, waving grass towards the herd.

Slowly her strides lengthened, and she picked up speed, enjoying the rush of air as she forced her way through it. As she closed in on the herd, the stallion snorted, and bolted, running alongside her track.

Xena grinned. "Wanna race, huh?" She called out to the large animal, then leaned into her pace, really throwing some effort into it and making the ground blur by as her heart sped up and her breathing deepened. She felt the energy surge, and she raced the galloping stallion full out, her nostrils flaring as, inch by inch, she gained on him.

It was impossible. It was unthinkable, but she was doing it, and now as the ground sloped slightly downhill towards the lake, she angled towards the horse and shook out her reserves, throwing everything she had into a last, powerful increase of speed that brought her, incredibly, even with the tall back for just…

Long…

Enough….

One last stride, and a leap, and the perfect timing that reflexes honed beyond thought had bought her let her catch the mane and haul herself up onboard, her knees settling behind his shoulders with the ease of long practice. "Yeoooooowww!"  Xena let out a yell, as she felt the horse buck under her, and her thighs clamped down automatically, holding her in place. "Gotcha!"

Oh, he didn't like that. Xena chuckled, as the huge muscles under her twisted, and she went with them, refusing to let the horse reverse his motion, and throw her off. His pace slowed to a canter, then a trot as they reached the water, and he plowed into the shallows, the sun warmed water splashing up onto his legs and spattering Xena's.  "Easy big guy." The warrior gently scratched the thick neck. "Remember me?"

He snorted.

Xena leaned over and caught his eye. "Yeah.. you remember me, huh?" She held a hand out towards his muzzle and watched as he craned his head around, snuffling at her suspiciously. "Uh huh…. I was the one with the treats, right? Remember these baby blues?"

A dark, liquid eye regarded her.

"C'mon." Xena pressed her left knee against his shoulder, and tapped his neck. "Out you go."  She waited, and when he didn't move, she lowered her head, her hair matching his, and pressed her cheek against his neck, pitching her voice a little lower. "C'mon, big boy."

Nostrils flared and he stepped to one side, responding to her powerful will.

"You know you want to." Xena burred, allowing a little of her more seductive side out to play. "Hmm?" She ran tickling fingers down his skin and heard the low rumble of response. "C'mon." She pressed her knee in again, and this time he moved out of the water, and up onto the grass. "Good boy." She gave him a pat, then sat up, and regarded the cliff face, where a line of bodies were gathering, heads mostly turned her way. A smile crossed her face. "Next?"

****************************************

"Goodness.. what's that?" Cait poked her head around Paladia's tall form inquisitively. "It smells."

"Get your nose outta it." Paladia retorted. "It's supposed ta smell…it's curing solution." She painted a layer on a piece of hide.

"For what?" Cait persisted, examining the project. "Oh.. gosh, is that a sheath?" She picked up a piece of stiff hide, and turned it over. "Not very nice."

Paladia rolled her eyes. "It's not done." She twitched the bit of leather from Cait's hands and put it back down on the table. "Look.. I'm gonna take this bit here, and that, and cut this into these strips, then lace them in there."

Cait looked at the leather, then up at her friend, then back at the leather. "Why?"

"Cause it'll look nice." The taller woman answered, in an exasperated tone.

"Bother.. it's a sheath.. it doesn't need to look nice." The slim blond replied. "It can look like a bit of garbage.. you've seen Xena's, it's nothing special."

Paladia rolled her eyes. "Yeah, yeah, yeah.. I know.. and if Xena wore a potato sack to fight in, would you?"

Cait thought about that. "Well, it would depend on why she was wearing it, now wouldn't it?" She replied, with a sniff. "I'm going to go get some practice in… you should too." She looked over Paladia's shoulder. "Oh.. hello, your Majesty."

"Hi." Gabrielle leaned on the worktable, and regarded it's contents. "Oh… wow… that's going to be nice." She put a finger on the leather interlacing.

Paladia gave her friend a smugly triumphant look, but didn't answer. Cait just rolled her eyes.

"Are you going to the practice, your Majesty?" The smaller woman asked, pointedly. "I do love watching you with your staff."

Pale green eyes under blond lashes flicked up to her face and studied her briefly. "Yeah.. I was going to go by there… I'd like to get in a little sword work."

A stunned silence fell over the two Amazons. Paladia blinked, and shifted the leatherworking tools in her big hands, and Cait simply stared at her queen in blank, unfeigned startement.

"I beg your pardon?" The girl finally spluttered. "Why ever would you want to do that?"

Gabrielle lifted a brow. "Because we're getting ready to fight a war?" She hazarded. "We can't afford anyone to be out there that can't do the job, Cait."

Cait came right around the table and faced her queen, their eyes almost level. "But that's not right for you." She murmured urgently. "Does Xena know about this?"

The bard straightened. "Cait…it's my responsibility to lead us into battle… and on top of that, I guard Xena's back." She gazed into the younger woman's eyes. "I have to be ready for everything that might mean… protecting her is so important."

Cait reached up and clasped her hands. "Gabrielle…what's important to her is you…I simply can't belive she wants you to do this. If I have to… I'll stay right by you, and if someone needs killing, I'll do it. Please let me."

Paladia was staying very still, only her pale gray, almost colorless eyes were shifting between the two faces so close together.

"I can't." Gabrielle freed one hand, and touched Cait's cheek. "I can't order people to do something I won't, Cait." A tiny smile pulled at her lips. "But thank you."

"Can I say something that's not.. like mushy or weird?" Paladia interrupted abruptly.

They both looked at her in some surprise.

"You’re a nutball to try and use a sword now. That staff's just as good, and you kick butt with it."  The tall burly woman stated flatly. "So, forget about all this noble crap, and stick to stuff you know."

Gabrielle's eyebrows lifted almost to her hairline.

"Well." Cait rubbed her nose. "She's right, you know."

A muscle jerked in the bard's jaw, and she remained silent for a moment. "We'll see." She finally stated, turning and walking off towards the training grounds.

Cait looked at Paladia. "That was quite rude."

"Yeah?"

"Yes. I'm quite proud of you. Good job." The slim blond gave her a positive nod, and patted her arm. "She's one of that sort that shouldn't kill, you know… it's not right for her."

"Eh." Paladia went back to her work, pulling another leather lace through it's hole. "She'd do it for your precious Xena… guess it'd just depend on what a life's worth to ya."

Cait leaned on the table, reflecting on that for a bit. "Would you?"

"Would I what?" The taller woman asked, absently, as she worked a bit of leather with her tool.

"Kill someone?"

Paladia finished her task, then made a face. "I dunno… never thought about it…. I guess I might, if it were important enough to me." She glanced up, and froze, as her eyes were captured by the soft gray ones opposite her.

"I hope you never have to find out." Cait stated seriously, holding her gaze for a long moment, before she turned and padded silently after her departed queen.

******************************************

"Okay." Xena had traded her black friend for Argo, needing to feel the mare's rock steady form under her as she tried to teach her milling, somewhat uncertain students the finer points of fighting on horseback. "Listen up."

The Amazons were clustered in small groups, visibly separate from Bennu's troops, and the stolid, patient forms of the Amphipolitian militia. Xena tied Argo's reins in a light knot and let them lie on the mare's neck, as she used her legs to guide Argo in a neat sidestep. "Let's just get some basics down, all right?"

Slowly, a quiet settled and eyes fastened on her. Xena straightened in the saddle, and drew her sword, flipping it in pure reflex over in her hand and letting it come to rest with the hilt on her thigh. "The reason we're going through this, is because being on horseback is a big advantage, one that Andreas doesn't have."

"Why?" Gillen asked, from the forefront of the Amazons. "What can you do up there that I can't do from here?"

It was almost too easy. Xena smiled. "Good question." She drawled. "Come at me, and I'll show ya."

The older Amazon cocked her head, then smiled back, a fierce challenge in her eyes. "All right." She drew her sword and advanced, sliding around Argo's left side and attacking Xena from there.

The warrior tossed her sword from her right hand to her left, and met the attack, deflecting it easily. "See… all your strokes have to be from a weak position." The warrior explained. "Because you're down there."

Gillen feinted right, and brought her weapon up in a short, sharp stab, intending on getting inside Xena's reach. The warrior nudged with her heels, and Argo reared, hopping forward and allowing her rider to get her blade under the stab, and deflect it outwards. "See?"

"You have a trick horse." Gillen snapped.

"No.. just a trained one." Xena slammed her hilt down on the Amazon queen's, sending the weapon flying. "And all my strikes come from the strongest position possible, so I can use my weight against whoever I'm fighting against."

Gillen rubbed her hand, and gazed speculatively at the warrior, patiently waiting for her to resume. "All right." She conceded. "But you've been doing this forever, Xena… you can't expect us to learn it in a few weeks." She paused. "And what if someone goes for the horse, instead of you?"

Xena sheathed her weapon, and smiled. "Try it." She folded her arms over her chest, and clamped down with her legs, as Gillen obligingly tried to poke Argo with her sword.

The mare took severe exception, immediately rearing and striking out with her hooves, letting out an outraged snort.

"Whoa." Gillen backed off. "But they don't all know how to do that, I bet. " She commented shrewdly.

"No." Xena drew her sword again, and twirled it. "But it's a self protective instinct… horses do that when threatened." She patted Argo's neck. "Anything that comes naturally.. is easy to teach."  Xena waited for more objections, pleased when there were none. "Okay."

A nudge, and Argo backed obediently. "The whole trick to it is being strong through here." The warrior rubbed her side, and stomach. "Because you don't have the ground to balance against.. .so you've got to hold your ground using your body."  Xena directed Argo towards a pell they'd set up, by burying a log deep in the ground, and covering the top in layers of sacking.

She drove at it, and swept by, leaning to her right and dealing the post a smart blow. Then she neatly turned Argo, and drove past the pell on the other side, waiting until she was just past it, to swing a powerful back stroke at it, carving off bark and sending it flying. "You add your momentum to the strikes… makes them very hard to stop." The warrior brought Argo to neat footed halt, watching the absorbed faces intent on her.

"So the first thing we need to do is develop that strength." Xena tapped her stomach again. "That's what those logs are for." She pointed. "You sit on em, and practice."

Eyes went to the logs, then up to her. "You've got to be kidding." Aslanta snorted. "I left that stage behind years ago, Xena."

"Hurts a lot less when you fall off that, then one of these." Xena replied drolly, patting Argo's neck. "And you will." She heard the muttering. "Enough. Let's get going." Her voice rose, taking on a harder edge. "Bennu, get your handlers out… see if you can tie off those mares, so I can see how much work I gotta do with them."

"Right, Genr'l." Bennu motioned for three of his men to come over. "You lot…get yer mounts, and do what the lady sez."  They nodded and loped towards the makeshift stables.

"Have the rest get their horses… we'll do some demonstration." Xena added, with a slight smile.

The tall soldier grinned. "Right!"

The warrior watched them trot off and leaned back a little, aware of the grumbling and milling of the Amazons in front of her. What was that I said to Gabrielle? She sighed inwardly. I'd rather command five thousand men than five hundred Amazons?  "Is there a problem?" She pinned them with an icy stare.

Eyes shifted to Gillen, who had been standing next to Aslanta, head bent in speech, and the woman straightened, giving her head a toss and walking over to stand in front of Xena, her hands on her hips.

Here it comes. Xena felt a welcome tickle of anticipation, which surprised her a little. Guess I'm just feeling my oats or something this morning.  She lifted one eyebrow at the slim, muscular woman in question.

"Ridings an advantage." The Amazon stated softly. "And you know your stuff up there, all right."

Xena waited, feeling Argo shift under her as the mare picked up her anticipation. "And?" She queried dryly.

"Okay." Gillen swaggered forward a step. "But what happens when you get unhorsed?" She looked around. "Because that's when you have to be a real fighter…eye to eye, in the dirt…so then what?"

Xena leaned on Argo's saddlebow, giving her a sardonic look. There always has to be one, doesn’t there?  "I fight on the ground." She answered mildly. "Wanna see?"

"You talk a good game, Xena…but it's been a long time for you, hasn't it?" A slow nod. "Yeah. I want to see what I'm going to be following in to battle."

Ooohhh… the tiger woke up and stretched luxuriously, extending clawed paws out and wiggling them.  Xena freed her boots from Argo's stirrups and put her hands on the saddlebow, lifting her body up until she got her feet under her and stood easily on Argo's back, as the mare stood stock still. "Do you?" The warrior's voice dropped to a low rumble, and she stepped up onto the crosspiece, then launched up and off Argo's back, tucking her body into a mid air flip before landing neatly several bodylengths from Gillen. "All right."

With any luck, she reasoned, she'd just have to take on one of them. Gabrielle's Amazons, she noted, were busy in the back taking bets, and out of the corner of her eye, she saw Gabrielle herself appear, taking in the crowd, and the tension, and the scene before her.

Would the bard interfere? Xena watched the supple form stiffen in reaction, then turn her way, green eyes lancing through the milling crowd and meeting hers in pensive question. Gabrielle had stopped them once before, would she do it again?

A blond brow edge up, and Xena smiled tightly, lifting her own in response. Gabrielle sighed, then her fair lashes fluttered as she closed her eyes briefly, then opened them, tilting her head just a bit in concession as she hitched herself up on a boulder nearby, drawing one knee up and resting her chin on it.

So. The warrior turned her attention to her opponent, who was checking around her for space. Good sign. Xena did the same, aware of a rough circle forming around them, of tense, expectant bodies.

Her own steps became smoother, as her body responded to long familiar signals and she felt her muscles loosen, then tense in a totally different way, ready to shift into blurring motion as instinct overrode her conscious control.

Gillen was, she recognized, a tough opponent. She reminded Xena in many ways of Melosa, who had certainly given her a run for her dinars, and that was a couple years in the past. The Amazon was experienced, and by her steady eyes and easy motion, a skilled fighter.

Ah well. Xena paused, standing easily with her weight balanced, and held both empty hands up in mocking question. "Well? Ready when you are."  She let a smile cross her face, and saw the faint flicker of reaction dart across Gillen's face.

Mind over matter.

The Amazon drew her sword and attacked, cutting in towards the warrior with a well executed assault. Xena waited until it was almost too late, then slipped out of the way, gliding around the other woman as she went past, focusing her attention wholly on blade she was facing.

It came at her again and she ducked, letting it lunge past her ear, then she bounced backwards and stepped to her right, correctly anticipating Gillen's backswipe.

Then she saw the blade tilt, and go from the flat, to a sharp edge and her arms moved, drawing her own weapon and flipping it to her left hand as she deflected the cut, her heartbeat rising as her body responded to the now, very real, threat.

Xena turned and reversed her direction, switching hands at the same time and stepping forward aggressively, catching Gillen by surprise and making her jump back as she caught the warrior's sword on her own and managed to push the effort to one side.

They exchanged a flurry of counterattacks, testing each other's skills, then Gillen went on the offensive again, bringing her sword up along Xena's side, from a low position she assumed would be a weakness in someone that much taller than she was.

And it would have been, Xena reflected wryly, as she twisted to evade the blow. If she hadn't spent a few years teaching a certain feisty bard of equal short stature that trick. Gabrielle's favorite attack was up and to the left, and Xena had learned the hard way to defend against it, at the cost of some really sore ribs.

On the other hand…. Gillen's head was at just the right level for the warrior to nail her with an elbow and she did, sending the woman staggering back for a moment, shaking her head to clear it. Xena grinned. "You asked for down and dirty."

The Amazon wiped her hand across her face, glancing at the blood on it running freely from her nose. "You don't want to go there, Xena."

A very soft laugh. "Go there? I live there, Gillen...you sure you're up for it?"

Gillen's face darkened, and she wiped her hand down her thigh, leaving a rusty streak before she shifted her grip and circled, a deadly serious expression on her face. "You're going to regret that." She told the warrior very softly, before she attacked in earnest, driving Xena back a few steps with the intensity of her strokes.

Xena took a breath, a little surprised, then settled down and stood her ground, fighting off the rapid blows with efficient skill. Gillen was good all right, and dauntingly fast, an edge the warrior knew she'd lost a little of over the years.

But then she hit her rhythm, and experience kicked in, moving her sword in a flicker of motion that was half instinct and half bone deep learning, compensating for their heights, and Gillen's intensity as she turned the Amazon's strikes back.

And now she saw, for the first time, doubt in Gillen's eyes.

The tiger showed it's fangs, and she went on the offensive, taking tiny, digging steps forward as she wove a steel net in front of her, hearing the harsh scrape and whisper of their swords meeting and two sets of breathing in the suddenly quiet circle.

Faster now, and the sword became an extension of her, no longer a weapon to be held, but an added reach to her arms that was as much a part of her as her skin.

And then it all clicked, and it was there at her fingertips.  A solid rush of blood washed excitement through her and she sucked in a breath, letting it out in a yell as she pounced forward, forgetting that Gillen was an ally.

Forgetting it was just a game.

Her sword swept forward and around, smashing against the Amazons with

stunning force and making Gillen's whole body jerk in reaction. Then she pulled the sword down and around, sweeping it up through the other woman's guard, and yanking Gillen's sword right out of her hands.

Gillen reached for her knife in desperation, pulling it from it's sheath and diving towards the warrior, aiming for her midsection in a solid, powerful lunge.

"Oh no." Xena brought both hands down savagely, catching the Amazon on her wrists and hearing the faint clatter as the knife dropped to the ground.

Then she brought a knee up into her ribcage, sheathing her sword in a single fluid gesture as she grabbed the smaller woman and lifted her up bodily, killing instincts on razor's edge.

"Nnno." Gillen gasped, coughing in agony.

It was so close.

Xena felt, and heard a heartbeat she realized was her own hammering in her ears as she fought the intense desire, the craving her dark side was begging her to indulge in., her nostrils already flaring to catch the scent of blood.

She felt a soft growl flutter he lips, the darkness inside her wanting it, demanding it.

Then sanity reasserted itself, and she released the smaller woman, who collapsed on the ground, breathing hard.

Xena stepped back, and let her hands fall to her thighs, curling her fingers slightly to hide their twitching, as instinct slowly released it's hold.

The silence beat against her, and after a breath, she looked up, seeing what she was reflected in the hundreds of eyes there.

Ares' Chosen.

Those looks echoed back darkness. Fear. Awe.

Save one beacon of light, and warmth, and acceptance, which gathered her in as Gabrielle pushed her way through the crowd, reaching out and giving her a little pat on the side as she joined her. "You okay?" The bard asked softly.

Am I okay. Xena took a breath. I almost just killed another Amazon in damn near cold blood and she asks me if I'm okay. "Yeah."  She glanced down at Gillen, who had gotten to her knees and was holding her midsection, staring up at the two of them with a stunned, shocked look. "Satisfied?"

The Amazon queen swallowed audibly. "Yes."

Gabrielle captured one of her partner's hands and wrapped her fingers around it. "Why don't you give these guys a break for a minute, and come get a drink of water."

"Good idea." Xena responded calmly. "All right." Her voice rose. "In a candlemark, I want to see those logs full of bodies, got me?"

Low murmurs and nods. Everyone started moving, retrieving weapons and keeping mostly quiet as they sorted themselves out.  Gillen stood up and gave her a nod, then backed off, stopping to pick up her sword before she joined several of her warriors.

Gabrielle let out a breath very slowly, then tilted her head to look up at her partner. "I guess that had to happen, huh?"

Xena shrugged. "Got a little out of hand." She admitted.

The bard considered that. "She was serious." Green eyes searched her face. "She was really trying to hurt you, Xena."

A nod. "Yeah."

Gabrielle sighed. "Maybe that'll be the end of this stuff." She tugged the warrior's hand gently. "C'mon... I've got a waterskin over there. You look a little warm." The bard could also feel the tremors still running through her partner's fingers, and see the nervous tensing of her facial muscles. "Come on."

Xena allowed herself to be led over to the rock the bard had been perched on, and took the skin Gabrielle handed her, removing the cork and sucking at it's contents . "I didn't think she'd do that." She admitted, as she leaned against the cool stone.

"Mm." The bard slipped a hand under the gambeson and found the sensitive spot along Xena's lower back, scratching it with gentle fingers and feeling the tense muscles relax under her touch. "I bet she never does it again."

Xena didn't answer, as she gazed out over the grass, trying to keep from thinking about that one moment.

When it all clicked.

*******************************************

Continued in Part 15

These characters, and boy, are they ever characters, are mostly the property of Renaissance Pictures, Universal MCA, and whoever else owns stock and interest in Xena: Warrior Princess. This fiction was written for my amusement only, and not in any way, shape or form for profit - and it is not intended to infringe on the copyright holders of the characters.

Some of the characters are mine, and the story ideas.. well, who knows where they come from? Must be one weird place, that's for sure.

Specific Story Disclaimers:

Violence - this is a Xena: Warrior Princess story. This is not Teletubbies. Even though there are some rumors of similarities. Some of the violence is graphic, but we try not to dwell on it.

Subtext - Considering that the TV Series just aired an episode establishing Xena and Gabrielle as eternal soulmates, any disclaimer of subtext on my part is really kind of goofy in the extreme. The two characters are in love with each other, and have been for years. You can choose to see them as just friends, but then you might not want to read this fanfic, in case it changes your mind or anything like that.

Emotional Content - this is not one my more comedic efforts. There are moments of humor, however.

********************************************************************

Dark Comes the Morning - Part 15

By Melissa Good

Mostly, she listened. Gabrielle went from group to group, watching their progress, and concentrating on her soulmate's teaching.

Some people got it, some people didn't, but the bard knew that wasn't her soulmate's fault. As a teacher, Xena was really pretty good. Gabrielle had found that out over the years as she'd been patiently tutored, developing a range of skills that still, even now, surprised her when she thought about it.

It was near nightfall, and they'd been out there all day, working on the drills Xena had devised, and learning to work more as a group than as individuals.

That was the tough part. Amazons, especially, were individualists, and found it difficult to coordinate in large groups. But one word from Xena, and they tried their hardest.

Gabrielle exhaled, and leaned against a convenient rock, propping her still sore leg up to get her weight off it. A moment later, Eponin came up and leaned next to her, taking a long sip from a well used waterskin. "Hey."

"Your majesty." The Amazon gave her a gracious nod.

The bard lifted an eyebrow. "What's that for?"

Eponin played with the waterskin stopper for a moment, then looked up. "Xena made a point today." She cleared her throat. "We know her. We know you."

"Mm."

"But in order to pull this crap off, she's got to be more than the Xena we know… and we've got to start treating you like the Queen you are." Eponin dropped her gaze and studied a pebble.

Gabrielle folded her arms over her chest. "Did she scare you today, Pony?"

The Amazon was very still for a heartbeat, then she pursed her lips. "Yeah." The golden eyes lifted to Gabrielle's. "I've always…um…sort of know what she was about, you know? I just never…um…" She hesitated, obviously uncomfortable.

"Never saw it like that?" The bard suggested, gently.

"Yeah." Pony gave a short nod. "Even with Melosa… it wasn't… like that." She searched Gabrielle's face. "That's the real nasty part, right?"

Gabrielle felt profoundly sad. "It can be." She admitted. "She doesn't let that happen very often."

They stood in silence for a bit, watching the drills. Most of the log drills were over, and the Amazons were gathering, sparring a little with each other as they waited for everything to finish.

"She let that happen the night she came back for you." Pony said, suddenly. "Didn't she?"

Gabrielle's eyes found the tall, lone figure striding across the grass, heading for a group of horsemen. "Yes."

Pony fell silent for a while, as a group of Aslanta's Amazons formed near them, and started practicing with swords and chobos.

"Whole damn field full of featherheads, and if you went and gathered all their guts up in a bag, it wouldn't come close to being the size of yours, you know that, your Majesty?" Pony turned her head and gave Gabrielle a respectful look.

Gabrielle sighed. "Not that time, Pony." She straightened up and twitched her leathers into place. "I was in the darkest place of my life… and deciding I'd rather die at her hand, than die alone didn't take guts."  She blinked, and a tear rolled down her face. "Sorry." A hand wiped the moisture away.

Pony looked stricken. "Gabrielle.. damn.. I'm sorry.. I didn't meant to… oh, crap."

A tiny voice, thankfully, interrupted them.

"Mama!!!"

Gabrielle turned, to see Dori toddling out of the cavern towards her. "Hey, honey.. what are you doing here?" She held out her arms to her daughter, and the baby made straight for her, colliding with her legs with an impressive thump. "Oof."  She picked the baby up and cuddled her. "Did you get out of the nursery?"

"Mama..mama.." Dori chanted, sucking on a finger, then pointing it at Pony. "Rugrug."

Pony rolled her eyes. "Aw, don’t you start with that again."

Gabrielle felt her sadness fade, as she studied her little daughter. "Rugrug, huh?" She gave Pony a mischevious look. "Wonder if Xe's heard that one."

Pony's eyes widened. "Oh…. No…. your majesty…puhhleeeeezz.." She whined pathetically.

Dori was fascinated with the sound and she squealed, trying to imitate it, making her mother wince at the close proximity to her ear.

"Dori.. cut that out." Gabrielle scolded her, surprised when she saw Dori's eyes widen, then realizing the baby was looking over her shoulder. "Uh oh.. I sense a Boo coming."

"Booo!!!!!" Dori squealed in an impossibly loud tone. She started squirming, trying to wrench herself out of her mother's grasp with infant determination. "Boobooboobooboboo…"

"Dori… " Gabrielle scrambled to keep hold of her. "Now, c'mon.. you can't go out there… "

"It's all right." A familiar voice sounded just behind her. "Here.. let me take her."

The bard relinquished her squirming charge to her soulmate, who immediately became a climbing obstacle. "There.  You suffer."

Dori found the straps on Xena's gambeson excellent handholds, and she started industriously scaling the warrior's tall form. "Boo."

"Yep.. that's me." Xena agreed, as the baby got to a comfortable position against her shoulder and commenced chewing one of her  leather fasteners.

"Um.." Pony ducked away. "See you guys later." She headed towards a group of her fellow Amazons who were headed towards the large cavern.

Gabrielle watched her go, then turned. "So… how are things going?"

"Not bad." Xena looked tired, but satisfied. "They've got some really good sword handlers in Gillen's group… and Aslanta's people impressed me with crossbows." She nodded twice. "We've got a decent cavalry core in Bennu's soldiers, and if we can get a the Amazons a little experience riding, we'll do all right." She paused and thought, letting Dori play with a lock of her sweat dampened hair. "Tomorrow, we do the logs again, then.."

"Um." Gabrielle sidled over and cupped her hand around the warrior's biceps. "Sweetheart, I need to talk to you about that."

Pale blue eyes blinked at her. "You do?"

"Eyah… um.. honey, those logs have bark on them." Gabrielle stated.

"And?" The warrior replied a little more sharply than she'd intended. "They're trees, Gabrielle. They're supposed to have bark.. what's the problem?"

"Xena." Gabrielle folded her hands around the powerful arm. "Amazons don’t wear pants."

Both dark brows shot together. "What kind of …." Xena stopped. The angular profile twitched. "Oh."

"Yeah. Oh." The bard patted her partner's belly gently. "You know they won't let one word of complaint out to you, so…"

Xena was silent for a moment, then she nodded. "Okay. Sorry.. I really didn't think about it.. when my army had to do that, it was up north and…"

"And you wore pants." Her soulmate agreed.

"Yeah… " The warrior's head tilted. "In fact… it wasn't a bad set of armor, really… knee high leather boots, lined.. quilted leggings, and a set of scaled body armor…" She tugged at the gambeson. "Sort of fit like this.. "  She thought a minute. "Think it's in one of those damn boxes, as a matter of fact.. I should get it out.. someone might be able to use it.. the gods know it won't fit me anymore."

Bennu ambled up at that moment, giving Gabrielle a respectful nod, and touching his chest in Xena's direction. "Genr'l."

"Yes?"

He held out a short, scabbarded blade. "Ye asked fer this… Argus just finished it."

The warrior stared at it for a moment, then reached out a hand and accepted the weapon. "Thanks, Bennu… that's all for today - we'll muster out at sunrise tomorrow."

"Aye." He sketched a salute, then turned on his heel smartly and left.

Gabrielle peered at the short sword. "That's new.. I thought you didn't use that size?"

"I don't." Xena answered very quietly, handing the sword to her. "But I made you a promise.. I designed something I thought you could handle."

It was a shock. Gabrielle almost dropped the weapon before she got a grip on it, and drew it closer. It was only two thirds the length of her soulmates, and much lighter, with a neatly leather wrapped wooden hilt that fit her smaller hand with eerie precision. After a moment, she looked up at her partner, meeting the shadowed blue eyes and seeing a deep sadness there. "I don't know what to say."

Xena didn't answer immediately. She played with one of Dori's hands, allowing the baby to tug at her fingers. "I'd… rather we do our sessions in private.. I don't want…" She stopped, with a little shake of her head.

"Would it be easier on you if I asked someone else to show me?"

There was a long silence.

"No." Xena finally replied n a steady voice. "I want to make sure it's done right."

Gabrielle tucked the sword under her arm, and straightened. "Am I being an idiot for even wanting to try this, Xena? Be up front with me." She heard the intake of breath. "You've spent half your life learning… what can I expect in a few weeks?"

Xena swallowed, then spoke quietly. "You're a fast learner, Gabrielle. You've got damn good reflexes, you're strong, and you've been through a lot of hand to hand experience."

The bard was honestly surprised, and it showed in her face. "You make me sound like such a fighter." She remarked wryly.

Xena sighed. "You are."  She stated simply. "You always have been…there's never been any physical reason why I couldn't teach you this." Her lips tensed. "But I think you know that."

"Boo." Dori tugged on the warrior's ear, investigating a leaf that had lodged itself impudently in the dark hair.

"Let's go inside." Xena gestured. "I know I could use a bath." She moved past her partner and headed into the cavern.

Gabrielle watched her go, studying the tall figure as she walked away.

*************************************************************

She could feel the difference. Xena kept her eyes forward as she crossed the main chamber, not acknowledging the eyes that fastened on her. But it was almost a physical change, and she knew if she looked around, the glances would drop and none would meet hers.

They'd all seen it, even the Amphipolitians, to whom, she was sure her actions this morning had brought back dark memories. The Amazons now deferred quietly to her, treating her like Bennu's men did, and as she walked through the milling warriors, they cleared a path for her without comment.

"Boo." Dori tugged on an ear, then pointed to where the kitchen staff had set up camp.

Xena glanced at her daughter's cute face, and smiled wistfully. At least one thing hadn't changed. "You hungry?"  She altered her path, heading for the busy area, where she could see her mother standing, arguing.

Cyrene looked up as they approached and smiled. "Well well… so that's where you disappeared to."

"You talking to her, or me?" Xena inquired, giving the two women standing next to her mother a polite nod. "Got something I can give her? I think she's hungry."

The innkeeper chuckled. "Talk about inherited traits." She turned her head. "All right.. well, we can continue this debate later..it's not like anything's going to happen right away."

The two women nodded, and left, and Cyrene pulled a tray over to her on the rough hewn table she was using as a workspace and chose some items off it. "So." She looked up to see Xena's blue eyes fastened on her. "Heard you had quite a day."

A quiet reserve closed down over Xena's face, and she was silent for a long moment. "Giving everyone nightmares, aren't I?"

Cyrene was caught offguard, not expecting the question so openly. "Xena, I don't.."

"You don't have to. I can see it in their faces." The warrior replied quietly. "I can't help that, mother. I need to tap that side of myself in order to have a chance at this, and that's what matters. Not what… everyone thinks of me."

Cyrene stood up and walked over, putting a hand on her tall daughter's arm. "Not everyone." She tilted her head back and looked Xena in the eye. "Not even most people. It was just a shock, Xena. They're so used to seeing you in a different light, it surprised them."

"Gramma." Dori objected to this delay in her gratification. "Mm."

They both looked at the infant.  "Hey." Xena growled at her.

Dori scowled right back, and pulled on a lock of dark hair. "Bck."

Cyrene chuckled softly. "You know, they say children can see right to the truth in people… and Xena, anyone seeing you with her, has no nightmares." She handed the warrior a small dish of diced meat and mashed vegetables. "Here… before she starts knocking you around."

Xena opened her mouth to protest, and got a tiny fist inside it, as Dori investigated her tongue. "Fmpf!" She pulled her head back, then took the dish and stalked off, muttering.

Cyrene shook her head as Johan joined her, looking after his foster daughter and putting an arm around the innkeeper's shoulders.

"Quite t'pair, huh?" Johan remarked.

"Mm." His wife sighed. "It's like watching Xena grow up all over again. Only this time, thank the gods, someone else has to chase after her."

Johan was silent for a bit, thinking. "She does favor Xena, doesn't she?" He inquired. "Ah…her ways, her eyes.. are the little one's but.."

Cyrene went very still, then she slowly let out a breath. "Of course she favors her." She murmured softly.

Her husband shifted a little. "How long have ye known?' He finally whispered.

"Since the day she was born."

Johan whistled softly under his breath.

***********************************************

Gabrielle decided to watch the sunset. She found a comfortable perch on a rock just outside the cavern entrance, and simply leaned back, the sword resting on her thighs, as her eyes followed the shadows chasing themselves across the valley walls.

Her fingers played with the leather scabbard idly, tracing out the plain, workmanlike details. Occasionally, her hand strayed to the hilt, fitting itself around the leather wrapped surface as her thumb brushed lightly across the crosspiece.

She thought about a lot of things.

About how a journey through life was really a journey to find your place in it.

And how, sometimes, it wasn't where you expected it to be.

She thought about the greater good, and what that really meant, and how she knew about it in ways most people would never dream of.

She thought about Hope. And about Solon.

And Meridian, whose blood had forever changed her life.

The crimson rays painted the rock she was on, dusting her in warmth as the sun slipped down behind the mountain wall, catching the golden highlights on the fine hairs of her arms as she sat with them braced against her knees.

Ephiny found her there. She walked slowly out into the valley, lit in shades of purple and blue, studying the strong profile before Gabrielle heard her, and turned her head. The bard's green eyes seemed unusually vibrant, even in the low light, and Ephiny hesitated before she came over, putting her hands on the rock next to where Gabrielle was sitting. "It's getting late."

"I know." Gabrielle replied softly.

"You all right?"

The bard nodded. "I'm glad you came out here. I was just going to come look for you."

Hazel eyes studied her intently. "Good timing then."

"Eph… " Gabrielle paused, taking and releasing a breath. "I want you to lead the Amazons during this."

Ephiny blinked in shock. "W..what?"  She stuttered, it being the last thing she'd expected to hear. "Don’t' get me wrong, I'm not unwilling, but I thought…"

Gabrielle smiled, and meant it. "I thought I could to… but that's not where I belong." Her eyes met Ephiny's. "I'm going to be wherever Xena is." She rested her chin on her forearm. "She needs me there."

Ephiny absorbed the words in silence. Then she slowly nodded, reaching over to gently ruffle Gabrielle's hair. "You're right… you're her heart and soul, Gabrielle… having you with her makes it safer for all of us."

She didn't even try to deny it. "Thanks for understanding."  A hand lifted and captured Ephiny's, and squeezed. "I'll call a meeting tomorrow, and tell everyone."

The Amazon regent nodded. "You won't get any argument, Gabrielle.. they're ready to do whatever you tell them to."  She gave the surprised bard a smile. "You have the Destroyer of Nations bending her knee to you, my friend…some of them are wondering if you aren't a physical manifestation of Artemis."

Gabrielle's jaw dropped, and she stared at Ephiny for a minute, then shook her head. "Good grief… you're joking, right?"

"No." Her regent told her. "I'm not."

The bard sighed, then got up off her rock. "Well, I'm not anything of the kind." She muttered, brushing her skirt off. "That's the craziest thing I ever heard, Ephiny… " She paused, and looked at the Amazon. "Like Xena would listen to god anyway, you know?"

Ephiny chuckled and put an arm around her. "C'mon… I was going to ask you to tell a story or two at dinner tonight… anything to keep Aslanta from monopolizing the conversation."

Gabrielle smiled. "Sure… I'll meet you in the main cave.. I've.. um.. "  She smiled a little. "Gotta go see a woman about a sword."

She parted from Ephiny, and headed towards her quarters, feeling as though half the weight of the world had been lifted off her shoulders.

*****************************************

Xena sat quietly, her legs sprawled out on the rock floor, a wolf curled up under her thighs, and watched Dori devour her dinner. The infant was seated in her lap, and she was holding the baby's dish in her hand, allowing Dori to grab what she wanted.

It was quiet in the cavern, a soft trickle of water and Dori's messy feeding really the only sounds, save the distant rumble and murmur of the rest of the group eating in the large chamber.

"That good?" Xena inquired.

Dori looked up, holding a handful of her minced meat and blew a bubble. "Bck."

"Have some of this." Xena offered her the side of the dish with the vegetables, and Dori very carefully reached over them to get more meat. "C'mon Dori.. you're not gonna be like me, okay?"

The layers of meaning in the statement struck the warrior, and she swallowed an unexpected lump. "Not at all." A finger moved and she got some of the mashed greens on it, and held it out. "Be good, Dori… c'mon now."

The infant stopped chewing, as she stared at the stuff seriously, then just as seriously reached out and grabbed them.

"Good girl." The warrior encouraged softly.

Dori studied her hand, then she looked up at Xena, and launched the glob of them at the warrior's face.

Fortunately, Xena's reflexes, even after the long day, were up to the task and she intercepted the mashed greens before she wore them. "Dori.."

The baby giggled.

"You think that's funny, huh?"

"Booo!" Dori pointed at her with a hand covered in goop.

"Mm.. I wonder where your mama is." Xena eyed the entrance to the chamber, a little concerned. She knew Gabrielle had been a little upset about the sword, but she'd thought she'd at least want to come talk about it.

To you? A voice mocked her. Why? She sure isn't looking at you for moral advice.

But she asked me to do this. Xena argued with herself. She asked.. no, she insisted she wanted to do it… I just have to make sure she…

Make sure she what, Xena, can kill efficiently? The voice laughed.

No. I'm going to teach her to defend herself. That's all.

"Booo?"

Xena looked down, to see clear green eyes gazing up at her in loving trust.

"More!"

She moved the dish closer and watched the infant resume her feeding. "Are you the only one who doesn't see the monster, Dori?" She asked quietly, running the fingers of her free hand over the baby's dark hair. "You don't, do you?"

Dori looked up again.

"Your mama does…she just has a way of seeing past it." Xena touched the small chin, gently tracing the baby's face. "But you don't."

Dark lashes blinked over Dori's eyes and she smiled, evoking the image of her mother so strongly it brought an answering smile to Xena's face.

Gabrielle stood completely still in the entrance, treasuring the scene in front of her. Then she deliberately shifted, making a small sound that got pale blue eyes fastened on her in a flickering instant. She continued into the chamber as though she'd just arrived and gave her soulmate a smile of greeting. "Hey, you two."

"Mama!" Dori bounced up and down in delight.

The bard crossed to the box they'd commandeered as a cabinet and laid the sword down on top of it, then returned to where her partner was sitting and crouched down next to her. "You're a mess!" She gave Xena a nudge. "And Dori is too."

The warrior chuckled sheepishly. "She was too hungry to let me take time to wash off… I figured I could do it after she ate."  Gabrielle's evident good mood surprised her a little, but she felt herself responding to it gratefully. "I can't get her to eat these damn vegetables, though."

"Gee." Gabrielle propped her elbow on the chair arm and regarded her daughter. "I wonder where in the world she got that habit from?" She brushed a little minced meat off Dori's face. "Hmm? Are you being a bad girl?"

Dori poked her lower lip out, and looked back at her mother from under her dark lashes, smiling adorably.

"Oh… that's disgustingly cute." Gabrielle spluttered glancing up at her partner. Xena paused a moment, then with a gentle twinkle in her eyes, duplicated the baby's pout in uncanny mimicry. The bard had to sit down she started laughing so hard.

Finally she sighed, and rested her arm against the chair's. "Thanks."

Xena merely smiled.

They both fell quiet, then Gabrielle looked up, her face serious. "I've been doing some thinking."

"Mm?"

Gabrielle looked into the deep shadows in the pale eyes above her, even here, even now feeling the resonance between them like a living thing.

Soulmates.

Two halves of a whole.

"I'm not going to carry a sword."  She could feel the change immediately. "So you don't have to teach me to use one."

Xena's head tilted in question, but her eyes brightened

The bard simply shrugged. "It's not part of who I am."  She saw the faint shift of muscles as a smile slowly tugged at Xena's mouth. "I asked Ephiny to lead the Amazons."

Dark lashes blinked in astonishment.

"Don't look so surprised. " Gabrielle stated quietly. "Where you go, I go."

Xena's jaw dropped a little, the motion evident even in the low light.

"That is part of who I am."

The warrior finally found her voice. "I think you made the right choice."

Gabrielle smiled. "I know I did."  The bard climbed to her feet, and retrieved her messy offspring. "C'mon, Dori.. let's get you washed off.. and give your Boo a chance to do the same thing."  She bounced her daughter in her arms and headed for the wash basin, aware of her soulmate rising behind her.

She stopped, and turned, seeing the tall form just watching her. "Xena?"

"Yes." The warrior replied softly.

'I don’t see the monster either."  Gabrielle rolled the words off her tongue, tasting them. "I never have."  Then she turned and took Dori to the water, setting the infant down and starting to clean her off.

Not even needing to see Xena's face to feel the joy in her words.

*************************************************

Xena looked up as she heard footsteps, then motioned Aslanta and Toris to approach.  She was in a small cavern she’d chosen as a workroom, and had her maps spread out on a table made from crate parts and branches.

Four days had passed. Through hard work, and sheer stubbornness, the Amazons had wrestled themselves into a basic ability to fight on horseback, and were now busy practicing their riding. Eponin had decided to turn the entire project into a challenge, and had even gotten Aslanta, Gillen, and Third to cough up some winners tokens for various contests she and a few others invented.

Now, Xena was ready to move on to her next goal. “All right.” She spread her hand out, indicating a spot with one finger. “This is the town about a days ride from here. “ She traced a line. “It blocks the river – no one can come through her to the valley from this direction without passing it.”

Aslanta peered at the spot. “So?”

“So, Andreas holds it.” The warrior told her. “We need to take it back.”

Aslanta and Toris exchanged glances. “Okay.” Toris leaned on his fingertips, his shoulder almost brushing his sister’s. “What do you want us to do?”

Xena inhaled. “First thing, we need to find out how many men are in there, and what their layout is.” She put a hand on Toris’ arm. “I want you to take a dozen of the militia, and two columns of Amazons, and check it out. Have the militia travel in that cart we unloaded, like they were merchants, and Aslanta, have your people go along as a mounted strike force.”  She eyed the tall Amazon. “Have them follow the wagon unseen.”

“You figure they’ll attack the wagon?” Aslanta stated flatly.

Xena nodded. “Yep.. I’m guessing the total force there is minimal.. if we can draw most of them out, and eliminate them, we can get in and retake the town.”

There was a small silence. “You’re not going along?” Aslanta hazarded.

Xena’s long fingers drummed on the surface of the map. “Sure I am.” The warrior smiled coldly. “Me and a few others are going to get into the town before you get there… just to make sure we don’t get any surprises.”  Her eyes pierced them. “We leave before dawn tomorrow.”

Toris hesitated. “Okay…I’ll go get people ready.”

He left, with Aslanta following him in silence, leaving Xena to her maps. The warrior made a few marks on a scrap piece of parchment, then straightened, lifting her arms over her head and stretching luxuriously. “Well, Ares… it’s getting there.”

The wolf looked up from his spot curled up in the corner and wagged his tail.

Xena took a sip from a mug resting on the table, letting the mulled cider slide down her throat with a distinct sense of well being. She’d half expected slipping back into the pace of an armed camp would be a tough transition, but instead, she’d found the opposite to be true – her energy seemed to be rising with every day of hard fighting and practice as her body dropped into it’s old pattern with surprisingly little complaint.

In fact… She glanced around, then stepped in front of her table and took a long stride, launching herself towards the uneven roof of the cave and tumbling twice in mid air before she bounced to landing, then reversed into a backflip. “Hm.” She hopped twice, and gave the alertly watching Ares a smirk. “Yeah.”

“Argroo.” The dark head lowered to outthrust paws, the wolf long used to his bouncy companion’s odd habits. As long as the warrior remembered not to land on his tail, of course.

Gabrielle’s deputizing Ephiny to lead the Amazon warriors had been accepted readily, and the bard had spent the past few days smoothing down the relations between the groups, and providing a welcome buffer between their leaders, and Xena.

Xena was grateful for that, but truthfully, she was so relieved her soulmate had decided against sword training, Gabrielle could have sat and made mud cakes for four days, and the warrior wouldn’t have minded in the least.

And speaking of the little Bacchae…

“Hey.” Gabrielle strolled in, carrying an armful of dusty leather. “The centaurs are giving an archery demonstration, and we’ve about gotten all those bits of tack done.”

“Good.” Xena snared the bard with a hand to the back of her neck, and kissed her, almost making Gabrielle drop what she was carrying.

“Uh… don’t take this the wrong way, but what was that for?”

A shrug. “Nothing.. just felt like doing it.” Xena took the leather bits from her and examined them. “Good enough.. we can cut out breastplates for the militia. She turned. “Has the foraging group come back in yet?”

“Yes… they found a big bunch of those saplings, and brought some back.” Gabrielle reported briskly. “And they got about half of the things on that list you wrote out… I had them put all of that stuff in the storage cavern.”

White teeth flashed as the warrior grinned. “ Good job. “

“I saw Toris gathering people.. what’s up?’

Xena set the leather down. “We’re gonna take that town tomorrow…I want to make sure we’ve got our approaches tied down before Andreas gets too close.”

“Mm. You think he’ll send reinforcements?”

The warrior crossed her arms, and considered the question. “He’ll look at it one of two ways. Either I’m setting up my boundaries, or… “ That grin again. “I’ve started expanding out towards him.. either way, it’s not worth his while to send a small force. He knows I can take them.”

“Mm.” Gabrielle regarded her partner. She could sense the heightened energy, and the vibrant, almost sensual edge to Xena’s movements. “Did I hear right.. you’re going to go in first?”

“Yeah… just to be sure. I don’t want anyone walking into a trap.” Xena reviewed her lists. “We can’t afford casualties.”  She sorted out a few leaves of parchment. “And I want to keep Andreas off balance.”

The bard clasped her hands behind her back and walked over. “Could you use an extra pair of eyes?” She asked. “I’d like to go with you.”

Xena’s hands stopped, then she turned, tilting her head. “I’d..um… ” A shrug. “Taken that for granted.”

Fair eyelashes fluttered in surprise. “Oh.”

“Eyah…” The warrior moved over to a large crate, sitting with it’s top askew nearby. “Matter of fact, I was digging around in here for something and I found this damn thing.” She pulled out a bundle and held it, then looked over. “I’d feel better if you were wearing something a little more protective than that.” She walked over and poked the bard in her bare ribs. “Though I do like how you look in it.”

Gabrielle looked down, slightly confused. “Um.. thanks.” She put a hand on the package. “What’s this?”

“That old stuff I told you about.” Xena unwrapped the linen strips holding the bundle closed and let it unroll on her worktable, with a soft clinking sound. The scent of old, but well cared for leather drifted up. “It’s leather scale.” She prodded the armor with a long finger. “You… cut out these small pieces, and overlap them… it’s light, and flexible, and not too hard to move around in.”

The bard laid a hand on the armor, stroking it with curious fingers.  “Did you make it?”

“Mmhm.”  Xena lifted the armor up, shaking it out and examining the leather scales. “Not too bad… I outgrew it before I got a chance to use it that much.”  She turned. “Put your arms through here.”

“Okay.” Gabrielle did as she was asked, allowing the warrior to settle the leather over her head. It slid over her body, fitting with only a bit of slack around her ribs, and laying over her hips to mid thigh. “Hm.”

“Hold still.” Xena adjusted the armor with quick, professional touches, straightening the shoulder pieces and bringing the carved leather belt around to buckle in front, tightening it a little to make the garment fit snugly around the bard's slim waist.  Then she stepped back and regarded the result.

The scale armor was designed to protect the vitals, and on Gabrielle it did that, the heaviest layering over her chest, rippling down past her stomach and falling halfway to her knees. The sides were lighter, and smaller, and the rear thicker again, protecting her spine and her lower back.  It lacked sleeves, allowing the bard's muscular arms free rein, but had a sturdy collar which protected the back of her neck.

Golden leather aged to a near mahogany, with a faint sheen still on it, the only ornate note the belt buckle.

It brought memories nudging forward, but Xena pushed them aside, concentrating on the now. "Whadda ya think?"

Gabrielle took a few steps, walking around in a circle, and ran her hands down the armor. "It's light." She sounded surprised. "I can hardly tell I'm wearing it."

Xena nodded, padding over. "It's meant to carry the weight here." She clapped both hands on the bard's shoulders. "And to be flexible…that was important."

"For you? Oh yeah." Gabrielle smiled. "I guess I can get used to it… maybe we can spar a little later, just to see." She lifted her hands, holding an imaginary staff, and moved them, twisting her body as she did so, then straightening. "It's different..but.." She paused, then hopped up and down a few times.

Xena's eyebrow lifted, but she kept her thoughts regarding bouncing bards to herself. "Give you a light shirt under that… so you don't get rubbed raw."

"Okay." Gabrielle put a hand on the buckle, and examined it. "This is really nice."

Xena turned back to her worktable and gathered her parchments up in silence. Then she tucked them under her arm, and regarded Gabrielle. "Yeah… " The blue eyes dropped. "Lyceus made it."

The bard inhaled sharply. "Oh, Xe… don't you want to… "

"No." The warrior stepped over and put a hand on her shoulder, steering her towards the entrance. "He'd…. approve of you wearing it."  She changed the subject. "C'mon… let's see if we can get some dinner before those damn singing contests start."

**********************************************

They escaped dinner after only a few rounds of a Hundred bottles of Ale on the Shelf, and settled Dori into her crib, then Xena changed into her gambeson, and got their staves from the shadowy corner they were resting in.

She tossed Gabrielle hers. "Saw you talking to Eph."

"She asked me where I got this." Gabrielle patted her chest. "She was really impressed… so was Aslanta, by the way… and that was before I told them you actually made it."  She lifted her staff over her head, stretching her shoulders out. "Did Gillen make up with you?"

"Mm." Xena rocked her head back and forth. "We talked."

"You got her drunk."

"She talks more that way."

The bard rolled her eyes.

"She's got a big problem." Xena whipped her own staff around in a circle, loosening up. "Can't really hate her for it, though."

"Oh?" Gabrielle moved forward as they edged to a large, open space near the water. "I kinda got the idea she was sorta jealous of a certain Warrior Princess I know." She grinned at her partner.

Blue eyes twinkled at her. "Nope."

"No?" Gabrielle started circling to her left, as Xena fell into their usual pattern. "Umm…. she really wants to be in charge?"

"Nope."  Xena evaded a low attack and deflected the bard's staff."

"She's still mad about the sleeping quarters??" The bard's voice rose. "Good grief!" She ducked and brought her staff around at waist level, almost catching her partner napping.

"Nope." Xena hopped backwards just in time.

"All right." Whack. "I give.. what's her problem?"  The bard's staff skimmed the ground, evading her soulmate's defense and slamming into the warrior's unprotected knees. "Oh.. centaur poop.. sorry."

"No no.. " Xena winced. "My fault… " She flexed her left leg, which had taken the brunt of the blow. "I was distracted." She blew her hair back and circled again, whipping her staff end forward and catching the bard offguard.

"Yeeoowch." Gabrielle almost dropped her staff. "Distracted by what?" She blocked the next try, and whirled, allowing Xena to move past her.

"Her problem."

"You were? What is her problem?" Hop.

"You." Xena saw the low sweep coming this time, and she simply dove over hit, rolling into a somersault and coming back up onto her feet, just in time to block an overhand blow.

"Me? What in Hades did I do?"  Gabrielle drove in close, trading hard, solid impacts and grunting a little as she tried to hold back her soulmate's greater weight and strength. "What does she want from me?".

The warrior reversed her staff suddenly, catching the lower part of Gabrielle's and bringing her a little off balance. She caught herself on Xena's staff as they faced off, almost nose to nose. "This." Xena tilted her head and kissed her, exchanging slightly heightened breaths.

Gabrielle wasn't sure if it was just the energy, or what, but…. "Gods, that felt good." She leaned back in for more, feeling her skin start to tingle. "Sorry.. did you say something about Gillen?" It took a lot of self control to keep her fingers firmly wrapped around her staff when they really wanted to be wandering over those interesting buckles and…

"I said… she's got a thing for you." Xena nipped her nose, then pushed back and continued her circling.

"A thing." Gabrielle tried a double combination, and got a hit, and a miss. "For me?"

"Uh huh." The warrior's staff slipped in and just tapped her ribs. "Focus, Gabrielle."

"Focus." The bard sighed. "Yeah.. sure. Okay." She knocked Xena's staff back and almost got her in the knees again. "A thing… gods, Xena…why would she have a thing for me.. Yipes!"  Gabrielle ducked as her staff was taken neatly out of her hands, and sent ceilingward, smacking against the rock and bouncing back. She caught it and glared at her partner, who was standing, leaning against her own weapon with a disbelieving look on her face. "Weeell…. It's not nice to be vain." She poked her tongue out.

Xena smiled, and started circling again.

"Besides… I  have a 'thing' for you." The bard commented, attacking efficiently.

"Oh, you do?" Xena countered the rapid blows, and backed a few steps, moving to her right as she watched her partner's body movements intently. Over their years of sparring, Gabrielle had gotten pretty damn good at figuring her out, and if she wasn't very careful, the bard could counter most of her tricks and get past her defenses.

And, of course, while she could do the same, when she did, she was able to pull her blows, but Gabrielle wasn't, and the bard was more than strong enough to do considerable damage when she was swinging full force. She'd had a couple of cracked ribs to attest to that, though she'd never told Gabrielle about them.

"Yep, I sure do." Gabrielle drove forward, slamming her staff down, then bringing it up and reversing her body unexpectedly, sweeping the weapon across and almost catching Xena. The warrior deflected the move at the last second, then ducked and turned, keeping their staves together as she brought them both around. "Ooo…. Close."

"Nah." A merry smile. "So, how's the armor feel?"

"Pretty good." Gabrielle tried another combination, dropping to one knee and sweeping her staff in reverse, forcing Xena to hop over it. "Damn it, Xena.. most people can't do that."

"I'm not most people." The warrior countered, launching herself over Gabrielle's head and tucking her body into a flip, then landing on the other side and turning, bringing her staff up. "Thought you liked a challenge."

"You.. are not a challenge." Gabrielle threw herself into her next attack, focusing hard like she'd been taught, and moving her staff in quick, solid arcs that gave her an advantage over her partner's longer reach. "You are like trying to stop the Styx with a bucket and a sea sponge."

“Ooh… that’s catchy. I like it.” Xena laughed, as she backed up, fending off the bard’s strokes.  She noticed the little wrinkle forming over Gabrielle’s nose, and the tiny pink tip of her tongue showing, and knew her partner was really getting down to business.

They both stopped talking, and Xena leaned forward, matching the bard’s swift, hard blows and feeling her competitive spirit edge up a notch. The staves hit together in a rapid staccato, bringing a flush to her skin as her heart responded, pumping energy through her.

Gabrielle broke off and crouched, swinging her staff around then continuing the motion as she stood, ducking under Xena’s return swipe and getting in a solid hit on her partner’s side. “Ah hah!”

Ow. Xena caught a breath and brought her staff up, knocking Gabrielle’s back, then she started a methodical campaign, taking short, digging steps as they engaged again. Her focus narrowed, and she drove the bard back, a fierce grin appearing on her opponents face.

Gabrielle could feel the energy full force now, and she knew, in an odd, and far off way, that she was playing with a fire that no one else would have dared to. She could sense Xena walking the fine edge as she pushed the warrior hard, carefully tracing a path between this competitive sparring, and the unleashing of the tiger she could see so clearly lurking behind those blue eyes.

Xena loved winning. She couldn’t stand coming in second place to anyone, and Gabrielle knew that, knew her soulmate’s aggressiveness when faced with a challenge… but the bard knew that occasionally, when she was very, very, good, and very very persistent…

She won.

And that was okay with Xena, but only because it was Gabrielle.

The bard studied her swiftly moving target, then she swung around and tried to get inside Xena’s defenses, ducking in very close and surprising the taller woman, who pulled up short with a little bounce. Gabrielle blocked the staff headed towards her then put a hand on it, swinging her own one handed in a new move she’d just started working on.

Xena’s eyes widened, and she ducked, the staff missing her head by a sliver, brushing by her dark hair and skimming over. “Sneaky.” She whipped her staff around and hooked Gabrielle's with it, then levered the other end and sent the bard stumbling off.

"Hey!" Gabrielle caught her balance, then found herself on the defense. A wicked twinkle in the blue eyes facing her sent a shiver up her back, but she settled down, and parried the smooth, incredibly powerful hits that took all her strength to turn back. Her already quickened breathing sped up, and her pulse jumped. "Um.."

She had to step back, and Xena kept on coming, lashing at first one side, then the other. She somehow managed to duck and scoot under the warrior's arm, but then found herself being driven backwards again, towards the front of the cavern. "You better watch out.." She warned breathlessly. "Or I'll have to spring my new, special move on you."

"Oh yeah?" Xena purred, almost taking her staff out of her hands with a quick motion. "C'mon.. I"d love to see it."

"Um…well.." Gabrielle was finding it hard to keep up with her partner, her arms tiring. "Okay…but… " With one last surge of effort, she stood her ground, then crouched, and lunged right at her partner, who almost didn't get out of the way fast enough. "Yaaaa!"

Gabrielle recovered, but overbalanced, and found herself suddenly with nowhere to go but straight into her partner’s arms. Xena dropped the staff and caught her, with a surprised chuckle. “That part of the move?”

The bard caught her breath. “Only with you.” She admitted. “Needs a little work.” Her heart was pounding from the exertion and she suddenly had no desire to move. “Whew.” Her skin felt flushed, and there was a distinct tingle running up and down her torso.

Maybe it was Xena’s nearness. Or the warmth she could feel coming off the warrior’s body.

Or the barely veiled, seductive darkening of the blue eyes gazing at her from under lowered lids. The tiger extending a paw, all soft and furry, with that hint of steel claws just at it’s fringes. The dark side a part of her had always… always been fascinated with.

She forgot about her staff, and reached up, brushing back a disorderly lock of dark hair, her fingers bringing back the drops of sweat that had formed at Xena’s temple, very aware of the powerful arms that held her still, and the dangerous little smile that had started to tug at the warrior’s lips.

“Um… the armor’s great.”

“Really?” Xena rumbled.

“Er.. yeah.”

“I think it’s time to take it off.” Sharp teeth nibbled her ear, then blew a short breath across the back of her neck. “Don’t you?”

The energy rolled over her. “Oh yeah.” Gabrielle whispered. “Would you do that?" She could feel the edge of the bed behind her knees, then the world tilted and she found herself laid out flat on it, with a sweaty, hungry looking, purring warrior crouched over her.

She lifted her hands.

"Ah ah…" A warning rumble. "You asked me to do it, remember?"

She could almost smell the danger. Gabrielle slowly put her hands back down, then turned them over, palms up and laid them back on the bed in an attitude of total surrender, reveling in the wash of anticipation. "Yes, I did."

She let her eyes meet her partner's, with a sense of total trust that she knew Xena felt all the way down, as the baby blues gentled, and her lips curved into a smile. "Hey.. I'm all yours." The bard whispered, really meaning it.

Xena lowered her head, and licked a drop of sweat off her neck. "I know." She purred into a suddenly very warm ear. "C'mere."

************************************************

It was well before dawn as the group assembled outside the cavern, a very light rain falling, just enough to dampen everything and make the horses shake their heads in annoyance.

Gabrielle pulled the hood up on her cloak and was glad of the thick covering, along with her new quilted shirt and leather armor. She'd pulled on a pair of woven leggings too, and her knee high boots, and she leaned on her staff as she waited for Xena to arrive.

She felt strange. Being in armor was strange. Just when she thought she was getting used to it, she moved a certain way, and it just felt…

Weird.

Argo nickered, and she stroked the mare's neck gently. "Easy girl… she'll be here soon." Xena had made a last minute decision, instead of a 'small group' going in ahead, she'd cut it down to a group of two, plus one mare. So Gabrielle would be riding double until they had to dismount and walk, and she found herself quite, quite satisfied with that.

Boots scuffed, and she turned her head to see Xena's tall form emerging from the cavern, backlit by the wall torches fluttering in the wind. "Ready?"

A hand clasp on her shoulder, warm and reassuring. "Just about… I told Toris to start the wagons out just at dawn.. that'll give us enough time to get in and check things out."

"Sounds like a plan." Gabrielle stepped back as her partner pulled herself up on Argo, settling her boots in the stirrups and turning the mare slightly. An arm reached down and she clasped it, boosting herself up and swinging a leg over the horse's hindquarters to settle into place behind her soulmate in the sturdy saddle.

Mm. Warrior squish. The bard wriggled until she was comfortably plastered against Xena's body and wrapped one arm around her waist, giving it a little squeeze.

A blue eye turned her way. "You comfortable?"

Gabrielle hefted her staff and grinned. "Oh yeah."

The warrior shook her head in mock disgust and urged Argo towards the gate. It was dark, and still drizzling, and they met no one until they reached the guardpost, as the wooden blockades parted slowly before them. Toris stepped out from one side, rubbing his face and put a hand on his sister's leg. "You going to be ready at dawn?"

"Yeah." The dark haired man nodded. "Be careful sis… and we'll see you guys later on today."

Xena patted him on the head and continued through the gate, leaving the torches behind and slipping into a moonless dark that seemed to whisper around them, broken only by Argo's soft footfalls.

"Boy, it's quiet out here."

"Mm."

"That rain's getting louder."

"Mm."

"Is it bothering you?"

"Eh." A shrug.

"Would you rather hear a story?"

A smile, hidden in the gloom. "Sure.. but wouldn't you rather take a nap?"

"I'm not tired.. c'mon now, Xena.. we just got out of bed."

"Uhh.. huuhh…. That's true."

"Not that we got much sleep." The bard muttered wryly.

"My point."

"No no. I'm fine, really." Gabrielle patted her soulmate's shoulder. "I feel very.. um… well rested."

"All right.. suit yourself." Xena relaxed her body into Argo's motion and let the silence drape over them again. She reached up and pulled her hood a little more over her head, wiping the tickling droplets off her nose. She felt Gabrielle's body lean against hers, and could almost picture the bard resting her cheek against Xena's sword sheath and closing her eyes.

************************************************

It had been just after the whole mess with Velaska, really not long after at all, and they'd been traveling down the coast towards a fishing village that had asked for help against a monster.

They'd been traveling all day, and hit a boggy stretch, where the stench, and the uneven footing were wearing on all three of them, Argo included.

"You should ride." Gabrielle had fussed over her. "You look  a little pale, Xena are you sure you're.. "

"I'm fine." The warrior had growled, having had about enough of being coddled.

Gabrielle had fallen silent and kept her eyes on the ground, watching for gullies, and Xena had found herself feeling bad about yelling at her friend.

Or maybe she'd just been mad at herself, for being as tired as the bard had accused her of being… her body not yet recovered from it's mortal injuries not long prior. They'd gotten closer after that, but there were times, like now, when she was just who she was, and Gabrielle was who she was, and they rubbed each other the wrong way.

Oh well. She remembered thinking. Maybe I can make it up to her sometime. She'd watched the bard's shoulders  slump and sighed, then mustered up some energy and plodded on.

Finally, the ground had hardened, and they were walking on dry soil instead of in clinging mud. Xena had paused to check Argo's legs, and found the mare had done much better than her human counterparts, by virtue of her slender hooves and better distributed weight.

Xena had gotten on the mare, and held a hand out. "C'mon."

Grumpy green eyes had faced her. "No thanks…. I'll walk."

"Gabrielle… "

"Let's go… we've got a ways, yet." The bard had turned her back and started walking.

Some choice oaths had sounded inside Xena's head, but she kept them prisoner, reminding herself again that Gabrielle was a person, who had feelings, and who had a perfect right to be pissed off at a nasty, mud covered ex warlord with more guts than sense.

But even grumpy ex warlords could learn a trick or two, if they really had to. Xena had nudged Argo forward until she was next to her friend. "Hey.."

Gabrielle had given her a resentful look. "Yes?"

Xena had tried her new trick. She'd extended her arm again  and leaned slightly forward, catching Gabrielle's eyes. "Please?"

It had been like a tiny, magic moment, as she'd watched the frosty look dissolve, and Gabrielle's face shift into a softer expression. "Well.." The bard had stepped over and took her arm. "Since you're asking so nicely."

It had felt so warm and nice, Xena remembered, as Gabrielle had settled in behind her, and the bard's strong arms had circled her waist. She'd looked over her shoulder, and found those green eyes looking right back at her, so recently cleansed of the grief she'd seen there. "Thank you."

And Gabrielle had very softly, kissed her shoulder, and given her a squeeze. "Thank you… sorry I've been so broody."

"S'allright.. I've been too tired to notice." Xena had replied, with a very wry grin. "C'mon.. let's go find a bed."

And they had.

*****************************************

"Hey, Xena?"

"Mm?"

"Why did you decide not to take anyone else?"

Argo's hoofbeats sounded quietly for a few minutes.

"Less people, less chance of mistakes."

"Mm. .. that's true, but… "

"I wanted you here with me… I left the other person I trust totally to watch Dori."

Gabrielle stiffened and sat up . "What? You make it sound like there's someone in the…." She paused. "Do you think that?"

"Maybe." Xena replied. "Something keeps setting off my instincts…. Didn't want to take a chance.. figured Cait could keep an eye on her."

"Cait?" Gabrielle spluttered. "You're playing with me, right? You left Dori with Cait?"

"No." Xena responded. "I left Dori with my mother… I just told Cait to guard her."

The bard considered that. "Oh." She put her head back down. "That's okay…I guess."

"Mm." Xena tucked her hands under her cloak. "Hope she forgives me sometime."

Argo made her way down the sodden path and across the slope leading down from the valley, as the rain continued to fall.

*********************************************

"Look here, it's only for a day." Cait strode along the passageway, avoiding the slowly moving Amazons around her. "You don't have to come with me."

"You, a babysitter? Nah.. this, I gotta see." Paladia ambled along behind her. "Maybe I'll draw a picture of it."

"You most certainly will not." The slim blond gave her a look over one shoulder. "This is a special assignment, and it's quite serious."

"Oh.. yah… a baby is serious… you gonna have to change it's diapers?"

"If you don't be quiet at once, I'll wrap your face in them." Cait retorted. "And don't think I can't, either. "

"You gonna stand on a box to do it?  Can't reach my head otherwise." Her tall friend responded smugly. "And you can't bounce like ol leather and attitude can."

"Hey." Cait turned and walked right into her, poking her with a slim finger. " You be respectful to Xena, or else, you got me? I won't stand for that."

Colorless eyes peered down at her. "All right.. don't get your skirt in a wad."

Cait eyed her suspiciously, then turned and continued on towards the food area, where Cyrene and her assignment were. "That's better."

"Y'know.. I should tell her you've got a crush on her."

Cait stopped dead, and only turned her head, giving the taller Amazon a chillingly murderous look. "I will put your boots right up your nose if you utter one single word of that to anyone." A pause. "Besides, you're quite wrong." She turned and stalked off, leaving a bemused Paladia to follow.

They rounded the bend into the big cavern, and found utter chaos. "Uh oh." Paladia muttered. "Now what? "

Cait found Cyrene's familiar form in the middle of things, and she nudged her way through the crowd to the innkeeper's side. "Whatever's the matter?"

Cyrene gave her a harried look, then grasped her arm. "Another pair of eyes.. good."

Cait blinked the mentioned bodyparts. "Well, yes.. but what am I looking for?"

The older woman groaned. "Dori. We can't find her. She's gone."

Cait stared at her in utter shock.

"Oh brother." Paladia covered her eyes.

****************************************

By the time the sun rose, they'd gone a good distance, carving a path through the rain into a lowland mostly used for raising goats and sheep.

Xena had been alone with her thoughts for quite a while, when she felt a stirring against her back and she reached a hand down to pat the bard's thigh, tucked neatly against her own. "Hey sleepyhead."

"Mmphgh." Gabrielle mumbled. "Haven't heard that in a while."  She lifted her head from it's comfortable spot on Xena's back and yawned, glad of her heavy cloak against the chill. "Where are we?"

"Halfway there." Xena dug in her saddlebag and came up with an apple, which she handed back to her soulmate.

"Thanks." The bard accepted the fruit and sniffed it. "Mm." She took a bite and crunched the crisp flesh appreciatively, then bit off a piece and took a hold of it, passing it forward and offering it up to her partner.

Xena closed her teeth on the bit and chewed it. "Thanks."

"It's so empty here."

The warrior regarded the surrounding countryside. "Yeah… too empty." She shook her head, seeing the ruins of a tiny village overgrown in the tall grass. Andreas work? Or another warlord?  Did it matter to the inhabitants?

Maybe it was even one she'd ridden through, all those years ago.

"Xena, look." Gabrielle rested her chin on the warrior's shoulder, peering over it. "Are they coming this way?"

"Yeah." Xena focused her vision on the road ahead, where a small group were slowly emerging from the rain. A wagon, pulled by two horses, with one figure driving and two walking alongside. "Can't tell who or what, though."

The two traveling groups grew closer and closer, and Xena noted that the wagon driver made an effort to pull his team to one side to let them pass. As they drew abreast, she pulled Argo to a halt and lifted a hand.

Glad she had a moment later when her reflexes surged and she found herself catching a crossbow bolt sent from the back of the wagon. "Hey!" She barked angrily.

The two walkers had taken cover behind the wagon.

"Next one who shoots one of those things is gonna lose an arm." The warrior warned, dropping the arrow and sweeping her cloak aside, fingers folding around the chakram and unhooking it.

The driver straightened, displaying a loaded crossbow under his ragged cloak, then slowly lifted his hands off the mechanism. "Awright."  His head turned. "Claris, stand down."

Xena let the chakram fall back into it's clip, but kept her hand near. "You always shoot at passerbys?"

"Don like to take chances." The man stated, tipping his hood back a little and staring at her. "Been attacked a dozen times, and I'm damned tired of it.. we all are." The two walkers had edged back around and were watching Xena closely. "Road riff raff, wanna be soldiers, thugs… we've about had enough."

"Ah." Xena let her hand drop to her thigh. "I was just going to ask you if you'd seen any trouble on the road ahead.. guess I've got my answer."

"Mpmh." The driver grunted.

"Where are you headed?" Gabrielle asked.

"Where're you comin from?" The man countered, his jaw firming obstinately.

"Amphipolis."  Xena rested her hands on her saddlebow.

The other travelers exchanged glances. "Yeah?" The driver wiped his face. "Prove it."

"Ah ah." Gabrielle slapped her partner's hand, which had started reaching for her sword. She pushed her hood back, exposing her fair hair to the rain and smiled at the driver. "My name is Gabrielle. I'm the deputy reeve of Amphipolis.. are you headed there?"

Xena gave her a grumpy glare but remained silent, pale blue eyes glowering inside their framing of fabric.

"Mebbe." One of the walkers leaned on the near side horses back. "We heard a rumor there might be some folks round those parts willing to fight back against them who want to run over everything."

Gabrielle shifted her grip on her silent soulmate. "There might be some truth to that." She allowed. "I think I've heard the same rumor… are you interested in joining up?"

"We might just be." The driver drawled. "Rumor has it that those folks might, or might not be headed up by a warrior by the name of Xena.. heard about that?"

The bard felt the jerk of muscles as Xena laughed silently. "You know.. I think I've heard that too."

They whispered among themselves.

Xena started humming, mostly to block out the words, causing her soulmate to peek up at her. "We gotta go."

The driver stood, stamping his boots against the wood of the wagon. "Ye're headed inta trouble, there, ladies… you wanta be careful.  Usn' are gonna go offer up our fighten skillls to Xena."

"Yeah." Xena lifted a hand. "Thanks."

"I hear the force is assembling in a valley a half day's ride down the road here." Gabrielle gave her partner a poke. "When you get to the gate, tell them I told you where it was."

"Thank ye, ma'am." The driver touched his hood respectfully. "There'll be more like us, coming."

"Yippee." The warrior muttered, subvocally.

"We need every sword." Gabrielle assured him. "I mean. .that's what I hear, anyway."

They smiled at her, and started to move on, then the man riding in the wagon jumped down and scurried over to collect the crossbow bolt he'd fired at Xena. "Nice catch." His eyes lifted and found ice blue pinpoints staring back at him. "Arent'cha headed in the wrong direction?"

"We'll be back." Gabrielle smiled at him. "Don’t worry."

Argo started moving, and she turned, giving the small group a wave as they slogged on into the mud.

******************************

"Oof." Cait stopped, as she backed into a solid object. "Look, you're blocking my light."

"There is no light in here." Paladia objected, from her position lying flat on the ground with her head propped up on one hand. "Whatinthehades are you doing, anyway?"

"What do you mean, what am I doing?" Cait hissed. "I'm looking for a lost baby, you.. you… "

"Yeah yeah." Paladia rolled over then sat up. The cavern was, to put it very mildly, in complete and utter chaos. Men and women were everywhere, crawling around in their hands and knees in an obvious searching effort, and there were calls and flickering torches in the surrounding passageways as the seeking moved outwards. "If I was her, I'd be long gone from this mess."

Cait pulled herself out from under a storage crate, her body covered in dust. "Would you?"

"Heck yeah." The burly woman snorted.

"Mm.. and where would you have gone?" Cait pounced on her, and got nose to nose, making Paladia cross her eyes painfully. "You must tell me."

"Yow.. get offa me!" Paladia pulled her head back. "I dunno… how about that cave place they picked out… anyone looked in there yet?"

Cait nibbled a fingernail. "Gosh. " She stood abruptly and jerked at Paladia's leathers. "Come along… she was in the kitchen area, so everyone's been looking there… " Cait lead the way into Xena and Gabrielle's chamber and stopped just inside, looking around. "Gosh.. it's quite nice in here."

"Figures." Paladia pushed past her and walked around, ending up at the water's edge and peering up. "Huh." Then she looked down at the water. "Hey.. what if she fell in?"

Cait was at the edge immediately. "Oh gosh.. you don't suppose? " Her voice held a horrified note. "No.."

Paladia crouched down and gazed at the water. "Well.. babies float, don't they?"

The slim blond put her hand in the water, and drew it out, then turned her head to gaze at her friend. "Pally, please don’t joke about this. If something's happened to Dori… that's quite, quite horrid."

The colorless eyes dropped to the rock floor. "I know."  She looked around, then put an awkward hand on Cait's shoulder. "Sorry."

Cait sighed, then peered into the dark liquid. "Well, one way to find out." She sat down and started unlacing her boots. "Come along now. I need your help."

With a muttered curse, the taller woman plunked down and started removing her own footware. When they finished, Cait jumped into the water and muffled a squawk.

"What's the problem?" Paladia stuck her foot in, then yelped. "Hades! I ain't going in there."

Cait ignored her and started swimming, investigating the dark waters carefully.  "Gosh. This water has to go somewhere.. " She felt along the walls, then turned a corner, and felt the current grab her. "Oh bother."

"What?"

"It's going somewhere."

"What is?"

No answer. Paladia got up and trotted down the edge of the rock, peering at the water. "Hey! Hey!!!  Yo! Cait!"

No answer.

"Gods beblasted pain in the neck piece of.. " She put her hands on her hips and regarded the water. "Son of a bacchae. " With a shake of her head, she finally gave up and jumped in, then swam across the water with powerful strokes.  She found the crevice where she'd last seen her friend, and felt carefully along the wall.

"Goatpoop."  There was an opening roughly two bodylengths in size, and the water was flowing down through it with perceptible force. "I shoulda shipped overseas as a sailor, so help me." She muttered, then took a few deep breaths, and ducked below the surface.

One strong kick and she was in the passage, and the water took her.

*******************************************

Cait let the water move her along, and hoped she could hold her breath long enough. She could see a faint glimmer of light ahead of her, and that made her feel better, but she kicked her legs to go faster as the pressure started building in her lungs.

A long scrape against the rock as it angled upward, then she was thrown roughly into the air, taking in a breath as her head broke the surface. "Whoa."

The cavern she'd emerged into was large, and mostly full of water, save a small beach that led up comprised of very fine silt. Above, the ceiling was fractured even more than the one in Xena's cave, and it let in a great deal of light. Cait swam over and examined it, then paused, as she spotted something familiar.

Wolf tracks. "Oh gosh." She traced one with a fingertip. "Oh gosh, oh gosh… " She scrambled out of the water and ran up the beach, dripping cold liquid from her drenched leathers. "Dori!"

A large splash behind her made her stop, and look back. "Bother."

Paladia broke the surface and started coughing, wiping the pale hair out of her eyes as she spotted Cait on the short. "Whatinthehades did you think you were doing?"

Cait sighed. "Finding Dori. Now come on, or stay there.. we've got to find her. " She turned and followed wolftracks, hearing a splooshing sound as Paladia emerged from the water behind her.  "Here.. here we go, now look here.. see that?"

"Those are dog, not baby."

"Wolf. And who is the only one with a wolf around here?"

"Yeah.. so?"

"And don't you think Ares would be where Dori is?"

"Not in a million dinar wagontrain. I seen how that kid treats him." Paladia snorted.

Cait shook her head and kept walking. "You're impossible… Dori.. Ares!"

"C'mon.. don't tell me you.." Paladia found a hand covering her mouth. "Mmpff!"

"Shhh!"

They were both quiet, only the sound of water dripping of their bodies plinking on the rock.  "Did you hear that?"

"Mffpf."

"No.. that!"

"Mfzierhf!"

Cait cocked her head, and listened again, hearing the annoyed whine. "Ares!!!"

"Grrrwwff.."

"That's him!" The slim blond released her friend and started running, ducking through an irregular opening and coming skidding to a halt, making Paladia plow into her and send them both stumbling across the sandy floor. "Bacchae!"

Paladia spit a mouthful of sand out and looked up.

Cait rubbed her head and also looked up.

Yellow and green eyes looked back at them. Ares was lying on his side, being bounced on by a very wet, very naked, very scruffy looking baby girl.

"Bck!" Dori gurgled happily, pointing at them.

"Roo." The wolf amended sadly, his wet fur plastered all over his body.

"Thank you, Artemis." Cait put her head down on the rock, and exhaled.

"Yeah. Great." Paladia was trying to clean her tongue off. "Now how in Hades are we gonna get back?"

Cait drummed her fingers on the sand.

"Bogoabo!" Dori bounced up and down, pulling a pair of very wet ears. "Guff!"

********************************************

Gabrielle crept up to the ridge, keeping her body low, and found spot next to her partner. “Well?”

“Mm.” Xena leaned her weight on her elbows and flexed her hands. “Looks quiet…but see there?” She pointed.

“Wh..oh, yeah.”

“That’s an outpost.. they’ve got about a half dozen soldiers in there.. and there’s another one there, and over there.. it looks like the main bunch of them is camped out.”

Gabrielle considered the information. “Why not just live inside the village?”

“These guys aren’t as stupid… they know they need the village at least partly functional to support them.” The warrior replied. “My guess is, they bunk outside, but use the inn, and the merchants to supply food and materials.”

“Mm. Is that what you did?”

Xena was quiet for a moment, then she nodded.

They lay side by side, watching, for about a quarter candlemark, then Xena sighed, and pushed off from the ground. "C’mon…let’s see if we can get closer, without rousing any suspicions.”

It was still raining, which did a lot to hide them, but Gabrielle found herself tucked behind Xena’s taller form as they made their way closer, using the heavy trees and foliage to disguise their presence. The warrior’s steps grew slower, and softer as they proceded, and the bard was careful not to do something dumb like step on a stick, or break passing branches.

It was interesting to watch Xena when she was like this. Gabrielle had her hand on her partner’s back, and she could feel the  warrior’s breathing slowing down, almost becoming rhythmic as she slunk from tree to tree, her senses expanding outward to drink in the air.

Closer, and now the bard felt her heartbeat start to pick up, as Xena’s path took them right towards the main group of soldiers, and past the first outpost. She watched the guards nervously, but they didn’t so much as turn their heads.

Then Xena was turning, and putting both hands on her shoulders, signing the signal for ‘stay’.  Gabrielle nodded silently, and pressed herself against the closest tree, letting her green cloak, muddied and dark, blend into it’s surface.

Xena paused, then crouched slightly, leaping up and catching the tree’s lowest branch and pulling herself up onto it. She got her footing, then shrugged her cloak around her and started out through the canopy, stepping surefootedly along the sturdy branches.

The trees extended over the soldier’s campsite, and, in fact, were providing some shelter for three or four of them as they tried to recover a tent soaked in the rain. Xena paused over their heads and stood listening.

Nothing. Just standard complaints, about the weather, the mud, the food, the bathrooms… she shook her head and moved on, carefully wrapping her cloak around her to keep it from catching on the branches. She leaped from one tree to the other, then climbed a little higher, before she edged out over two men with horses and went still, her body swaying with the motion of the tree.

Again, nothing. Xena exhaled, pushing some leaves away and peering out over the encampment. Well run, neat, orderly.. the hallmarks she’d seen so far of Andreas troops. She bounced across to another tree and moved closer to the bole, sitting down on a branch and eyeing a caterpiller crawling by.

She waited. Activity went on in the camp, two sets of guards rotated in and out of the outposts, and a wagon came in, full of supplies. Soldiers surrounded it, and started pulling things out, laughing.

Xena ducked her head and squinted, then her jaw tensed. One of the things being dragged out were obviously people, frightened women and older girls who wore torn dresses that they clutched to themselves as they were tossed in a pile, to be picked over.

She felt her body come alive, as hunting instincts surged, and she only just kept herself from hurtling out of the tree at the soldiers. C’mon, Xena… that’s not what you’re here for.

But as she watched, a soldier picked up one of the women and dragged her, screaming towards a muddy tent, and Xena was moving before she realized it. The branch bowed under her weight as she came to the end of it, and she used that to launch herself sky ward, somersaulting three or four times before she landed smack in the center of the group, picking up an oxen yoke they’d just unloaded and swinging it around with a ferocious yell.

“Be quiet, Gabrielle.. this is a clandestine operation.” The bard muttered to herself as she bolted towards her battling soulmate. “Just get in, get the info, get out.. no problem… you just stay nice and quiet here.. excuse me. “ The bard whipped her staff around and pulled the legs out from under  running guard. “Sorry.. I just.. “ Thwack. “Whoops.. no, you see.” Whack, whack. “Well, if you’d just have stopped when I asked you to..”

Xena pulled her sword out and ducked an incoming mace, then disarmed her nearest adversary and gutted him, sending a spurt of blood high in the air.

She laughed, exulting in the sheer power she could feel rolling down from her shoulders to her arms as she whirled and took a head off, then swept her sword up, and cleaved a charging pikeman right through the crown of his head.

Gabrielle thwacked a few of the guards, then realized what her partner’s aim was, and bolted for the pile of women, pulling her dagger from her belt as she ran. “Hold on!” She yelled, diving to her knees in the mud as she reached them, and slashing at the ropes holding their arms. She could hear the sounds of battle behind her, and Xena’s wicked chuckle, and she redoubled her efforts, getting the women loose and yanking the closest to her feet. “C’mon! Get in the wagon!!”

A guard charged her and she released the woman, getting her staff up and catching him in the chest with the end of it, then shoving back hard and knocking him off his feet. ‘Get moving! We don’t have all day!”

She got between the women and the milling, confused, attacking guards, some of whom were coming after her, most of the others after her partner, who had her back to a water barrel and was holding them off with deadly precision. An arm flew past her and she ducked, then caught a sword on her staff, and twisted her body, deflecting the force of the hit and sending it skittering off the wood.  “C’mon!”  She brought the other end up and whacked the man across the head, and he sprawled at her feet, then she ducked and whipped around in a circle, catching a soldier behind her square in the groin.

He dropped with a sound like a pig being gutted and she hustled the last of the women up onto the wagon. “Xena!”

She had captured the water barrel as her high point, and she grinned, as the height it gave her enabled her to lay about her with her sword, sending weapons flying, and soldiers stumbling. She jumped down after a moment, then leaped and kicked, connecting with a jaw that snapped back with lethal force, then she locked her elbows, and swept in a circle, an exultant yell erupting as she felt the blade sever skin, and bone, and drench itself in blood.

The copper smell overwhelmed her and she swung again, now hearing screams of terror as she carved her way through the men.

And she heard her name.

Through the blood, and the fury, and the seductive lure of her dark side.

She kicked a last adversary and whirled, to see the women loaded in the wagon, and Gabrielle headed her way, motioning with one hand for her to hurry.

Hurry? Xena turned again, in the weird silence her senses built for her that seemed to slow time itself, and saw the soldiers all running away. What’s the rush?

A hand on her arm. “Xena.. c’mon… those poor women are petrified… let’s get them out of here…”

Oh.

Right.

The women. “Good job!” She yelled at her soulmate, as they turned and made for the wagon. She smacked an arrow out of mid air, then grabbed Gabrielle around the waist and boosted her up onto the driver’s seat, turning and intercepting two more bolts before she grabbed hold of the seat and pulled herself up. “Grab the reins.”

Gabrielle did. “Now what?”

“Hold on.” Xena pulled the whip from the sconce next to her elbow and flicked it over the two horses with a hard stinging sound, sending the animals into a snorting gallop that pulled them out of the encampment in a thunder of wood and hooves.

“Yeoow!” Gabrielle tried to keep her balance, and the reins all at once. “Would you take these!”

“In a minute.. “ Xena reached over and knocked an arrow away from her partner’s head. “I’m kinda busy….”

“Ooo… “ Gabrielle wrapped her powerful legs around the seat supports and held on, keeping her head low and urging the horses forward. The path led through the bottom part of the village and she watched people dive out of the way, as she pointed the horses towards the gate and let out a yell.

For a moment, they were thinking of trying to close the portal, then bodies went flying and they were through, with spears and arrows clattering down around them. The women screamed, until finally the missiles stopped falling, and Xena turned, holding out a hand.

“Okay..I’ll take em now.”

“Sure.” Gabrielle handed the reins over, examining her hands where the leather had cut into them. “Now’s the easy part.”  She pulled her hood back and wiped the sweat, and rain out of her eyes. “Are they following us?”

Xena looked back. “Nah.”  She remarked, cheerfully.

The green eyes peered at her. “Thanks for the warning.” She eyed her soulmate’s blood and gore spattered form. The warrior’s eyes were still glinting, and her hands were shifting on the reins in nervous motion. “You all right?”

“Huh?” Xena turned and looked at her in puzzlement, the dark head cocking to one side in question. “Oh.. yeah.. yeah.. sure.. I got a few nicks, that’s all.” She smiled at her soulmate, then half turned in her seat. “All of you doing okay?”

The frightened huddle of women in the wagon bed stared at her.

“We’ll have to head out that way.. pick Argo up.. then meet the wagons coming from the valley.” Xena sighed. “So much for a sneak attack… we’ll have to regroup when we meet up with Toris and the others.. have someone take these people to safety.”

“They’ll probably be pretty nervous now.” Gabrielle gave the women a reassuring smile. “Hi… rough day, huh?”

The oldest of them sat up and stared at her. “Who are you people?”

“Oh.. sorry.. we really didn’t have time for introductions.” The bard admitted. “My name is Gabrielle, and this is Xena, and we…oh, I guess you’ve heard of us.”

The women had all edged back. “Hestia protect us.”

Gabrielle blinked. “I’m sorry? You’re in no danger from us, really.. Xena here just looks sca… wait. Hestia? You’re not… “

“Yes. We are Hestian Virgins.” The woman announced proudly. “And I think you’re in need of our prayers.”

****************************************

It was well past midday before they saw another living being. Xena, on Argo, had trotted ahead a bit as she'd seen another wagon approaching. She stood in Argo's stirrups and peered through the ever-present misty rain, then sat down. "Now what?" Her hands flexed on the reins, the cold and wet starting to make her uncomfortable.

Well, at least it'd washed the blood off. Xena gazed at the oncoming wagon dourly. She hadn't realized she'd been quite so…A slow breath emerged. All right. She'd been pretty far gone, and loving every minute of it. The warrior looked quietly down at her hands, tanned and clean, now, from the rain.

Just like old times.

"Xe?"

She turned her head, as Gabrielle clambered down from her perch on the wagon, and trotted over, her hood slipping back and exposing her damp, pale hair, a wry smile on her face.

Her soul's lifeline.  "Hmm? What's up?"

"That's what I was going to ask you.. is that our wagon?"

"Mm.. looks like it… I think we'd better find a place to hole up in for a bit, though.. figure out what we're gonna do."

Gabrielle laid a casual hand on Xena's knee, rubbing it through her leggings with her thumb. "Yeah.. and get dry for a while. I'm wrinkling."

Instinctively, Xena lifted a hand and cupped the bard's damp cheek. "Couldn’t tell by me." She murmured. "Thanks for sticking by me today, by the way. "

A smile, moving the skin her fingers were touching. "That's my job." Gabrielle spared a glance behind her, where they'd set up a rough canvas tent to cover the Hestians, who were huddled together. "I think they'd appreciate some dry time too… you saved them from something really horrible, Xena.. not just being assaulted physically."

Xena tensed her lips. Had she? She reflected back on that moment, when her body's reactions had overrode her better judgment, and something inside her relaxed. Yeah. Damned if she hadn't. No matter what it had turned into, justice had triggered it. "Hope they appreciate it." She finally answered. "And not try to convert me."

Gabrielle snorted. "I'll kick their… um." She blushed. "Excuse me..  I think we'd better get going."

Xena chuckled, and nudged Argo forward, as they rode to meet their oncoming allies. Toris pulled the wagon over as she approached, and stood in the seat, putting his hands on his hips.

"Hi." The warrior ambled up. "Have a nice trip up?"

"Xena, what the Hades is going on? Who are those people? Where did that wagon come from. .and what are you doing out here on the road?" Her brother inquired bewilderedly.

"Nothing, virgins, the town, and we rescued them." The warrior replied. "Let's get off the road, and rework the plan."

"Virgins?" Toris asked, lowering his voice.

"Figures you'd pick that one thing out." His sister replied testily. "Siddown before you join them."

************************

"Dori, come over here." Cait tried, for the fourth time to get the baby to sit still. "Paladia.. she's going to catch cold."

"Yeah?" The taller Amazon was wringing out her leathers. "Sokay.. we are too. We can all be sick together."

"Bother." Cait finally grabbed Dori with both hands, and lifted her off poor Ares, who scrambled up and shook himself violently. "Stop that!"  She sat down on the damp sand and sat Dori more or  less in her lap. "There.. gosh, you're a mess."

"Bck."  Dori stood up and made a grab for Cait's leathers, tugging the laces on them and giving one a good chew. "Mama."

Gray eyes snapped wide open. "Gosh no. Not in a million years."  She examined the baby, seeing raw scrapes on her back and legs, though otherwise she seemed unhurt. "Isn't it grand, that she managed to get through that tunnel? I think that's quite amazing."

Paladia roamed around the chamber, examining it. "Yeah.. stupendous… there's only one problem… it's the only damn way in here."

"Can't be." Cait shook her head. "The water's got to go somewhere.. follow it, Pally.. and see where it goes. We can go with it."

Paladia made a face at her, but stomped over to the edge of the water, and eyed it. The sun came in from above, mockingly displaying freedom, but there was no visible means of exit for the dark, cold water. "Crap." She looked around, then picked up a piece of dried branch, evidently blown or brought there, and tossed it into the water. The current carried it to the far wall, where it bumped up against the rock unhelpfully. She turned and trudged back over to where Cait was, and sat down next to her. "We're stuck here."

"Come on now." Cait tried to untangle her hair from Dori's fist. "There has to be a way out."

"Sure." Paladia agreed. "Fly." She pointed up at the breaks in the rock. "Or swim." She pointed back to the tunnel. "Or chip our way out with axes we don't have."

"You are not being helpful."

"It's not my fault that kid escaped! I wasn't the one who was supposed to be watching her."

"Bck." Dori toddled over to Cait's leg, and leaned on it, then started investigating her new victim. "Mmm."

"Hey." Paladia edged back. "Cut that out."

"She's awfully cute, isn't she?" Cait examined her charge.

"No.. she's a scraped up, muddy little runt who's pawing at my leg." Her companion growled. "She causes more trouble than red ants in a bedroll, and it's just goofy the way you all drool over her like a piece of honeycake."

Cait looked up. "Been working on expressing your feelings, have you? Good job." She took hold of Dori's hand, and let the small fingers close around hers. "Gosh, she's strong."

"She's a baby."

Cait lifted her other hand and let Dori grab that, then slowly raised her arms until they were over the baby's head. The grip remained tight, and she kept going, until she'd lifted Dori quite off her feet at least an inch. Then she let her back down, as the infant giggled "What did you think of that then? I bet she's going to be as strong as Xena when she gets bigger."

Paladia snorted. "Not with her father.. he's a wuss."

"He most certainly is not."

"Yes, he is… he's whining, whiddly little wuss."

"You're awful. Besides, she doesn't look at all like him."

There was a small silence, as Paladia studied the active infant, who was now attempting to crawl into her lap. "Huh." She picked Dori up and looked at her objectively. "Damn… she doesn't.. she's got that all angle thing going.. not like that horse face of his."

"Rbu!" Dori objected to being dangled, and kicked out, making Paladia almost drop her. "Bad!"

"Cut that out, you runt!"

Dori's face scrunched, and she scowled at her captor angrily.

"Gosh.. you'd better let her down." Cait reached out and took the infant nervously. "She's getting quite mad." She settled Dori down in her lap again, and the baby burped. "I think she looks just like Xena."

At that moment, Dori chose to look up, her face tensing into a hopeful expression. "Boo?"

"Goodness.. she knows who I meant." Cait laughed. "It's so positively cute hearing her call Xena that."

"Bet Xena doesn't think so." Her friend muttered. "Stupidest thing I ever heard."

"It's not stupid, so you hush". Cait lifted the infant and cradled her, which Dori seemed to enjoy. She gazed up at Cait with wide, innocent green eyes and sucked on her thumb. "I promised Xena I'd take care of you, Dori, and I will. Don’t' you worry, all right?"

Paladia rolled her eyes. "Yeah? Well… little mommy… here's your first problem. We ain't got no diapers."

Cait looked at Dori, then at her friend, then back at Dori. "Oh… poop."

With a giggle, Dori obliged.

*****************************************

"All right." Xena ran her fingers through her hair, and studied the small map she'd laid out on rock. "Here's the town.. they're camped here, and here, and have two outposts here and here."

"Mm." Aslanta crossed her arms. The Amazons had caught up to them just a candlemark past, and they all were now tucked into a small, densely wooded area just off the main road. "They're probably on the alert now."

"Probably." Xena agreed. "I'm not sure they'd come out to attack the wagons, and if we let them get inside, it's too risky."

A shrug. "Let's go home then. To Hades with it."

Toris nudged a little closer. "Is that where you got close?"

His sister nodded. "Yeah.. I was able to get right above them…didn't hear much but griping… the weather, the mud.. the usual."  She traced a line down the map. "As long as they hold this point though… it's the narrowest part here." She displayed the squiggles of mountains and trees. "With this rockslide here, we could almost hold this point against a force three times our size."

They studied the drawing. "Well, sis… " Toris sighed., scratching his bearded jaw. "You had to go stir them up… "

"We.. " Gabrielle spoke up softly. "Weren't going to let them rape those women in front of us, Toris."  She gave her brother in law a look.

"No.. no, that.. of course not." He hastily agreed. "Of course not."

Aslanta peered over his shoulder at the small group of rescued women, who were huddled together near the wagon, talking with some of the militia. "So those are virgins, huh?"

"You make it sound like such a novelty." Gabrielle commented.

Aslanta smirked, then turned her attention back to the map. "So.. what's the plan? You could just go  up to the gates and demand their surrender, y'know."

They all looked at her, and the tall blond shrugged. "They're pretty far from their home base, and they ain't got any idea of how many of us there are." She folded her arms. "I be they don't want another taste of you, either."

Xena's eyebrow lifted.

Gabrielle put her hands behind her back and assumed a studious expression. "They might also decide to use Xena as a pincushion, just to be sure of that."

Another shrug. "You can catch arrows."

"Not fifty of them at once." Xena retorted. "I run out of hands at two." She straightened, and let her eyes unfocus, concentrating her thoughts on strategy.

"Xena." One of the militia called softly. "Someone's coming down the road."

The warrior sighed, and dismissed several nebulous plans, as she walked over to where the man was perched on a low limb, and peered out.  Sure enough, headed their way was a small group of mounted riders, soldiers from the outline. As she watched, the one in front called to one of his followers, and the man hefted a lance and seated the butt in his stirrup.

"What in .." Xena leaned forward and shaded her eyes, convinced the misty rain was playing tricks on her vision. "A pennant?"

Aslanta had come over and was standing just behind her, and she leaned forward as well. "Looks like it, yeah."

Gabrielle slipped around the tree trunk and got a better angle to view them, and she blinked. "Um… I don't think that's a pennant." She glanced at her partner. "It's a white flag."

"A white flag?" Xena, Aslanta, the guard and Toris all said at once.

"Mm." The bard agreed. "That's what it looks like."

There was a momentary thoughtful silence, then Xena shrugged her cloak over her shoulders and walked over to where Argo was patiently standing with the rest of the horses. "Aslanta, Toris, you four, mount up and come with me." She turned and didn't miss a beat as she put an accurate fingertip on a pair of bardic lips just within reach. "Please stay here.. I don't want to be riding double if we've got to run."

The soft, warm breath blew past her hand as Gabrielle sighed, but restrained her reaction to a frown. Xena  patted her cheek. "Thanks."  She turned and vaulted up into Argo's damp saddle and set her feet in the stirrups. "All right.. let's go see what this is all about. The rest of you.. stay hidden, unless we signal. If we do, it'll be because it's a trap, and you need to move, and move fast. "

"What about them?" One of the Amazon shrugged a shoulder at the Hestians.

"Get them in the wagon… someone with some sense and experience get up there and drive." The warrior responded crisply, then she turned the mare and started down the fairly steep incline towards the road.

"I guess that would be me." Gabrielle commented to thin air, as she watched the group ride away.

****************************************

Paladia circled the chamber for the fourth time, and once again didn't find any way for them to get out. She glanced over her shoulder to where Cait was sitting, dangling her bare legs in the water as she soaked her soiled leathers. The smaller woman's back was to her and she found herself, as she was won't to do, studying her friend's slim body.

She'd drawn Cait - several times, though those sketches stayed safely tucked in the bottom of her personal chest.  She was interesting to draw.. all line and angles, where the other Amazons were a lot of curves and dips. Cait was thin, and very small boned, but all of it was covered up with muscles and when she moved, she almost bounced.

No, she did bounce, like she was just about to take flight. Sometimes Xena did too, but it was different. With Xena, you got the idea if she bounced, whatever she hit would be obliterated, there was just all that force and power behind her. Cait, on the other hand, if she were to take off, would sort of hover, like a kind of hummingbird maybe… yeah…

"PALADIA!!!!" The yell scared the crap out of her, and she leaped, leaving dry ground and ending up splashing into the water.

"What did you do that for!" Paladia turned and glared at her friend.

Cait was sitting, quite naked, with her legs crossed and facing her, with Dori crawling around nearby. "I called you and called you… I thought you'd fallen asleep standing up again."

The tall Amazon splashed ashore and gave her a disgusted look. "I was thinking."

"Gosh.. that's new." Pale gray eyes blinked. "What ever about?"

Paladia felt like her tongue was suddenly two sizes too big for her mouth, and an unfamiliar heat inched up her neck. "Nothin." She muttered. "So, how are we getting out of here? That kid's gonna get hungry pretty soon, and start screaming her fool head off."

"Hm." Cait studied the crawling baby, who was picking up bits of rock and putting them investigatively in her mouth  "Oh gosh.. stop that!"

Dori looked at her in surprise, and waved a wet bit of stone at her. "Bck.!" She sat down, and looked unhappy. "Mm.."

"You had to say something, did you?" The slim blond sighed. She pushed herself to her feet and circled the small area, stepping over Ares who was stretched out near the water, panting. "I suppose there really is only one way." She stated, then without warning took a step and leaped into the water, cutting through it cleanly and starting to swim towards the wall they'd entered from.

"Hey!" Paladia yelled. "Whereihades d'ya think you're going??? Hey! Hey!!! You can't get through there, you little manic!!!"

Cait could feel the current pushing against her, and she paused, clinging to the rock, then looked back. "Look, you just stay  here with her, all right? I'll try to get through, and bring help." She didn't wait for an answer, and ducked her head under the water, already being buffeted by the water.

"Bck!" Dori crawled after her, heading for the pool.

"No …oh no..no no.. ." Paladia scrambled towards her and lunged, landing on her belly in the sand and catching the baby by the leg. "Hold on.. you just hold on you little… "

Dori let out a bloodcurdling scream of outrage.

"I'm gonna kill her."

"Bck!!!!"

"Not you."

**

Continued in Part 16

These characters, and boy, are they ever characters, are mostly the property of Renaissance Pictures, Universal MCA, and whoever else owns stock and interest in Xena: Warrior Princess. This fiction was written for my amusement only, and not in any way, shape or form for profit - and it is not intended to infringe on the copyright holders of the characters.

Some of the characters are mine, and the story ideas.. well, who knows where they come from? Must be one weird place, that's for sure.

Specific Story Disclaimers:

Violence - this is a Xena: Warrior Princess story. This is not Teletubbies. Even though there are some rumors of similarities. Some of the violence is graphic, but we try not to dwell on it.

Subtext - Considering that the TV Series just aired an episode establishing Xena and Gabrielle as eternal soulmates, any disclaimer of subtext on my part is really kind of goofy in the extreme. The two characters are in love with each other, and have been for years. You can choose to see them as just friends, but then you might not want to read this fanfic, in case it changes your mind or anything like that.

Emotional Content - this is not one my more comedic efforts. There are moments of humor, however.

********************************************************************

Dark Comes the Morning - Part 16

By Melissa Good

They were spotted as they came down out of the trees. The travelers paused, talked among themselves, then remained still, waiting for Xena and her group to arrive, sitting quietly on their horses with wary eyes.

Xena tucked her reins in one hand and freed the other, letting it rest lightly on her thigh as she lead the way, aware of the others closely following her. She lifted her head and fixed her gaze on the group's leader as she came closer, and watched the distinctive motion as he swallowed a few times, and his hands flexed, rubbing themselves on his leggings.

Interesting The warrior squeezed her legs very lightly around Argo's barrel and the mare obediently stopped, tossing her head and snorting. "Well, well." Xena rumbled. "What do we have here?"

The man in the lead took a very obvious deep breath and reluctantly met her sharp gaze. "I'm looking for someone named Xena."

"Congratulations. You've found what you're looking for. What do you want?"

The man cleared his throat. "We’re from the town…down there."

"Yeah?"

"We want to surrender."

Both of Xena's eyebrows lifted up, almost into her hairline. She heard a soft snort of laughter from Aslanta, but ignored it. "You do, huh? Why? And who are you?"

"My name is Alcenius." He replied. "I'm the highest ranking officer left."

Xena felt a chill go down her back.

"We lost twenty percent of our men this morning… we took a vote.. we don't see any point in sitting and dying, in this damn backwater halfway to nowhere."

Twenty percent. She'd killed twenty people? Surely she hadn't…had time… had she? "Good choice." The warrior finally managed to respond, in a gruff mutter. "What were your orders here?"

Alcinius seemed, if anything, relieved. "To hold the town… to do… to get supplies any way we could… you know." He half turned and looked at the men with him, who were staring at Xena in something like awe. "Villagers.. peasants are one thing.. I didn't bargain on getting split like a pig."

Did I do that? Vaguely, she remembered a moment of exultance, and a downstroke that had felt like she was driving her sword through splintering wood. "All right." She drew a breath in, and steadied herself. Wasn't that what her whole drive was? To get people afraid of her? Well, it had worked. "Here's the terms. You've got till sundown to be out of the area. You leave behind anything but travel rations, and your skins. Got me?"

Alcenius nodded slowly.

"We'll be coming in there right at sunset… and you'd better not be around." She warned. "And you better not leave any messes, or I'll ride after you and cut you down like rats."

He nodded again, this time more rapidly.

"Get out of here." This in a snarl.

The men turned and started back, turning in their saddles nervously.

"Wait.!" Xena called out, urging Argo into a trot as they halted. For a moment, she thought they were going to bolt, and their mounts shifted anxiously. "There were some kids… injured.. that escaped from you bastards not long ago."

Uneasy looks. Alcenious lowered his gaze. "Yes."

Xena leaned on her saddlebow. "Who was responsible for that?"

Dead silence. Then the soldier looked up, his brown eyes bleak. "Mellos." He exhaled. "But you don’t' have to worry about him getting away with it. You took his head off a couple candlemarks ago."

Ah. "Good." Xena rasped, letting her voice drop dangerously. "Now leave."

And they did, kicking their horses into a gallop as they cleared her presence, and sending splashes of water up behind their horses hooves.

Xena sat quietly on Argo's back, the damp wind blowing her hair back, and ruffling her cloak as she simply watched them go.

******************************************

Cait held onto the rock, squinting against the sting of the water as she inched along the passageway, her arms tensing and forcing her forward. Her lungs were already hurting, but she grimly kept going, the sharp surface cutting into her fingers as she dragged her body over it.

Bother… it was hard. She got her toe into a crevice, and that helped her take the pressure off her arms for a moment, so she gathered her strength, then inched forward again. The heaviness in her chest was growing though, and as she peered through the darkness, she could barely see the faint light ahead that marked the entrance into the other cavern.

Determindly, she shoved her body forward, anxiety now taking hold as she knew she was running out of time, and out of air, and a strange darkness started to edge around her vision. She freed one hand and reached forward, clawing for a hold and finding one, then releasing her other hand.

The rock she was holding came free, and she tried to catch the edge, but her fingers slipped off and she was torn off the wall and sent flying into the opposite surface.

Her head cracked against the stone, and she saw stars, then felt a sharp pain as the jagged rock cut against her shoulders. Then, disoriented, she hit again, and things went all the way dark.

"Gods be damned it you little.." Paladia struggled with the angry infant. "Sit still! Don'cha see she's.. " The Amazon searched the water's surface. "Dumbass piece of… would you lookit all the trouble you caused!"

Dori stopped yelling, and hiccupped, then stared at the yelling woman.

Then she giggled.

"Don’t' you laugh at me, you.. you… " Paladia stopped. "Aww.. whatinthe hades am I doing? You don't understand a damn word." Disgusted, she turned and watched the water. "Idiot.. idiot… "

Ares suddenly scrambled to his feet and growled, then rushed at the water's surface, and pawed at it, snapping his jaws as though demented. Dori found her attention diverted, and she crawled towards him, getting to her feet and wobbling over curiously.

"Aww…" Paladia hauled herself up and followed. "Get back here ya little… "

Then she looked down into the dark, but clear water, and saw the faint pale form. "Son of a Bacchae get the Hades outta my way!" She took a step and leaped over Ares, going headfirst into the water and almost knocking herself unconscious as she impacted the pool's sandy bottom. She pushed off and scrambled down, scrabbling for holds in the sand as she clawed her way over to the still form caught under a rock.

She grabbed an arm, and pulled, putting her feet against the bottom and shoving up with all her might, sending both her, and Cait to the surface with a splash. Gasping, she jerked Cait out of the water and slung her up onto the beach, crawling out onto the sand after her and examining the smaller Amazon anxiously. "Oh no." She felt the still chest, and saw the blue lips. "Oh no.. you ain't leaving me here by myself with this little spawn of Ares.. no way.. "

Gettting to her feet she bodily picked Cait up and held her upside down, watching as water gushed from her mouth, then she clasped her around the stomach and squeezed, then released. Squeezed, then released.

Dori watched in astonishment, sucking on her thumb.

Squeeze, and release. "C'mon, you stubborn little piece of.. " Squeeze, and release. "I swear to Hades I'll.. " Squeeze and release.

And then, very faintly, a cough.

Another squeeze, and now, more strongly, a cough, and she could feel resistance start to come back into the limp body she held. "Damn straight." She let out a breath against the back of Cait's neck. "Breathe, you pissant."

She felt the motion of ribs against her fingers, at first hesitant, then stronger, then Cait started to cough in earnest, clawing weakly at her arm. "Hey."

"B..bother."

"You're such a pain in my ass."

Cait coughed. "Thank you.. I'm quite.. f. fond of .. you .. too."

Weak kneed, Paladia released her, and stepped back as she dropped to the sand, and concentrated on sucking in air. "You're bleeding like a stuck pig." She looked around in frustration. There wasn't anything to help staunch it.

"Oh.. " The slim Amazon felt her head. "Is that what that is? Lovely."

"Crap" Paladia came over and went to one knee, examining the cut. It was at least a fingerspan, and showed no signs of slowing it's flow of blood. "Gods be damned to Hades in blue boots."

"Mm… that's quite bad." Cait remarked weakly. "Perhaps you'd better off have left me in the water."

Her friend stood and paced over to where Cait had left her leathers, then came back. "Here." She put a piece of the fabric in her hand, then pressed it against her head. "Hold that there."

"Right.. but that's not going to.. "

"And shut up." Paladia added. "And watch that damn kid." She turned, and stomped toward the water's edge, shaking her head and muttering as her body broke the water and she sloshed towards the tunnel.

"B.. " Cait started to yell after her.

Paladia turned and pointed. "Shut up!"

Then she ducked under the surface, and disappeared.

Cait stared at the space she'd been in and groaned, as Dori toddled over, and touched her face in innocent curiosity.

*******************************************

"They what?" Gabrielle stared at her partner in surprise.

Xena shrugged uncomfortably, and moved a little bit away from the milling Amazons, who were getting the story from her companions. "They decided it wasn't worth fighting over." She looked around. "We can settle here for a while.. I want to make sure they actually get out of town."

"Xena, that's great." The bard smiled in relief. "Here we thought we'd have to have this big fight… wow." She considered. "Maybe they're so far out from Andreas influence, they've gotten a chance to think about things."

Her tall friend was quiet, and the bard noted the small muscles in her jaw twitching. Uh oh. She got a hand on a bit of armor and tugged, moving away until they were secluded under a large tree. "What is it?" She asked, in a low voice.

Guilty blue eyes dropped to hers, peeking out from under long, dark lashes. "It was me." Xena murmured. "I killed so many of them this morning, they just.. " She rubbed her face, visibly upset. "We were only in there for a few minutes, Gabrielle.. how could I have.."

Gabrielle felt caught in a moral dilemma. Half of her was horrified, and had been at the carnage, the other half felt a cold knowledge of the people who wouldn't die today because of it. Neither half was helping her deal with her distraught partner, however. She moved closer, getting inside the circle of Xena's damp cloak.

"You told me yourself… " She started, choosing her words. "That this is war, and not a game…. And that this was going to require you using that part of you that really likes the fighting." Gabrielle paused, waiting for a comment, and got none, only a tense silence. "I don't think you can have it both ways, Xena."

The warrior exhaled.

"Look at the good things that came from that, though…those women were saved, and a lot of people who would have gotten hurt.. or killed… if we had to fight them didn't." Gabrielle moved even closer, until she could feel the warmth coming off Xena's body, and put a comforting hand on her side, just under her ribs. "Ask yourself this… would the old Xena have felt what you're feeling right now?"

The surface under her fingers stilled for a double handful of heartbeats, then slowly resumed it's motion. "No." The answer came with surprising conviction.

The bard felt a touch on her back, then a solid warmth and a pressure that drew her closer, coupled with what she knew was Xena kissing her head, rain and all. She relaxed a little, ruefully comparing this sort of thing with making her way through a swamp, never knowing what pocket of nastiness she was going to expose with an errant bootstep. Sometimes, though, she got lucky.

'Thanks." Xena murmured. "One of the guys I offed this morning was responsible for those kids."

It was a shock. Gabrielle blinked a little, stunned at the amount of satisfaction that knowledge gave her. "Oh." She took a breath and let it out. "I spent some time with them last night.. telling a few stories."

"I know. I heard you."

"You did?"

"Yeah.. you were telling one of my favorites." The warrior told her. "You actually had quite an audience listening in."

Gabrielle tilted her head up. "I did? Funny.. I didn't hear anyone."

Xena smiled. "And have you know all the Amazons were sitting there like kids? Get out of here, Gabrielle."

"Oh.. right. The image." She patted Xena's chest, almost irrationally pleased at the subtle compliment. "I forgot.. sorry."

The warrior reviewed the small encampment thoughtfully. The Amazons had clustered to one side, the militia to the other, and the Hestians… well, they'd claimed the wagon as their territory and were sitting in it, softly singing hymns to Hestia.

Xena winced as an errant note caught her sensitive ears.

"So.. what's the plan?" The bard asked, after a moment of quiet.

"I'm going to leave the Amazons in the town." Her partner replied crisply. "We'll send out another group to reinforce them, and establish signal outposts between here, and there, just like we have between the valley and Amphipolis. Those are the only two approaches large enough to bring considerable forces through."

"You're sure he'll come after you? What if he doesn't? What if he just lets us sit out here?" Gabrielle questioned. "I mean, think about it, Xena… we're pretty remote. .why should he worry about it?"

A smile, not entirely pleasant, creased the warrior's lips. "He'll be here." She replied. "For two reasons, one… to crush what he's going to see as a rising resistance, and two… " Xena chuckled softly. "Two, because I kicked him in his pride so hard, he's probably still having trouble standing up straight."

"In his pr…" Gabrielle started to make a puzzled inquiry, then stopped short and clamped her lips shut. "Oh.. I didn't realize he'd let you get that close to him… I thought.."

"He was kissing me at the time." The warrior remarked blandly.

Green eyes pinned her immediately, and one golden eyebrow arched. "You didn't mention that part."

A faint grin. "A good warrior uses all the weapons at their disposal, Gabrielle.. and you know I always do that."

"Yeah? How long was he kissing you?" Gabrielle scowled.

"Long enough for him to get.. um… " The dark head rocked back and forth. "Fully involved."

"W.. " The bard started an indignant protest, then stopped, when a hand cupped her chin.

"To get you out of there, I'd have done a lot worse." Xena told her, very seriously. "And in this case, it did what I needed it to do… which was take him out long enough to give me time to get to that kitchen, you got me, Gabrielle??"

"Okay. I got you." The bard relented, giving her an apologetic look. "Sorry… but how would you feel if I told you I let some psycho creep put his hands all over me?"

Xena was silent for a moment. "I'd hope I'd trust you enough to realize there must be a reason for you to have allowed it."

Gabrielle digested that. "Ow." Her face tensed into a grimace.

"Mm."

They looked at each other, then the warrior ruffled her soulmate's hair. "Actually.. I'd probably cut his hands off." She admitted, with a smile. "And ask questions later."

Gabrielle sighed, and leaned against her. "Xena, what if he decides to head here right now? We can't fight thousands of men with the forces we have." She looked up. "Aren't we taking a big risk.. provoking him before we're ready like this?"

"Maybe." Her partner acknowledged, in a low voice. "But we need to keep him off balance, Gabrielle.. if we waited until we were ready, he'd be too powerful, and we wouldn't have a chance."

Xena gave her a pat on the back, then walked over to where Toris was standing with the militia, near the Hestian's wagon. "All right… I want you to take the… acolytes and escort them back to the valley.. if it's clear past Amphipolis, we can send them out that way."

"Excuse me."

Xena turned, to see the leader of the Hestians standing there. She spiked an eyebrow at her. "Yes?"

"We are perfectly capable of deciding our own direction, thank you." The woman announced firmly. "We want to go into the town, also."

"No you don't." Xena replied flatly.

"Yes, we do." The woman insisted. "Now look here, we've got a mandate from Hestia, and we intend on fulfilling it."

"You know.. " Gabrielle slid smoothly between her bristling best friend and the virgin. "There's not really much to see in the village.. after all, the soldiers are leaving, and.. well, Xena just wants to make sure they leave… then we're all going back to our camp… you do want to see our camp, right? It's where all of Xena's army is, waiting to fight against Andreas."

"Really?" The woman hesitated.

"Yeah.. we've got Amazons there… and centaurs…"

"Centaurs! No, really?"

"Sure… and you know, I'm sure you all could do a lot of good there." The bard reassured her. "I mean.. all those Amazons.. all those soldiers… all those centaurs… " She paused. "Sorry… I didn't get your name?"

"Delectia." The woman answered faintly. "You… don't… mean… to.. say… "

"Mm… you know… my regent, Ephiny, has a centaur son." Gabrielle advised her.

Delectia's jaw moved twice, then her eyes rolled up into her head and she dropped like a rock, landing in a crumpled splat in the mud.

Toris scratched his neck. "You know something, sis… you're dangerous." He tapped one of the milita on the shoulder. "C'mon… let's get her up there."

Gabrielle moved out of the way. "He's just now figuring that out?" She asked Xena quizzically.

"He was talking about you." The warrior responded, as she followed Toris. "Ladies, these soldiers are going to escort you back to our camp… then if it's safe, you'll be free to go wherever you want."

The Hestians huddled together, watching their sister be loaded gently into the back of the wagon. Toris dusted his hands off then stepped back and pulled his sister to one side. "Hey… are you sure we're the right ones to be escorting them? "

Xena looked at him, then turned her eyes to the group of Amazons standing nearby, then returned her eyes to Toris. "Move out." She gave a jerk of her head.

"Right." Toris muttered, and motioned for the militia to get started.

**********************************

I must be nuts. Paladia merely repeated the words over and over again, as she clawed at the rock. I must be nuts I must be nuts I must be nuts. The water rushed over her, tugging her backwards, but she got a good hold and pushed her body forward, using her strength to good advantage.

Something whipped by her, and she closed her eyes, fighting down the urge to breath water in. Instead, she wondered what she'd sketch if she could sketch the really, incredibly, absolutely stupid thing she was doing right now.

Would she look like a spider?

Would she look like a crab?

One hand moved, and she got a hold, then pushed with her legs against the pressure.

A crab, probably. A crab clinging to this stupid rock, just waiting to get knocked off by some dumb wave.

Her chest hurt.

She felt like an idiot.

The pressure lessened for a moment, and she lunged ahead, getting almost a body length down the tunnel before the rush returned, but now she had better handholds, and she moved grimly on, starting to feel lightheaded.

Another hold.

Another curse.

Another hold, and the knowledge that she could now see a little light reflecting off the skin on her hands.

They looked like crabs, in fact. Big old white crabs clinging to the rock.

Her chest really hurt now, and she was starting to get an irresisitable urge to breathe. She clamped her jaws shut and crept on. Cait couldn't do this, it suddenly occurred to her. Wouldn't it just twist her leathers if I could?

She coiled her body and shoved forward, forcing her way forward against the water and finally..

Finally…

The crabs crept around the edge of the tunnel, and she was pulling herself out of the damn thing, and paddling in panic for the surface she could now see as silver haze, shot through with black, and red as her heart reflected on the inside of her eyes with the need for air.

Her head broke the surface and she reached for a hold in the rock side, clinging weakly against the current that was still sucking at her, while she hauled air into her lungs with an audible rasp.

She pressed her cheek against the cold stone, and waited for the pounding in her head to stop.

Son of a Bacchae. Paladia pulled herself fully out of the tunnel and into the main part of the pool. I did it.

Can't wait to make Cait suck that up.

Slowly, she made her way across the water and pulled herself out, getting to her feet and trudging through the cavern, dripping cold water from her leathers and squishing with every step.

******************************

"Cyrene.. " Ephiny ran her hands through her curly hair for the nth time. "We've looked everywhere.. I .."

The innkeeper was sitting on a crate, her hands clasped tightly together. "We haven't looked everywhere." She replied shortly. "Because we haven't found her, and I am not.. I AM NOT, do you HEAR ME? AM NOT going to tell my daughters that child is GONE."

The tones rang through the cavern, which was mostly quiet otherwise. Thirty or forty mud covered, dirt covered, scratched and dinged people were standing there, having combed the catacombs within an inch of their lives.

"What if she was kidnapped?" Elaini finally said, her fur completely obscured by mud.

"No one's been in our out of here." Gillen stated flatly, relatively unscathed since she'd been responsible for searching the Amazon's quarters. "I've checked the guard at both gates, and there hasn't been a peep.. besides, they didn't have time.. I doubt the kid was alone for more than a quarter candlemark."

"Do you have any idea how much damn trouble that child can get into in a quarter candlemark?" Eponin growled.

"I knew I shouldn't have left her.. I .." Cyrene moaned.

"Now look.. it wasn't your fault.." Ephiny started.

"Yeah.. she's right.. you know that kid's.." Eponin chimed in.

"Hey."

"Maybe she's with the horses?" Elani suddenly suggested. "She's got Xena's love of them… that's a spot we haven't checked…"

"Yeah, where's that Dani woman.. "Ephiny snapped her fingers. "Good idea, Elani.."

"Hey!"

"All right.. "Cyrene stood up. "Let's try that… the gods know it's something Xena would have done.. "

"Right."

"Right."

"Right."

"HEY!!!!" Paladia leaned back against the wall, and opened her lungs up, yelling at the very top of them in utter frustration.

Silence.

They all turned to see a tall, drenched, scuffed up, exhausted Amazon standing in the opening. "Yes??" Cyrene inquired, hesitantly. "We wondered where you two went."

Paladia exhaled. "We went to Hades, and found that damn kid there." She managed to get out, wincing at how her throat hurt. "So if you'd all stop running around and yelling like fools… "

"W.. " Cyrene abruptly sat down, covering her eyes with one hand. Johan got behind her and circled her with his arms. "Thank the gods." She whispered.

"Where is she, Paladia?" Ephiny asked quietly, the first to recover her wits.

"Come on." Paladia turned and started trudging back, fairly sure they'd follow. "And bring some damn rope."

**************************

Xena surveyed the town from Argo's back, as they waited on the ridge for the last soldier to leave. As they trickled out, she nudged Argo's sides, and started down, a double line of mounted Amazons behind her. Gabrielle rode a smaller gelding just to her right, one of the militia having given up his mount to drive the Hestian's wagon. "Keep your eyes open." The warrior warned. "They could have left an ambush behind."

The town's gates were open, and as they approached cautiously, a few brave residents peeked out, staring at them with nervous eyes. Xena let Argo proceed until they were between the openings, then pulled her to a halt and held a hand up, stopping the columns progress.

It was a mess inside. Not burned, or totally destructed, but the town had the look of disarray and neglect one might expect from someplace under siege for as long as they'd been. Eyes watched from darkened doorways, and only a few, sullen men came out into the street, evidently assuming they were trading one evil for perhaps a worse.

Gabrielle collected her reins and tapped her patient gelding with her heels, moving ahead of her partner, who twitched visibly as she exposed herself to any potential archers. They'd argued about this, but the bard had successfully made the point that she'd be a lot more reassuring, and why wear all the damn armor if it didn't at least protect her from the odd arrow?

Certainly, the villagers watched her approach with less trepidation, and as Gabrielle came even with the first buildings, one of the older men eased away from the wall he'd been tucked behind and walked slowly out to meet her. The bard halted, then swung her leg over her mount's neck and slid down, her boots splashing a little on the soaked ground. She twitched her cloak a little straighter, then tilted her head to meet the man's eyes. "You've had a tough time here."

It wasn't what he'd expected. "Yes." He muttered. "You here to make it worse, or better?"

"Better, I hope." Gabrielle replied. She stepped forward and held a hand out. "My name's Gabrielle... and I'm from Amphipolis."

He took her hand warily, clasping her forearm and releasing it. His eyes lifted and looked over her shoulder at the silently waiting force, then returned to her face. "Is that Xena?"

The bard smiled. "Yes is it."

He released a breath. "Then you're Gabrielle the Bard?"

Another smile. "Yes, I am." Around her, Gabrielle could hear, and sense movement, and she caught a glimpse of white faces easing out of the damp gloom to peer at her. "It's all right.. you can come out. You're safe now."

He seemed at a loss. "It's true then." He murmured. "We heard... stories."

"Is it okay for me to tell them to come in?" Gabrielle asked gently. "They don't want to scare anyone."

"Uh... sure.. sure.. we.. sure."

The bard turned and lifted a hand, more to allow her visibly tense and figeting soulmate to relax than anything else. Xena immediately rode forward, then dismounted, her damp cloak sweeping around her legs as she strode over to join them. "What's your name?" She asked the townsman as the warrior arrived, distracting him from the warrior's intimidating presence.

"El." His voice was hoarse.

"All right, El... this is Xena, and she's really here to make sure everyone here is okay.. and we'd like to know what help you need to get things back together."

His eyes inched slowly up Xena's tall form, flinching as they touched the pale blue eyes. Rather than the expected fear, however, his face eased into an expression of awe and wonder. "Wow."

Xena's eyebrows hiked up a little. "They leave anyone behind?" She asked, her low voice echoing slightly.

He seemed tongue tied for a moment, then blinked. "Uh...no.. no, ma'am, they didn't."

Xena's eyes closed and her nostrils flared a little. "Good... now this is what we're gonna do.. I'm gonna leave most of these warriors here, and they've got instructions to help you get this place back together. They'll also stick around and make sure those guys don't come back. Is that okay?"

A pause.

"Is that okay?" Xena asked again.

"Huh?" El was still gazing up at her in somewhat of a haze. "Oh... uh..." He tore his eyes from her face and looked at the waiting Amazons. "Sure.. sure.. um...are those.. um...we had some other women through here a few days ago.. from Hestia.. are they.."

"Virgins?" Gabrielle smiled kindly at him. "No... those are Amazons. Definitely not the same thing."

"Amazons... well.. " El smiled hesitantly. "Sure.. gods, we've got so much to do... we've been trying to hold back from those bastards, but it's been hard.. and... when they caught us.. it was a bad thing."

"We know." The bard gave him a sympathetic look. "Some of their victims ended up in our camp.. that's how we knew what was going on."

There was a little silence, then a battered looking woman came forward. "The children?"

"Yes." Xena answered her. "They're all alive... we're taking care of them."

"Right.. if you want, we could bring them back, or you could.. " Gabrielle stopped speaking as the woman crept up to Xena and dropped to her knees, hugging the warrior's cloak to her face. "Send someone there to see them." She concluded softly.

Xena handled it better than she'd expected her to, though. She knelt and took the townswoman's hands, detaching them from the wet fabric. "You're thanking the wrong person." The warrior told her mildly. "The man who got them out of here almost made it on his own, and when they caught up to him, Gabrielle here held them off."

Everyone. *everyone* turned and looked right at the bard, who was standing there, looking particularly damp and relatively small and inoffensive next to Xena's dark menace, and the Amazons feathered grandeur. Gabrielle cleared her throat, feeling her skin heat in unconscious response. "Anyway, they’re safe." She amended, into all that quiet.

Xena stood, pulling the bedraggled woman up with her and set her on her feet with a little pat on the shoulder. "These warriors know how to live off the land… they won’t be taking anything from you." She looked around, at the gathering crowd and soaked in the almost palpable wave of gratitude and relief flowing her way.

"In fact, we’ll go the other way." Aslanta stated, stepping up quietly. "We’ll put hunters and collectors out.. see what we can replenish for you."

Whispers started, as more and more townsfolk came out and started clustering around them, older men and women now, and children, peering at the fighters with wide eyes. Aslanta leaned closer to Xena and lowered her voice. "This what you do all the time?"

Xena didn’t answer for a long while, her eyes on a young boy who had come up and reached a hand out, touching her armor in timid fascination. "Yeah." She finally responded briefly. "Now."

"Huh." The Amazon gave two admirers of her own a polite smile. "Nice."

Yeah. Xena allowed herself to bask in it for a minute. It was something she’d sort of gotten used to over the past few years, until now the reverse reaction surprised her more than this one did. You could forget anything, given enough time, and enough new experiences, she supposed. "All right. Let’s get started… there’s a lot of work to be done."

Everyone hesitated. Xena turned and unclasped her cloak, swinging it off her shoulders and over Argo’s back. Then she riffled her fingers through her dark hair and looked up at the still cloudy, but no longer dripping skies. Gabrielle understood the motion and mirrored it, moving off and pulling aside two or three of the villagers and asking them low questions.

The Amazons got the message too, and spread out, starting to right boxes, and move debris. Xena watched for a moment, then looked down as a tug pulled on her leathers. "Hey."

Her little friend looked up with bashful eyes. "Kin you help me?"

"Sure." The warrior replied. "What do you need?"

For an answer, he turned and started walking, tugging her along after him. Xena followed, dodging two men and an Amazon moving a huge barrel, and ducking her head as the boy entered a small, half fallen down hovel.

"Mama, I got someone to ‘elp." His piping voice broke through the gloom.

"Jere, I told you not to.. " The tired voice stopped, as Xena’s body was outlined against the light and entered. "Gods protect us… the boy meant no harm."

"Naw.. it’s okay, ma… she broughts all these nice ladies here to help us."

Xena let her eyes adjust and walked forward, putting a hand up on the roof beam just over her head. Part of the ceiling had collapsed and fallen over the woman, trapping her. "Just hold on." She examined the structure, running her hands over the wood. "All right… can you move your legs at all?"

"A little." The woman replied, very softly. "But it hurts…. Who are you?"

"Relax." The warrior crouched, and fit her shoulders under the beams, then took a breath and slowly straightened her legs. The wood creaked a protest, but gave under her strength, and lifted off the trapped woman. "Okay.. can you slide out?"

The boy helpfully grabbed his mother’s arm, and together they squirmed out from under the thatch and wood splinters, getting clear as Xena lowered the rafters back down.

"See? I told ya." The boy grinned at his new friend. "There’s a lot of em out there, but I brought the best one back."

The woman sat up, and rubbed her shins, giving Xena an apologetic look. "Thank you… it’s true then, the soldiers have gone?"

The warrior knelt, letting her arms rest on her knees as she examined the woman’s legs. "It’s true.. you all right, there?"

The woman tested her limbs and nodded. "Yes… they made a last sweep through on their way out, and I guess a rope caught on the timber there… pulled it down as I was trying to get out. " She held out a slim, well formed hand. "My name is Levas, by the way."

Xena took it. "You don’t sound like you’re from these parts." She commented. "Want a hand up?"

Levas accepted the help, and dusted herself off. She was young, the warrior realized, about Gabrielle’s age, and pretty, with long, dark hair and a pleasant smile. "I’m not… from around here, that is… you’ve got a good ear." She laughed softly. "I can’t believe it.. it’s been horrible here for months.. I can’t believe they’re gone. Did you chase them out, is that it?"

"Something like that." Xena agreed.

"Sure… she’s Xena, did you know that, ma?" Jere piped up, seemingly having recovered his spirits.

"Are you?" Levas asked, in surprise. "I’ve heard of you…. Let me see, when was it… oh, yes, of course. I spent a little while in Athens, at the Bard’s Academy there. I remember a young girl came in, and tried out… she was very good.. they accepted her, but she left.. anyway, she told stories about you."

"Gabrielle." Xena supplied.

"Why.. yes! Yes, it was… you’re right.. she said she was a friend of yours.. I wonder what ever happened to her. Do you know?"

"Yes… yes, I do." Xena smiled, her mind briefly visiting that moment of bittersweet hurt when her newfound friend had gone, albeit briefly down a far different path. "She’s here, as a matter of fact." The warrior stood aside to let them pass out the door.

"Is she? Gods.. that’s incredible." Levas shook her head as she moved by. "I wonder if she ever found what she was looking for…" The woman half turned. "How did she put it.. her tree in the forest?"

The flora in question produced a brief quirk of the lips. "You’ll have to ask her that."

They went outside, under dark clouds that rumbled warningly, threatening yet more rain.

***************************************

"They're where?"

Paladia pointed. "There's a tunnel" She was sitting down on the edge of the pool, trying to resist the urge just to go to sleep. "Under the water."

"Centaur poop." Ephiny cursed.

"Hey… watch it." Tyldus shuffled his hooves, and gave the Amazon a look.

"Sorry." The regent apologized. "All right… so.. " She walked to the edge of the water and peered down. Eponin had followed her in, and behind them were Cyrene, Johan, Elaini, three or four other Amazons with ropes, and some bystanders. "Guess one of us has to go in.. " She turned and motioned. "Here.. gimme the end of that.. I'll.."

"Excuse me." Elaini took the rope neatly. "Why don't you let me do that? "

Ephiny scowled at her. "That's one of my Amazons in there."

"Uh huh.. and that means, what?" The forest dweller looped the rope around her stomach and tied it off. "I'm bigger, I'm stronger, I've got a nice warm fur coat, and I'm a healer, which Paladia there tells me is needed." She paused. "So move, okay?"

"Huh." Paladia drew a knee up and circled it with one long arm. "She's pushy enough to be an Amazon.. she is." She heard Cyrene muffle a laugh, and glanced up at the innkeeper, developing a new appreciation for Xena's mother.

Elaini dove into the water, clamping her fanged jaws shut on a muted scream at the chill, and swam competently over to where the current was disappearing into the rock face. Sure enough, she could feel the pull of the water, and she briefly thanked Ares that she'd been practicing her swimming with Jessan in the cold spring near Amphipolis.

Well, okay.. they were actually practicing drying, with a little snuggling in the sun thrown in, but they did get to swim a little, and he had been teaching the triplets to swim, so…

She took in a deep breath, and ducked under the water, fluttering her eyelids and getting an almost clear view of the crack in the wall. It would, she realized, be a tight fit. She turned sideways, and pulled herself forward, her chest getting lightly scraped by the rock on either side. The water pushed her through, though, and she released her hold and let it carry her into the next cavern, kicking back and heading for the surface. As her head popped out she shook it, and blinked the water out of her eyes.

Dori was seated next to a quiet, pale figure pressing a bit of leather to her head, and Ares was curled up next to her. The wolf jumped up as Elaini surfaced, and rushed to the edge of the water, growling.

"Oh, shut up." Elaini stroked over and hauled her wet body out of the water, dripping huge amounts of it from her fur. She unhooked the healer's kit she'd carefully wrapped in waterproof hide from around her neck and ambled over to where Cait was sitting. "Well well…"

"Bck." Dori looked up in displeasure as large droplets of cold water fell on her.

"Shh." Elaini knelt next to the young Amazon and pulled her hand away from her head, examining the cut carefully. "Not too bad, Cait.. how are you feeling otherwise?"

"Quite nasty." Cait admitted softly. "Pally got out then, did she? I'm ever so glad."

"Yes, she did." Elaini noticed the girl's paleness, and felt her cheek. "Where does it hurt, Cait, other than here?"

Cait coughed a little. "My chest aches.. and my throat…I'm afraid I was quite full of water before Pally got me out of here."

Elaini smoothed the human's fair hair from her pale, odd eyes. "Did you stop breathing?"

"I think so." Cait nodded. "She was squeezing me ever so hard, and yelling…it was nasty."

"Bck." Dori had stood up and was investigating Cait's hand. "Oo."

Elaini removed bandages and a small, thin ivory needle from her pack, then uncorked a bottle of cleanser and carefully cleaned the jagged cut on Cait’s head. "I’m going to have to stitch this." She told the girl regretfully. "It’s gonna hurt."

"Too right." Cait sighed. "But it’s better than dripping all over things, isn’t it? Go on." She curled a hand around an edge of the rock she was sitting on and sat, very still and silent as Elaini closed the wound, the only sign of the pain she was in a slight flaring of her nostrils every time the needle broke skin.

"There." The forest dweller tied off the end of her piece of gut, and sat back on her heels. "Okay… now, let me look at you, little scamp." She picked up Dori and cradled her, tickling the baby on her rounded belly. "What a trouble maker you are."

"Bck." Dori waved her feet, and grabbed a handful of Elaini’s fur, tugging it and giggling. She evaded the healer’s hands and squirmed, intent on climbing her way up with such an excellent gripping surface.

"Ow." Elaini winced. "Dori, cut that out." She examined the infant carefully. "Just a few scrapes, hmm?" She felt Dori’s skull, then tweaked a tiny ear. "Just like your mom.. indestructible."

Cait drew in a long breath, wondering if the forest dweller realized what she was saying, knowing instinctively that it wasn’t Gabrielle she was referring to, the bard being quite a sturdy person, but hardly indestructible. "I can’t ever believe she got in here… and with Ares, too."

"Mm.." Elaini was busy wrapping Dori in a clean diaper, tucking the ends in expertly. "Problem is.. how’re we gonna get you all out." The forest dweller looked up, then stood, dragging her rope behind her as she studied the walls. "Maybe she held her breath by instinct coming in here.. but.. I don’t know if I want to risk that on the longer trip back, or with you either with that head wound." Her head tipped upward and she studied the break in the rock above her. "Hmm."

Cait also looked up, shading her eyes. "It's ever so far up there."

"How are the Amazons at mountain climbing?" Elaini countered. "You going to be okay if I go back and give them the news?"

Dori sat down and sucked on her finger, looking around with a displeased expression. "Mmm." She pouted.

"I don't suppose you have anything to eat in that bit of a pouch." Cait murmured. "Or I could be in quite a lot of trouble."

Elaini eyed the scowling infant, then rubbed her furry jaw. "I'll try to hurry>"

*******************************************

It took them until well after sunset to get things straightened up, and by then, the rain had finally stopped, and the stars poked tentative faces out over the central village square. A bonfire had been built, and the villagers were sharing what little they had with each other, and with the Amazons. Hunters had added a good portion of meat to the communal pot, and a group of very tired, but almost desperately relieved townspeople were mingling with the leather clad warriors finding more in common than either group would have believed possible.

Xena kept herself a little apart, sitting on a pile of folded sacking to one side of the main group, and spending her time observing, rather than participating. The villagers seemed to expect that, and she found herself the recipient of many a respectful, awed glance.

Gabrielle was sitting with Levas, catching up over the past several years from the young woman, and the two were laughing as Gabrielle related something or other. The bard had removed her armor so she could work more comfortably, and was dressed in her quilted vest and leggings, a cute combination to the appreciatively watching warrior's eyes.

Aslanta came over and leaned against the barn wall at her side, silently observing for a few minutes. "These people are all right." She finally stated.

"Most people are all right, in little places like this." Xena allowed. "They don't want much… don't need much… just to be left alone in peace."

"Mm." The Amazon grunted. "Your hometown isn't much bigger than this."

"Nope." Xena agreed.

"I was born in Thebes." Aslanta rubbed her nose. "My mother was a slave there…all I remember was dirt, and noise…the townspeople there treated us all like garbage. "

Xena cocked her head and watched the Amazons interesting profile.

"Finally my mother had it… she was a silversmith, and one night, after the guy who owned us came after me for some bed sports, she gutted him and cut his body open six ways.. left it to rot on the bedroom floor."

"And ran, I take it." The warrior spoke.

"Oh yeah… she grabbed me and took off… we went feral for… gods… four.. five moons before we happened on a tribe of Amazons out in the forest." Aslanta exhaled. "What a difference that was.. it was like learning to live again." She looked up. "I've always had a cold spot in me for townsfolk since then.. all proper, all absorbed in themselves.. and letting crap like that go on around them. But these people are all right."

Xena absorbed the information, then nodded twice. "Glad to hear it… I think you'll be here for a while. I'll send another column up to bolster the force here..and Toris was going to start a sentry group up to set up watchfires when he got to the village."

Aslanta nodded in silence, her eyes falling on Gabrielle who had just switched into what was, to Xena's eyes, obvious storytelling mode. They both watched for a moment. "Y'know.. I don't get her.. is she a fighter, or is she a cleric, or… what is she?"

"She's Gabrielle." The warrior let her head rest against the wood, holding back a smile. "She doesn't fit into anyone's expectations."

"Not even yours?" Aslanta added a grin to take the sting off the question.

"Especially not mine." Came the dry response.

*******************************************

"Wow.. I can hardly believe it.. that sound so exciting. Gabrielle.. you were right, when you left. You said we could all stay in Athens and tell stories.. you were going to go out and live them! And you did!"

"I guess I did." Gabrielle grinned, lacing her hands behind her head and leaning back. True, some had been tougher to live through than others, but still and all… "It's been an amazing couple of years… what about you? I thought you were going to stay at the Academy?"

Levas sighed. "It was the usual… I was stupid, and got involved with another one of the students.. and had Jere." Her face showed mild regret. "The Academy convinced me I couldn't continue with my studies, not with a new baby, so.. "

Gabrielle blinked. "Wow.. did the baby's father come with you?"

"No." Levas shook her head.

"That's so sad, Levas…you're a really good storyteller.. I'm sure they could have worked something out… " The bard was upset.

The dark haired woman shrugged. "It's all right… it's not that bad, or at least it wasn't, until those soldiers came. Jere and I came here and made ourselves a home. I teach the village children, and he has lots and lots of friends."

Gabrielle's brow was still furrowed, and Levas laughed gently. "Gabrielle… you're such a crusader… that's what I so liked about you. You were always ready to stand up for anyone."

The bard relaxed a little, and chuckled. "Yeah.. I guess that's true… " She admitted. "That was the most amazing thing about meeting Xena, that first time.. because she had no idea who I was.. who any of us were.. she just got in there and stood up for us for no reason at all." She paused. "Up until that moment.. I thought I was the only person in the world who ever did that."

Levas glanced over towards the barn. "She's really sort of nice.. I mean, I was surprised. Not that I… well, you know what I mean. She's pretty well known for being a ferocious warrior."

Gabrielle tilted her head to one side, and regarded her partner. Xena was in one of her grumpy moods, sitting over by herself in a corner, and sucking on a wineskin, her cloak tucked around her armored body. Aslanta was over there chatting with her, but the warrior's body language spoke of little but minor annoyance and boredom.

"She's… a very unique person." The bard remarked. "I don't think there's anyone else like her."

Levas sighed. "No. I suppose not.. hey, listen… so you never settled down, huh?"

"Um.. "

"I remember you saying you were out there… looking for your tree in the forest, remember? You said you'd never find that in Potadeia… remember that?"

"Funny thing." Gabrielle eyed her with a wry twinkle. "Because you know what? I did find that tree.. and you won't believe it, but it was in Potadeia." She smiled at the look of astonishment on Levas' face. "Took me a while to realize it though."

"Really? But I thought… " Levas looked at her, then at the Amazons, then at Xena, then back at her. Then her eyes slowly tracked back to Xena, and held for a few beats before they drifted finally back to Gabrielle's face. "Wow." She looked troubled. "I didn't…that's so strange."

"Why is it strange?" The bard asked, with a puzzled frown.

"Well.. you're so different." She answered hesitantly. "I just can't picture you.. um…" She shook her head. "Anyway… I guess you aren't in to settling down and having kids, so …"

Gabrielle half turned and circled her knees with both arms. "Maybe that's your problem, Levas.. you seem to think experiencing things like motherhood, and love, means you can't also have adventures, and make a difference in the world." She paused. "It's not true… I have settled down, and I have a daughter named Doriana.."

"Well.. "

"Excuse me, your Majesty." A soft voice interrupted them, and they turned to find an Amazon standing there, waiting politely.

"Yes?" Gabrielle tilted her head up in inquiry.

The woman knelt, and rested her hands on her knee. "Your majesty… I know it's been a long day.. but these children… could you maybe tell them a story? Just a short one? Maybe that one with the sheep… those kids in the hospice loved it."

A sunny grin appeared immediately on Gabrielle's face. "Sure." She started to get up, when Levas grabbed her arm. "Hm?"

"Your majesty?" The dark haired woman whispered.

"Oh, well, yeah.. I'm also an Amazon queen." The bard gave her hand a pat. "Like I said.. it's been a busy couple of years."

Levas watched her go, walking across the firelit space with a powerful, rolling step and an air of confident good nature. Still puzzled, she shook her head, then sneaked a peek at the shadowy figure watching from the barn. Xena too, was watching the fair haired bard's progress, the firelight glinting off her pale, hooded eyes.

And just for a moment, the stoic mask fell, as Gabrielle turned and smiled and the warrior smiled back, lifting her hand and returning a small gesture which caused the bard to laugh, and shake her head, before she turned back and started her story.

It was one of her favorites, Xena settled back in her nest of sacks and let the familiar words trickle past her ears. She felt the edgy irritation that had been bothering her since before sundown slip slowly away and she consciously shoved aside the disturbing images haunting her as she allowed Gabrielle’s talented weaving replace them.

She’d always done that. Especially during those long, cold nights when she’d been taking her first, unsteady steps along the path to redemption, listening to the sometimes ridiculous words of the chatty girl she’d somehow let herself become attached to.

A clear picture formed in her memory, of a night deep in the forest, surrounded by tall, old trees hanging with quiet moss, the scent of green, and water, and earth all around them. A fire had separated her from Gabrielle, who was lying on her belly on her blankets, talking.

Babbling, really, she remembered. About their day, and the things they’d seen, and the people they’d encountered, her stream of words broken here and there by a question thrown out at Xena like an unexpected grasshopper. "And what did you think about that guy, Xena? Wasn’t he strange? He had these really weird eyes… "

"He was blind."

"And he had this stick, you know, that he was…what?"

"He was blind, Gabrielle. He was using the stick to find his way."

Gabrielle had digested this information thoughtfully. "Wow.. I didn’t even realize that… no wonder he had to ask that merchant about the colors of the fabric.. I just thought he was having trouble with the shade… how did you know that, Xena? That’s amazing… he didn’t say a word.. I thought he.." She’d suddenly bent her head, peering at the ground. "Oh, wow… check this out, Xena… look at this caterpillar. I’ve never seen anything like it."

Xena had sighed. "It’s just a bug."

"No.. no.. I mean it.. look at this.. it’s so colorful.. Xena, c’mere… "

She’d rolled her eyes, but she’d also sat up, then sprawled down in the other direction, so her head was much closer to the girl’s and she could see whatever the Hades it was that had her so interested. "Yeah. It’s a bug."

"Well… yeah, but it’s so pretty." Gabrielle had gotten close to the insect, peering at it in fascination. "Look at those stripes… and the tiny hairs.." She’d reached out a finger to touch it and Xena had only just… barely… stopped her. "Oh!"

"It’s poisonous."

"Really?" The girl had taken back her now released hand and tucked it under her chin. "But it’s so beautiful… how could it be.. " Her open, green eyes had lifted and met Xena’s, only inches from her. "Dangerous." The last word had come out in a soft murmur, then the girl’s eyes had dropped, in evident confusion.

She’d been honestly surprised at that. "Birds eat them…the colors are the bug’s way of telling them to back off… it says.. "I’m dangerous. Stay away from me."

Gabrielle had reached over and gotten a small branch she’d stripped off the firewood and maneuvered the caterpiller onto it, then carefully stood up and walked over to a nearby tree, allowing the bug to squirm onto the bark of the lowest branch. Then she came back over, and sat back down cross legged, a look of intent concentration on her expressive face.

Xena had rolled over and settled down, glad of the peace and quiet. She’d gazed up at the stars as the fire crackled, and burned lower, hearing the soft rustling as Gabrielle laid down and tucked herself into her blankets.

Just as she’d thought the girl was drifting off, the clear, vibrant voice shattered the quiet again. "Hey, Xena?"

"Yeah."

"Do the birds listen? I mean.. do they pay attention to the warning, and leave the caterpiller alone?"

She’d sighed. "Yeah… they do, Gabrielle.. because they know if they go after that bug, they might get hurt.. they might even die. So it’s in their best interest to find a safer lunch."

"Mm… yeah, I guess it is." Gabrielle had answered. "I guess that would be the smart thing to do, huh?"

The dark sky had seemed to fold down over her as Xena gazed up into it, even the stars appeared faded, and old. She’d had one of those moments, when the weight of her past had settled on her, pressing her down into the earth and making her question, again, what possible value this path could gain her. "That would be the smart thing to do, Gabrielle."

The fire crackled and popped in the silence.

"Hey, Xena?" That voice again.

"Yeah?"

"You know what I just realized?"

A sigh. "What?"

"I’d make a really, really lousy bird."

Xena had turned her head at her second surprise of the night and peered through the crimson shadows at Gabrielle, who was curled up on her side, one arm tucked under her cheek. "You would, huh?"

"Yep.. I’d go right after that caterpillar." Gabrielle had cheerfully acknowledged. "G’night, Xena." She’d closed her eyes and snuggled deeper into her blankets, leaving the warrior to the fire and her stars.

Laughter and applause drew her attention from her memories, and Xena lifted her eyes, to see Gabrielle backing off from the crowd with a light word, and turning to move in her direction. She tried to reconcile her memory of that young girl with the intense, self assured woman coming towards her, and sighed.

What if? It was a question she could never seem to stop asking herself. What if she could go back, to that quiet night before they knew what they would become to each other. Before all the horror, and the anguish, and the pain, before she'd lead Gabrielle down a dark path whose scars were still there, just under the surface of her partner's bright smile.

Would she change this? If she could go back, knowing what she did Would she?

"Ugh." The bard dropped down into the sacks next to her and tucked her hands under her arms. "I'm about talked out for one night." She studied her friend's face. "Hey… you all right?"

"Yeah. Just thinking." Xena replied, putting the question away in it's sad cupboard for now. "Those kids really liked that story." She leaned back and spread an arm invitingly, returning Gabrielle's smile as the bard settled against her and gave her a quick hug. "So did I."

"Did you? I thought you were drifting there a little." The bard teased her, as Xena tucked her cloak around both of them, and shut out the damp cold.

"I was thinking about caterpillars."

A delighted laugh made her grin in response. "Oh..gods… I remember that!" Gabrielle nodded. "Me and my curiosity… I'm surprised you didn't let me just grab the stupid thing.. it would have served me right to get sick from it."

"Nah… I'd have had to clean up after you." Xena put a finger on her nose and winked.

The bard groaned. "Do you know how embarrassing it is for me to look back to those days, and realize what an annoying little… oh." Gabrielle licked her just kissed lips. "Mm…sorry.. what was I saying? Oh yeah… how on earth did you ever put up with me?"

"You weren't that bad." Xena reassured her.

"Yes, I was." Her soulmate chuckled. "I'm glad you gave me the chance to grow up, Xe. In case I never said it.. thanks." She found a comfortable spot and snuggled into it, yawning a little and pulling the edge of Xena's cloak closer.

The warrior rested her chin against the bard's head and blinked at the now dim fire, and the figures slumped around it, her eyes roaming over the village in watchful silence. She looked down at Gabrielle's blissful smile, and found, to her surprise, the answer to her question.

No.

She would not change this.

More importantly, she truly believed, deep down, that Gabrielle wouldn't change it either. She tickled the bard's ear affectionately, and got a half lidded, green orb looking back at her in reproach. "I love you." She whispered.

Gabrielle's breathing caught, then she reached up and wound a lock of Xena's dark hair around her fingers, closing her hand over it. "I love you too."

Xena let her head rest against the wood, feeling the peace of their connection steal over her as she let it chase away the darkness.

*************************************************

"Son of a Bacchae." Eponin paused, and let her arms rest, holding on to the piece of granite she'd been scaling. "I can't wait for that kid to get old enough to start learning to spar, because when she does…."

"When she does, she's going to kick your ass just like Xena does." Solari poked her in the butt. "G'wan, grandma. Get moving."

Pony glared at her, but turned, and continued her climb upward, heading for the spot they'd marked as the crack in the cavern's ceiling. "Ouch." She pulled her hand back from a nest of briars, which waved evilly at her. "Watch out for that."

"Yeah, yeah." Solari grumbled, looping her climbing rope up and over another crack in the rock face. "I thought we've been good this month." The smell of wet granite rose strongly around her, and she lifted a hand to wipe the damp hair off her forehead.

"We have." Eponin grunted, sliding across the almost vertical rockface but finding a handhold. "Why?"

"What'd we do to get this little assignment, then?"

Eponin saved her breath for a moment, shifting the heavy pack she was carrying on her back that contained ropes and harness. "It's not punishmen…ow!" She reached back and pulled a briar from her leg, glaring at it before tossing it down the cliff face. "Ep just wanted people she trusted up here."

"Great." Solari watched the briar bounce down, then shook her head. "We should be preparing for war, y'know."

Pony gave her a look. "Shut up, and just climb, okay?" She shook her head and looked over at the granite surface "We're almost there… then we pull the kid out, and we're done."

"Except we gotta climb back down." The younger woman stated dryly. "With the kid."

It was quiet for a while after that, as they made their way up, finally reaching the gap in the rock face and looking down into it.

"Hey guys." Eponin leaned over the edge, and waved.

Dori spotted her, and immediately got up off her wolf rug and toddled over to the edge of the water, pointing up at Eponin with a tiny finger. "Bck!" The baby was streaked with mud, but looked otherwise unharmed.

Next to her, Elaini was seated, a little the worse for wear next to a pale looking Cait whose head was graced with a neat bandage.

"We can get Dori and Cait.. and Ares." Pony called down. "But we're gonna have a tough time with you, Lani.. no offense."

The forest dweller gave her a look, bushy golden eyebrows shifting over honey colored eyes. "Like I'd trust my furry butt to you guys and that rope." She snorted. "I'll swim out. You just get the rig down here, okay? This kid's hungry, and Cait needs some rest." She watched Dori dash back over to Ares, and maul him. The wolf looked over with a piteous whine. "You'd better hurry, before this damn dog loses all it's fur."

"Amazing, how that animal puts up with her." Solari muttered, as she found a place to wedge her supplies into, then rummaged in Eponin's backpack. She pulled out the long, coiled rope and the knit bag they'd rigged up, then dropped it slowly into the crevice.

Elaini waded into the water and reached one long arm up, snagging the harness, then walked back to the shore with it, to be met by a curious infant dragging a hapless wolf along by the tail. "Dori, no. Don't do that. It’s not nice."

"Mine." Dori piped, reaching for a bit of the forest dweller's fur to tug. "Grrr."

"Ah ah.. " Elaini reached down and snagged her target, lifting Dori up and cradling her. "You're gonna go for a ride.. .how bout that?"

Dori pulled a bit of her chest hair then smiled, gazing up at Elaini and batting her eyelashes.

"You know." The forest dweller glanced up. "I figured out why they made human babies so damned cute." She stuffed Dori in the knit bag, closing it carefully and making sure it didn't bind any infant arms or legs. "You'd kill em otherwise." She gave the rope a tug. "G'wan.. take er up."

Eponin braced herself, and started pulling, watching the small package come towards her swinging gently. She could hear Dori giggling and was briefly glad she didn't seem to share her mother's known fear of heights. "Hey, Dori…. "

"Mama!" The baby gurgled, kicking and making the rope swing more vigorously.

"No no.. cut that out." Solari warned. "You're gonna smack your head on that rock, you crazy thing." She reached down and snagged the bundle as it came near, and pulled Dori's wriggling body up next to her on the rock. The bright, verdant eyes peered out at her with interest. "Okay… hey, Pon.. you wanna keep her in this thing? Might be easier."

Dori scowled, then let out a yell, as she got tangled in the webbing.

Both Amazons looked at each other, and sighed. Eponin turned around and braced herself, then took the squirming bundle and unlaced the ties, stripping the rough twisted rope bag off of the unhappy infant. "There. Better?"

Dori hiccuped, then looked around with interest, spotting a hawk flying overhead and watching it in fascination. "Boo!" She pointed at it.

Eponin's jaw dropped. "No feathered way." She looked at Solari. "Coincidence, right?"

The younger Amazon held up both hands, distancing herself from the question. "I'm not going there." She turned around and started plotting a way down. "We'd better get her down before we start trying to get the rest of them up here."

"Good idea." Eponin turned and yelled their intentions down to Elaini, then she studied her armful of trouble. "Damn, she's getting big,… listen, can you grab that sack of Xena's I brought.?"

"Mm." Solari fished through the pack, and pulled out the little fur carrier the warrior used when she was out and about with her daughter. "Here…. Y'know, I heard Cyrene telling someone the other day she's the image of Xena when she was growing up… I can't picture it."

Pony struggled to get the active infant into the sack. "I can." She grabbed a stubbornly flailing arm and stuffed it inside, only to be kicked by a surprisingly strong leg. "Boy.. can I ever."

"Bck." Dori protested, fighting her all the way.

"Well." Solari watched, muffling a grin. "She's got Gab's smile, that's for sure… and her attitude."

"Yeah." Eponin growled. "C'mon.. Dori.. gimme a break here, huh?" She stood up and arranged the straps. "Now hold still…." She suspended the baby from the leather buckles, trying to guess the best way to get them on her, then swung Dori up over her head, preparing to settle the bagged baby onto her shoulders.

Dori loved swinging. She recognized the motion as well, and she got an arm out of her bag, grabbing hold of the strap and flinging her body into an arc that collided forcefully with the back of Eponin's head.

"Hey!" The Amazon yelped, feeling her balance shift forward. She moved a foot to recover, but her boot caught in the rock, and she found herself falling forward, her hands tangled in the straps. "Oh crap!"

Solari lunged for her, gettting a hand on her leathers as she tumbled, but unable to stop her fall. "Pon!"

Eponin knew she was going down, and she managed to get a hand free, fending herself off from the rocks as she fell, tucking Dori tight against her body to protect the baby from the impact. "Help!!!" She yelled, wincing as she bounced off a wet boulder. Her hands grabbed a hold of a piece of rock, but it broke under her weight and she continued to roll down. She got her feet under her though, and started using them to slow her descent, taking vicious shocks against her joints as she plowed down the mountainside.

One last bounce, and she twisted, sensing a landing spot just beneath her. She tucked her head down, and wrapped her arms around Dori just before she hit, seeing green and breathing a sigh of relief.

Just before she realized it was the briar patch.

"Pon?" Solari scrambled down with reckless haste, sending pebbles scuttling down from her path. "Pon?" She could see the dun colored form against the green, and cursed softly under her breath. "Eponin!"

A baby's cry made her go faster, and she almost pitched off the mountainside herself as she jumped the last bit, and got down to where Eponin had fallen. "Pony? Hey!!!"

"Shut the Hades up." A voice drifted to her. "Just shut, the Hades up, and go get Ephiny."

Solari stopped, and caught her breath, sitting down on a rock and holding it. "You all right?"

"I'm in the middle of a gods be cursed centaur stinking briar patch with a ton of Hades pretending to be a baby sitting on my chest pooping." Eponin bit out, in tiny, vicious sentences. "Now. Go. Get . EPHINY."

Solari bit her tongue really hard. "I'm gone." She promised, picking herself up and choosing a path down the rocks. She could already see the rain misted figure of her regent standing at the base of the cliff, along with several others. "I'll have her.. um.. " She edged out of Eponin's sight. "bring tweezers."

*******************************************

The sound of horses hooves clattered softly over the wet ground, making an almost subaudible drumming pattern that Xena found soothing. She glanced behind her, approving the neat formation of the two hundred mounted soldiers that were following them home.

That had been the surprise of the morning. A warning from the Amazon sentries had brought them up and in arms, mustering at the front of the village and expecting the return of Andreas troops.

Instead, who should come riding up but her old friend Palaemon

. "Hey, Xena!" He'd yelled to her, as she'd ridden out on Argo. "Hear you're looking for a few good men!"

"Oh yeah?" Xena had answered. "You here to help me look?"

But they'd both laughed, and exchanged clasps, as the soldiers gathered around them. Xena had introduced everyone, including a delighted Vidalus who had latched to Gabrielle and was busy talking her ear off several paces to Xena's rear.

They were almost back to the valley, and the rain had finally stopped, leaving everything a sodden green mess that sent a rich scent into the air. Palaemon's bay gelding ambled next to Argo, and Xena spent a moment to mentally count.

With the Amazons, the centaurs, the militia, Bennu's troops, and now Palaemon, she had close to eight hundred fighters under her command. Eight hundred, against four thousand. Xena exhaled, not liking the odds. What were the chances of getting more than that? The forest dwellers and Cirron were her biggest hope, but they were halfway across Greece, and Andreas forces now stood between where they were, and where she was. They could make their way around, sure.. but would they?

"Word's out, Xena." Palaeomon commented, resting his scarred hands on his saddlebow. "All over the damn place..the further south I came, the more I heard it, how you were raising an army to challenge Andreas."

"Well, it's true." The warrior remarked simply.

"Yeah… I was in a small place just east of here and some of his guys came in.. posted that reward notice for you. Ten thousand dinars." He whistled. "That's a lot of money."

Xena just nodded.

"There was a bounty hunter there.. name of Bathscenius.. you know him?"

Xena felt a chill go down her back. "I've heard of him, sure." The man was notorious across the land, in fact.. he'd chased down some tough bounties, and had a reputation of smart swordplay, tough tactics, and an utter lack of fear.

"Know what he said to those guys?"

Blue eyes met blue. "What?"

Palaemon grinned. "Ten thousand dinars ain't no good to a dead man." He watched Xena's face for a reaction. "He told them if they knew what was good for em, they'd find some other bacchae in armor to hunt."

Xena chuckled, and shook her head. "Stories get out of hand sometimes."

"Ehhh.. not these kind. I kept on hearing whispers, off in the corners when his troops were around, about how you'd gotten right into his headquarters, and taken all his horses right out from under his nose… true?"

The warrior waggled a hand. "Partly.'

Palaemon mulled that over as they walked along. "You've met him, face to face though?"

"Yep." Xena took a swig of water from her waterskin and washed her mouth around with it, then spat it neatly and accurately at a sunflower. "He's your typical monomaniacal military hot head, with delusions of being king of the world." She considered. "He's got a good organization, though.. his troops are disciplined, and know what they're doing."

"So I heard." The man commented. "I also heard he brands them… that he's into the absolute loyalty thing."

The warrior nodded. "Yeap."

"And that he kills people who try to desert."

"I got that impression, yeah." Xena replied.

"Nice."

"Oh yeah." Xena looked ahead, to where the valley's entrance was waiting. She could see the tiny figures on the gate from here, and she lifted a hand, standing in her stirrups and waving it. She saw an answering wave back, then a high, ringing call. "That's the place."

Palaemon laughed. "You took over a whole freaking valley? Man, that's what I always liked about you, Xena.. you never do things halfway."

With a chuckle, Xena lifted a hand and motioned the troops forward at a canter, anxious to get inside the gates, and out of her drenched leathers.

**************************************

Gabrielle dismounted, giving her gray mare a pat on the shoulder. "Good girl." She nodded approvingly at the horse, then straightened with a wince, using one hand to ease the knot tha that had formed in her lower spine. "You know what the problem is, Spooky?" She complained to the mare. "You don’t have nice, big, soft, leather covered cushions for me to lean against."

"Soft?" The voice tickled up her ear suddenly, and the bard yelped, jumping a little.

"Xena." She turned and glared at her soulmate, who was giving her one of those toothy, snarky grins. "Gods.. you haven't been able to do that to me in a while… teach me to get distracted." She put her hands on her hips. "But it's true… I wasn't nearly as sore on the way there."

"Oh." Xena was in a teasing mood. "So.. that's what I'm good for, huh? Pillow service?" She gave the bard's cloak a tug. "C'mon… I'm in the mood for something dry and warm." She pushed her own, sodden hood back. "Wonder how much trouble Dori's gotten into?"

"Good grief.. we've only been gone overnight… " Gabrielle laughed. "How much trouble can a ten month old baby get into, anyway?"

They left the new soldiers getting unpacked, safely in Bennu's capable hands and went inside the cavern, which was fully of busy people. They walked across the main area, and back towards the kitchen, exchanging greetings as they went.

"Xena?" Gabrielle finally said, as they were about to enter the food prep area. "Are we getting weird looks, or is it just me?"

Blue eyes darted furtively around the cavern. "No. .it's not just you. Wonder what's up?" She lifted a hand towards Cyrene, who spotted her coming and headed over. "We're back… "

"Good." Cyrene put a hand on each elbow. "Listen.. we had a little situation while you were gone…" She gave both pairs of alarmed eyes a grim smile. "It's all right now… but.."

Xena felt a tug on her cloak, and she glanced over her mother's shoulder, to the entranceway. "What in Hades happened to you?" She asked, as Eponin limped in. The Amazon was covered, head to foot, in lurid red antiseptic stain, with a tormented look on her face. Ephiny came in after her sucking on her thumb, with her other hand bandaged.

"What happened to me?" Pony glared at her, getting redder by the minute.

"Hey.. siddown." Ephiny pushed her down on a bench, then ducked as her lover yelped and popped back up. "Whoops.. sorry.. forgot about that."

"Mama!!!!" Dori's voice interrupted, and Gabrielle turned to see the infant toddling towards her, in one of her soft, cotton tunics.

"Hey, sweetheart!" The bard scooped her daughter up and hugged her. "How are you?"

"Mama.." Dori flung her arms around her mother's neck and returned the hug, making little grunting noises of pleasure as she squirmed around in Gabrielle's grasp. "Bad… nogo.. mama.. mama…"

"Shh.. I'm here." The bard stroked her hair, and rocked her. "It's okay. "

Dori crawled up onto her shoulder and turned her head, blinking as she recognized who was standing there. "Boo…" She reached out a grasping hand and Xena offered her a finger, feeling the strength of the baby's grip as she latched on. "Good.."

Xena smiled fondly at her daughter, rubbing the tiny fingers as she met the soft green eyes gazing up at her. "Hey.. were you a good girl?"

Dori giggled.

"No, huh?" The warrior chuckled wryly. "What chaos did you cause this time, hmm?"

Cyrene folded her arms, giving the watching Amazons a look that dared them to say a word. "Tell you what.. why don't we go back to your place.. and I'll fill you in." She suggested. "And get those wet clothes off."

"Everything go all right?" Ephiny asked. "The advance scouts said you left a force there?"

Xena looked up. "They surrendered." She stated flatly. "The soldiers vacated the place, and we took over.. I'll need to send a group of reinforcments up there."

"Surrendered… wow. That kinda battle I like." Ephiny nodded. "I heard from Toris something about that, but we've been a little.. um.. busy… most of the day."

"Did he get back all right?" Gabrielle asked Cyrene.

"You mean, what in the world did we do with the virgins?" The innkeeper shot right back. "They're in the hospice right now. I thought that'd be the safest place for them."

Gabrielle gave her an innocenter than thou bard look. "Gosh, mom.. you make us sound so..corrupted."

"Yeah." Xena had curled both arms around her partner's neck, and was resting her chin on the bard's head. "You did notice I sent them back here with the safest person I could think of."

"Come on." Her mother shook her head. "Let's get things straightened out.. now that you've added another two hundred mouths to feed.. I've got things to do." She headed out of the kitchen area, and they followed, stepping into their small chamber.

Xena stopped and looked around. The ground was still drenched. "What happened in here?" She looked at Ares, who was curled in a wet, resentful ball near the bed. "What happened to him?"

"Sit." Cyrene chose the chair for herself and waited for her daughters to take a seat on the bed. "Dori.. dissapeared, right after you left."

Blue and green eyes met, then went to the baby.

"We had the entire place looking for her…not a scrap of luck until Cait and Paladia figured out she must have went somewhere from here… and they found an underwater tunnel through that wall." Cyrene pointed.

The eyes went to the wall, then back to the baby.

"She got through there, and so did Ares… the kids found them, but Cait got hurt trying to get back in here."

The eyes met, and dropped.

"Paladia managed to get out and get help.. Elaini went in there and put a bandage on Cait.. but there was no way to get the kids out, so Eponin and Solari climbed up on the outside of the mountain.

Both sets of eyes widened.

"And they pulled Dori out that way.. but something happened, and Eponin fell, and ended up in a briar patch."

Identical winces on two very different faces.

"Cait's in the infirmary with Paladia glued to her, Ephiny managed to get all the briars out of Eponin, but she's not going to be able to sit for while, and Elaini's lost some fur from the climb out, but she's going to be okay."

Gabrielle and Xena looked at each other for a long moment, then Xena got up and removed her cloak, draping it over a wooden crate and padding out. Gabrielle sighed.

"Have you two completely given up talking?" Cyrene complained. "I expected you to make her chattier.. not the other way around, Gabrielle."

The bard gave her a sheepish look. "I know.. but we've been together so long, and… we just know each other so well, we don't need words a lot." She shifted Dori. "I know she's going to go see Cait, apologize to Eponin, make sure Ephiny's all set, check on Elaini, and get some lunch.. she knows I'm going to apologize to you, make sure Dori's okay, see what the status of the caverns is, and change my clothes so I don't get yelled at."

Cyrene blinked.

"So… I'm sorry she got into so much trouble." Gabrielle stroked her daughter's hair, and the baby yawned, snuggling down on her shoulder contentedly. "I'm really sorry Cait got hurt… I feel awful about that."

"I was just glad they found her." The innkeeper murmured. "I don't know what I would have done if they hadn't. I don’t' think I could have faced you both."

"You wouldn't do that to us, huh?" Gabrielle touched a tiny nose, and it twitched. "How in the world did you get into that tunnel, sweetie?" The bard looked up and sighed. "I guess this wasn't the best choice of places… I just.. when I saw how open it was, I.."

"Wanted it for Xena." Her partner's mother finished for her. "It's all right, cutie. She just gave us a real scare." She cocked her head. "I didn't know Dori could swim."

"Oh yeah." Gabrielle rocked her daughter. "She loves it…Xena taught her when she was… I don't know.. two.. three months? You should see her in the big bathtub at our place.. she's like a fish." A pause. "Mom.. do you think she does it because she's mad we're gone so much? I mean.. she's active when we're around, but nothing like what just happened.. or what seems to happen everytime we leave her."

Cyrene sighed, and rested her chin in her hands. "Honey, I don't know. That could be a reason… children are more sensitive than we give them credit for…and you know she loves both of you an awful lot."

"We love her." Gabrielle whispered. She stood and went to the sturdy cradle, laying Dori down and tucking the blankets in around the baby's sleeping form. "She got lunch, right?"

"Of course." Cyrene laughed. "She's her mother's daughter… you won't catch her missing a meal." That got a wistful smile from Gabrielle. "She's gotten spoiled, having both of you around so much… most kids aren't that lucky." She thought about her own children, and the hours.. sometimes days they'd spent alone. Not because Cyrene wasn't a coscientious parent.. by anyone's judge she was, but life's demands sometimes forced you to make choices you didn't really agree with. Feeding her kids had taken precedence over playing with them.

Dori, she sighed, didn't realize just how lucky she really was. She had two very loving, very doting parents who cherished her, who played with and taught her things….and who occasionally had to leave her in the care of an entire platoon of anxious aunts, so they could go off and save the world.

Get a grip, kid. You got it better than most. "When she gets older, and figures out who her parents are, I think she'll apologize to all of us." Cyrene smiled "Especially when she realizes just what she has to live up to."

Gabrielle studied the peacefully sleeping form a moment, then rested her elbows on her thighs and gave Cyrene a look over her shoulder. "Funny you say that… when we first found out I was pregnant… we were discussing whether it would be better to have a boy, or a girl.. and I told Xena I hoped, for it's sake, that it was a boy." She smiled faintly in memory. "Because a girl would have so much to live up to… poor kid."

"Maybe it would be better for her if she had a little brother or sister." Cyrene remarked, with devastating innocence. "I know they fight, but I always felt that Xena and Toris…"

"Mom." Gabrielle got up and went over to her, putting her hands on Cyrene's shoulders. "How many miracles can I ask for in one lifetime?" A pause. "I think I've had my share, now." She hesitated, then walked over to the linen press, stripping off her cloak and laying it down next to Xena's as she unlaced her armor.

"Honey…" Cyrene stood, and stretched out stiffened legs. "Sometimes the most incredible things happen when you don't even ask." She made her way out of the cavern, aware of the absolute stillness behind her.

***********************************************

Continued...Part 17

These characters, and boy, are they ever characters, are mostly the property of Renaissance Pictures, Universal MCA, and whoever else owns stock and interest in Xena: Warrior Princess. This fiction was written for my amusement only, and not in any way, shape or form for profit - and it is not intended to infringe on the copyright holders of the characters.

Some of the characters are mine, and the story ideas.. well, who knows where they come from? Must be one weird place, that's for sure.

Specific Story Disclaimers:

Violence - this is a Xena: Warrior Princess story. This is not Teletubbies. Even though there are some rumors of similarities. Some of the violence is graphic, but we try not to dwell on it.

Subtext - Considering that the TV Series just aired an episode establishing Xena and Gabrielle as eternal soulmates, any disclaimer of subtext on my part is really kind of goofy in the extreme. The two characters are in love with each other, and have been for years. You can choose to see them as just friends, but then you might not want to read this fanfic, in case it changes your mind or anything like that.

Emotional Content - this is not one my more comedic efforts. There are moments of humor, however.

********************************************************************

Dark Comes the Morning - Part 17

By Melissa Good

Xena padded through the main chamber, her boots making only the tiniest of scrapes against the rock as she slipped between working Amazons and soldiers, her silent presence bringing sideways looks and hesitant smiles as she passed.

Yeah, yeah. Warrior mystique. Xena grumbled inwardly. I'd feel a lot more intimidating if I wasn't squishing so damn much.. I can feel my damn armor rusting as I walk. She poked her head in the Amazons quarters, then went on to the hospice, smelling the sharp scent of the cleansing solution she'd come up with before she entered the room's craggy entrance.

Cait was on the last pallet, determinedly pushing herself up to a seated posture as the Hestian taking care of her was just as determinedly trying to get her to lie back down. Paladia crouched nearby, her long arms wrapped around her knees, a look of bored disgust on her wide face.

"Now, you look here." The young Amazon was saying. "I've got lots of things I have to be doing.. I can't be lying down the entire day."

"Now, child.. the healer said you should stay, so stay you will." The Hestian, a tall, healthy looking woman scolded her cheerfully. "Would you like me to bring you a toy?"

Cait gave her a perfectly murderous look. "Yes, quite." She got through clenched teeth. "It's on my pallet.. would you mind?"

"Is it a doll?" The woman smiled kindly at her.

"It's a dagger." Her recalcitrant patient answered. "A nice sharp one, perfect for stabbing right up between the ribs."

The Hestian laughed. "Oh.. what a funny joke!" She patted Cait, and shoved her down. "Now, lie down, child."

Gray eyes narrowed, especially when Paladia started to snicker. "I'm afraid I'm going to simply have to get angry in a minute."

"Cait." Xena made it to the bedside before the bloodshed started, and knelt, putting a hand on the suddenly docile Amazon's shoulder. "Relax."

"All right." Cait agreed mildly. "Now that you're back, and you can take charge again."

"Excuse me." The Hestian nurse interrupted. "Shouldn't you at least wash before you come in here?"

Xena slowly raised her head, lifting one perfectly arched eyebrow up and giving the woman a signature Warrior Princess icy cold stare. "I'd like some privacy."

"Then why don’t' you leave? There isn't much in here." The Hestian replied smugly.

"All right." Xena decided, slipping both arms under Cait's body and standing. "C'mon." She gave Paladia a jerk of the head, and started walking, heading towards the Amazon's quarters. Paladia scrambled to her feet and caught up, glancing behind her at the puzzled looking Hestian.

"She cracked?"

"She's a virgin." Xena remarked. "I think it has to do with the flow of blood to the brain."

Paladia snorted in amusement, giving Xena a furtive look.

"Well." Cait commented, appearing perfectly content to be right where she was. "Not to put ever too fine a point on it.. but I'm a virgin, and I don't act like that."

Xena chuckled. "Gabrielle didn't either.. maybe it's all those fermented offerings to Hestia." She ducked inside the opening to the Amazon's quarters and moved towards Cait's pallet, set to one side and near the back. "Sorry I'm a little damp."

Cait sighed blissfully. "It's perfectly all right." She waited, while Xena let her down onto her pallet, then rolled a little onto her side as the warrior knelt again. "I do owe you an apology, though."

"For what?" Xena examined the cut with skilled hands, aware of Paladia settling on the bunk next to Cait's.

"I rather mucked up my job." The girl answered softly. "I feel awful."

Xena sat back, satisfied with the wound. "Don't." She glanced at the rock floor. "You risked your lives to go after Dori… and I owe you both for that."

Paladia had her eyes fixed on the ground, refusing to look up. Cait was simply speechless, drinking in her hero's gratitude in wonder.

"Thank you." Xena added, with sober sincerity. Then she stood and backed off. "Get some rest." And the shadows swallowed her tall form, leaving them in almost breathless silence.

It took several breaths, before Cait sighed into all that quiet. "Gosh."

Paladia let her chin rest on her balled fists, which were propped on her knees. "Yeah." She muttered.

They looked at each other seriously. "I rather think I owe you a thank you as well." Cait stated.

"No you don't.. " The burly Amazon scowled. "For what?"

Cait's sober expression didn't change. "For saving my life."

"Aww.. " Paladia made a face. "Don't start with that…" She stopped talking as Cait leaned over and took one of her hands in a firm grip, and intense gray eyes caught her own with startling power. "Wh.."

Cait brought the hand closer, ducking her head and hesitantly, then with more assurance kissed Paladia's knuckles. Her eyes slowly drifted back up, meeting stunned surprise as she produced a heartfelt smile. "Thank you."

Paladia was so shocked, she didn't move. Didn't breathe. Didn't take her hand back, or even so much as blink. All she was aware of were those eyes, and the warmth enveloping her fingers, and the sense of falling that made every inch of her tingle.

"Anytime." She finally whispered hoarsely, knowing something had changed, but unable to figure out exactly what it was.

*******************************************

One down… The warrior ambled through the catacombs, towards the second Amazon cavern, where she knew Eph and Pony kept joint bunks. She poked her head around the corner of the entrance, and sucked a deep breath in, as she spotted her quarry against the back wall. Okay, Xena, Humble Princess… go make nice.

They looked up as she approached, Ephiny giving her a wry, studied look while Eponin merely growled.

Oh boy. Xena crouched down, and let her forearms rest on her thighs. "You wanna slug me?" She faced Eponin directly. "Would it make you feel better?"

Eponin scowled. "Yes."

A shrug. "Go ahead."

"You mean it?"

Xena nodded soberly. "My kid did this to you… you can't hit her, so yeah."

Pony stared fiercely at her, thoughts mulling behind stormy golden eyes. Then she sat up, and set her body, then whipped a hand forward, fully expecting Xena to move.

She didn't. The loud crack echoed through the chamber, throwing the warrior back against the next bunk and slamming her head painfully against the rock wall. "Ow." Xena sighed, and unlocked her muscles, screaming at her forceful clamping down on honed instincts.

Pony froze, in utter shock. Her jaw fell open, and she stared at Xena with a look of total bewilderment. "Aw.. Hades, Xena.. " She started to get up, but Ephiny shook off her own paralysis and pushed her back down, scrambling off her bunk and kneeling at Xena's side.

"That was the stupidest thing I've ever seen you do." The regent reached out a hesitant hand towards the seated warrior. 'Here.. are you all right?"

"Sure." Xena refused to even rub her aching jaw. "Feel better?" She asked Eponin, lifting an eyebrow.

Eponin gave her a dour look, flexing her hand and wincing. "Sure. Now my hand hurts so much, I forgot about the damn briars." Her expression shifted and softened. "Sorry, Xena… I didn't think you'd just stand there."

The warrior exhaled, and circled her knees with both arms, ignoring her now throbbing headache. "Sorry you landed in the wrong place." She told her friend. "I'm pretty sure Dori didn't mean it."

A sigh. "Hades… it's not like it's your fault… " The Amazon leaned back.

Xena glanced around at the empty sleeping chamber, then returned Eponin's look. "Well… " She shifted a little. "That's only partly true."

They were silent for a moment, then Ephiny cocked her head. "Partly?"

A nod. "The trouble… that, I think, she gets from Gabrielle." Xena stated evenly. "The gymnastics, on the other hand, I'm pretty sure comes from me."

Eponin turned her head and stared at Ephiny, who stared back, then they both looked at the quietly waiting woman sitting in front of them. "F… from .. um… from you?" Ephiny tentatively tasted the words, nudging them out into the suddenly tense air.

'Yeah." Xena merely waited.

"Um." Eponin cleared her throat self consciously. "No offense, Xena… you and I are friends, right?"

The warrior nodded. "I like to think so."

Pony bit her lip. "I've seen you naked. You're not equipped to make a kid." She got the words out in a rush of bluntness, then blushed, startlingly.

"Wait..wait..wait.." Ephiny shook a hand, at the same time. "Hold on.. you're not speaking literally, I know, Xena.. but.."

Xena rested her chin on her forearm. "No, I'm not." She glanced at Pony. "And yes, I am." A sigh. "Look… we don’t spend a lot of time wondering how it happened anymore. We've… I've.. just accepted that it did, and that Dori's my daughter, as much as she is Gabrielle's." A pause. "Since you're her potential foster parents.. I thought you should know that." She hesitated, as Ephiny eased closer and shook her head in wonder. "I … think… what happened was that it was something Gabrielle wanted… wanted with all her heart, and someone… something… gave her that gift."

"Gods.. that explains so much about her." Ephiny rubbed a hand over her eyes.

"Damn." Pony finally blurted.

Ephiny was frowning, and muttering softly to herself, then she looked up, right into Xena's eyes. "That day we left Amphipolis." She murmured. "After you two stayed out all night… was that it???"

The warrior's head tilted in surprise. "We think so, yes.. but… "

"Damn." The regent whispered. "I remember thinking.. when I saw her that morning… that she looked…happier than she had in… as though she'd been touched by the gods." She stared at the warrior seriously. "Xena, are you a demigod?"

No one. No one had ever asked her that. Not like that. Not flat out, and open. She'd never even asked herself that, even after the Furies.

But that was all right, because simply put, she had no real answer. "I… don't know." Uncomfortable, she got to her feet. "I've got to get going… talk to you two later." She was rattled, and she knew it, and she knew her retreat for what it was. That question wasn't something she wanted to wonder about.

Not now.

***************************************************

Gabrielle stretched her body out, exulting in the feel of dry, warm clothing after two days of damp drizzle. She had put on a pair of warm leggings, and her favorite old shirt of Xena's, and was now sprawled across the bed updating her diary.

With one foot, she rocked Dori's cradle, and nibbled the end of her quill as she regarded her mostly finished page. A familiar presence washed over her, and she looked up towards the entrance as her partner's dark form appeared, passing through the shadows of the corridor into the glow of the fire she'd started. "Hey.. what too…." She squinted, then got up and chased after the suspiciously quiet warrior. "Xena?"

Xena paused, with her hands on the box they were using to store their clothes. "Yeah?"

Gabrielle put a hand on the taller woman's cheek and turned her face towards the fire. "What in the world happened to you?" She touched the angry looking bruise across Xena's flat, planed jawbone.

Her partner gave a short, self deprecating chuckle. "Nothing much… I just went to visit Pony and Eph… I don't have your way with words, so I tried to make it up to Pony another way."

The bard stared at her. "You let her hit you?"

"Yeah." Xena shrugged. "No big deal." She unclasped her armor and lifted it off, setting it down next to the box. "Could you give me a hand with this?" She held out a bracered arm, which Gabrielle took and started unlacing with mechanical motions. The ache in her skull had stared working it's way down, and she wanted nothing more than to get out of her damp leathers, into dry cloth, and sit for a few minutes by the fire. "Dori asleep?"

"Yeah." Gabrielle murmured, stripping off one bracer and starting on the other. "Why did you let her hit you?"

"Well… " The warrior unhooked the shoulder straps on her body armor and peeled it off, wincing at the red, angry marks where it chafed her skin. "It was the fastest way I could think of to get her out that mood… and it worked." She pulled a soft, woven shirt over her head, smiling a little as Gabrielle fussed with it, settling it around her body. "Bennu told me another thirty soldiers came in yesterday… I've gotta start drilling them tomorrow with the Amazons… I want to work on a rapid strike force."

Gabrielle tugged the taller woman's leggings up and fastened then around her waist, lacing the ties with neat, efficient fingers. "Did it make her feel better?"

Xena chuckled ruefully. "Not really… her hand, my jaw.. I think she got the worst of it." She gave the bard a rakish grin. "I'll go grab some sandwiches… mother was working on them when I was headed in here."

"No." The bard took her hands and tugged her over to the chair, gently pushing her down into it. "Sit." She knelt as Xena complied, and started unlacing her boots. "I'm dry, and warm, and I don't have a bruise the size of a coconut on my face. I'll go get them." She worked a boot off, and sucked in a breath. "Xena… " A long, reddened gash moved down her partner's lower leg, a blow taken below her armor, and through the leather of her boots.

"Mm." Xena gazed at her leg. "Forgot about that."

Green eyes under raised eyebrows faced her. "Warriors" The bard rolled her eyes and got up, trudging over to retrieve the healer's kit from Xena's pack. She came back over and knelt, resting a hand on one of Xena's knees as she set the kit out, and pulled out some cleanser and a piece of linen. "When did you get this… yesterday morning?"

"Yeah." Now that she was sitting down, it all seemed to hit her. The pain of various small injuries and minor annoyances she'd been holding at bay for two days surfaced, and added to the aches she was suffering from Pony. She closed her eyes. "That one guy with the pike.. as he was going down he took a swipe at me."

"Uh huh." Gabrielle sat down cross legged and worked first with the water she'd brought over, cleaning the dirt and bits of debris out of the long, angry looking cut, and then, while she was at it, off Xena's long lower leg, running her hands lightly over the skin and cupping one over the warrior's thickly corded ankle. "You know something?"

"Mm?" Xena leaned her head against the chair back. "No, what?"

"I am really pissed off at Pony for hitting you." Gabrielle rested her other hand on her partner's knee. 'Almost as pissed off as I am at you for letting her." She leaned on the warrior's thigh and pointed at her sternly. "Next time, you let me do the sensitive chats, okay?"

Mild blue eyes blinked at her. "Sure." Xena lifted a hand and ruffled the bard's hair. "I.. told them about Dori."

"Told them what about Dori?" Gabrielle asked, puzzled.

Xena cocked her head, and lifted an eyebrow.

"Oh. That." A pause. "Why? I mean… I don't really mind, or anything, but.. you usually.."

"Didn't want them to keep on blaming her antics on you." A twitch of the lips. "Besides.. I just wanted to do it." Blue eyes tracked to the cradle. "Let em think what they want to."

Now it was Gabrielle's turn to blink. "You're full of surprises today, aren't you? " She murmured "All right.. but, honey… blame or no blame, we need to do something about Dori - she can't keep holding an entire armed camp hostage whenever we're gone."

"Hm." Xena chewed the inside of her lip. "Yeah… maybe we can tie her with vines to the ceiling or something." She looked at the stunned face. "Just kidding."

"Uh huh." Gabrielle looked up, and her voice toned down a few notches, becoming warm and concerned. "You look really tired.. you didn't sleep last night, did you?" She shook her head and worked on unlacing Xena's other boot, tugging it off and checking for further cuts.

"Someone had to keep watch." Xena remarked, stretching her body out to relieve the oncoming stiffness.

"Oh.. fifty Amazons weren’t enough?’ Came the retort, as Gabrielle slid between her legs and leaned on the muscular thighs.

"Not with your safety at stake, no." Unrepentant blue eyes winked at her, as Xena squeezed her between her knees, locking her ankles behind the bard’s legs and smiling. "I used to be able to go without sleep for a week."

"Oh.. I can just imagine how grumpy you’d have been then." Gabrielle snorted. ‘Here.. let me go, and just sit quiet, okay? I’ll grab us some pockets."

A lip poked out.

"Xena, stop that."

Long, dark lashes batted at her.

"Xeeeennnaaa….. "

With a chuckle, the warrior released her, then slid lower in the chair, resting her head against the back and closing her eyes. . She felt the weight as Gabrielle pushed herself to her feet, then a brush of warm fingers against her scalp as she received a friendly hair tousle. "Mm." The noise elicited a further rub, and Gabrielle moved closer, the fabric of her shirt draping over Xena’s left arm which the warrior shifted, circling the sturdy legs next to her with it.

"You have a bump back here." Gabrielle commented, parting the dark hair and examining it. "It’s scraped."

"Pony hit me, I hit the wall."

A sigh. "I hate that… I hate that.. .Xena, if you ever do that again, I’m going to…to…"

Xena turned her head and nuzzled her partner’s belly. "Don’t yell." She kept her eyes closed. "My head hurts enough as it is."

Another sigh. "You just do that because you know I’m a total sucker when it comes to you."

A blue eyeball appeared, and rotated up, peering past the curve of Gabrielle’s breast with a look very reminiscent of a certain small infant sleeping not far away.

Unable to help herself, Gabrielle stroked the tanned cheek affectionately, feeling the ache in her chest she sometimes got when she looked at Xena, the one that squeezed her heart and made her smile. Always had, the only difference was now when Xena looked back at her, she let the love she felt in return show openly. She reached around and slid her fingers under Xena’s dark hair, kneading her neck as the eye closed, and she felt a long, warm exhale against her belly.

It was moments like this. Moments when her hands gentled and soothed the wild spirit she knew ran just under her partner’s skin, that she came near to understanding just how powerful a force love really was.

In a strange way, Xena mused, it felt good to hurt. The myriad of small cuts and bruises, aches and pains that were now settling over her brought home, more than anything else, her essential humanity. It reminded her that all actions had a price, and laid out the sacrifice she made for her skills.

She drew in a breath of air filled with Gabrielle's scent, and listened to the heartbeat under her ear, feeling for the moment very mortal. The thought made her smile, as she gave the bard a one armed hug, and leaned back.

"Don't go away." Gabrielle put a finger on her nose, then smiled, and strolled out, ruffling her hair out from under her shirt collar as she did so.

Xena hitched one leg over the chair arm, and wiggled her bare toes, absorbing the fire's warmth contentedly.

*****************************************************

Gabrielle paused for a moment, letting her hand rest on the rock wall before she continued on into the main cavern. It wasn't that busy, most of the activity were people fixing armor, and doing other small chores, using the trestle tables they ate on as workspaces.

An interesting development, she noticed, was that the strict segregation was starting to break down. Before, she was used to seeing Amazons in one clump, militia in another, their volunteer fighters in several large groups, and the centaurs rumbling around in the back where three or for taller tables had been set up for their use.

Now, it was more of a mix. Some of the Amazons, the heavy fighters, had started up conversations with Bennu's men, and as she passed, she heard snatches of speech mostly having to do with thrusts and impact. She was almost sure they were talking about fighting, too.

The militia had also made Amazon friends, but were hanging out mostly with the centaurs, who were trading building tips with them and the talk there was mostly of crop rotation, and threshing. Everyone seemed more relaxed.

That was good. It didn't do anyone any favors if they fought with each other… the bard knew, and she was really sort of pleased that even the sometimes prickly Amazons were settling down, and joining the common cause.

Gabrielle headed into Xena's battle planning room, intent on retrieving a bag she'd left there, and jerked to a halt when she almost crashed into someone coming out. "Whoa!" She rocked back and put a hand out, surprised to find her mother standing there blinking at her. "Hi."

"Ah.. Gabrielle." Hecuba gave her a relieved look. "I was looking for you… Lila was unpacking some things we'd brought with us, and we found this." She held up a very ragged, almost unrecognizable item. "Do you remember it?" Her mother's voice sounded a touch wistful.

"Remember it?" The bard took the item, holding it carefully. "Of course I do… it's my old toy doll." She touched the face of it with a finger. "Been a long time since I've seen this… I thought I lost it years and years ago."

Hecuba was silent for a moment, then she sighed. "I remember when your father made that for you." She studied her daughter's still, introspective face, as the pale green eyes examined the toy. "I know.. it's falling apart, but I thought you might want to have it… Dori has a lot of toys, but I didn't think she had a doll."

"No..she doesn't." Gabrielle murmured thoughtfully. "She has a couple of stuffed things, but…." A horse. A pig, and a thing the Amazons had sent whose anatomy defied even Xena's encyclopedic knowledge of fauna. "She doesn’t have a doll."

"Well. There you are… all little girls should have a doll." Hecuba pronounced. "You know, dear.. some of those new women are quite handy.. perhaps you could get them to put together one or two.. those poor children in the hospice don't have any toys either."

Gabrielle nodded slowly. "That's a good idea, mother… thank you." She finally looked up. "Thank you for saving this for me, too." She felt a pang of conscience then, at how little she'd seen her family since they'd come to the caverns. "Um… we were going to get together with Cyrene and Toris and everyone tonight.. will you and Lila and Lennat come over, and join us?"

Hecuba blinked, but her face took on a pleased expression. "I would like that.. I know how busy you are here.. we hardly get to see you." She hesitated. "We'd heard that Dori got into some mischief.. did that turn out all right?"

"Um..yes, yes, it did.. we didn't find out until we…. Well, we just got back a little while ago. She's fine.. she just got into a little trouble, that's all."

Her mother nodded. "So Cyrene said… I was going to get the whole story from her later… well, I must go finish my tasks… we'll see you for dinner then, Gabrielle." She patted her daughter's arm, and walked away, disappearing into the cavern's gloom.

"Yeah." Gabrielle leaned against the wall, and chewed her inner lip. Then she tucked the doll under her arm and went on, grabbing her bag from the planning room and returning to the large cavern. A pair of familiar golden eyes met hers, then dropped and she watched in wry understanding as Eponin ducked out of the room, not wanting to meet up with her.

Shaking her head, she entered the food area, and picked up a small basket, rummaging around in the fruit bin and selecting a few pieces of it, her mind still on her family. That was the trouble, she knew, they were still her family, just as much as Xena's family was, and she hadn't had to deal with that in several years because of the distance between them. She'd gotten used to thinking of Cyrene as mom, and Johan as dad, and had realized some time past that she was more comfortable by far with her adopted family than her natural one.

That wasn't fair to her mother and Lila. She knew that. But she couldn’t help it, and even now when her family dealt with her, it was always as though they were trying to take up where they'd left off, with her as a barely competent adolescent who'd run off and finally come home.

"Gabrielle?"

The bard put a piece of cheese in her basket and turned, to find Ephiny there. "Oh.. hi." The Amazon regent had traded her leathers for a warm shirt and thigh high boots, and looked like she could easily fit in with any of the small groups of Amphipolitans and other villagers who were moving through the cavern. "Sorry.. I was a little distracted."

"Sokay." Ephiny leaned a hip on one of the worktables. "Got a minute?"

Erg, erg, erg. "Sure." Gabrielle finished her selections and pointed towards a quiet corner. "Let's go." She lead the way to the table and dropped into one of the rough hewn benches, watching Ephiny do the same across from her. "What's up?"

Ephiny leaned back against the wall and drew one booted foot up onto her bench, circling with a long, leanly muscled arm. "I wanted to talk to you about what happened between Pony and Xena… Pony's really upset about it."

Gabrielle idly picked a grape up and ate it. "Xena isn't." She looked up frankly. "Far as she was concerned, it was the fastest solution to a problem she really didn't want to deal with." She chewed and swallowed. "I'm not really happy with her about that."

"Ah." Ephiny grunted.

"I'm not really happy with Pony either."

"Mm. Yeah, she sort of figured you wouldn't be." Her regent admitted. "I sure wasn't."

Gabrielle considered the shiny skin of an apple, then looked up. "It just occurred to me.. why are we talking about this?"

Ephiny blinked. "Excuse me?"

"Why are we.. you and I, talking about this? It's not our problem, Eph." The bard handed her an apple. "Let the two of them work it out… if Pony feels bad, tell her to come over and talk to Xena about it.. she doesn't have to be nervous.. Xena's not going to do anything to her."

"Um." Ephiny scratched her ear, and ducked her head closer. "Gab.. I… um… " She looked around. "She wasn't worried about Xena." She watched the queen's head cock to one side in puzzlement. "She was afraid of what you'd do to her."

Mist green eyes grew round. "Me?" Gabrielle pointed at her own chest. "What did she think I was going to do to her… take out my staff and knock her silly?"

Ephiny cleared her throat. "Well, yes, actually."

Hades be damned… "Is that the kind of reputation I really have with you?" Gabrielle felt a sting of hurt.

The hazel eyes blinked. "When it comes to Xena, yes." Ephiny responded, in a puzzled tone. "Gabrielle… have you ever seen yourself when you're defending her? You'd scare the tail of a centaur, my friend.. let me tell ya." Then she realized why the bard looked so hurt. "Oh… gods, no.. that's… no, Gabrielle, in general, that's not what people think of you at all. That's why it's always so shocking when you get your feathers and fur up over her."

"Oh." Gabrielle rested her chin on her hand. "Okay… yeah, I guess I do get a little.. um.. "

"Fierce."

"Fierce?" The bard sighed. "If you say so… but she means so much to me, Eph."

"No, really?" Her friend replied wryly. "Anyway… I'll tell Pony to g'wan and make nice…now that I know I'm not going to have to remove even more splinters from her butt when she comes out of there."

Gabrielle stood up and rested her basket against her waist. "Fierce, huh?" She shook her head. "Listen.. I know I said it before.. but thank you for everything you did with Dori.. I really appreciate that."

Ephiny sighed, and rested her chin on her fist. "Do you know what I realized today?"

A head shake no.

"I'll be an Elder when she's old enough to take her right of caste."

The bard leaned against the wall and let that thought absorb. "Hm." She murmured. "That's quite a concept."

Ephiny nodded slowly.

"Could be worse, though." Green eyes twinkled a little. "You could be the weapons master for novices."

The regent chuckled as she stood. "Gabrielle… my heart tells me.. when Dori comes to the Amazons.. she'll teach us more than we'll teach her." Ephiny turned and made her way out, towards a pair of peeking honey gold eyes watching from behind a rock pillar.

Gabrielle stood lost in thought for a long moment. "Yeah." She finally murmured, tucking her ragged doll under her arm before she continued on.

***************************

Xena wasn't sure if it was the headache, or what, but she found herself content to sit and gaze at the light coming in the from the rocks above, and dancing over the water that had caused so many people so much trouble not very long ago. She felt tired, but not really sleepy. The light was bothering her eyes, though, so she closed them and allowed her mind to drift, allowing herself the rare luxury of daydreaming. A smile lazily formed as the images flicked against the inside of her closed eyelids.

****
Standing on a hillside, a brisk wind blowing in their faces as they looked down a long, grassy slope. At the bottom was a short plain, which Xena had last seen covered in blood and bodies during a battle in which she'd personally slaughtered countless men as her army had ploughed through the makeshift defenses of the valley. Now, wildflowers waved there, giving off a heady, spicy scent even up that high on the hill.

A group of children were playing in the grass, their laughter echoing in the wind, as Gabrielle had impulsively put her arms around her and given her a hug. And Xena had realized for perhaps the first time that some things could heal, if she'd let them.

***
The first time she'd woken up, and looked across a campfire to find someone else there, a small, grubby half grown kid, all scrunched up in her old blanket, one hand tucked under her head and the other curled loosely on
the ground, looking so young, and so helpless, it had made Xena doubt her own sanity for a very long moment, in letting Gabrielle stay.

Wondering, for those same moments, if she shouldn't just sneak away, and leave the kid here, near home, where she'd have a better chance of living another year.

And having those green eyes open, and meet hers, and understanding in a moment of exceptional clarity that she was never going to leave Gabrielle anywhere. Anytime.

****

Remembering the personal courage it had taken to stand, heart locked up tight, and let Gabrielle walk away from her not once, but three times, putting someone else's dreams ahead of her own for the first time in what seemed like forever.

Remembering the personal courage it had taken to finally. finally understand and accept that her dreams, and Gabrielle's were coming together, and to give up her fear of them and take the joy she could sense just beyond the reach of her fingertips.

****

Seeing the look in Gabrielle's eyes after she'd fought Melosa and won, becoming Gabrielle's personal champion, subtly changing both of them without their realizing it

*****
Waking at home, in a sun speckled hayloft with the smell of grass, and wood, and horses rising around them and Gabrielle's naked body tangled with hers, realizing they'd let their physical natures acknowledge what their hearts had long before.

And thinking, about damn time.

*****
Standing on a pile of rocks, and seeing Gabrielle headed down a long, dusty road.

Towards her.

Coming home.

*****
Leaping off a crumbling cliff side, towards a river of lava, stretching out hands in split second timing and feeling warm flesh hit them.

Seeing Gabrielle's look of trust and amazement, as she looked up, having been snatched from a horrible death at yet again, the last moment.

*****

Watching through ghostly eyes as Gabrielle claimed the Amazon mask as her own, putting aside a very visible grief to fight for the greater good, and standing up to Velaska in her own right, knowing she had no champion beside her.

Seeing that visible grief dissolve into heartfelt delight as their souls rejoined in that gray and misty place she'd been trapped in, and knowing she had the power to do that.

******
Waking in the darkest, lowest moment of her life, expecting to find an empty cave, and being cradled in Gabrielle's arms instead.

*****
Holding a long thought lost crystal in her hand, representing the greatest gift of her life being returned to her.

*****

The night of Dori's birth.

*****
"Hey."

Xena's eyes fluttered open, and she blinked to clear them, focusing on Gabrielle's amused face. "Oh. Hi."

"Taking a nap?"

"Nah." Xena smiled. "Just thinking." A pause. "What's for lunch?"

"Mm. " Gabrielle perched on the chair arm, and inspected her basket. "Pockets, cheese, fruit, if you're good, a pastry, and Pony'll be in here shortly to apologize, so.. do me a favor, honey.. just let her, hmm?"

Xena liberated a grape and ate it. "What kind of pastry?" She arched an eyebrow. "Is she worth it?"

Gabrielle leaned over and kissed her, almost losing her basket and balance when the light touch rapidly became something more serious. She steadied herself with a hand on Xena's shoulder, then pulled her head back a little, breathing hard. "Um."

A hesitant throat clearing broke the moment, and Gabrielle looked up to see a very embarrassed looking Eponin standing in the opening to the cavern. "Hi."

Xena regarded the precariously balanced body hovering over her, and a wicked little gleam entered her eyes. She tapped Gabrielle on the arm, and when the bard looked back, she slid a hand behind her neck and pulled her down, stifling her gasp of surprise by continuing their kiss, and keeping it up until she felt Gabrielle's skin start to heat against her.

Then she released her willing captive, who moved a few inches, just enough to open beseeching green eyes and give her a pathetically frustrated look.

Xena winked, and licked her nose. "So. What was this about me being good?"

"Good? No no.. you don't' have to be good." Gabrielle muttered, pushing herself upright. "Not at all."

"Do I still get my pastry?" The cheerful warrior inquired.

Gabrielle handed her the entire basket, then got up and rubbed her face, trying to pretend a bug eyed Eponin wasn't standing there rooted to her spot like a tree. "I'm going to go take a bath." She walked right over to the pool and without so much as a pause, sloshed into it, clothes and all.

Xena smiled, and turned to Eponin, lifting the basket towards her. "Grape?"

The Amazon held up a finger, then disappeared. Xena shrugged. "No? More for me." And ate one, with a little chuckle.

************************************

"All right." Xena stood in her stirrups, feeling the leather shift under her weight as she reviewed the troops arrayed in the grass. "Remember… when you start moving.. remember where in Hades you are, and don't get in the way of the cavalry." She surveyed the formation, which featured mounted troops on both sides, fencing in the armored foot soldiers.

They'd been practicing hit and run maneuvers all day, and only now, when the sun was setting over the hills and painting the valley in stripes of gold and russet did she assemble all of them, thirteen hundred strong, for a mass drill she hoped she'd never have to use.

She lifted a hand, and watched the reaction across the valley floor, as centaurs shifted hooves, and Amazons gathered a closer hold on lances and scimitars they'd spent the last half moon learning to wield from horseback. The troops between them settled shields firmly on their arms, save the group of soldiers who had proven best with two handed weapons, and stood ready to be a shock force.

This was just to get them used to moving together, and not cutting their own arms off, Xena sighed, as she nudged Iolaus and he turned neatly, gathering his hooves under him. She faced the other end of the valley, where bales of hay, wooden blockades, and pells had been set up. Not like attacking a real army, but if they could make it to the other side, and not get anyone trampled or killed by a friendly axe stroke, she'd consider it a success. "All right! Move it!!"

Xena started Iolaus forward at a trot, hearing the slow building of thunder behind her as thirteen hundred troops moved, sending a thrum of boots, and hooves against the grassy earth. Instinctively, she shivered, as the wind gusted against her, and the scent of animals and sweat, mixed with leather and oil came forward with it. She increased her pace, and heard the drumming hasten behind her, and she turned her head, to see the formation moving, a little tentatively as group leaders fought to keep their lines straight, and Amazons clamped legs down on anxious chargers.

Shaking her head, she turned back around. I don't remember leading an army being this hard. She grumbled to herself. Of course.. I never had one that was quite like this. A hand lifted and reached over her shoulder, pulling her sword in an easy, familiar motion as she settled her boots into her stirrups, and lowered herself into the saddle, gripping with her knees and freeing her hands up. A loud yell reverberated behind her as the posture was recognized, and she lifted her other fist, nudging Iolaus into an all out gallop.

The wind blew her hair back as she drove forward, leading the attack on the haybales, her fingers shifting on her sword hilt as she reached the first row of straw dummies, emulating an entrenched line of defenders.

A touch of her heels, and Iolaus leaped over them, and she heard the shuffle and whinny as the Amazons followed her lead, leaving the line to the ground troops as she leaned in and cut the stuffed arm off a mounted defender.

Then she got out of the way. She pulled Iolaus around and bolted off the field, whirling as she reached the edge of it to watch the attack. The first line did well. The mounted troops had bypassed the initial ranks as she'd taught them, concentrating on the heavier defenses behind them. The foot soldiers fell too on the haybales with gusto, piercing their sad little golden hearts with thrusting swords and clobbering the wooden weapons with pikes and maces.

Then it started getting messy. Soldiers piled up behind the first ranks, and the centaurs had gotten in behind them, sending men sprawling forward an into the Amazon's horses, who shied and bolted when sharp weapons came into contact with their sensitive flanks. "Hold it!!" Xena yelled, over the clash of weaponry.

Too late. A group of the soldiers had pushed over a large, wood and straw defensive post. It fell with a crash, and bits flew everywhere, hitting the horses and the other fighters. One horse screamed and kicked out, smashing dangerous hooves into a second.

"Damn." Xena urged Iolaus forward. "C'mon, boy… " The horse leaped a low straw embankment and she threaded her way through the confusion, as the sounds grew louder and yells of pain and outrage came from a knot of horses and men. "Hold it.. HOLD IT!!!" She dodged an errant pike and cursed as Iolaus bucked, getting a spear point in the shoulder.

She freed her boots from her stirrups and launched herself off the stallion's back, landing in the chaos and starting to pull men back. "Stand down.. damn it!" A spear slammed against her back armor. She reached around and grabbed it, pulling it's owner around with it, then shoving him away. "Put that down before you kill someone."

"I thought that was the idea, ma'am." The very young soldier, one of Bennu's gulped. "Sorry."

Xena glared at him then waded into the confusion of horses and men, getting bounced around by the animal's hindquarters and feeling a little like a salmon battling it's way upstream. One of the horses screamed and reared, it's large hooves inches from her head, and she pulled an arm up, taking a sharp blow on her biceps before the animal calmed and lowered itself. "All right… now everyone just HOLD IT!!"

Somehow.. they did, and she was standing in the center of a group of hot, bleeding, sweating fighters and horses. The Amazons dropped off their mounts backs and held their bridles, and slowly, a quiet settled over the muddy field.

Xena put her hands on her hips and exhaled. "Okay… ya did what I said.. get past the first ranks.. but then, you gotta KEEP GOING." She yelled, hearing her voice echo off the rocks. "You can't stop, because everyone piles up behind ya, and you get into a MESS."

Ephiny ran a hand through sweat dampened hair. "So… go by the second group too?"

"Don’t' stop to fight the second group. Sweep by them, hit and run, like we've been practicing." Xena replied. "Cut and run… just keep moving, keep them off balance.. then let the weight of the troops behind you push them back. If you stop…" The warrior indicated with her hand. "They've got nowhere to go, unless it's into you."

Wearily, the Amazons nodded. "Okay.. " Pony rubbed her face, which was covered in dark river mud. "That makes sense… we just saw targets, and went for them."

Xena glanced around, then up at the sun, gauging it's progress. She'd been up since well before sunrise, woken by Dori's screams of discomfort. Her daughter was teething, a new development that had both her, and Gabrielle driven to almost distraction. Her head hurt, her arm hurt… she was hungry, and she desperately wanted a bath and some clean clothes, and she was pretty damn sure everyone else here wanted exactly what she did, here at the end of a very long, exhausting day. Logic dictated she call a halt to the exercise, and send the troops to a well deserved meal.

"All right. " She sucked air in, pushing her voice out to carry. "One more time. We're gonna do this till we get it right." Xena turned and pushed her way back towards where Iolaus was standing, putting a hand on his saddle and vaulting her way aboard. "Let's go… back to where we started."

Ephiny had followed her. "Xena… "

"Yes?" The warrior turned, pulling Iolaus' head around and facing the Amazon regent, giving Ephiny a level, neutral stare.

"It's getting dark."

"We'll light torches." Xena responded steadily.

"That could get dangerous."

"Guess we'd better do it right this time then, huh? Otherwise I'll send a note to the hospice." Xena turned Iolaus and started him back towards the staging area, passing the quietly walking troops who glanced up at her as she passed.

Eponin urged her horse up next to her lover's. "Nice try."

Ephiny scratched her head, then exhaled. "I feel like this horse has been riding me, rather than the other way around." She rubbed the inside of her knees, encased in worn, woven fabric. A horse came up on her other side, and she nodded at Gillen. "Maybe if we join up and take that large central target, then go past, that'll open up some space."

"Good idea." Gillen agreed. "Anything to get out of this damn saddle… I have bruises in places that make me seriously wonder about how men do this."

Eponin and Ephiny both chuckled wearily. "Padding, I bet." Ephiny hazarded a guess. "Wrap them up in soft wool, I've got five dinars that says they do."

"I'll take that." Gillen shifted her shoulders, and glanced ahead. "And raise you five dinars. I bet they tie em up out of the way." She raised one hand, and lifted an imaginary string. "Up.. down.. up down.. "

"Ew.. what a visual." Ephiny shook her head, and kneed her horse into a canter, towards where they Amazon cavalry was reassembling.

**********************************************

Gabrielle paused, and took a sip of her tankard, then let her head rest against one hand as she studied a records scroll. "Okay." She put one aside, and pulled another over. "This is the supply train that came through yesterday.. what did they donate?"

"Three of these.. and twelve casks of salted fish." Cyrene pointed. "Artemis only knows what I'm going to do with that.. but they said it was from a coastal village you'd done something or other for.. and they'd sent it along for us."

"Mm." The bard nibbled the end of her quill, and tried to figure out which village. She eventually shook her head. "Could have been a couple… we spent half a year on the coast…did a lot of stuff out there."

A fitful cry distracted her. "Oh boy.. here we go again." Gabrielle gave Cyrene a wry look. "Poor Xena.. I don't think she slept more than a quarter candlemark last night." She got up and went to the cradle near the big hearth fire, where Dori was wriggling, an unhappy look on her face. "What's the matter, honey… you hurting again."

"Mama.." Dori pouted.

"I know.. I know.. " The bard knelt and lifted her daughter, cradling her and rocking her gently. "I don't know, mom… the last set that came in weren't nearly this bad." She put a hand on the toddler's forehead. "I think she's a little warm, too."

Cyrene came over and felt the baby's head. "A little.. that happens sometimes." She sighed. "Does Xena have anything for you to give her?"

"Yeah.. " Gabrielle retrieved a bit of leather, and gave it to her fussing child, who started chewing on it irritatedly. "But she can't have it too often… actually, how we got her to sleep last night is Xena gave her some of that cold stuff she made… Dori loves it, and it make her feel better, I think."

Dori's ears perked up at a familiar name. "Boo?"

Gabrielle turned around, and gazed out the cavern entrance, where the full dark made it impossible to see any detail of the valley, save the proliferation of torches burning out there. Yells and the thunder of hooves still floated back to her, and she sighed. "Not yet, honey."

"They're out late tonight." Cyrene murmured.

"Yeah."

"Boo!" Dori had decided on what she wanted. "Booboobooboobooboo!"

I know how she feels. Gabrielle mused inwardly, having seen very little of her partner over the last few days. Of course, she'd been busy also, with the seemingly neverending train of traders marching out to the wilds, sent by friends, by allies… by their own avarice… planning the supplies for the ever increasing, and ever more involved troops, keeping the peace, handling the inevitable arguments and controversies… While Xena shaped the volunteers into some kind of fighting force, she kept the logistics of it running behind the scenes.

It was taking a toll on both of them.

"Boo!!!" Dori wailed.

"Right there with you." Gabrielle pursed her lips, then made a decision. "Be right back." She carried Dori, now intrigued with the moving ceiling into the planning room, where she picked up one of the baby's carry sacks, and stuffed her inside. Then she slung it over her shoulder and headed for the stables.

Argo was munching her hay quietly, but she looked up as Gabrielle entered, recognizing a familiar smell and sounds.

"Hey, girl." Gabrielle scratched her behind one ear, and got a nose butt in her belly. "Wanna to me a favor? I just need a little lift.. okay? " She slipped Argo's bridle on, and buckled it, then unhooked the rope that sketched out a rough stall for her and lead her to the main entrance.

Where there was, conveniently enough, a rock big enough for her to stand on and hop onto the mare's broad back. "There… that was easy." She wrapped her legs around Argo's warm body and exhaled. "Okay, Dori.. you ready?" The baby had been tugging on her hair, and now she felt a small hand grasping her shirt. "Let's go."

It was very dark, the moon having slid behind the clouds, and she picked her way carefully through the rocks and obstacles, guiding her steps by the sound of fighting not far away. She could see where the torches were set up, and shadows flicked against their ruddy glare, crimson flashing off weapons, and the sweat streaked skin of the horses.

Her soulmate's voice rose suddenly over the din. "Hold it!!! God's be damned, stop where you are or you'll be fighting ME in a minute!"

"Sounds cranky, huh?" Gabrielle asked her daughter, who was finding the scene fascinating, enough so that she'd forgotten about her teeth for a moment.

"Boo." Dori responded.

The mock battle had stopped, and now exhausted men and women were standing, weapons drooping at their side as Xena hopped up onto a haybale, and put her hands on her hips. The warrior opened her mouth to continue her tirade, but stopped in mid breath as her eyes fell on Gabrielle.

Heads turned, and bodies moved to clear a path for her, and the regally pacing Argo, who snorted at the other horses as she neatly picked her way around the haybales. Finally, Gabrielle pulled her to a halt next to her partner. "Hi."

"Gabrielle, we're in the middle of a fight here." Xena protested.

"BOOO!!!!" Dori had seen her playmate and squealed, nearly taking Gabrielle's ear off.

"Well." The bard rubbed her ear. "Dori thinks it's time for you guys to take a break."

"She does, huh?" Xena looked like she wanted to be annoyed, but was finding it hard, seeing as how Dori was scrambling all over Gabrielle's back trying to get loose and get to her.

"Yep." Gabrielle nodded. "I tried to talk her out of coming out here to find you.. but she wasn't having any of that." She lifted her hands in innocent appeal. "What could I do?"

The blue eyes narrowed, and Xena's lips pursed in wry understanding. "Well, I was about to pack it in anyway.. we're not getting anywhere here." She lifted both arms. "Take off… we pick up with this tomorrow morning at sunrise."

Not a sound of protest, just a slow whisper and shift of motion, the soft clank of weapons, the grunt of tired horses, as the army dissolved off into the darkness, leaving only a ring of torches, and a golden mare alone with two tired soulmates, and one very squirmy toddler.

Xena slowly seated herself on her haybale, and let her bracered arms rest on her thighs. "She still fussing?"

Gabrielle guided Argo closer, until she was knee to knee with the taller woman. "Yeah.. "She reached over her shoulder and pulled the sack off. "Okay, honey.. here's your Boo."

"No.. no.. Gabrielle.. " Xena protested. "I'm filthy… all this mud, and worse." She held up a grime covered hand. "See?"

Dori wriggled out of her mother's grasp and almost landed in Xena's lap. The warrior caught her and sighed. "Dori stop that." She held the baby gingerly.

The bard smiled at the sudden gentleness in her face. "Tell you what… we took those huge casks they shipped those hides in and cut them in half so we could make tubs. I've got one with your name on it… how about it?" She reached out and touched a bruise on her partner's temple.

A hot bath. Xena's inner self groaned just at the thought. "All right… and I can give Dori some more of that stuff."

"Hah. You just want some yourself." Gabrielle inched forward on Argo's back and held a hand out. "Want a lift?" She paused. "Looks like it was a long day."

Xena stood and eased herself onto the mare, cradling Dori and curling an arm around Gabrielle. "Very.. they're just not getting this." The warrior exhaled. "Maybe I'm losing my touch."

Green eyes rolled in mild exasperation, out if Xena's line of sight. "Maybe we can find it in some hot water, a meal, and a nap." She patted the armored thigh. "C'mon, tiger… "

Yeah. Xena was glad just to be quiet. "Certainly can't hurt."

They moved out of the ring of light, and into the darkness, as the sounds of crickets rose up to replace the all too human noises of battle and chase them towards the caves.

********************************

The main cavern was starting to fill as they made their way through it, tired voices rising and falling around them in a subdued wave. A conspicuous bubble of quiet followed their progress, and Xena suspected she was the main course of the subject menu. Unconsciously she straightened her shoulders put a little more energy into her steps. She wrinkled her nose, though, at the scent in the room. "What is that?'

"Turnips and salted fish." Gabrielle replied, dodging a couple of half asleep Amazons.

"Oh gods." Xena made a face. "Maybe I'll pass." She angled her steps towards the room they'd set aside for cleaning, only to be pulled up short as a strong hand tangled itself in her armor strapping and pulled her in a different direction. "Hey.. I thought… "

"C'mon." Gabrielle plowed through the chaos, tugging her past the food area, and back into their own private space.

"Look…I need a chance to get all this muck off me, Gabrielle… I'll be right back.. why don’t' you take Dori and I'll…" A pause, as they entered the cavern, which was well lit by complacently burning torches. "Oh." Xena felt a tired grin creasing her face, at the sight of her very own, private half cask sitting squatly near the fire, which sported a ring of buckets full of warming water. "I see."

"Mm." The bard took Dori from her and wiped a bit of mud off the baby's face. "I figured you rate a bathtub.. since you collect by far the most crud on you of anyone I've seen out there yet."

"No I don't."

Gabrielle stepped back and regarded her. It was hard to tell where her leathers stopped and her skin started, dark mud stains so covered the tall, armored body. Her metal plates were caked with dirt and grass, and odd stalks of hay poked out from incongruous places. "If you say so, general." The bard remarked, her facial expression indicating what she thought of the subject. "I'd be curious to know how you managed to get that.." She plucked a mudball from under Xena's breastplate. "There." Her eyes twinkled a little as she looked up into the grimy face, which scowled back at her.

"Fighting's hard work." A grumble. "You should know that." Xena moved off and dropped down onto a crate, leaning over to start unstrapping her armor. "I can remember times when I had to practically hold you down and scrub your.."

"Xena." Gabrielle covered Dori's ears.

Blue eyes narrowed evilly at her. "Round, perky little butt." She finished. "Like she knows what that is, yet." The warrior snorted, and went back to working on her left leg strap, which had gotten caked with hardened mud. "Damn."

Gabrielle finished wiping Dori off, then set her down on the rug, watching as she took off in a determined amble only to crash into Xena's still armored kneecap. "Bck!" She protested, whacking the offending surface.

"Hey… gimme a chance to get it off." Her victim complained, as the armor plate received a hefty tug. "Dori! Cut that out!"

The baby sat down with a thump on her padded bottom, and pouted. "Mama!"

With a mock sigh, Gabrielle seated herself and leaned back against the crate, slapping Xena's hands away from the stubborn buckle. "You know exactly who to call if there's trouble, huh sweetie?" Dori crawled around to see what she was doing, helpfully pulling on the end of the strap.

"I.. am.. perfectly… capable.. of removing.. my.. own.. armor." Xena got out through clenched teeth.

"Mmhmm." The bard nodded gravely, getting the strap loose and removing the plates, which sent a scattering of muddy hay over her. "Oh. Nice." She brushed her shoulders off, then turned and got up onto her knees, reaching for the buckle under Xena's right arm. "This one's fraying through, Xe." She remarked, as she released it, glancing down as her elbow brushed an inquisitive Dori's head. "Careful, honey."

"Great… just great." Xena muttered, unlatching the other side and waiting for Gabrielle to get the strap around her waist that held the newly crafted back plates down, and stabilized her sword sheath. She lifted the armor up. "Hey.. let go, Dori."

Dori tugged on the hanging strap and giggled. "Na!"

"Dori." Xena's voice dropped, and she gave her daughter a look.

The baby giggled harder and pulled, almost overbalancing. "Na! Na!"

"Sorry." Gabrielle chuckled and managed to free the tiny hands from the leather. "This is the best mood she's been in all day."

Xena set the armor down and let her elbows rest on her knees. "It's okay." She started unlacing a bracer. "Glad to see there's still someone who isn't intimidated by me." A shift of air and skin beside her brought her eyes up to Gabrielle's face. "Other than you, that is." She amended hastily, then paused. "Right?"

Gabrielle heard the note of uncertainty, well masked though it was. "You bet your.. um.. " She let her eyes run over the tall form, and waggled her brows. "Kneecaps." She had been working on Xena's right boot, and now peeled the leather back. "There is a kneecap under all that crud.. isn't there?"

Xena smiled, a startling flash of white against her muddy face. "Somewhere."

Dori found the left boot's laces and started to pull them. "Mama!" Her eyes grew wide and round as something squiggled out and fell to the floor. Immediately, she stooped and grabbed for it. "Bck!"

"Hey.. no no.. " Gabrielle lunged for her. "Dori.. leave the froggy.."

Too late. Tiny fingers clutched the squirming animal, which was a baby itself, barely an inch long. "Na." Dori stared in fascination at it.

"Ah ah.. " Xena got her fingers around her daughter's before the frog was pureed. She removed the pollywog and examined it. "Huh."

"Mine." Dori clawed at her hand, which was over the tot's head. "Boo!"

"No." The warrior replied, gazing sternly at her, and tapping the reaching fingers lightly. "Now stop!" She locked eyes with the baby, and didn't smile.

Dori blinked, and stuck a finger in her mouth uncertainly. Then she reached back up for the frog.

"No." Xena repeated.

A tiny lip poked out as Dori sat down hard, her face wrinkling into an unhappy expression. "Mama." She looked beseechingly at Gabrielle.

Oh boy. The bard felt herself torn, between knowing her child had to learn some kind of discipline, and the almost irresistible maternal urge to comfort her. She leaned her head against Xena's knee. "Oh, this sucks.. no, honey… Boo's right. You can't squish the froggy." Hard as it was for her, she knew it was three times that for Xena, who usually caved in with one bat of those tiny dark lashes. "Here.. play with this while I get Boo undressed." She reached over and snagged a tiny stuffed toy, and handed it to the baby.

Dori examined the toy, then sighed, and started chewing it.

"Whew." Xena muttered. "That's the toughest thing I had to do all day." She tossed the frog over her shoulder, and into the pool nearby.

"Mm." Her partner agreed, untangling a lace. "No kidding." She stood up and started lifting the buckets to pour the warmed water into the tub. The cavern looked a little different now, since they'd taken Dori's adventures seriously, and used the edge of the water as a storage area for large, heavy crates. A wall of them prevented toddler's access, much to Dori's frustration, and her parent's relief.

The warm water released a scent of minerals, and the wood from the cask to her, and she tossed in a small cake of the bath soap Salmoneus had cooked up, which had a very pleasant, herbal smell. She could hear the soft rasp as Xena pulled off her leathers, then the slapping sound as she dropped them on the crate. Then her awareness moved from audible to that other sense, as she felt Xena move closer on silent feet, the presence at her back becoming more and more distinctive until fingertips touched her skin, and warm hands folded over her shoulders.

"Got some knots back here." Xena's voice brushed over her, as the warrior started a gentle kneading.

Gabrielle let her head drop forward. "Yeah… I got involved in that dispute between Gillen's people and those two men of Bennu's… I honestly don’t think they meant any harm, Xena… but they were all so angry." She released a sigh. "And then, sorting out all those trains… figuring out what to do with that stuff… my brain hurts."

"Mm."

"Know what kept me going?"

"Mm?"

"Knowing the day was going to end, and I'd see you." The hands stilled for a very long moment, then continued.

"Sorry I made it longer than it had to be." A light nibble on the back of her neck, then the hands slid around and undid her belt, and she felt the fabric of her shirt lift off, as a cool draft brushed against her skin and made it prickle.

Gabrielle spread her hands out along the edge of the tub as the seductive, relentless touch moved up and down her spine, then out across her shoulders and down her outstretched arms.

"Worth the wait." She whispered, reveling in it.

A soft chuckle stirred her nape hairs, then the hands slipped down her sides, pausing to trace her ribcage, and settled on her waist. "Join me?"

"Sure."

She was boosted up and over the tub's edge, and felt the warm water travel up her skin. She turned to face her companion, who slid into place right next to her. "Look at you." Gabrielle murmured, getting a scrap of linen, and the soap, and starting right at those dark eyebrows. She cleaned Xena's face, and then kissed her, allowing her hands and the soap to go about their business without much direction from her.

"Think those are definitely clean." A teasing growl made her smile.

"Can't be too careful. Infections there are nasty." She felt Xena laugh soundlessly, just a motion of her ribs, and a contraction of the muscles across her waistline. "Well, they are.. remember that Amazon.. what was her name… "

"Edisa." Came the prompt reply. "But she had..an unusual situation."

"She had breasts the size of muskmelons."

"That was her problem." Xena's fingers traced a pattern around the bard's own, smaller endowment. "Only Amazon I ever saw who knocked herself unconscious when she ran."

Gabrielle snickered, burying her face against Xena's neck for a long, warm moment. Then she pulled back and they kissed, ending up with their foreheads touching, and their eyes gazing into each other's.

"Think I'm pushing them too hard?" Xena asked seriously.

"I don't know. You're the expert on fighting.. you know what they need." Her partner answered, just as seriously. "They were really tired tonight."

"War doesn't stop just because the sun goes down." The warrior reminded her.

"I know… and that's a point.. but I also know the more tired you are.. the more likely you are to make mistakes. And when you're trying something new, that's tough." Gabrielle spoke from long, weary personal knowledge. "I remember how I used to feel at the end of a long day.. trying to keep up with you. And I didn't have to fight.. not at first."

Xena didn't answer.

"Xe… I know you'd never ask them to do something you wouldn't do yourself, right?"

The dark head solemnly nodded.

"Well.. try to keep in mind that you push yourself a lot harder than any of them could possibly match." She kissed the tanned nose inches from her. "This is not an army of Xenas."

"Mmph." The low grunt sounded thoughtful.

"Thank goodness."

The eyebrows rose, tickling her forehead.

"I've got enough on my hands keeping up with one."

A thump. "Mama!"

"And a half."

Another thump, and a scrabbling. "Mama!!!"

"Okay… two."

Xena kissed her. "Let's get her settled, then how about you.. " A kiss. "And me…" Another one. "Go climb into bed."

"Mmmm…. For a nap?" Gabrielle tasted an earlobe close by.

"No." Solid, and definite.

"Just checking." The bard bit down gently. "Let's go."

***********************************************

Xena leaned back, flexing her leg a little to bounce Dori up and down. The baby giggled and clapped her hands, enjoying the ride and the quiet time as well. "Like that, huh?" It felt good, she admitted privately, just to be lying down in the quiet of the cavern, after the long day fighting.

"Bck." Dori leaned forward, and tugged at her soft, fabric belt, examining it with an absorbed look on her face.

"You feeling better, Dori?" The warrior put a hand on the baby's head, relieved to find it cool after the fever she'd been running earlier. "Good job… your mama'll be happy."

Green eyes blinked up at her. "Mama?" Dori looked around, then back. "Mama?" A worried frown wrinkled her face.

"She'll be right back." Xena soothed her daughter. "She went to go scare up some dinner." She tickled the baby's fingers, and they grabbed on to her hand. "You hungry?" She smiled as Dori plopped forward onto her belly, and crawled up her body, ending up grabbing curiously at the warrior's nose. "Hey…. "

"Mmm…" Dori explored the strong profile, batting at Xena's eyelashes as the warrior closed her eyes to protect them from tiny fingers. "Boo!" She protested, patting Xena's planed cheek until the blue eyes reappeared cautiously. "Good!"

"Yeah? Well don't poke em." Xena growled a warning, getting a giggle in return. "I need tho.. hef!"

Dori tugged on the lip she'd captured. "Bck."

"Ah ah.." Xena gently freed her skin. "Careful… that hurts." She ran her own fingertip over Dori's lips, and the baby suckled at it, grabbing her hand and pulling it closer. "Oh… I guess you are hungry, mm?"

"Of course she is." Gabrielle's voice preceded her, echoing from the darkness as she entered the cavern, carrying a folded bundle of cloth and a small pot.

"Mama." Dori rolled over, kicking her feet as she saw her mother.

Xena tucked her arms around the baby to keep her from falling off her chest, enjoying the feel of the living, squirming child against her. "Easy there, Dori." She traded smiles with Gabrielle who stood for a moment, gazing down at them fondly.

"C'mon.. I've got dinner." The bard nudged her.

Xena gave her a little pout. "Do I have to get up?" She allowed a moments sliding into whinedom. "It's so nice and comfortable here." She glanced at the pot. "Specially if I'm going to have to suffer through fish and turnips."

Her soulmate settled on the other side of the bed and stretched out on one side. "Xena, how long have I known you?"

"Is that a rhetorical question?"

"Do you really think I'd force you to eat fish and turnips?"

A shake of the head. "It's what the rest of the troops are eating, Gabrielle.. I don't rate special treatment."

Gabrielle opened her mouth to protest, then shut it, scratching her nose reflectively. "You're right." She told her somewhat surprised partner. "You're absolutely right Xena.. it is what the rest of the army is eating, and… as their leader, you don't rate anything special."

The blue eyes blinked at her, looking faintly hurt.

"However, I, on the other hand, am a Queen of the Amazons, and I do." Gabrielle went on. "So.. I guess you'll just have to put up with it." She uncovered the pot, and the scent of a thick, meaty stew escaped. "Tough luck, general." She removed the linen wrapping from her parcel and pulled out a loaf of bread, breaking off an end and dipping it into the stew. Then she offered it to her still silent companion.

Xena took a bite and chewed it, tasting the familiar spices immediately. "You made this."

Gabrielle nodded, then smiled as Dori crawled over and made a grab for the bread. "Yes, I did." She broke off a piece and handed it to her daughter. "Hey… take it easy honey… there's plenty here."

Dori stuffed the bread into her mouth, making small contented noises.

Xena settled back and spread an arm out invitingly, sighing as the bard crawled over and curled up against her, selecting a piece of soft meat and presenting it with a smile. "Thanks." The warrior emulated the sounds Dori was making. "I appreciate you doing that."

Gabrielle exhaled, selecting a piece of meat for herself, then giving a bit of carrot to Dori, as her mind drifted back to a very different night.

She'd left. Gone home, because she'd come to the conclusion somehow that her presence was endangering Xena, and it would be better… for the warrior… if she just left her alone.

And then, had found a part of her refused to accept that, driving her back to find Xena, hoping she could. Hoping Xena wouldn't see her first, and simply disappear, having the ability to avoid her young tagalong if she so desired.

It had been a long walk, with a surprise ending, and a greeting that even muted, even being Xena.. she recognized as something less than reluctant.

But the warrior had withdrawn after that, retreating back further into her taciturn shell as they'd traveled on, cutting back on even her short, gruff attempts at conversation over their evening campfire.

They'd stopped one night fairly early, in a small grove with thick, old oak trees dripping with moss, that released a strong, musky scent into the air. Xena had gotten lucky hunting, and caught a wild boar, but it had been a fight between them, and the warrior was sitting to one side of the fire, repairing a tusk gash in one leather boot while Gabrielle turned the ornery beast into something edible.

As usual, she'd tried to find something to talk about, that would at least get a grunt in response. "That village we went through today had a really unusual market, don't you think, Xena?"

Ice blue eyes flicked briefly her way, and the warrior inclined her head briefly. "Coastal traders."

Ah. "Really? What does that mean?" Gabrielle stirred her bubbling concoction.

"It means they trade with ships that come in from other places." Xena produced an entire sentence, a cause for mild celebration.

"Oh.. wow… that's amazing." Gabrielle half turned, to keep her companion's profile in view. "Some of that stuff was incredible… did you see those dried things? And what about those brass vases.. the decorations were so pretty… do you know where they came from?"

"India."

"Really? Have you been there?"

"No."

"Oh." Gabrielle added some spices, purchased in the very same market. "Well, I couldn't believe what they were charging for that soft stuff… you'd think it was made from gold."

"Silk."

"Silk." Gabrielle tasted the word, rolling it around her mouth with interest. "It was so fine… I'd like to see the loom that made that."

"Worms make it." Xena finished stitching up her boot and circled her knees with both arms, staring morosely into the fire.

"Worms???? Are you kidding, Xena???" A look. "You must be kidding… how could a worm make that pretty kerchief?" Another look. "Okay..okay.. so, where's that from, then?"

"Chin."

"Have you been there?" Gabrielle finished her mixing and got two pieces of the rich bread she'd saved from the market and put it in their bowls, then ladled the pretty darn nice smelling stewy thing over it. She turned and extended her hand towards Xena, who hadn't answered. "Have you?"

"Yes." Her companion took the offered bowl.

Gabrielle got her own dish and scrambled over, sitting down on the log near, but not too close to Xena. She knew how much the warrior hated to be hemmed in. "Wow." She stirred her portion. "What was it like?"

Xena had slowly taken a mouthful, after blowing on it to cool. She chewed and swallowed before she answered. "Just a place." Her voice had been low, and even. "Different language, different clothes, that's all."

"Oh, c'mon, Xena… it's all the way across the world!" Gabrielle had stopped eating. "It can't be the same…I bet it was full of incredible sights, and different kinds of things, and places, and…"

"Gabrielle."

She'd sighed. "I know, shut up, right?" She'd made a little face, and looked over to see Xena looking back at her with an odd expression. "I'm babbling again, aren't I?"

Xena's dark lashes had flickered, in an almost nervous gesture. "S'allright.. I just wanted to um.. " She'd stopped, and taken a breath. "Thank you."

Gabrielle had been completely confused. "For what?"

"Dinner."

That had been even more puzzling. "Huh? Xena, I always cook dinner… well, unless we're in a fight or something, or we're in some old inn, or whatever."

"I know." The warrior had shifted uncomfortably. "But.. it's ..um.. it's very good, and I… just, thank you, Gabrielle."

"Uh… you're welcome." Gabrielle had answered, poking around in her bowl for a minute. "You know, Xena.. if you wanted me to stop asking about stuff.. you could have just said.. I can be quiet if I need to be." She'd looked at the warrior uncertainly. "Does it really bother you?"

Xena's face had creased into a strange, almost wistful smile. "Nah. I've gotten used to it."

"Oh." Gabrielle had considered the words. "So.. you… really just wanted to thank me.. for this?" A tiny shake of her head. "I don't understand, Xena."

Xena had sighed. "It doesn’t' matter."

"But.. I want to understand." She'd persisted.

The warrior had glowered at her dish, stabbing at the meat uncomfortably. "Just.. " She'd started to snap, then closed her jaws, making an audible clicking noise as her teeth hit. She'd stared ahead of her for a long, pensive moment, then turned her head very slowly, and simply captured Gabrielle wholly, with a look so intense it burned. "It was too damn quiet while you were gone."

"Oh." The green eyes had grown thoughtful, then brightened. "Did you miss me?"

Xena's intimidating eyebrows had lowered, giving her a dangerous air. Then the expression melded into a sheepish half smile. "Yes." She'd replied gruffly. "As a matter of fact, I did."

Wow. Gabrielle knew her eyes had opened up wide. It was like having Solstice, and her birthday all happen at once. She'd grinned happily, seeing a shadow of her own glee glinting very softly off the clear blue eyes watching her. "I missed you, too."

They'd both eaten in contented quiet for a while after that, sitting side by side, shoulders just brushing, in a perceptible companionship that colored the peace in warm tones.

"Hey, Xena?" Gabrielle finally asked, scooping up the last of her stew.

"Mm?"

"You were joking about those worms, right?"

"Nope." Xena had wiped her mouth and stood, heading to the fire for another portion.

"Weird." Gabrielle had sighed, watching the tall form. Then she'd gotten up and washed her dish, tucking it away in her things and lying down on her bedroll. It had been a little rocky, so she'd taken her bag and used it as an extra pillow, slipping her hand inside and halting, as her fingers touched an unfamiliar softness. Puzzled, she'd pulled her hand out, and found, glistening in the firelight, a small bag of the silky fabric, with something hard inside. She'd opened the small bag, and out had tumbled a tiny figure, carved in some kind of stone. A bear, she realized.

A soft rasping had drawn her eyes up, to where Xena had seated herself, and was sharpening her sword with even, steady strokes. For just a moment, her eyes had been met, and a hint of a smile had crossed that stern, serious face. Then Gabrielle had been left to tuck the tiny bear inside his silk bag, and close it inside her fist, before she pulled her fur blankets up and dropped off into a blissfully comfortable sleep.

*******************************

"Was she really cranky today/" Xena asked as they finished their dinner, and Gabrielle put her pot on the table. Dori was sucking on her thumb, blinking up at her from her comfortable position sitting on Xena's stomach.

"Gods, yes." Gabrielle observed her daughter. "She was crying for hours… I tried everything… mom even tried some of that root, but nothing worked. She didn't even get her nap, she was so miserable." She reached over and smoothed the baby's dark hair back. "Right, honey?"

A soft grunt answered her, then Dori flopped forward, squirming around and getting comfortable on her warrior mattress. She yawned, then put her head down, and closed her eyes.

"Hey… " Xena protested. "C'mon, Dori.. I've got stuff to.." A hand covered her mouth. "Mmfph."

"Don’t you move." The bard warned. "Shhh."

Blue eyes glared at her. "Gprfofh!"

"Sshhh!" Her partner put a finger to her lips. "She's being quiet…. C'mon, Xe… it's the first sleep she's gotten in two days." She slowly released her hand.

"Gabrielle!" The warrior hissed, but very softly. Then she scowled at the warm lump lying on her. "What am I supposed to do while she's sleeping?"

Gabrielle tucked the sleeping furs around her and brushed a bit of dark hair back. "Join her." She suggested. "You didn't sleep last night either." She saw the argument erupting from flashing eyes. "Xena… c'mon now. You know she'll only be out for a little while.. take a nap, then when she gets up, you can do what you need to do."

The stormy attitude subsided, as Xena's natural good sense mulled the idea over and decided it had merit. "I'm not sleepy." She protested, more by rote than anything else.

"All right." Gabrielle slid under the furs herself, entering the comforting warmth surrounding the warrior. "I'll just stay here and keep you company… how about a story?" She kept her voice very low.

"Mmph." Xena exhaled, stretching her body out to get a little more comfortable. She turned her face towards Gabrielle and allowed herself to relax. "All right."

The bard's soft voice commenced, as she chose a story she knew Xena liked, a gentle funny tale and watched as the blue eyes first blinked, then disappeared under slowly lowering eyelids, her breathing evening out under Gabrielle's stroking fingertips against her skin.

She let her voice trail off and simply lay there for a while, gazing at the two most important things in her life. Her own eyes were growing heavy, and she gave into the desire, nestling her head down on Xena's shoulder and listening to the steady, even heartbeat under her ear. She was almost out when a soft scuffing made her look up, lifting her head a little to see Cait's slim, silent form in the entrance. Gabrielle put a finger to her lips, and saw the girl nod.

Darn. The bard eased away from her warm nest cautiously, but Xena was deeply asleep, her features relaxed as they seldom were, and her body motionless. Gabrielle stood, and padded over to the entrance, motioning Cait to move down the corridor before her, and waiting until she was a good distance away before stopping. "What is it, Cait?"

"I'm ever so sorry to bother you." Cait kept her voice soft. "But I heard from the watch that there's a wagon train coming this way, heading out from Amphipolis. They think it's quite odd to be this late."

Odd, definitely. "How far out are they?"

"Hard to say… four or five candlemarks, I believe." Cait answered. "They sent me here to get Xena… is she all right?"

"Yes, she's fine." Gabrielle murmured. "She's just… is there anything we can do before they get here?"

"Not hardly."

"All right… I'm going to wait a while before I tell her… let her get some rest."

Cait appeared troubled. "Do you think that's a good idea? That captain of the guard seemed to quite want her up at the gate."

"So she can sit and worry with him?" Gabrielle asked, a little more sharply than she'd intended. "You go back there and tell him that I said there'll be plenty of time in a candlemark or two for pacing the ramparts."

"All right." Cait responded, in a subdued voice. "They told me to keep things quiet… didn't want to start things, you see."

"Good." The bard agreed with that. "I think that's a great idea… then after they get here, we have plenty of time to overreact." She put a hand on the young Amazon's shoulder. "It's all right, Cait…maybe the wagon leaders just didn't want to stop overnight."

Cait nodded, then moved away, gaining a tall, silent shadow as she crossed back into the main cavern.

Gabrielle sighed, easing back into their chamber with a troubled expression. Now what? She paused by a box, and rested her hands on it, as her eyes fell on the two sleeping figures tucked into the bed. Xena was, undoubtedly, going to be ticked off at her for not waking her up.

But sometimes, the bard exhaled, resigning herself to her partner's ire, sometimes you had to do what your heart told you was right. She returned to the bed and slid carefully back under the covers, stilling as Xena stirred, and her face twitched, the movement of her eyes betraying a dream disturbing the warrior's sleep. A tiny sound of distress broke the cave's silence and Gabrielle immediately put both hands on her partner's body. "Easy… " She whispered into a nearby ear. "Easy.. I'm here… it's okay."

The nervous twitching stilled, the fears never admitted to during the light of day slipped back into their hiding places, and Xena's sleep returned to a peaceful quiet. Gabrielle brushed her lips lightly over the high forehead. "I'm sorry." She murmured, knowing where the scars were.

The ones she'd inflicted with her own choices and decisions.

The ones Xena never blamed her for… never told her about.. and only revealed in half broken whispers during dreams that pulled sounds of pain from her that in waking would never have past her lips.

That was all right. Gabrielle pulled the dark head closer, and buried her face in Xena's hair. . Because then she could cry the tears she didn't want her partner to see.

****************************

The soft scratch of a quill on parchment eventually tickled her senses enough to drag her back from a dark well of sleep. Xena took her time about it though, allowing the room's scents and sounds to color her perceptions slowly, until she could pinpoint every droplet of water, and tinkle of rock, and movement of air.

She imagined Gabrielle, who was curled up next to her, and let a picture form of her partner's face, tensed in concentration, brows slightly contracted. The scratching stopped, and she imagined the quill lifting, and the end finding it's way between neat, white teeth as the golden lashed eyes flicked over the words, considering what to write next.

Then she let her lids drift open, and found the solid, exact reality next to her, right down to the furrows, and the faint bunching of Gabrielle's jaw as she chewed her quill. Then the motion stopped, and the bard turned her head, sensing the observation.

"Hey."

Xena yawned, her jaw cracking and making them both wince. "Nice nap." She glanced down at the still dozing Dori, who was busy drooling on her shirt.

"I was about to wake you up." Gabrielle took a breath, and girded her imaginary loins. "The gate spotted a group coming in from Amphipolis' direction a few candlemarks ago."

Xena studied her soberly. "And you didn't wake me up then?"

Another deep breath. "No."

An eyebrow quirked. "Good decision." The blue eyes twinkled, and Xena winked one of them at her. "Nothing like hanging around worrying the whole night to ruin a good nap."

It was one of those little surprise nuggets, the around the corner and whack you in the face ones that she somehow thought she was past getting, after all these years. Amazing how unexpected praise from Xena could still get inside her, and make her feel like a million dinars. "Thanks." Gabrielle knew her face must have shown it, because the warrior started chuckling. She laughed too, a little. "Thought you were going to yell at me for that." She admitted.

Xena shook her head. "No..wonder what's up though." Her eyes flicked to Gabrielle's. "Trouble?"

"What else?" The bard answered wryly. "Guess we'll find out shortly… let me take Dori.. she's drenching you."

"I've had worse things all over me." But the warrior gently lifted the sleeping baby up and handed her to her mother. "Lemme go see what I can find out." She rolled up out of bed and strode to the crates, stripping off the soft linen she'd worn and trading it for her leathers, which she pulled up and fastened in one smooth motion, then sat down and pulled on her spare pair of boots. "Could be anything… word from the south, problems in Amphipolis… more troops… once you get Dori settled, come find me."

"I will." Gabrielle had knelt by the cradle, and was tucking the baby in. She glanced up as Xena stood and ran both hands through her hair, then headed for the entrance, energy almost visibly extruding from her tall form. "Hope it's just impatient traders." She murmured, trying to ignore the uneasy clenching in her guts.

*************************

Continued in Part 18

These characters, and boy, are they ever characters, are mostly the property of Renaissance Pictures, Universal MCA, and whoever else owns stock and interest in Xena: Warrior Princess. This fiction was written for my amusement only, and not in any way, shape or form for profit - and it is not intended to infringe on the copyright holders of the characters.

Some of the characters are mine, and the story ideas.. well, who knows where they come from? Must be one weird place, that's for sure.

Specific Story Disclaimers:

Violence - this is a Xena: Warrior Princess story. This is not Teletubbies. Even though there are some rumors of similarities. Some of the violence is graphic, but we try not to dwell on it.

Subtext - Considering that the TV Series just aired an episode establishing Xena and Gabrielle as eternal soulmates, any disclaimer of subtext on my part is really kind of goofy in the extreme. The two characters are in love with each other, and have been for years. You can choose to see them as just friends, but then you might not want to read this fanfic, in case it changes your mind or anything like that.

Emotional Content - this is not one my more comedic efforts. There are moments of humor, however.

********************************************************************

Dark Comes the Morning - Part 18

By Melissa Good

It was bad news.

Xena stood in the gateway, the light rain plastering her dark hair to her head as she stood and listened to the driver, an exhausted militia member huddled in a worn hood and cloak. "Were there many casualties?"

"Yes." The man answered. "They came at us unexpectedly, Xena.. we only barely fought them off, but the worst part was them telling us they'd be back, again, and again and again.. that Amphipolis had been targeted by Andreas to be attacked until nothing was left."

"Because of me." Xena stated quietly.

"Yes."

"He's trying to draw us out.. make us fight on his terms." The warrior stated flatly. "He thinks if he threatens my home, I'll come charging out to protect it."

Her words fell into a sodden silence, as the rain fell over and around cloaked, somber figures. Finally, Xena sighed. "He's not stupid, I'll give him that." She scrubbed the wet hair back out of her eyes. "All right. We've just got to find a way to make this work in our favor… pass the word back. We'll need to move out in the morning."

Dead silence. "Xena." Toris realized the eyes on him, and responded. "You don't mean you're going to do what he expects you to do.. are you? It's just a town… we can rebuild it." He swallowed a little at the dire look Xena turned on him, but straightened, figuring his sister wouldn't kill him just for talking.

Right?

"We can't rebuild the approach… that's our only link with the trading routes." Xena answered, in a clipped tone. "If he takes that, he's got us trapped in here, and he knows it. That other route out will be single file - we couldn’t get out fast enough for him to not catch us." She stared off into the dark. "We have to hold him on the far side of the river.. it's our only chance."

"Xena.. we're not.. " Toris started, then stopped, as an icy blue gaze slammed into him, with all his sister's dark energy behind it. "Okay. I'll pass the word." He finished softly, dropping his eyes.

"We'll leave a small volunteer force here… to guard the elders and children." Xena let her voice lift a little. "And all the people from Amphipolis who want to get out." She turned to the villager who'd brought the news. "Sorry about this."

He pulled his hood down, exposing silvered hair, and gazed at her. "We knew what we were getting into." He told her. "We knew what might happen, and that you might have to sacrifice the village if it came to that. No one blames you, Xena."

The torchlight cast stark shadows over her angular face. "No one but me." She turned, and started back towards the caverns.

They watched her leave, the darkness swallowing up her tall form and leaving them in somber quiet. Toris leaned an arm against the wagon and exhaled. "What's in there?" He pointed at the wagon's load.

"They were going for her place, Tor… it was like they knew exactly what to wreck. We got in and got a lot of their stuff.. packed it up and brought it in case the next time they torch it." The man shifted his hands on the reins. "I know it's just little things, but I've lived in Amphipolis all my life, Toris.. and I've seen a lot. I know how much little things can mean."

"Thanks, Jer." Toris patted his shoulder. "I' know my sister'll appreciate that.. in fact, both of them will." He took the horse's bridle. "C'mon.. let's get you under cover.. it's been a long ride."

***************************

Xena entered the room she'd chosen as a workroom first, wanting a minute alone before the various troop captains joined her. She walked over and put her hands on the table with the maps, leaning her weight on it, and staring sightlessly at the parchment.

After a moment, a presence made itself felt at her back, and she straightened, looking up to meet steady green eyes looking back at her. "So."

"So." Gabrielle walked over, and traced a line on the map. "We're going to walk right into his trap?"

"Yes." Xena answered carefully. "With our eyes wide open."

The bard absorbed the information. "Xena, there are twelve hundred people here… they're fighting because they believe in you.. in the fact that we have a chance at this. You can't just walk them into the teeth of Andrea's army." She straightened a little, and waited.

The angular face tensed, jaw muscles moving visibly under the skin. "They're just going to have to trust me, Gabrielle." Xena sat down on an edge of the table and folded her arms. "Yes, it's what he wants, but a lot depends on how we give it to him." She watched the open face next to her contort with thought. "I'm not going to get everyone killed just to prove a point."

"Of course not." Gabrielle murmured. She searched her partner's face carefully, watching the muscles shift ever so slightly, and the inclination change just a fraction. "You have a plan."

A slight smile moved the nicely shaped lips. "I always have a plan." Xena remarked, then sighed. "Besides, a lot of people are hurt there… we can't just leave them, Gabrielle."

"I know.. and that's our major trade source." The bard acknowledged. "I can see the reasons, Xena, I just - they have so many more people than we do."

"Then we have to be smarter, and faster, and better." The warrior stated. "And maybe use his numbers against him."

Gabrielle nodded, then reached over and put a friendly hand on the warrior's knee. "Well, if anyone can do that, it's you." She could hear the others approaching, so she leaned closer. "Don't be mad at me for asking."

"I'm not." Xena replied. "I"d be worried if you didn't question me."

They fell silent as the rest of the battle leaders filed in, Amazons and centaurs, militia and regulars. All of them had heard the news already, and now they stood quietly, waiting for her explanation.

"All right." Xena stood up and walked to the back wall, where a large, flat area of dark stone had been serving them as a writing space. She picked up a piece of the soft, white stone she used to diagram with and juggled it. "Andreas has upped the ante on us." She paced a little. "He sent raiding parties to attack Amphipolis, and let them know he was going to wipe it off the face of the earth, so he could draw us out and destroy us before we could finish building up our army."

Quickly, she sketched in the river, and Amphipolis. "If we let them take the village, that traps us in here, with only that mountain route out, and no way to replenish supplies." She paused, regarding her picture. "Besides the fact that he'd be erasing my home." She turned. "I don’t like that idea."

The milita leaders nodded quietly.

"So. We're going to give him what he asked for." She pointed to the river, then sketched in the bridge. "We have to move out, and set up a ditch and wall fortification here, and here… so when they come at us, we'll have a defensible position."

"But.. Xena." Ephiny crossed her arms. "They can just move down the river… go right around us."

"No." Toris shook his head. "This time of year.. with the rain we've been having, the river's only fordable in one place.. where Xe marked there." He pointed. "Or they can cross at the bridge. Anywhere else, even launching rafts is asking for an early grave." He paused. "Unless they come u this way, cross the mountains, and circle around past this valley."

"So.. " Gillen cocked her head. "We're only really defending two points.. that ford, and the bridge.. we could set up ambushes all along that valley road and pick them off as they come at us."

"Exactly." Xena nodded agreement. "What we have to make sure of though.. is that they don't draw us out, and turn the tables on us. If they take the ford, or destroy the bridge, we're stuck in the open, with no cover, and no retreat.. the closest friendly territory is the Amazon's."

"Why not just fall back behind the river.. defend the two positions from there?" Tyldus asked, reasonably. "Use the water as your ditch."

"Two reasons." Xena pointed at the far bank. "This side's higher ground, by a good bit. If they take that bank, they can use that to pretty much dump everything they can on us.. it'll be an ugly siege. " She juggled the rock. "The other reason is. His force is large enough to spread all the way down the reach from Amphipolis to where the river hits that dense forest.. he can prevent us from getting to the water, which removes that, plus a huge food source from us."

"Ah." Tyldus agreed. "Yes."

"In addition… if we take those positions, we can force them to travel far downstream to get water themselves." Gabrielle mentioned, speaking for the first time. "That's a logistical problem for them."

Everyone glanced at her, then back at Xena.

"Good point, Gabrielle." Her partner gave her a graceful nod. "Not to mention, if they have to get water downstream from us, they also have to put up with whatever we give them."

Ephiny chuckled softly, and kicked the rock floor, and Tyldus laughed outright. "A good point, my friend, a very, very good point indeed."

"All right." Xena nodded. "We need to get moving at dawn. We don't have much time to establish our position before they get here, and we've got a lot of work to do. In addition, I'll need a volunteer force to stay here, and guard the people we leave behind, as well as the people we send here from Amphipolis."

"Someone needs to go tell Aslanta what's up." Gillen commented. "She's not gonna want to miss this." She regarded Xena speculatively. "I'll see if there's anyone who wants to stick around here."

"Maybe some of the militia." Gabrielle suggested.

"Maybe." Xena agreed. "Everyone has their jobs, so let's get going."

They all filed out, save Gabrielle, of course, who wandered over and ran a fingertip through the white dust she'd drawn with. "Have you told your mother yet?" She turned her head. "You think she'll stay here?"

Xena was rolling up her maps, and putting them in their waterproof case. "I'm not sure I want her to." She immediately had a surprised bard at her elbow, peering up at her. "I don't trust Andreas. I want to have the people closest to me, with me."

"In a battle?" Gabrielle questioned. "Xena… I'm sorry.. but I don’t' get that."

"Not in a battle.. just with me, with the army." The warrior put both hands on her shoulders. "You'll be there.. that really helps. But there's mom, and Dori… if Andreas knew about Dori, and he got his hands on her.. " Xena paused, leaving the words unspoken.

"She'd kick his butt." Gabrielle answered, seriously.

"Gabrielle."

"She would, and you know it. But I understand, Xena." The bard leaned against her, laying her cheek against her partner's damp shoulder. "I'd be worried about them too. The only thing is.. if we take Dori with us.."

"Who watches her?" Xena asked wryly.

"Um.. no.. how do we keep her out of the fighting?"

Xena sighed, and covered her eyes.

**********************************************

Gabrielle huddled in her cloak, tugging the hood down further over her face to block the rain out. She half turned in her saddle to look behind her, to see a long train of mounted riders, wagons, and soldiers on foot following, and the distinctive form of her partner halfway down the line on Argo's back.

"Mama?" Dori tugged her ear. "Mama, go Boo!" The baby was tucked in her carry sack, or actually, a new carry sack that Xena had made since the child had outgrown her old one. "Mama."

"Not right now, Dori." Gabrielle cleared her throat a little, and sniffled, cursing silently as she recognized a wearily familiar weight on her chest. "This is not the time to get sick, darn it."

"Bck?"

"Not you, honey." Gabrielle sighed, turning and digging in her saddlebag and pulling out a honey ball, which she stuck in her mouth. The sweet flavor soothed her throat, and she reviewed the patiently slogging troops. It was well past midday, and they were making slow progress due to the weather, which drove against the sodden bodies with relentless power.

They were most of the way back to Amphipolis, though, only the tricky mountain pass was left to negotiate, then the sloping road down into the village. They'd already sent a runner ahead, who confirmed things were still quiet, and now it remained for them to push on and finish their journey.

They'd spend the night camping around the village, Xena had decided, then start their work on the riverbank at first light.

Good idea, Gabrielle had agreed, secretly wanting nothing more than a hot fire, soup to ease her throat, and her own, warm bed.

Even if the cabin was empty. She'd been surprised, and touched that the villagers had thought to pack up their things and send them, and she and Xena had decided to leave them crated in the caverns, as safe as anything was nowadays. All that was left in their home was the furniture, and a few things.

That was all right. She felt a cough coming on, and stifled it., then pulled her cloak tighter again.

"Mama… "

"Yes?"

"Bbbbbooooo… " Dori was pointing, her small hand poking out from under the hood.

"She's coming here, honey.. just wait." Sure enough, Xena had finished whatever it was she was doing, and was heading back, her body flexing easily with Argo's rhythmic stride. "Dori.. why can't I be that comfortable on a horse?"

"Mama? Hossie." Dori bounced a little in her sack. "Boo boo boo.."

"Boo boo boo. Yeah." Gabrielle exhaled, as Argo trotted up. "Everything okay?"

"Yeah.. that last wagon got mired.. I had to have them offload some of it." Xena peered behind her. "The'yre moving now. C'mon."

"Boo!"

The warrior pulled up. "You want me to take her for a while?"

Dori was a warm lump against her chilled skin, and she really didn't want to give that up. "No.. it's okay… she'll settle down." She tried, but failed to stifle a sneeze.

Xena sidestepped Argo over neatly and reached over, touching her cheek with gentle, warm fingers. Then she pushed the bard's hood back and took hold of her jaw, turning her face to the scant, gray light. Gabrielle's eyes had a definite glaze, and her skin was pale and slightly clammy. "Think we've got a problem, my bard."

"Yeah." Gabrielle blinked. "Sorry."

Xena felt her cloak's fabric, then unfastened her own, heavier one and swung it off her shoulders, settling it around her partner's and pulling it around her snugly. Then she took hold of Hercules reins and started moving forward, matching the army's stolid pace. She reached behind her for her healer's kit as they walked. "Not much longer." She ignored the sting of the rain against her bare shoulders, as she pulled out herbs by touch, and mixed them, then held the cup she'd retrieved up to gather the fresh rainwater.

Gabrielle huddled closer into her saddle, and wondered what was more comforting, the warmth of the extra cloak, or Xena's scent that suddenly was surrounding her. She took the offered cup and drank it down without complaint, feeling a little better just at the taste of the familiar herbs. "Thanks."

Xena patted her knee, and sidled Argo a little closer, turning her face to the weather, and the nearing gap. She was anxious to finish the trek, now for several reasons. To get started on the defense, first and foremost, and put into place the engines of battle. To make sure her home was safe, that was secondary, because Xena had, in her heart, reconciled the possibility that Amphipolis might be overrun at some point.

Now, she had a sick partner to worry about.

Funny, how that snuggled up, and took precedence somehow. Xena had to laugh at herself a little, something she knew at one time wouldn't have been possible. Here she was, leader of an army almost thirteen hundred members strong, heading towards a dire battle against a force three times it's size, with the possible fate of Greece hanging on the outcome… and she was sitting here in this wet saddle thinking of herbs, and hot tea, and getting Gabrielle into warm, dry clothes.

Oh, Xena. What in Hades has happened to you? She tried to connect to the wild, impatient, angry fighter she'd once been, and found the gap so large she could only catch a whisper of that darkness, that hunger for power that had seemed so enticing, and so delicious.

The warrior sighed. "I am getting old." She murmured to Argo, who flicked an ear back towards her. "I'll be knitting booties next."

"Did you say something." Gabrielle asked, poking her head outside her hood a bit.

"Me? No." Xena shook her head, watching droplets of rain scatter from her hair. "Nope.. just thinking of where to start when we get over the mountain." She stretched in the saddle, the leather of her stirrups creaking a complaint. "We're gonna have to do some serious wood cutting to get enough structure for those ramparts."

"Mm." Gabrielle shifted the now dozing Dori's sack a bit. "How do you make them?" She didn't really need to know, but listening to Xena was preferable to moping about how sore her throat was.

"Well… " The warrior launched into the technical details.

Ah. Gabrielle absorbed the data. She talks, and I listen for a change. I like that. "You pack it with mud?"

"Sure."

"Figures."

The army moved on, heading up the long, sloping trail in a cold rain.

*******************************

Xena trotted up the steps to the inn porch, concious of the very late hour. They'd gotten home around sundown, and she'd been working with the villagers and the troop leaders to get everyone settled for the evening, in the fields now harvested around Amphipolis. The village guard had been seriously supplemented, and she felt comfortable that everyone could get a decent night's sleep before the hard work started in the morning.

She'd actually considered breaking off a group to start cutting wood tonight, but the moon was hidden firmly behind the clouds, and the valley was as dark as the inside of a cave, using torches in all that gloom was a bad idea, to say the least.

So she'd asked one of the Amazons to make sure Gabrielle got back to the cabin, and left the villagers to reorder their homes, and went about her business with damp persistence. Xena reached out to open the door and almost had it thrown back in her face. She hopped backwards, and held up a hand defensively as Ephiny emerged, the Amazon tucked into a cozy looking set of winter leathers, and a hooded cloak. "Hey."

"There you are." The Amazon regent exhaled.

"Here I am." Xena agreed. "What's the problem?"

"What's the problem? I'll tell you what the problem is. YOU are the problem, Xena." Ephiny put her hands on her hips. "You're rubbing off on Gabrielle, and frankly, I don't like it."

The warrior blinked, a touch shocked. A hundred different thoughts ran through her head, most of them guilty, the rest painful. "What do you mean, Ephiny?" She heard a cold, reserved note enter her voice. 'Exactly what are you talking about?"

The hazel eyes narrowed. "Gabrielle is sick."

"I know that." Xena snapped. "I asked Solari to make sure she was comfortable."

"She chased her out." The regent's jaw jutted out pugnaciously. "She chased her out, chased Pony out, and gods be damned, Xena, she chased me out, when I went it to see if I could get her anything. She's pulling that Athena's left butt cheek tougher than thou attitude of yours and it's driving me NUTS!"

"Oh." Xena felt her guts unclench. "That.." She waved the regent aside. "Get outta my way, Eph.. I'll take care of it."

"Xeenna." Ephiny growled.

"Ephiny, it's late, I'm tired, and I'm not in the mood to trade bitches with you." The warrior turned and glared at her. "Now, get outta my way, and just go get some rest. I said I"d take care of it."

Ephiny took a breath, then released it. "All right." She finally sighed. "Sorry.. I was just kidding you a little." She gave Xena's taller, menacing figure a light backslap. "Went over the top, I guess."

Xena shifted awkwardly. "No, it's… sorry, Eph. It's been a long day."

" Yeah, I know." The curly haired woman smiled grimly. "Listen, go take care of that stubborn woman, will you? She's got me a little worried."

Xena nodded. "I will. Get some rest. Tomorrow's going to be a long hard one."

A twinkle of mischief entered Eph's eyes. "And you think that impresses an Amazon? Tch tch, Xena… tell it to the centaurs."

That got a sudden, reluctant grin from the warrior. "Right." She gave Ephiny a slap on the shoulder, then entered the inn, getting an incredible blast of venison stew smell right in the face that started her salivating and reminded her how long it had been since she'd eaten. "Xena." She muttered as she made her way towards the kitchen. "It's not dignified for the general of the army to drool." She pushed the door open and poked her head in. "Glad to be back here?"

Cyrene turned, and smiled. "For the time being, yes." She waved her daughter in. "Stew's just finishing up for tomorrow. Would you like some?"

Xena managed a nonchalant shrug. "If you've got some, sure." She eased into the kitchen and sauntered across the floor. "I actually came to see if you had any of that feverroot I used on Gabrielle the last time she was sick."

"Mm.. I think so. Is she sick again?" Cyrene set a thick slice of bread on an almost flat wooden bowl and ladled a healthy serving of the stew over it. "Here. Let me go get some of it."

Xena took the plate, and waited for her mother to turn towards the cabinet, then ducked her head and captured a large chunk of meat and bolted it, chewing and swallowing the mouthful before Cyrene turned back around. She licked her lips and held a hand out for the herbs. "Thanks."

"Hope she feels better. I sent some dinner over before, but I don't think she ate it. Solari came back and whined."

"I'll take care of it." Xena promised, heading out the door and kicking it closed behind her. Reflexes as sharp as hers, she reflected, really were good for something. She selected another chunk off the top of her platter and flipped it up in the air, catching it neatly and closing her teeth on it.

Ah. A carrot. She sighed. Well, can't win em all. She slipped through the darkness towards the candlelit square that marked their cabin window.

*************************************

"Okay." Gabrielle propped her head on one hand, and studied the parchment in front of her. "We have to get those under cover, and we’re running out of storage." She lifted her mug with her other hand, and took a sip of the hot tea in it. To one side, Dori was in her cradle, watching with interest as her mother rocked her absently with one booted foot. "The barn’s full, I take it?"

Three people sat quietly waiting for her, dripping on the wooden floor but glad to be out of the rain and letting someone else make the decisions. "That’s right." The closest man answered, a short, stocky man who was one of Gabrielle’s better staff students. "And the two big stores are out, cause they gots the harvest just in em."

"What about those abandoned buildings, out back?" One of his companions asked, a tall, thin woman about twice Gabrielle’s age. "They’re falling down, but they’d be better than nothing."

"Depends." Gabrielle chewed on her quill end. "We’d have to post a guard around them, and would the wagons fit in the doors, or would we have to unload?"

"Unload." The third man answered stolidly. "Waggin aint’ fitten in that opening."

"Doesn’t make sense, then." The bard sighed. "We need to move those supplies right back out again. Okay.. " She took another sip of the hot tea, and tugged her warm, soft, way too large shirt around her. "Let’s just get them under the oak trees on the west end, and put waxed hides over them. Strap them down tight, and we’ll hope for the best."

"Bck."

"Did you have better idea?" Gabrielle asked her daughter wryly. Dori poked her tongue out. "I didn’t think so." She looked up to see her three guests with smiles on their tired faces as they gazed down at the baby. "She’s got a comment for everything."

‘She’s really cute." The tall woman commented. "She’s almost a year, right? Wow.. she’s big for that."

Dori poked her tongue out again and wriggled, her brow creasing. "Mama."

"Ah.. she must be wet." The stocky man stated.

"Tired." The woman shook her head wisely.

"Colic." The third man disagreed.

Gabrielle sighed. "Hungry." She dug in her belt pouch for some of the little crackers Cyrene had invented for her always starved offspring, and gave Dori one. "Chew on that, honey. Maybe B… Xena will bring something for you from grandma, okay?"

Dori looked up from her cracker, which she was mouthing seriously. "Boo?"

The bard stifled a cough, then took a moment to catch her breath. "Yeah." She rocked the cradle a bit then glanced up again. "Is that it?"

"Should do it." The short man stood. "Thanks, Gabrielle. We’ll get those wagons under cover, but the rest of it’s going to be shuffle."

They all looked over as the door opened, and Xena entered bringing a damp, cold draft with her. "Problems?" She gave the three a dour glare, noting the pale tinge to her partner’s normally healthy face. "Anything I can deal with?"

"Uh.. " The short man gathered up his lists and edged around her. "No.. no, just getting some instructions."

"Yeah.. good night, Xena.. Gabrielle, thanks." The woman joined him, with their companion right behind her. "Sorry to bother you." They escaped out the door and closed it, leaving the irritated ex warlord alone with her partner and child.

Xena continued towards the desk and set her plate down, the put her hands on her hips. "Why are you up?"

"I was just.."

"Why do I have Amazons of all shapes and sizes coming to me complaining you won’t let them help you?"

"Um."

"Get your butt into that bed right now."

"Yes, ma’am.’ Gabrielle meekly untangled herself from her chair and padded over to the bed, getting under the covers and pulling the thick blankets up around her neck. "I really don’t feel that bad."

Xena unclasped her wet cloak and spread it out near the fire to dry. Then she crossed over to the bed and perched on the edge, putting a concerned hand on her partner’s forehead. "You have a fever." She pushed Gabrielle back against the pillow and tucked the cover around her. "Is that soup over there?"

The bard nodded. "Just wasn’t in the mood for it." Her lips twitched a little. "Wasn’t in the mood for people messing with me either." She watched the dark eyebrow lift. "You’re always the exception, though."

"Gabrielle.. that makes no sense." The warrior objected. "Those people were just trying to help.. they weren’t doing anything I wouldn’t have done." A scowl. "I’m going to heat some of that soup up, and you’re gonna drink it, got me?"

"Okay." The bard snuggled down into the comfortable bed and sighed. "If that’s food you brought back, slide some over to the little eating machine down there. She was hungry." Gabrielle let her head rest against the soft pillow. "And getting cranky."

"All right." The warrior retrieved the forlorn pot of soup from the tray and crossed over to the fire, stepping over Ares, who was curled up on the rug . "Don’t you get any ideas." She warned the wolf, who had lifted his head to watch her. "Ouch." She’d grabbed the iron trivet, not realizing how hot it was, and dropped it. "God’s be damned thing… "

"Xe?"

"What?" The warrior turned, and glared.

"Maybe you should eat something too." Gabrielle suggested quietly, meeting the irritated blue eyes across the room from her.

"Are you insinuating something?" Xena had set the small pot of soup on the trivet and moved it near the flames to heat.

"Um.. no."

"Yes, you are." Xena stood and walked over to the desk, dropping into the bard’s vacated chair with a softly uttered oath. "I am not cranky." She pulled the plate over and uncovered it, releasing the scent of venison and vegetables into the air. "I just have a headache."

"Mm." Gabrielle watched as Dori pulled herself up in her cradle, making it rock back and forth. "Careful, Dori."

Xena glanced over to see her daughter attempting to climb out of the moving furniture and made a grab for her just as she toppled. "Dori!"

The baby giggled and clutched at her as she was lifted, then balanced carefully on Xena’s thigh and peered over the tabletop. "Mama!" She pointed at Gabrielle.

Xena sighed, and used one hand to steady her daughter, and the other to retrieve a chunk of meat to pacify her audibly growling stomach. "Hey." She mumbled, as Dori reached towards the plate determindly. "All right.. all right… hold on." She got a carrot out and handed it over. "Here."

Dori investigated the offering, then stuffed it into her mouth and chewed it enthusiastically. "Mmm." An imperious hand extended. "More."

"Didn’t you get dinner already?" Xena complained, but passed over another carrot. "What a little piggy you are."

Gabrielle smiled, and relaxed against the pillow, tucking one hand under her head as she watched the two share the contents of Xena’s plate. Dori ate everything almost as voraciously as her much larger parent, and with a remarkably similar expression on her face to boot. Xena visibly relaxed during the process, the tension in her shoulders releasing as she leaned back, and extended her long legs out over the scatter rugs. Not cranky, huh? The bard let her eyes close, and tried to ignore the pounding in her head and how scratchy her throat felt.

The next thing she knew, the sharp, not unpleasant scent of the rub Xena had invented for her woke her up, and she opened her eyes to gaze sleepily at her partner. "Mm… sorry. Went out on you there." The scent of hot soup drew her attention to the bedside table, where a small crock rested, releasing steam into the air. Xena had changed from her leathers into one of her heavier sleep shirts, and her dark hair was pulled back into a knot. "Still mad at me?"

Xena glanced up from where she was spreading the salve on Gabrielle’s chest. "I wasn’t mad at you." She responded, in a puzzled tone, as she tucked a piece of soft flannel around the bard’s neck. "Here. Drink this first." She handed over a cup, which the bard sucked down with audible swallows. "Good girl." She took the cup back and put it down, then picked up the crock of soup and offered it. "Next."

"Mm." Gabrielle pulled herself upright and cradled the warm bowl, dispensing with the spoon and drinking directly from the edge of it. The liquid felt wonderful going down her sore throat and she inhaled the steam, which eased the stuffed feeling in her head. "I’m sorry about the Amazons.. they were just hovering, and it was making me crazy." She lifted her gaze, to see a faintly amused one facing her. "You’re so different.. all they do is run around and ask what they can do. You don’t. You just.."

"Come in and take over." Came the wry response.

"Well.."

"It’s okay. That’s what I’m good at, or so I’m told." The warrior chuckled.

"You are. And besides, it’s different with them. I’m supposed to be in charge of them, and they act so weird around me sometimes." She took a swallow of soup. "Is Dori asleep?"

"Yup." Xena stood and walked over to the table, dousing the candle and retrieving Dori’s cradle, which she set down beside the bed before climbing into it beside Gabrielle and curling up under the covers on her side. "Toris told me they were targeting this place."

Gabrielle took her time answering, sipping at her soup while she thought. "I know." Her eyes roved the room. "That hurts." A sigh. "I know it’s just a building.. but I’ve got some very sweet memories invested in it."

Xena was quiet for a moment. "Me too." She paused. "It makes me mad to think of someone deliberately trying to destroy that." She rolled over and gazed at the ceiling. "Then I remember how many people’s homes I must have destroyed." Her jaw moved. "How many lives I ruined.. maybe it’s right that I have the tables turned on me." She turned her head. "But I’m sorry you have to be a part of that."

"That’s not fair." Gabrielle put her cup down.

"I know.. you don’t deserve to pay for what I did."

"No.. not for me." The bard turned onto her side. "That’s not fair to you, Xena.. it’s like you’re saying that no matter what you do, no matter how much you try, or what you sacrifice, it can never balance the scales for your past."

Blue eyes looked at her from across a sudden chasm. "That’s exactly what I am saying."

"I don’t believe that."

"I know you don’t." The warrior exhaled, with a tiny smile. "But I think it’s time to be honest between you and me, Gabrielle." Xena looked up. "There are things I’ve done, that I can never atone for." A breath. "No matter how hard or long I try."

"That’s not true." A look just as steadfast met hers. "I will never believe that."

Xena sighed.

"I’m sorry." Gabrielle told her, sincerely. "But I believe you are a good person, Xena, and nothing on this earth, or past it, or underneath it is going to change that belief, no matter what."

"Gabrielle…"

"Don’t you Gabrielle me, okay?" The bard’s voice deepened. "Don’t you lecture me like I was some wet behind the ears kid who doesn’t know any better, Xena. I’ve seen the darkest parts of you, and I’ve seen the brightest, and if I say you’re a good person, then damn it, you are."

Xena dropped her eyes to the bedcovers, then shook her head. "You are so damned stubborn."

"When it comes to you? You bet your butt I am." A poke on the shoulder. "And I have a right to be, Xena.. I have been there, and done that, and gotten a traveler’s token for enough stuff to fill three lifetimes with you, so I think I have the right to tell you how I feel." She paused. "Look. We’re going to war, and I know it’s kind of scary."

Xena merely looked at her.

"Having something happen to you in all this fighting hasn’t exactly been far from my mind lately." Gabrielle admitted. "Neither has what I’d do if something did."

"I have no intentions of becoming the Martyr of Amphipolis." Her partner stated evenly. "Or of forcing you to make a decision like that."

"I know… but sometimes things happen."

"Sometimes, things do happen." Xena agreed. "And I’ve been thinking about it a lot too."

Gabrielle exhaled, her eyes never leaving Xena’s. "And?"

A quiet, resigned smile. " I think I’ve decided I want to have a lot more time here.. with you." The warrior replied. "And with Dori."

The bard moved over, until they were side by side. She reached over and took Xena’s hand, lacing her fingers with the warrior’s and tightening her grip. "Because you think this is the only time you’ll have with us, isn’t it?"

A long silence, and she felt the tremor run through Xena’s fingers as the warrior stared at the blanket. Finally she took a breath. "Yes." She turned and looked Gabrielle in the eye. "I think when I die, Gabrielle, they’re going to send me to some place so deep, and so dark, not even you will ever be able to find me."

Gabrielle didn’t even flinch. "You’re wrong."

A sigh.

"There is no place, no matter how dark, no matter how deep, that any part of you could go where I couldn’t follow you, even if I had to pick up a sword, and start killing everything in sight just so I could go there too."

Xena stopped breathing, and just stared at her.

"So you better just up and decide you’re going someplace nice." Gabrielle’s jaw clenched, a definite movement of muscle under the soft skin of her cheek. "Got me?"

"Gabrielle.. that’s not fair." She managed to get her voice back.

"I know." The bard smiled faintly. "Sometimes, Xena.. life isn’t fair. You taught me that."

Another sigh, but this one was lighter, and filled with something close to awe. "What am I going to do with you?"

Gabrielle felt a wash of utter relief unlock her muscles, and she relaxed against the pillow. "I don’t know.. but a hug would be nice. I feel horrible."

She got one.

And a lot more.

*****************************************

It was still raining. Xena listened to the sound of the water hitting the roof of the cabin, the window's glazed surface showing her a block of complete darkness so long before dawn.

Gabrielle was, as usual, curled up against her, one arm firmly holding her down. She put a hand on the bard's forehead, relieved to feel it cool to the touch. A ear cocked, and she listened for any hint of the coughing sickness Gabrielle was prone to, again relieved to hear the soft rasp of normal, if congested breathing. "Good girl." She murmured, ordering the pale hair with cautious fingers.

The bard would probably be miserable for a few days, but with any luck, she'd avoid anything more seriouis than sniffles and sneezes. Xena hoped so, anyway, reasoning that she'd caught the illness in good time and circumvented the more insidious infection for once.

Not like the last time, when she'd been on a hunting trek for two days, coming back to find her partner already very sick, so much so that she'd dropped everything, and spent days at the bard's bedside, taking care of a fretful Dori, and making sure Gabrielle took in enough water, and herbs to keep her going until her body could work out a way around the coughs.

In the worst moments, she'd sung to her partner, the sounds capturing Gabrielle's fevered, and drifting attention like nothing else would, keeping her firmly attached to life.

The days she'd spent without sleep, afraid if she dared to close her eyes, she'd open them to find the bard gone.

Gone somewhere she couldn't follow.

It had been humbling, for someone who had never known fear, not of death, not of the blade, not of an enemy…but in those long, lonely nights, Xena had lived with a fear so intense it almost unbalanced her. Gabrielle had, of course, finally turned the corner, and with a hoarse voice, and concerned eyes, coaxed her into a snuggle that had turned into a sleep so deep it had felt like drowning.

Xena sighed soundlessly.

"Why are you up?" Gabrielle murmured, her eyes firmly closed.

"Just thinking."

The bard sniffled, and coughed a bit. "Oh." A pause. "What about?"

"You."

Longer pause. "Ah." A careful, soft exhale. "What did I do now?"

Xena smiled into the darkness. "Changed my life."

"Ah.. just some light daydreaming, huh?" Gabrielle squirmed closer and took a tighter hold. "You know, Xena.. most people just worry about stuff like what's for breakfast when they wake up before dawn on a rainy day."

"I'm not most people."

"Isn't that the truth?" The bard sniffled again, and sighed. "Well, I shouldn't talk.. I spend my spare moments writing poems about your eyes."

"Ermfh."

"You don't like them?"

"I didn't say that."

Gabrielle chuckled softly, and allowed her eyes to close again. "You don't have to. You fidget when I recite them."

"Well… " Xena scowled invisibly. "They're just eyes, Gabrielle.. I just don't see the fascination." She felt the soft snort of warm air through her sleep shirt.

"Check out a mirror sometime, tiger." The bard remarked sleepily, patting the surface under her. "They're windows into your soul."

Xena felt both eyebrows lift into her hairline. She thought about that as she let the soft drumming of rain on the roof lull her into a peaceful dream.

*************************

"All right." Xena stood in the stirrups, shading her eyes and peering across the long river valley. Quiet. Her senses pricked. Too quiet. The wind brought only moving grass to her ears, no sounds of animals roaming or birds nearby. "Ephiny."

"Mm?" The Amazon regent was right at her shoulder, curly hair brushed back by the wind.

"Take a column of the Amazons and ride out a ways. Something's not right."

"Right." Ephiny lifted a fist, then pointed, and raised her hand, fingers spread, twice. Ten mounted Amazons split off from the group and trotted towards her, Pony in the lead. "About to the tree line, there?"

"Yeah." Xena watched them ride off, then turned her attention to the strip of smaller trees that bordered the river. "Okay… we need to clear out that whole patch… I want the trunks trimmed, then lay em down in a line right along here." She spread her arms. "One layer of wood, then a cross layer, then another. "

"Okay." Paliomon shouldered a huge ax. "We can do that.. out of the way, Princess."

Xena snorted. "Yeah. Whatever. The next group, start digging. We need a trench in front of that.. dump the stuff you're digging out on top of the wood as they're laying it." She settled back in her saddle as the fighters started to work, taking out axes and scythes, shovels and picks.

Should she help them? Xena flexed her hands inside the lined gauntlets Gabrielle had given her, before she'd braved the cold, damp wind outside. Maybe later. She skillfully turned Argo, and studied the line of Amazons instead, noting Ephiny's caution, and the cocked crossbows resting on muscular thighs of the women who followed her. The warrior's nostrils twitched, her head lifting into the wind and cocking to one side, exposing sensitive ears to the slightest sound.

Nothing. Just the faint scent of horses, leather, and women from the Amazons, and the damp scent of the river grass which spread to the trees.

Xena loosened her sword in it's sheath and pressed her heels against Argo's golden sides, urging the mare forward. Her eyes narrowed as she detected a hint of a strange smell on the wind and she rose up, using the height to peer out over the valley.

A yell.

Xena looked over, to see the Amazons clustered near the trees, stock still, and pale as ghosts.

"Xena!" Ephiny's voice was tense, as she stared at the ground.

Argo snorted, then stopped abruptly, rearing and letting out a scream.

Xena felt a chill, as she saw what surrounded the women and horses, a ring of swaying, hissing forms her mind rapidly identified as snakes.

Cobras. "Don't move."

"Not a problem." Pony replied, tersely, her eyes watching the snake closest to her, a giant whose hooded head came nearly to her knees.

"Shoot them." Xena ordered, calmly, clamping her knees down and struggling to keep the anxious Argo steady.

Ephiny shifted her hand on her crossbow, then froze, as the cobra next to her rose up further, hissing and spreading it's hood as though understanding her action. "Uh." The snake coiled up and drew back angrily.

Xena saw the movement and reacted by instinct, her hand finding the chakram and releasing it before she was really concious of what she did. The weapon sliced through the air and cut the snake in half, scattering a spray of blood over the green grass before returing to her hand with a satisified whisper. "Everyone cover your eyes."

A soft hissing caught her attention, and she flicked her vision over the grass as she realized the snakes were now headed in her direction. Argo backed up, hopping nervously through the knee high stalks. "Easy girl." She turned her head,. "Everyone stay back!"

"Ssss."

Xena slowly backed up, drawing the snakes further. She counted a round dozen of them, and the grass shivered around her with their motion, the soft, slithering sound raising her nape hairs and bringing their distinct smell to her as the wind moved.

"Sssssss."

Argo reared, frightened beyond her senses. Xena quickly made a decision, then waited for the mare to land and slipped off her back, giving her a slap and sending her back towards the river. "Gwan!!!!"

Argo was only too glad to comply, leaving her there.

In that circle.

She couldn’t see them, but she could hear them, and smell them, and sense them, coming closer, and closer, the rustling getting louder, and louder, almost loud enough to drown out the pounding of her heart. She could see, out of the corner of her eye, the Amazons staring at her, and she slowly let out a breath.

Closer. They were all around her now, being directed by a malevolence she could almost feel. Still invisible in the grass, still close to the ground, but within striking range.

They would kill her. Xena had no illusions about that. She might possibly survive one bite, but not a dozen. Abruptly, the rustling stopped, and she went still, every nerve tingling with the danger around her.

Then the grass in front of her parted, and a cobra rose, it's hood spreading not an arm's length from her.

Tiny, black, lidless eyes caught hers, and she almost choked, at the cold intelligence she saw in them.

A flicking tongue came out.

The grass rustled a final time, and she was surrounded, buff and gray swaying forms now releasing a stench in the air.

They drew back their heads.

The largest swayed seductively, marking it's pray, and releasing it's energy, striking forward with incredible speed at a target still, and silent, so close missing was impossible.

One chance. Xena jerked to one side, then unsheathed her sword in one fluid motion and whirled in a circle, locking her elbows with both hands on her sword hilt, amid a shower of blood, and skin, and hissing that faded into the wind as the threat became nothing more than scraps of meat and bone, their strikes never touching even a bit of her flesh.

The warrior came to a halt and paused, her breathing coming in short jerks.

Nothing moved. She relaxed, and let her arms drop, straightening and letting the wind blow her hair back of a suddenly sweating brow. "Damn."

And then a motion, to one side, a flicker that came at her more felt than seen, and she threw a hand out in automatic defense, her fingers grazing by sharp needles as she fastened a hold on a thick, muscular body.

Her whole body shuddered, to feel the squirming power, which wrapped itself around her arm and lashed a stinging blow against her thigh. Xena forced herself into calm, and raised her fist, bringing the black eyes even with her own. Her hand had closed just behind the small head, in front of the spreading hood, and she stared into it's dark evil, seeing hatred in a beast that should, at worst, have run from her.

She met it's gaze, her own icy cold, for a very long moment.

Then she closed her fist, and tightened her powerful forearm muscles, feeling the bones crunch under her fingers as she broke it's spine. The eyes glazed, and the body went limp, and she released it to fall dead in the grass, with it's companion's severed parts.

For a long moment, the silence reigned, save the sound of the river, and the wind, and the grass. Then, nearby, in a scraggly tree in the fringe, a solitary bird piped up, warbling softly. Ephiny let her head drop forward, then she moved her mount towards where Xena was standing, still watching everything around her very carefully.

Hazel eyes met ice blue. "Not good." The regent commented briefly.

"No." Xena agreed, bending to wipe her sword on the grass before she slid it home in her scabbard, casting a last look around at the dead snakes. "Not good at all." She squared her shoulders, and whistled for Argo. "But it'll take more than that to get to me."

Argo trotted cautiously up, snuffling at the messy bits of snake and nuzzling Xena. The warrior vaulted onto her back and settled her boots in the stirrups. Then she leaned on the saddlebow. "Ephiny… I want you to take the head parts, and skin them."

Ephiny cocked her head in question.

"Then I want you to take an iron spike, and nail the skins on those trees, just where the road dips into them. Make it so they can be seen from the path."

"All right." The regent answered slowly. "Sort of like banners?"

A very cold smile. "Sort of." Xena gathered her reins in one gauntleted hand, and turned Argo back towards the river. "Burn the rest ." She left them un-mounting, and headed back, gathering in the awed looks from the soldiers with a confident nod. "C'mon… let's get moving.. entertainment's over."

Slowly, the sound of chopping wood filled the silence, and the birds sang.

**************************************

"Ugh." Gabrielle pushed her diary aside, and put her head down on her arm. "I hate being sick." She rolled her head to one side and regarded the crackling fire, then pulled the blanket she had around her shoulders a little closer. Her head felt so full it threatened to explode, and she had a nagging ache behind her eyes. Add that to a sore throat, and a congested nose, and the bard was a lump of miserableness wishing she somewhere else entirely.

Oh well. She closed her eyes. At least she was here, in a dry, comfortable cabin with a nice fire, some tea and honey, a warm blanket and miraculously sleeping baby. It could definitely, definitely have been much worse.

She could be out building ditches with Xena, for instance, out in the damp, cold weather which was making her bones ache despite the fire's warmth. One look at her partner's face this morning, though, and she'd decided to not even ask, else risk the possibility of having Cyrene assigned to her as a constant babysitter.

Wearily, she lifted her head and propped it up on one hand, then retrieved her quill and pulled her diary back over.

******

Things are pretty unsettled. I know that Andreas is pushing Xena faster than she wanted to go, but I also know there's no way she'd let Andrea's men destroy Amphipolis. Not when she was nearby, and watching. It just wasn't going to happen, that's all.

Even though it might be better strategy to let him, then maybe he'd be convinced she wasn't around, and back off, but damn it, this is our home. This is her home, and this is my home, and I wouldn’t stand back and let it be destroyed, so I know she can't either.

Sometimes, you have to just draw a line, and know that line is something you won't cross, no matter what the odds, or what the cost is.

I used to have a line like that. Or at least, I thought I did. I used to sit around our campfire at night, and think about what I'd do, if it were her life on the line, in stead of, oh, say mine like it usually was, and I was in a position to choose. Would I kill someone? What would it take, before I went across that line?

And you know, I always gauged it against Xena. Even the first time I thought of it, what I said to myself was, Gabrielle, would you kill to save Xena's life? And the answer was, of course, yes.

Always yes. I never had a question about that, not ever.

I always thought that's how it would happen, in my daydreams. It was sort of an offering, a sacrifice for our friendship, for my love for her, for what we were to each other. Yes, Xena, I love you enough to lay down not only my life, but my soul for you.

I thought it was so noble.

Xena and I finally talked about it, just a few months ago. About Meridian, and how I felt, and how she felt. And I found out something really amazing.

She blames herself for that whole thing. Still. Even after everything, after all the talks we've had, and everything we've been through together after that. She says it was her fault.

How do you fight that? I can tell her no, that picking up that knife was my choice, being in that temple was my choice… but all she says was, if it wasn't for her, I'd have never been in Britannia, and it never would have happened.

Well. If it weren't for her, I'd be a slave somewhere, probably either dead or wishing I was, but that's water so far under the bridge it's probably traveled around the world by now.

Somehow, someway, I'm going to find a way to make her understand it's not her fault. I have to, because I think that's at the very core of why she's so damn sure she's headed into the darkness if anything happens to her.

It's such a strange feeling. I can see where her problem is, and sometimes, it's almost like I'm the older one of us, and she's the younger, in just certain places., because she's so strong, but there are these one or two spots where she is so vulnerable, and when I hit them, I know it.

*******

Gabrielle chewed on her quill, and sniffled, then sighed and took a sip of her tea. She glanced over as a rustle sounded from the cradle, and saw inquisitive green eyes peering back at her. "Hey, honey."

"Mama." Dori unwrapped her blanket with a studious expression, and pulled herself up in her cradle. "Go."

"Sweetie, stay in bed, okay? You don't want to get sick, right?"

Dori scowled, then tumbled out of the cradle and stood up, toddling over to where her mother was sitting and stopping, then batting the bard's leg. "Mama!"

"What is it, Dori?" Gabrielle put her quill down and lifted her daughter up, cradling her against her chest and straightening the little blue sleep sack she was wearing.

"Want Boo."

"So do I." Gabrielle answered seriously. "But you can't always have what you want, you know." She smoothed the dark, thick hair back and brushed a tiny eyelash of Dori's round cheek. "I sure wanted you though, did you know that?"

Dori stuck her finger in her mouth and blinked, then put her small arms as far around Gabrielle's neck as she could and squeezed. "Love you."

Gabrielle's eyes widened in delight, and she forgot about being sick for a minute. "What was that, honey? Did you say what I think you said?"

"Love you." Dori answered. "Love mama."

"Wow." The bard hugged her back, patting her bottom gently. "Good girl, Dori.. and I love you too." What an amazing feeling that was. She released her daughter and smiled at her.

"Love Boo?" Dori asked next.

"Who, me?" Gabrielle laughed softly. "Oh honey, you know I love your Boo… and I know you do, and I know she loves you, very, very much."

"Mm." Dori seemed satisfied with that, and she sucked her thumb peacefully, rocking back and forth a little in Gabrielle's lap. She'd grown in the past month, the bard realized, as she watched a small leg swing down halfway to the ground, grown taller, and heavier, and more active, already showing a healthy dose of intelligent curiosity that was both reassuring and a trifle intimidating.

"How about I tell you a story.. would you like that?" Gabrielle decided to leave her diary for the moment, and spend some time with her child. She grinned as Dori's eyes widened in delight, recognizing a favorite word. "You like stories, don’t you?"

"Cow."

"You want to hear about the flying cow again?"

"Moo!"

"Okay." Gabrielle stood up and walked over the bed, sliding under the covers and settling Dori beside her. "Once up on a time there was a bad, bad storm.." The bard paused, as she heard footsteps, then a knock at the door. "C'mon in."

The door opened, and Cyrene entered, carrying a small basket. "Good morning, you two cutie pies."

"Gramma!" Dori crawled across the bed and climbed up Cyrene's shirt as she came closer. "Good!"

"Hi." Gabrielle leaned back. "Still wet out, huh?"

"Just a bit." Cyrene eased around to Gabrielle's side, and put a hand on her forehead. "Mm.. that's not good, honey." She put her basket down and took several packets out of it, using the bard's tea cup to mix one up with. "You look pretty washed out."

"Did a certain Warrior Princess tell you to check up on me." Gabrielle smiled, and took the offered cup, drinking it's contents down.

"No." Cyrene gave her a look. "I'm perfectly capable of acting like a mother all on my own, without any prompting from her." She tucked the neck of the warm shirt closer around the bard's skin. "I've been doing it since before she was born, remember?"

"Oh. Right." Gabrielle pulled her daughter back down. "I was just telling Dori the cow story.. she loves that one." The bard arranged a small sleeve. "And she's good company… you know, she just told me she loved me for the first time." Gabrielle was surprised to find tears rolling down her face, and she felt the motion as Cyrene sat down next to her. "Sorry." She wiped her face.

"It's an amazing thing, isnt' it?" The innkeeper replied. "Children are so honest. At that age, they'll never lie to you, never tell you something just to make you feel good." She sighed. "I remember a time, when Xe was about Dori's age."

"I.. can sort of imagine that, now." Gabrielle murmured, as her daugther curled strong fingers around her own.

"Mm.. well, Xeenie never talked much." A smile. "Guess that hasn't changed. But you could tell she was always thinking about what was going on. She'd sit in her cradle near the fireplace at night in the inn, because that's where I kept her to keep an eye on her while I was working, and she'd listen."

Oh yes. She could picture that quite clearly. "Mmhm."

"One night, we'd closed up and I'd taken her in to my room, and gotten her ready for bed. Tor was already sleeping in the next room, and she was in her cradle, just watching me. It had been a really lousy night, a bunch of roughnecks had cause a lot of problems, and I'd gotten kicked a few times.. anyway." Cyrene sighed. "Xe looked at me with those big blue eyes, and she said. "No hurt mama."

Gabrielle inhaled.

"Just, very seriously, and very deliberately. And I walked over and picked her up.. " Cyrene chuckled a little. "I think of that now and I have to laugh." She murmured. "I picked her up, and she hugged me, and she said 'feel good.. no feel bad."

"Aw."

"Mm." Cyrene put a hand on Dori's head, and moved a bit of dark hair out of the baby's eyes. "When I see her, it's like watching Xe grow up all over again. So strange." She looked at Gabrielle. "And yet, there's so much of you in her too. What a special little girl."

Dori scowled, and pouted. "Bck."

Gabrielle sniffed, then chuckled wryly. "Oh yeah, she's special all right. C"mon, honey.. let me get you changed."

"I'll change her." Cyrene pushed the bard down. "You stay right there and rest." She lifted Dori and carried her into the washing room.

Gabrielle put her head back on the pillow and regarded the ceiling. "Yet another inherited trait."

"What was that, honey?"

"Nothing, mom." Gabrielle rubbed her eyes, then stopped, cocking her head. "Did you hear that/"

Cyrene appeared in the doorway, concerned. "Hear what?"

Outside, above the wind, and the faint clank of the ironsmith's forge, she heard a sound. At first a soft drumming, then a rumble, as it came closer. Gabrielle yanked the covers back and dove for her boots. "Son of a bacchae… I think those are raiders."

She got the laces pulled tight just as the screams started.

*****************************

She hit the door running, her hand finding her staff on the way by simple instinct. "Stay here, mom." She called back to Cyrene. "Keep your head down."

Cyrene watched the heels of her boots disappear and regarded the startled infant in her arms. "And just who does she think she is, ordering me around?" She asked Dori, half humorously.

"Mama." Dori stated definitely, punctuating that with a burp.

"Uh huh. Well, that never cut ME any slack." The innkeeper found a spot behind the desk where she could peer out the window safely. "Be careful, sweetheart, please?" she wished after the running form.

Gabrielle winced as the cold wind hit her, but kept going, towards the oncoming riders. Already, residents were bolting in the same direction, reversing the obvious result that the raiders would have been used to .Most victims ran from them.

But not in Amphipolis. She spotted two of the larger members of the militia, carrying field scythes half again as tall as themselves and smiled grimly.

The lead rider headed right towards the center of the village, then abruptly swerved, and started towards her, letting the rest move on amidst a thunder of hooves and fluttering of torches. "Burn it!" He yelled, as he spurred his mount forward. "Cut them down like pigs!"

Gabrielle ducked under his mace and swerved around him, whirling and hitting him in the back with her staff as he passed. He cursed and pulled his horse to a halt, then sidestepped and made another go at her, which she caught and deflected, then pulled her staff back, and thrust it forward, catching him in the side and nearly knocking him off his horse.

She glanced over her shoulder, making sure the rest of the attackers were being engaged, then returned her attention to her opponent, who had regained his balance and had now drawn his sword. He kicked his horse towards her, but instead of swinging, threw himself off at the last minute and crashed into her, taking them both to the ground.

"Hey!" Gabrielle struggled to free herself, as he grabbed hold of her. She saw the sword hilt coming and lifted her body up, making him miss her head by a fraction. She got a knee in his stomach as he overbalanced, and shoved up hard, arching her back and moving his heavy body off her enough for her to roll free. She grabbed her staff and started to get up, then dropped to a knee as he lunged at her, and fended him off as he swung his sword again and clouted her on her shoulder.

Ow. Gabrielle saw stars. She dropped her staff and shoved him with both hands, scrambling back and away from him.

"Oh no, blondie. You’re coming with me." The man was determined, and he came after her, reaching for her arm and drawing his fist back. He yanked her closer and slugged her in the head, but she got her legs tangled in his and they both went down again.

Her ears were ringing and she blinked tears from her eyes as she grappled with him, twisting her body as they plowed through the muddy ground. He got ahold of her wrists and held them, and she was flipped over and straddled, and found herself helpless.

Cool, gray eyes studied her. He shifted his weight and pinned her hands in one of his, then drew a long, wicked dagger from a sheath in his boot. There was noise, and yelling around them, and a wagon between where she was and the inn, and Gabrielle realized no one could probably see her or realize she needed help. She drew breath to yell, and found a razor sharp edge pressed to her throat. "Shh."

Green eyes narrowed, but she kept quiet.

"Good girl." He put the knife down on her chest and opened a small pouch, withdrawing a large, oily looking thorn carefully, then dipped it down and pulled it back out covered in a slick, dark red substance. "You won’t remember a thing. I promise you."

Gabrielle arched her body and fought fiercely, trying to twist out from under him as the thorn approached, but he snarled, and leaned over her, bringing the thorn close to her neck and picking his spot. "Just hold still… or you’ll get hurt, and we don’t… hey!"

It was only a momentary distraction, but the clump of mud that hit him was just enough for Gabrielle to work one hand loose, and grab his wrist, then pull him to one side. He grabbed back at her, but she slid sideways, and curled her body up, hooking a leg up and around his biceps and extending with all her strength, slamming him back and off her with a yelp of total surprise.

Angry, she rolled with him, and landed half sprawled on top of his legs, jerking his hand up and sinking her teeth into his wrist, making him release the thorn with a scream. She scrambled up higher and landed astride him, her knee pinning down the arm that had reached for the dagger. One hand reached for her staff, and she found it, fumbling it into her grasp and swinging it up and over him, laying it across his throat and leaning her weight against it.

He froze, feeling the pressure against his vocal cords, and seeing the fiery intent in the eyes boring into his. Then he lunged up off the ground, almost throwing her off him, and grabbed for her again. Gabrielle caught her balance and swung, catching his head with her staff hard and sending him back to the ground, this time in totally limp prostration.

"Gabrielle!" Granella was headed towards her at a dead run, her sword drawn in one hand, blood dripping from it.

"I’m all right!" The bard lifted a weary hand, then jumped as pattering footsteps closed in on her right hand side. She turned, lifting her staff defensively then dropped it as she spotted Dori’s distinctive form. "Dori! What are you doing here!"

The baby toddled forward, her hands covered in black mud, and a fistful of it clenched in small fingers. She released it to splat on her mother’s adversary. "Bad!"

Cyrene came limping up, her hair in disarray. "Gods.. she got away from me… Gabrielle, I was taking her to the inn where it was safer and she just…"

Gabrielle scooped Dori up into her arms and hugged her. "I think she just saved my butt." She eyed the round, grimy mark on the unconscious man’s head. "Something distracted him right as he was about to stick me with something nasty.. it looked like a mudball." Tiny, muddy hands patted her face, leaving an earthy smelling trail. "Was that you, honey?"

Granella dropped to her knees and grabbed the bard’s shoulder. "Are you all right? We got the rest of them, but I didn’t even realize you were over here." She was slightly out of breath, and had a nasty, but shallow slice across her forearm.

"I’m fine." Gabrielle murmured, gazing wonderingly at the unconcerned Dori, who was playing with a bit of her hair, chewing it and humming. "Everyone else okay?"

The Amazon sighed. "They broke off after we put up a fight.. I got the feeling they were trying to distract us more than anything, but I’ve got no idea why."

Gabrielle rose slowly, feeling a little lightheaded. "I do." She kicked the thorn lying on the ground with a toe of her boot. "They were after me." She started to shiver, more from the cold wind against her wet back than from any fear. After all, she’d been pegged as Xena’s weak point for what.. five years now? Definitely an old story.

The adrenaline started to drain from her, and she felt an angry throbbing in her arm and head, as the dizziness increased.. "I think I’d better go sit down." She gave Cyrene a grateful look as the innkeeper took Dori from her. "Thanks… " Then the world went a little fuzzy, as her knees unlocked. "Um.. "

She never felt Granella catch her, or the cold, wet ground, only the sound of fading, anxious voices accompanying her into darkness.

********************************************

They'd barely gotten back into the cabin, when the courtyard came alive with the thunder of hoofbeats again. Granella stiffened, and reached for her sword, then relaxed as she realized it was a single animal. "Five dinars I know who that is." She remarked to Cyrene.

"No bet." The innkeeper retrieved a clean, dry shirt from the linen press as there was an audible splash outside, then heavy boots hit the porch and the door almost exploded inward, revealing a mud covered, water soaked leather clad figure whose eyes raked the room with scorching speed, only to settle on the slim form on the bed.

Granella moved back to give Xena room as she crossed the floor and dropped to an armored knee beside the bed, pulling her gauntlets off before very gently touching Gabrielle's pale face, turning her head to one side and exposing the large bruise, and the blood seeping from one ear.

Briefly, Xena closed her eyes, then exhaled and opened them. "What happened?"

Granella gathered her wits. "I was in the armory, working on a crossbow and I heard the alarm." She paused. "I ran out, and the militia were already engaging the raiders. There were seven of them, mounted, armed, half armored." She paused again, but Xena made no comment. "The elders were inside the inn, and they started firing with crossbows, and we went for them with swords and scythes. It didn't take long."

"They ran." Cyrene brought the clean shirt over and laid it on the bed. "I was here, with Dori, and decided to get her over to the inn where it was safer. Gabrielle had gone out to join the militia."

Xena sighed, and nodded.

"We drove them off.. no one realized there was one all the way over here, going after Gabrielle." Granella told her. "I heard a whack, you know how distinctive hers are when she fights, and came running. I found her over this guy, him out cold."

"Dori had gotten loose."

Xena looked at her mother.

"Honey, I'm sorry. But she's strong as all get out, and she squirmed free. She took off after her mother, and by the time I got there, it was all over."

Dori toddled over to Xena and pulled at a bit of very muddy armor. "Bck."

"I guess he got in a few whacks before she took him out." Gran commented. "Johan has him locked up in the root cellar. The rest took off down the river." She hesitated. "Gab seemed to think this guy was trying to snatch her."

Xena absorbed this, then nodded. "Okay." Then she inhaled. "Thank you.. I can take care of the rest of this." She looked up at Gran. "Would you mind going out to the river site and telling them I'll be out there later? They've got a good start going, I was just mostly watching and making them nervous."

Granella got up and put a hand on her sister in law's shoulder. "No problem." She ducked in back of Xena and padded quietly to the door.

"You should change too, Xena." Cyrene murmured.

"I will." She waited until her mother left, then licked her lips, and put a hand on Dori's head, and slowly stroked her hair, allowing herself to calm for a moment before she stood up and took her cloak off, tossing it over the chair and stripping her armor off after it. Then she walked over to the water basin and scrubbed her hands, before coming back to the bed and kneeling down again. Dori joined her, clutching the side of the bed and peering over curiously.

"Gabrielle." Xena deliberately pitched her voice low, and reassuring, as she cupped the pale cheek again, and rubbed it with a thumb.

It took a moment, but the bard's throat moved in a swallow, then her face tensed under Xena's touch, and the fair eyelashes fluttered open, revealing very dazed looking mist green eyes that peered foggily over at her.

There was a moment of total incomprehension, then recognition flared, and Gabrielle made a small sound of discomfort and reached for her head.

"Ah ah." Xena caught the hand and held it. "Easy."

"Ow." Gabrielle whispered forlornly.

"I know." The warrior sighed. "Pounding Pauline got pounced, huh?"

A tiny smile forced it's way onto Gabrielle's face. "Hey.. I won." She rasped. "With help from Dangerous Dori."

"Hmm?" Xena carefully pulled her upright, and stripped her still damp shirt off. "What di…oh, Gab." She let the bard down agsint the pillows, and gazed at the huge bruise from the tip of Gabrielle's shoulder almost to her elbow." Wow."

"I forgot to duck." The bard admitted. "This stuffed head just slowed me down so much."

Xena picked up the clean shirt and maneuvered it over the pale head. "All right.. here, get your.. yeah." She got the warm garment around the bard's chilled body and tucked the covers back around her, shifting her over a little to avoid the damp spot from her wet shirt.

"Mama." Dori plucked at the blanket, and held her arms up. "Dup."

"Not right now, Dori." Xena cleaned the blood off her partner's face, watching the green eyes close, and the skin around them tense as the cleanser stung. "Sorry." She finished, and wiped her hands. "I can't give you anything for the hurting, sweetheart, not with that bump on your head."

"Ow." Gabrielle gave her a pathetic look. "Great."

"Boo!." Dori pulled at a warrior finger. "Dup!"

"Dori." Xena's voice dropped and went stern. "I said, no."

A tiny lip poked out. "Love mama." She reached a hand towards Gabrielle's arm.

"Oh yeah. She picked up a new saying." Gabrielle murmured. "Bright spot of my day." She caught Dori's hand and held it. "Xe.. she threw mud in that guys face when he had me down."

Xena stopped in her motion. "She what?"

"Mm." The bard nodded. "Yep… distracted him just enough for me to get loose."

Xena gazed at her daughter, then leaned over and picked her up and hugged her, scratching her back gently which the baby loved. "Good girl." She pulled back and looked at Dori, then rubbed noses with her. "I love you, Dori."

The baby smiled, and clutched at her nose, pulling it and kicking. "Boo!"

"Mmhm." Xena laid her down next to Gabrielle, and watched her crawl over and give her mother a hug. "That's right, Dori… you make your mom feel better, okay?" She leaned over and smoothed Gabrielle's hair back, feeling her forehead and wincing at the warmth. 'Damn."

"Mm." Gabrielle sighed. "Looks like I'm stuck here. Go on… I'll be okay." She looked up at her partner. "Thanks for stopping back here." Her arm slid around Dori, and she let her eyes close again.

Xena stood and brushed her hands off, then walked over to the linen press and exchanged her wet undershift for a dry one. Might as well change the leathers, too. She put her hands on her dry set, then turned, and regarded the still form in the bed. Gabrielle's eyes were half open again, and she tensed her face into a grimace, then exhaled and swallowed.

She considered all they had to do, then regarded the dull, gray weather outside. A half smile creased her face as she released the leathers, and deliberately turned her back on the door, and sat down, pulling her boots and socks off before resuming her feet and moving to the bed. "Hey."

Gabrielle turned her head and glanced up. "Hm?"

The warrior slid into bed and slipped her arms around her partner's shoulders, cradling her body and tugging the covers up. "Mind some company?"

Gabrielle couldn’t quite hide the surprised, incredulous grin. "I thought.."

"They're digging ditches, Gabrielle." Xena brushed the activity off. "When you're in charge, sometimes you just gotta know when to prioritize." She rested her chin against Gabrielle's hair, and felt the bard nestle closer, drawing comfort from her presence. "Besides, I think I twisted my knee. I'd better rest it for a few minutes."

"Absolutely." Gabrielle closed her eyes, and felt the pain recede, replaced by the drowsy security of her soulmate's embrace. 'Just for a few minutes."

"Right."

"Mmm."

Xena exhaled as she felt Gabrielle relax completely, and she idly let Dori play with the fingers of the hand she had laid across the bard's stomach. Dori yawned too, and laid down, and peace descended.

Well. The warrior reasoned. She had to take time out to consider what happened with the snakes, and how to change patrol routings so no more surprise raiders got in, and what to do about the seeping river water getting in the ditches. Wasn't here a good a place as any to think?

Sure it was.

*******************************************

The sound of the returning troops trickling in the window jerked Xena out of sleep, and she lifted her head, staring with uncomprehending eyes at the nearly dark windows. "Son of a… " She dropped back against the pillow and winced from the position she'd fallen asleep in, shifting a little to ease stiffened muscles.

Gabrielle was right where she'd left her, sleeping deeply with just the barest hint of a smile on her face. Dori was also drowsing, though the mussed covers and, incredibly, an unlaced bracer of Xena's laid testimony to the fact that the baby hadn't slept through the afternoon.

She instantly felt horribly guilty, knowing the army had been out there, working their butts off all day while she snoozed. Then she glanced down at the curve of Gabrielle's cheek and sighed. What on earth would she tell her battle leaders? What possible justification could she come up with to explain an entire day's absence? Damn, Xena, what the Hades are you doing? This is a damn army you're in charge of, people's lives are depending on you!

"Mm." Gabrielle exhaled, and half opened her eyes, her fingers finding their way under Xena's shirt and scratching her bare skin very lightly. "Thank you."

And one life above all others rests in your hands, doesn't it? "Anytime." Xena kissed the pale head affectionately. "I was busy strategizing."

"Oh. Good." The bard yawned, and nodded sleepily. "What's Dori up to?"

"Trying on my armor." Xena burred in response.

A green eyeball, round and complete, appeared, and swiveled around, spotting the baby curled up next to her, an entire arm covered in Xena's bracer, with the ends conspicuously chewed. "Good grief.. you didn't give her that to play with, did you?"

"Nope." Xena flexed her fist. "She must have taken it off me..I loosened it before I..um..relaxed.."

"Oh. Right. Relaxed. Yeah, you said you were going to do that." Gabrielle gave her a tiny poke, and felt the soundless chuckle in response. They regarded their daughter. "That is such a cute picture." Gabrielle smiled.

"Mm." Xena mused, unconvinced. "I'd rather she play with your quills."

"And poke us with them? No thanks, Xena.. at least this has blunt edges." The bard ran a finger over the worn leather. "Time for new ones for you, huh?"

"Yeah." The warrior mused. "Thought I was going to be able to retire these for good, so I didn't start working on a new pair." She felt the bard's head. "You're still pretty warm. How are you feeling otherwise?"

Gabrielle thought about that. "Lousy." She admitted softly. "I think it's the combination of everything, the fever, and the hits I took. I'm sick to my stomach, and everything hurts, still." He fingers moved slighty. "The only thing making it bearable is having you here." Eyes lifted. "I'm sorry. That's not fair to you, is it? You've got a thousand things to do, and a lot of people counting on you, and I know it."

Was it fair? Xena felt torn in half. On one hand, she knew the bard's words were true. There was so much to be done, and so much to be organized. They had to move the weapons and encampments over the river, and that all had to be coordinated, along with strategy for the upcoming attack to be gone over with the battle leaders. All of it centered on her.

But.

But. "Tell you what." Xena exhaled. "Let me go check in with everyone, and see what the status is on everything we've got in progress, give some orders, get some dinner, then come back here and stay with you. How's that?"

A faint smile. "Xena, you are not my personal leather stuffed security blanket." Gabrielle protested . "I'm sure I'll survive if you go off and run the army. I should have just kept my mouth shut."

"You told the truth, didn't you?"

"Well, yeah, sure, but the saving of the world comes before patting me on the head, Xena." The bard gazed up at her. "Let's have a little perspective here."

They looked at each other. Xena didn't move. Gabrielle didn't let go of her. The bard sighed. "Could you bring back some berries? I think I could swallow those, if they were sweet enough."

"You got it." Xena gently slid out from behind her, and settled her back against the pillow, tucking the blankets back. "I'll see if we have any honeycomb, how about that?"

"Oo." For a moment, Gabrielle's eyes brightened, as she watched Xena throw on a thick tunic and her cloak, along with her boots, and head out the door. Then she exhaled and chewed her lower lip. "I shouldn't let her do that." She regarded the ceiling with sober intent.

********************************

Xena paused outside the door to the inn, momentarily alone in the semi darkness. She ran both hands through her hair and straightened her cloak, mentally reviewing just what it was she was going to tell everyone inside.

Sorry I didn't come back. I was on pillow duty.

Oh yeah, Xena, very inspiring. With a sigh, she pushed the door open and stepped inside, glancing around to see most of the battle leaders around one table, and the rest of the inn occupied almost the rafters.

Think, command. Think, autocracy.

Xena let her eyes run over the room's occupants for a long, cool moment before she gave a brief nod and made her way towards the table containing her lieutenants. No raised eyebrows, and no snickers. So far, so good. "Evening."

Ephiny propped her head on one hand. "How's Gabrielle doing?"

A round robin of concerned glances went to her face. "She took some bad hits." The warrior remarked briefly. 'She'll be all right in a few days."

"Whew." Gillen leaned back. "That's damn good to hear. One of my armorers was working near the smithy, and she saw Queen Gabrielle go after that raider, said she never saw anything half so fierce before."

Fierce. "She is a fighter." Xena allowed. "I needed to wait until she regained consciousness, to find out about the man who went after her."

"Of course." Gillen gave her a slightly puzzled look. "That would be expected at any rate, are you not her Consort?"

"W.. " Xena shut her mouth abruptly.

"We got about half of the initial embankment done, Xena." Toris leaned forward. "It took a good part of that forest, but we got lucky. There was an old wood cut in the center I didn't know about, and we used that, and the dead grasses inside the foliage to pack the wall. They did a good job."

"Right." Xena folded her arms.

"I sent scouts out all the way to the foothills." Ephiny remarked, exchanging glances with Gillen. "We didn't see anything out of the ordinary." She spoke slowly.

"No, but we didn't see any people either. "Gillen shook her head. "Six burnt out villages was all, and scattered signs of people fleeing." She pulled a bag over. "We brought back some of the things we found on the road." She dumped it. "Raiders have taken over most of the land between here and the foothills. We got attacked twice."

"Mm." Ephiny cracked her knuckles. "Good practice… I tried out those nets you designed for us, Xena. They worked fine."

"Yeah, I liked that." Gillen agreed. "The provisioners report they've got most of the gear packed up, but the woodworkers are finishing up the last wagon."

"We've got enough dried supplies to last out about three moons, if we're careful, and we have to keep our heads down." Toris added. "Mom's dried, or salted everything she could get her hands on so it will travel, and they've got most of that packed into individual portions, then stored."

"Good." Xena was silently impressed.

"We explored down towards Potadeia." Tyldus rumbled. "I took a dozen of my warriors and scouted the roads out, seeing if we could flush more of those raiders out. We found signs of several camps, but no live bodies." He cleared his throat and folded his arms over his huge chest. "I staked out guard posts all down the river to the divide, and we have watchfires arranged, along with some of your whistling militia."

"We move the troops out to the river tomorrow then." Xena finally found something intelligent to say. "We have time to finish the escarpments, and set up a camp behind them. We'll bring the craftsmen with us, to stock up on arms while we've got the chance. I've got a feeling we're not going to have much time to wait."

"Sounds good." Gillen agreed. "We set up guard posts all the way to the pass. I stationed groups of mounted riders with instructions to warn us, then break up and hit them on the fringes, to try and shake them up before they get here."

"Fine." Xena nodded, feeling a trifle superfluous. "Any injured or elders should start heading to the valley tomorrow afternoon." She studied them. "We can talk about battle plans after we set up camp."

"Good enough." Gillen nodded. "Gotta hand it to you, Xena. This is one damned efficient army."

"Thanks." The warrior bit back a smile.

"Hello." A voice at her elbow made Xena turn, to see Cait standing patiently with a covered package.

"Hey, Cait."

"Your mother sent this out, I expect she thinks you want to take it with you back to Queen Gabrielle." Cait extended the package, which Xena took. "Is she all right?"

"She was resting, when I left."

"Quite good." Cait nodded.

"We know where to find you if anything comes up, Xena." Gillen stood, brushing her hands off. "We'll try not to bother you or Queen Gabrielle unless it's an emergency." She stepped to one side, and murmured to one of her people.

'Yeah, we've got everything covered here, sis." Toris agreed solemnly.

Xena glanced at Ephiny, whose lips tensed in an almost smile. The Amazon regent flicked her fingers at the watching warrior. "G'wan." She mouthed, with a wink, receiving a scowl in return.

The warrior opened her mouth, then shut it. She lifted a hand, then turned and walked out, towards a last night of peace, before the world would turn to ugliness.

******************************

The first thing she saw was an empty bed, as she opened the door, and a scowl fitted itself to her face as she paused and looked around. "Gabrielle?"

"Over here." The hoarse voice answered her from near the fire.

Xena altered her direction and walked over, to see her partner seated in her padded rocking chair, with Dori in her arms playing with one of her stuffed toys. "You're supposed to be resting."

"I am." Gabrielle was swathed in a soft quilt. "Lying down flat was bothering me… my head was all stuffed up. I feel better like this." She watched the warrior put her package down and seat herself on the low chair next to her. "That didn't take long."

"Yeah… ah, everything's in order, didn't see any reason to hang around in there. We've got a long day tomorrow." Xena opened the package and removed some blackberries, and a small container of honey, along with some soft pastries Cyrene had sent.

"Uh huh." Gabrielle snuck a berry and put it into her mouth, sucking on it's juicy sweetness gingerly.

"We're sending the injured and elders out to the valley." The warrior kept her eyes on her work, unpacking a rich pastry stuffed with meat and vegetables for herself, and a loaf of heavy, dark bread. "They'll be leaving around midday." She looked up to find Gabrielle looking right back at her, with fierce, unrepentant green eyes. So much for that. "I figured you could stay here until we've got camp set up."

Gabrielle lifted a finger and shook it at her in silence.

Xena tilted her head, and smiled, her eyes warming with affection. "You are sick, my bard." She reminded her, spreading a layer of softened cheese on the bread and taking a bite. "Here." She pushed the bowl of berries over. "But I wasn't seriously thinking of asking you to go."

"Really?" Gabrielle took a handful of the fruit, watching her partner tear into her dinner. "Honey, chew, okay? You're making me nervous."

Xena paused, then shifted a little, and slowed her attack. "Sorry.. I'm really hungry today for some reason." She cut another slice of bread. "And yes, really. The last thing I want is to have to worry about something happening to you out there."

"Mm." Gabrielle offered Dori a berry, and watched the baby gobble it eagerly, then look around and spot her Boo. "Okay..okay… I'll let you down." She set Dori on her feet and the baby toddled over to where Xena was sitting, pulling on her shirt and making little baby grunts. "That's it.. go get some of Xena's dinner."

The warrior obligingly hoisted her daughter up and set her on her knee. "You hungry, little bear?"

"Boo." Dori accepted a meat juice soaked bit of bread and crammed it into her mouth. "Mmm."

"That's a good girl… maybe we can play find later?" Xena straightened the dark hair out with gentle fingers. "Would you like that?"

"What about her, Xe?" Gabrielle dunked a berry into the honey and sucked it off, the sweet substance soothing her throat. "I don't like the idea of sending her away, but… I don't like the idea of her being in the middle of this either."

Xena put a bit of her pie down on a platter next to Dori and watched her clutch at it greedily. "I don't know." She played with a tiny foot. "I think we can leave a few people back here… if Andreas forces get this far, it's a lost cause anyway."

"You don't want to send her to the valley?"

Xena's eyes were on the baby. Dori finished chewing, then looked up adoringly at her playmate, reaching for her with a grubby hand. "No." She captured the baby's hand and watched the fingers clutch hers. "I want you both here, where I know you're okay."

Gabrielle accepted that. "It could be just as dangerous here."

"True. But it's closer." Xena answered quietly. "Honestly, there is no safe place, Gabrielle. But the closer she is to the main army, the less chance someone will try and kidnap her." Blet that lue eyes glanced up. "Or you, like what happened today. If that had worked, Gabrielle, I'd be at a serious disadvantage."

"Don't you think I realized that?" The bard retorted hoarsely. "It's an old story with us."

Xena gazed at her, but didn't answer. Dori reached for a piece of meat and sucked on it.

Gabrielle watched the muscles move across her partner's jaw and let her head rest against the padded chair pillow. "Guess I'm a little cranky tonight."

A dark brow twitched.

"Can I have some of that nasty stuff yet?" Gabrielle pleaded.

The other brow twitched, then Xena moved a discontented Dori off her lap and stood up, going to the cabinet and getting her herbs. She mixed them into a cup and brought it back over, running practiced fingers over Gabrielle's skull before she handed it over. "Here."

"Thanks." The bard took the cup and drained it, then curled her hand around Xena's nearby thigh, leaning forward a little and kissing the soft skin.

Xena ruffled her hair. "Let that start to work, then back to bed for you." She watched the bard sit back, obviously favoring her shoulder. "Aches?"

"Mmph." Gabrielle shrugged, a grumpy look on her face. "I can't believe I didn't duck that one. I saw it coming, Xena."

Xena put both fists on her hips. "You're starting to sound like me, you know."

"No I'm not."

"Yes you are."

"No, I'm not!"

"Yes, you are!" Xena leaned over and put a finger on her irritated soulmate's nose. "So knock it off!"

"Bck!" Dori toddled up and shook her finger at her mother.

Gabrielle pouted. "I'm being ganged up on." She grumbled hoarsely. "No fair."

"C'mere." Xena leaned over and got an arm under her, then lifted her up over Dori, and walked towards the tousled bed.

Gabrielle thought about protesting, then just let her head fall against the taller woman's shoulder, feeling pathetically miserable. "Waa." She was set down, and the covers tucked back around her. "Did you interrogate that guy yet?"

Xena felt herself staring at the wall in shock. "Um… not .. yet, no. I was going get you settled, then… " Actually, she'd completely forgotten about him. "What's he going to say, yeah, he was after you cause Andreas figured to use you against me?" She forced a snort. "Waste of a pinch."

"Mm." Gabrielle sighed. "True."

"There… I'll put up more tea, and in the meantime…. " Xena hopped backward, away from the sturdily climbing Dori who was attempting to scale her leg. "Who wants to play?"

"Boo!" A tiny hand reached for her.

"Catch me.. " Xena hopped further, stopping to put the hot water pot up, then crouching down as Dori ambled towards her. "Bandit baby… "

"Buh!" Dori tagged her knee, then sat down hard as her victim hopped away. "Boo!!" She scrambled to her feet and followed, rambling faster until she caught up with her bunny buddy, near the soft rug. "Go!" She clambered up the long legs now sprawled on the fur. "Go go go!" The knees closed and caught her, lifting her gently up. Dori giggled, clutching the skin surrounding her. "Boooooo!" Hands took her and lifted her higher, and she spread her arms out, waving them in the air.

"Look at the flying baby!" Xena rocked over onto her back and waved her daughter through the air, making her swoop and dive, enjoying the delighted giggling. "Like that?"

"Boom!" Dori thrust her arms out, and kicked. "Go! Go!"

"Oh.. I know what you want. " Xena put her feet down and vaulted upright, watching Dori's eyes widen in wonder as they both moved through the air. "Show me what you want." She peeked at the bed, and saw a pair of fascinated green eyes watching her. "Mommy's never seen this.. so go on, Dori.. show me."

Xena held the baby out a little, and with a look of almost comical concentration, Dori tucked her fist and knees up under her chin. "Whoosh!"

"Good girl. " Xena glanced to her right and left, then crouched, and launched upward, twisting into a flip in mid air. She landed to raucous laughter from her passenger. "Like that?"

"More!" Dori begged, tucking her fists up again.

"See that?" Xena asked her partner. "She's pretty sharp, huh?" She flipped again, then flipped backwards, almost crashing into the table. "Whoops."

Gabrielle watched, utterly entranced, as Xena tossed the baby up and caught her, and Dori wriggled in mid air, loving every moment of it. Then the warrior started hopping up and down, bouncing across the cabin and alternating jumps with flips, each motion making the baby laugh harder and harder. Finally, the warrior leaped over the soft chair near the bed and tucked her head down, doing a mid air somersault that landed her just in front of the seat. Then she dropped back into it, breathing a little hard and flushed a healthy pink as was the infant. "Whoo."

"Woo." Dori clambered up her and threw her arms around her buddy's neck. "Boo… good.!" She planted a sloppy kiss on the warrior's jaw. "More!"

Xena glanced over at Gabrielle, who was smiling broadly, her blankets tucked around her. "Easy for her to say." She rubbed Dori's back. "In a minute, Dori.. I've gotta get your momma's tea."

The baby pouted and tugged the long, dark locks over the warrior's shoulders. "More!"

"C'mon now." Xena freed her hair. "Speaking of which… if I sit down there, will you give this a trim? I'd like to have it shorter for the next while." Her eyes met Gabrielle's, which held a note of wistful understanding. "Easier to manage in the field."

Or tuck back for fighting. Gabrielle nodded quietly. "Sure." She took a breath, realizing that after tonight, it might well be long time before they could all sit together in peace. Tomorrow Xena would move the army over the river, and prepare for Andrea's attack.

Tomorrow she would don her armor, the full set Gabrielle hadn't seen since Cirron.

Tomorrow she would take her place at the head of the troops, and lay her life on the line, gambling on chance, and skill, and her own cunning.

People she knew would surely die. Would Xena be one of them? A lump formed in her throat as she watched the easy smile on her partner's face, as she tickled Dori.

Will I survive?

What will happen to Dori? Her chosen foster parents were in as much danger as they were, so what then? Would Dori be left alone, wondering where her parents went?

Thinking they'd left her again?

Not understanding? She felt her eyes filing with tears, and then, a movement of air, and a warmth of skin touching her face, catching the moisture.

"What's wrong?" Xena's voice, low and gentle.

She sniffled, fixing her eyes on the bed. "I'm just thinking too much." A thumb caught her under the jaw and pressed upward a little, forcing her to look up. "You always taught me not to imagine losing."

Xena had Dori tucked under her other arm, and now she let the baby loose to crawl over to her mother. "I also taught you not to close your eyes to the truth." She moved her hand down to take the bard's. "You and I have faced bad situations so many times, but we never talked about what if the worst happens."

"No." Gabrielle exhaled. "We haven't, because I always knew that somehow… someway, you'd find a way to make things work out right." She looked up honestly. "I'm not afraid for myself, Xena." Her eyes shifted. "I just worry about her."

"Mama." Dori crawled up onto her lap and sat down. "Mm." She'd spotted the honey candy in it's wrapper Gabrielle had put down next to her and grabbed at it.

"Me too." Xena admitted, stroking the baby's soft hair. "She's too young to understand what's going on."

Green eyes looked up at her, then shifted to Gabrielle.

'That's what I'm afraid of. If we leave her, she'll never understand why." Tiny fingers clutched hers. "She loves us." Her voice caught. "We're everything to her, Xena."

The warrior sat, deep in thought for long moments, as the candles fluttered. Then she looked up, her blue eyes shadowed in the low light. "Then you'll have to write a scroll." Xena spoke in a quiet tone. "So she'll understand, when she's older, just how much she was loved." A tense silence. "Just in case."

Oh gods. Gabrielle felt sick to her stomach. "I may need some help." She whispered.

Xena shifted, and put her arms around her soulmate. "If we do it, maybe it'll never be needed."

"Boo?" Dori looked up curiously, her small eyebrows furrowing. "More?"

"Maybe." The bard agreed, feeling oddly relieved. "Maybe if I do a really good job on it, I'll get to watch her carry you into a backflip."

Xena smiled, and leaned her cheek against Gabrielle's hair. "Now, that'd be worth winning a war for."

"Boo?" A tug. "Moremoremoremreomre."

The warrior put a long arm around her daughter and drew her close, watching the firelight dance on bare cabin walls.

These characters, and boy, are they ever characters, are mostly the property of Renaissance Pictures, Universal MCA, and whoever else owns stock and interest in Xena: Warrior Princess. This fiction was written for my amusement only, and not in any way, shape or form for profit - and it is not intended to infringe on the copyright holders of the characters.

Some of the characters are mine, and the story ideas.. well, who knows where they come from? Must be one weird place, that's for sure.

Specific Story Disclaimers:

Violence - this is a Xena: Warrior Princess story. This is not Teletubbies. Even though there are some rumors of similarities. Some of the violence is graphic, but we try not to dwell on it.

Subtext - Considering that the TV Series just aired an episode establishing Xena and Gabrielle as eternal soulmates, any disclaimer of subtext on my part is really kind of goofy in the extreme. The two characters are in love with each other, and have been for years. You can choose to see them as just friends, but then you might not want to read this fanfic, in case it changes your mind or anything like that.

Emotional Content - this is not one my more comedic efforts. There are moments of humor, however.

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Dark Comes the Morning - Part 19

By Melissa Good

Xena shook her head a bit, moving the damp, dark hair from her eyes as she crossed the already busy courtyard, full of quiet, purposeful bodies moving in a steady stream towards the gates. She shifted her shoulders, with their unaccustomed burden of armor and returned the brisk nods, pausing to watch a wagon being drawn out the gates full of arms as she was about to mount the stairs to the inn.

Hesitating, she shifted her gaze from the toiling soldiers, urging the horses on through the mud, to the door she was about to enter, seriously considering going to help them instead of facing what she knew waited inside.

Then she signed. When you're the boss, you gotta do the tough stuff. She twitched her cloak straight and shouldered the door open. So, c'mon tough stuff, get moving. Inside, clusters of people were making yet more preparations, all with the same, quiet purposefulness. Xena glanced around, then headed back through the tables to the narrow doorway that lead into the inn's large kitchen. She pushed the door open and stepped into the scent of baking bread and cinnamon, meeting the eyes of her mother as Cyrene looked up.

"Eustace, would you excuse us for a moment." The innkeeper murmured softly. "I need to speak with my daughter."

"Certainly, ma'am." Eustace gave Xena a shy smile, then ducked out the garden door, wiping her hands on her apron.

Cyrene settled on the edge of the worktable, and regarded the tall, menacing figure Xena had her black leathers on, with her full set of well worn, but meticulously maintained armor, the dully gleaming plates catching the kitchen's firelight warmly. The long, lined cloak draped neatly over her shoulders, it's cowl framing the dark head with somber dignity. "So."

Xena leaned against the wall. "So." She repeated steadily. "A wagon train's heading back to the caverns today… I"d like you to be on it."

"No."

Xena sighed. "Mother…"

"No, so don’t' waste your energy." Cyrene replied. "I'm too old to run, Xena. This is my home, this is where I'm staying." She wiped her hands. "How's Gabrielle?"

"A little better." Xena pushed away from the wall and wandered over to the fire. "A few more days… she should be all right."

"She's staying?"

Xena merely looked at her over one shoulder.

"What about Dori?"

The warrior took a wooden bowl and ladled some cereal into it, dusting it liberally with cinnamon and stirring it with a spoon. "Battlefield's no place for a baby." She sucked a spoonful down and chewed it. "But I can't send her out of here.. it's too risky. She's going to have to stay. I figured to leave a vanguard in town, just in case."

"Xena, that's insane." Her mother spoke sharply. "You can't keep her here.. she'll get hurt."

A sigh. "I don't have a choice, mother. Fate's handed me far, far too many weaknesses, and she's a big one." Xena told her. "You, Johan, the people who live her, Gabrielle.. Dori… and it's not like it's a secret." She took another mouthful. "Besides, I want that cavern to be a safe place.. put her, or Gabrielle there, and it becomes a target."

"They'll be a target here, too." Cyrene argued. "What's the difference?"

"Amphipolis already is a target, mother." Xena replied. "It's my line in the grass… Andreas knows that. He knows I'll fight very hard to protect it."

The innkeeper shook her head. "I don't understand this, Xena…it's almost like you're using it as bait… to draw him here…" She looked up to see blue eyes regarding her stolidly. "Why?"

Xena scraped the last of her cereal up and licked the spoon off, then went back for more. "Because I want him here on my terms." She replied offhandedly. "On my turf." She missed the concerned look Cyrene was giving her. "It's where it all started, mother."

Cyrene took a breath. "This isn't Cortese, Xena." She warned. "He's no petty warlord."

The tall form turned, and the eyes glinted. "And I'm not a half grown kid with more guts than sense." A smile. "I've finally got a chance to go back and do it right."

"Xena." Cyrene hesitated, then moved forward, putting a hand on her daughter's arm. "This isn't a competition… this man's a killer."

"So am I." Blunt, but true. Xena's face was almost still, only the eyes flickered around, a nervous, tense motion. "Sure you don't want to leave, mother? It could get real ugly around here."

Cyrene felt a distinct chill, hearing the cold tone just behind Xena's casual words. This side of her daughter, she thought she'd never have to see again. She'd been watching the preparations for war for the last few days, watching people she'd known for years, children she'd seen grow up, friends… neighbors taking on the hardness, the grimness of knowing what the coming battle meant.

Some of them would die.

She knew she could see her home, everything she'd worked for, everything she had burned around her. She could lose her family, her children… Cyrene tilted her head up and looked her daughter in the eye. "I'm sure." She put a finger firmly into the leather covering Xena's stomach and pushed. "Because this is my turf, Xena. It's all of ours, and don't you forget that." Her voice rose. "This is not a game, you understand me? I lost everything once, and I'll be damned to Hades if I'm going to do it again."

Xena stared impassively at her, then put the bowl down and walked out.

Cyrene folded her arms, listening to the heavy footsteps receding, echoing oddly at the very edge of her hearing.

******************************

"Okay." Gabrielle pulled her cloak closer, and studied the parchments laid out on the barn's worktable. "We have to leave enough stuff here for the rear guard, and the two outposts on this side of the river."

Ephiny nodded. "Right… listen, why don't you let me carry these over to your place, Gab? You look like crap."

"Thanks." The bard replied wryly. "I'm fine, Eph… after you guys leave, all I'll do is snooze for a day or two, so.. let me be useful while I can, okay?" She'd tried, for about six heartbeats, to talk Xena into letting her go with the army today, but one look at the storm clouds in those blue eyes made her just shut up, and accept defeat gracefully. She'd woken up feeling a little better, and her fever had gone down, but getting up had been a very shaky experiment, and she'd had to spend a while sitting quietly by the fire before she'd gathered up enough energy to make her way over to the nearby stable. "Now, do we have enough dried meat?"

"Mm… I hope we can supplement that a little." Ephiny leaned over the table and pushed curly blond hair out of her eyes. She was dressed in her winter leathers, and had adapted thick leggings and heavy, lined boots. "Most of our part of the defense force for here is from our Nation, you do realize, right? Along with one of our best hunters? Must be good to be the Queen."

Gabrielle smiled. "Yeah.. I saw the list. Sorry about that… I didn't ask them to volunteer." Having Cait around would help, along with her ever-present shadow, Paladia. "Of course, it's really not enough for Xena… I get the feeling she wouldn't be happy if the entire Athenian army was camped around in the wheat fields."

"Well… I think she'd feel better if she were here… but someone has to lead this bunch."

"I don't know." Gabrielle sighed. "I'm worried about her, Eph…I mean, I know she knows what she's doing…but I can't help but wonder if she's letting old memories drive some of this stuff."

Ephiny was shocked. It was the last thing she'd expected to hear from her friend's mouth, and it sent her into a feathred tail spin. "Wh… what are you saying?"

"I.. " The bard glanced around and lowered her voice. "She's really torn, Eph… between being the way she knows she has to be, in order to do this, and knowing by doing that she's going to push people away from her."

"Not you."

"Of course not." A smile. "But you know, Eph… there's a part of her that likes that darkness. She knows she's got to stir that up to be successful against Andreas, but she's afraid of losing some of the things we've both come to take for granted." A sigh. "It wasn't that long ago when she stood in the middle of that very inn, there, and the people around us were stoning her to death."

"But…"

"But?"

"Gab, she's not that person anymore."

"That's just it, Eph… she is." The bard murmured. "She's changed how she does things, and why she does them… of course. But she is, who she is.. and what she is, and she knows how close to the surface that runs." Gabrielle gave Ephiny a pointed look. "You know that, too."

Ephiny exhaled, rubbing her face in confusion. "Gabrielle.. why bring this up now? On the eve of us going into the field? Are you saying we shouldn't be doing this? Shouldn't be following her?"

"No." Gabrielle lowered her voice further. "Listen…. Xena's scared of Andreas. He's got… " She looked around. "He's got these necklaces.. like the one that caught Hercules a few years back.. you remember?"

Ephiny nodded.

"She doesn't know what would happen if she came into contact with one of those… and she thinks Andreas is going to try just that in battle."

"Damn."

":Right… and it's not like I can keep her out of the fight, you know?" Gabrielle gave her a worried look. "We just have to keep him away from her… no matter what."

The regent nodded, relieved. "Okay.. I understand… makes sense she hasn't said anything… if that got out..damn."

Gabrielle clasped her shoulder. "Thanks for listening, Eph… I'm sure it'll be okay. I just wish I was going up there with you guys today."

"Me too." The hazel eyes twinkled gravely. "Frankly, I'd rather babysit Dori than Xena… but we'll manage until you feel better. Hurry up though, okay?"

"I will. I promise…mom's agreed to handle Dori while we're across the river.. she said there's no one in Greece with more experience handling difficult children than her, so…" Gabrielle folded up the parchments, and tucked them in their waterproof cases. " She looked up as the door opened, and revealed a damp, dark head. "Hey."

Xena eased the door open and glared at her in accusatory silence.

"Oh oh… that's my cue to make a hole in the rain." Ephiny took the cases and clapped Gabrielle on the shoulder. "Be safe, my friend. I'll see you in a day or two." She gave Xena a faintly amused look, then slipped past her into the weather.

"Gabrielle." Xena sounded exasperated. "What do you think you're doing?"

"Reading." The bard crossed her arms. "I was just going over the supplies… I feel fine, Xena.. would you please relax?" She watched her partner shake droplets off her cloak and pace forward. "You about ready to leave?"

A nod.

"Okay… you got everything you need?"

The head shook back and forth, and Xena laid her forearms over the bard's shoulders. "I'll cope, though, if you promise to be good, and stay inside our nice, warm cabin, in our nice warm bed for at least a day longer." She parted the hair on one side of the bard's head, and brushed her fingers against the swollen lump there, still discolored a lurid blue and purple. "How's your arm feel?"

Gabrielle shifted it. "Stiff… sore… but okay."

"Okay." Xena met her gaze. "Please, be careful, Gabrielle. Don't give the guards a hard time.. let them fuss over you, hmm?"

A scowl.

"Please? For me?"

"Tch…. Xena, that's not fair." Gabrielle complained. "I hate them hanging all over me…you know that."

"Please?" The warrior asked again, running a fingertip along her partner's jawline. "Put my mind at peace?"

A sigh. "Oh, all right." She lifted her head and felt a feather light touch agaisnt her lips. Her eyes closed, and the touch deepened, sliding past her defenses and curling around her like a warm blanket.

She got lost in it.

Lost in the heady scent of leather and musk, and brass tang.

Lost in the need, and the desire her body was suddenly overwhelmed with, making her hands reach for the skin under the leather armor, and brought her pressing against the cool, rough surface. Her breathing went erratic, and she felt Xena's hands slowly roam down her back, under her cloak, slipping around her ribs and pausing in teasing, seductive touches. A thrill chased down her spine, her outer mind knowing the door could open at any moment, and her inner mind not caring in the slightest as soft, incoherent sounds escaped from her throat.

Xena's ribs moved sharply under her searching fingers, and then the world turned upside down, and she was no longer on her feet, no longer near the table, but on her back in a nice, warm pile of springy hay, with a prowling, coiled warrior crouched over her, trading touches for nibbles as she lost track of the present for just a little while.

Then she was nestled, very contentedly in a warm well of sweet smelling hay, and leather and skin as strong arms cradled her , Xena's quiet breathing brushing her ear in somnolent rhythm. "Well. " She burred softly. "That was pretty darn irresponsible."

"Yeaaah." Xena replied. "It was, but we had a little time, and I'd rather spend it with you, then pacing around out in the rain."

A blond brow twitched. "How romantic, honey." She remarked drolly. "What if someone had come in?"

"They'd have seen me living up to my incredibly lusty reputation?"

Gabrielle giggled in pure reaction. "What does that say for me?"

"You've got good taste?"

The giggle devolved into a burst of laughter.

Xena sighed. "So much for my ego." She grumbled.

"Aww…. " Gabrielle rubbed her belly gently. "You're ego's safe, Xe…. Trust me, you're the sexiest person I know."

"Mm…" The warrior purred, not convinced. "And just how many other people am I being judged against?"

A comforting pat. "If I was an Athenian tavern wench in the middle of celebrating Dionysus' festival, you'd still be the sexiest. Honest." She looked up to see one of those half grins on her partner's face, particularly charming in light of her mussed hair, and barely twinkling blue eyes. "And in case you're taking votes, I really like the lace up the front leathers." She flicked a finger against the mostly open fastenings, then slipped her hand inside to rub the soft skin. "Much, much more convenient than the other ones. At least for me." A grin. "And for you too, I think."

Xena nodded. "Much... lays better with the armor, too" She played with a loose lock of Gabrielle's hair. "Better get going… I want to make sure camp gets set up early tonight. Toris has a building team out there working on the ramparts, but they're gonna be damned cold, and need a warm place to sleep."

"Mm." Gabrielle kept up her tracing. "You know, Xena… I really don't feel bad at all.. especially now.. " She gave her partner a wishing look. "Can't I just come with you..I'll bundle up really good, I promise."

A fingertip on her nose. "Gabrielle, to risk you getting the coughing sickness is just stupid. Spend one more night dry and warm, with the herbs I gave you… and you can come on out tomorrow afternoon, okay?"

A sigh. "Okay." The bard grumbled.

Xena smiled, and rested her chin against the bard's hair, surrendering for a guilty moment to the pleasant lassitude that had stolen over her unexpectedly. She was a little surprised to find her body craving a nap, but put it down to the weather and the company, and firmly opened her eyes, giving Gabrielle a little kiss on the head before she pushed herself upright. "Here… you like the laces so much…. Gimme a hand with them."

They were, fortunately, dressed and standing back on the hay strewn ground when the door pushed unexpectedly open, and Ephiny came back in, brushing the cold droplets off her cloaked shoulders. "Okay.. we're ready to go… the vanguard is in place, outposts are manned… the wagons have crossed the river… we're just waiting on you, General."

"All right." Xena twitched her cloak collar "Let's go." She settled her weapons with an experienced hand, and headed for the stable door.

Ephiny cocked her head and regarded her young Queen, who was standing very innocently near the table with her hands behind her back. "Everything okay?"

"Yeah." The bard smiled contentedly. "Why?"

Ephiny reached over and delicately removed a stalk of hay from the bard's pale hair and twirled it before her eyes, both eyebrows edging up coyly. "You guys have a nice chat?"

Gabrielle turned a very charming pink, as she cleared her throat and studied the floor. "We were just discussing logistics." She protested mildly. "Really."

"Uh huh." Ephiny put the stalk of hay between her teeth and chewed it. "Gabrielle, can I ask you a very personal question?"

Uh oh. "Uh.. sure." The bard agreed. "You can ask me anything, you know that, Eph."

"Okay.. well, you know how we had Xena give sparring lessons, during last winter?" The regent guided her out the door.

"Yeah?"

"You don't suppose you'd let her…"

"No."

"Not even.."

"No."

"Even if we.."

"Not even."

"Hmm."

"Mine."

"Right. We're clear on that, chief." Ephiny almost bit her lip through to keep from laughing. "Gotcha.

********************************************

"Get the troops started." Xena ordered crisply. "The last wagons should be moving by the time the riders start out - I want everyone clearing the outer road by the time I catch up."

"Catch up?" Ephiny queried, pulling her horse up sharply.

"I've got a piece of equipment I have to go get." Cool blue eyes regarded her. "I'll be right back." She turned Hercules head and nudged him back towards the village.

"Xena?"

The dark head turned, and the warrior eyed her sternly. "Yes?"

"Give Dori a kiss for me too, okay." The regent smiled.

A patented Warrior Princess glare pinned her for a long moment, then the corner of Xena's mouth twitched and she nodded before she kicked her horse into a gallop and headed towards the cabin.

Ephiny sighed, then chuckled. "Mushball."

Xena kicked her boots free of the stirrups as she reached her destination, and vaulted lightly off Hercules back, landing on the muddy ground and taking the stairs quickly. She paused, cocking her head to listen, then caught Gabrielle's voice very faintly from the direction of the inn. Good. She put a hand on the door and pushed it open, ducking inside and letting it close behind her as she approached the cradle near the fire. Dori had been lying down for a nap, and now the baby stirred, yawning sleepily and blinking as she knelt beside the wooden bed.

"Boo."

"Hey, sweetie." Xena crooned. "C'mere for a minute." She carefully picked her daughter up and cradled her in the crook of one arm, smoothing the soft linen of her jumper down with the other hand. "Didn't meant to wake you up.. I just wanted to… "

Dori yawned, and clutched at her hand. "Booooo.."

"Yeah.. that's me." Xena sat down on the floor, and let the baby maul her hand. "That's me… listen up now." She paused, well aware of the fact that Dori wasn't going to understand what she said, but it didn't really matter. "I want to tell you something, okay?"

"Otay?"

"Look.. I know you're really attached to your mama and me."

"Mama?" Innocent green eyes fastened on her face.

"Your mama.. yeah, and you know, Dori, I'm pretty attached to her too." Xena exhaled. "I know you don't like us to leave you.. but there's something that we have to do, and that means we're going to have to go away for a while."

Dori started sucking on her thumb, her other hand clutching Xena's contentedly. "Boo."

"So… I just wanted you to know, it's not because we don't want to be with you, okay? It's just there's this guy out there, and he's doing bad things… and someone has to stop him, Dori."

"Bck."

"And I guess I'm that person."

"Mm."

"We'll take care of that bad guy, then we'll come back for you, okay?"

"Mama."

"Mama too."

Dori kicked her feet and wriggled closer, making contented little grunts. "Wuv."

Xena smoothed the tangled, dark hair. "You need a haircut, little one." She sighed. "I was gonna do that the other day, but then things….I just ran out of time, I guess."

"Bck."

"Sometimes that happens, Dori."

The green eyes peered at her curiously, as though the baby caught her shifting mood.

"Sometimes you just run out of time to do the things you really want to." A finger traced the baby's round cheek. "Sometimes you have to leave people you really don't want to leave."

"Boo?" A tiny pout appeared.

"Sometimes… even when you do everything right, Dori.. even when you're very smart, and very good… bad things happen." Xena whispered, drinking in the tiny features. "You know, sweetie… before you were born, when your mama and I were talking about how we'd like to have a little baby like you, I made a promise to your mama."

"Mama."

"Yeah." The warrior traced the soft down on the baby's cheek. "I promised your mama that I would love you.. with all my heart." She blinked, surprised to feel a tear track down her face, leaving a trail of coolness after the warmth of it. "And I kept that promise… because I do love you."

"Wuv you." The baby murmured in imitation, then clutched the finger with a tiny hand. "Good."

"Dori, listen to me." Xena leaned closer. "I also promised your mama I'd protect you, and that's what I've gotta go do now, okay? " She took a breath. "And if something bad happens, and I don't come back here, I want you to know… that wherever I go, it won't be far."

"Bck." A tiny furrow appeared in the baby's brow.

"I'll always be there watching over you, sweetheart…. I promise, okay?"

"Otay." Dori yawned, and curled up against her, despite the armor and leathers, exhaling as she snuggled close, her eyes drooping and her small fingers tightening on the lacing that ran down the front of Xena's chest. "Boo..boo…boo…. " She repeated sleepily.

Xena exhaled, then got carefully to her feet and walked to the small chest they'd left in the cabin, kneeling down next to the wooden box and opening it, removing something then crossing back over to the cradle and tucking Dori into it. The baby fussed, upset at losing her favored nap spot.

"Here." The warrior put a stuffed toy in the cradle along with her daughter. "I think you'll like this…I know the person who made it wouldn't mind me giving it to you." She leaned over and kissed the baby's head.

Dori clutched at the doll, and wriggled, closing her eyes as Xena carefully tucked the soft quilt around her. Then the warrior sat down on the floor and wrapped her arms around her knees, resting her chin on her forearm and simply watching her daughter sleep for a little while.

It was very quiet in the cabin, and her sharp ears told her the rest of the soldiers had left the village. A cold, wet wind trickled in the window, then faded, and she was left in a moment of pensive stillness.

"Goodbye, Dori." Her voice rasped softly, falling on sleeping ears. "Don't forget me, okay?" She heard the wistful tone as she gave the tiny form a last stroke, feeling the soft skin warm against her calloused fingertips.

Then she stood up and let her armor settle, taking a moment to slowly sweep her eyes around the cabin one last time, taking in the familiar space with sad, aching eyes.

Her home.

The only one, really, she'd ever had, since she'd left her mother's in all those years past. Only a building, really, wooden walls and floors with a sturdy roof, but through her efforts, and Gabrielle's, and the joining of their lives it had become something far more to her. She walked over and touched one of the painted mats on the walls, tracing Gabrielle's novice brushstrokes with a fingertip.

She turned, letting her hand drop to her side, then walked to the door, pausing as she opened it to glance back for one last look at Dori's sleeping form.

Then she stepped through, and let the wooden panel close behind her, and faced the gray, dismal weather that waited to wrap itself around her.

"C'mon, Hercules." She moved down the steps and mounted the horse, then headed towards the village entrance, urging the horse into a canter as she passed through the gates and down the road.

*****************************************

Gabrielle made her way across the courtyard, and escaped from the weather into their cabin, pushing her hood back as she entered and feeling the warmth from the fire with a sense of utter relief. Her head felt like it was going to explode, and she ached all over, wanting nothing more than to snuggle into her bed and suck down a tankard full of hot, pungent tea.

"Hey, honey." She smiled as Dori pulled herself up against the side of the cradle, one hand clutching a stuffed doll. "Whatcha got there?" She took off her cloak and hung it up, then walked over and crouched down. "Let mama see…oh."

Gabrielle sat down on the floor and slowly took the doll from her daughter in shaking hands, staring at it.
"Dori, where did you get this? Did you take this from Boo's things?"

"Boo!" Dori reached for her new toy, with a scowl. "Mama!"

Gabrielle turned, to see the tall chest firmly closed. "Did Boo give this to you?"

"Boo!" Dori was now leaning out of the cradle, her fingers clutching for the stuffed doll, a battered, but dimly recognizable figure covered in scraps of leather. "Mine!" Her face moved into a definite pout. "Mama…"

Gabrielle handed it to her, watching as Dori hugged it, sitting down hard in her cradle and then sucking her thumb. She took a careful breath, getting over the shock of seeing Dori holding one of the few things she knew Xena had that were Solon's.

Surely, Dori hadn't gotten it from the chest.

That meant Xena had given it to her, and the bard felt herself having mixed emotions about that. Half of her was touched, that her partner had given something so precious to her over to their daughter. The other half of her had to wonder why now, of all times, would Xena choose to give up that significant a part of her past.

Well, she'd darn well ask her tomorrow. Gabrielle felt her hands twitching, as she fought the desire to jump on the nearest horse and take off after her soulmate. Calm down, Gabrielle.. she probably feels bad about leaving the kid again, and wanted her to have something to make her feel better.

Yeah, that made sense. She knew Xena felt anxious about leaving their daughter behind, and this was surely the warrior's way of leaving a little something in her place. "You take care of that, Dori… Boo was very nice to give it to you."

"Boo." Dori hugged her new toy.

"Mm.. yeah, I think that is supposed to be Boo, as a matter of fact." The bard smiled sadly. "Okay, I've got some nice fish stew here, Dori…I'm going to heat it up, then you and me are going to have some early dinner. How about that?"

"Bck."

Gabrielle stood up and walked towards the table where she'd left her stew pot, then turned as the door opened unexpectedly, her hand reaching in pure instinct for her staff. "Oh. Hi."

It was the young Amazon who'd been caught in their cabin. "Hi."

Gabrielle let her hand drop. "You know, it's really a lot better manners to knock before you come in someone's house."

"It's a lot better manners to shut up unless you're spoken to." The girl lifted hand, revealing a small crossbow, and triggered it with a smile.

Gabrielle's body reacted instinctively as the threat registered, and she threw her body sideways, feeling the scrape and sting as the bolt rasped by her. Her hands reached for the nearest object, and she swung her arm in a powerful motion, sending the stew pot flying across the room and striking the woman full in the chest. "Son of a Bacchae!" The bard yelled at the top of her voice.

"Bitch." The Amazon threw the pot from her and drew her sword, heading towards Gabrielle with a grim look on her face. "I'm going to cut your breasts off for that." She attacked the smaller woman, expecting Gabrielle to run and try to get away.

Instead, she found herself facing an enraged bard, whose touch had fallen on her long, solid staff and brought it forward, and who leaped towards her with a roar of anger and a well placed, sweeping blow that caught her right in the ribs. "Cut me up?" Gabrielle went after her, feeling the rage take her over. "You won't touch me you little.." She evaded the sword cut and thwacked her staff into the woman's hand, hearing a crunch and a solid clatter as the weapon was sent flying. "Stupid.." She slammed the butt of her staff into the Amazon's middriff, and she doubled over. "Piece of…" Her staff reversed and she drove the end of it against the woman's shoulders. "Centaur dung!"

The Amazon rolled away from her and started to climb to her feet.

"Oh no.. I don't think so." Gabrielle charged after her, throwing her body across the cabin and swinging her staff, catching the woman behind the knees and sending her sprawling again. "I am sick.." Thwack. "And tired.." Crack. "Of being messed with!!!" She dropped her staff and grabbed the woman's leathers, so angry she could hardly think straight. She took hold of her and pulled, yanking her right off the floor, then threw her against the wall with a sudden, shocking crunch.

Then it was quiet, save for the creaking of the runners on Dori's cradle as the baby rocked, and the tiny grunts of excitement as she watched her beloved mother with wide, facinated eyes.

Gabrielle waited for the thunder of her own heartbeat to receded a little, then she crossed to the Amazon and knelt, grabbing the front of the stunned woman's leathers and slamming her back against the wood. "Catch a clue, feathers for brains. " She glared at her erstwhile attacker. "I'm not a helpless ditzball wimp." A pause. "And I haven't needed a bodyguard for a long, long time."

The woman stared at her, then spat in her face.

Gabrielle merely met her eyes, her expression stolid. She turned her head as the door opened, and two of her own Amazons bolted in, stopping as they spotted her. "I want this person tied up, and put in the cellar" She spoke quietly. "I want every person in the village who isn't a resident, or a member of my Nation gathered in the inn's main room in a candlemark."

"Yes, your Majesty." The older of the two Amazons crossed over and took hold of her captive. "Shall we send word to the river camp?"

Cold, green eyes met hers. "No." Gabrielle answered precisely. "I'll be the judge of this."

They left, and she heard the soft sounds as a guard took up position around her cabin. Light footfalls resulted in a blond head edging cautiously through the door. "Gosh."

Gabrielle felt very, very tired. "Hello, Cait. "

"We were just putting up the watch… she didn't take ever so long, did she?"

The bard sighed. "No."

"We're here now.. I'll make perfectly sure that won't happen again." Cait told her, seriously.

"Thanks." Gabrielle watched her leave, then stood wearily, and walked over to the chair next to Dori's cradle, sitting down heavily in it. Her arm stung, and she looked at it, seeing the faint scrapes of the bolt reddening her skin. "You know something, Dori?"

"Mama!" She held up both hands.

"Life sucks sometimes."

"Bck." The baby solemnly blinked at her.She leaned over and lifted Dori out of her cradle, cuddling her in her lap and willing her body to stop shaking. The attack had scared her, once she'd stopped reacting, and now she realized the hard part was only just beginning.

Turds.

*******************************

The entrenchments were going well. Xena rested her forearms on Hercules' saddlebow and nodded to herself as she surveyed the efforts. They'd dug out a defensive position along the riverbank, and their troops now neatly blocked the way across, covering the bridge to the ford. In back of the battlements a campsite was being set up - with low, rough tents big enough for one or two soldiers scattered around in legion sized areas. All around there was a bustle of orderly movement, and Xena pronounced herself pleased with the results.

She reined Hercules around and sent him into a canter across the front of the defenses, her eyes searching them for weak points and areas that needed to be shored up. The thick sod walls needed to be able to hold up under the first, fierce charge she knew Andreas would throw against them, and give them time to use their archers and cavalry to it's best advantage.

The river would draw his fire, and allow her to get troops around him and attack from three sides, hopefully driving his first assault back and making him regroup.

Then?

Xena turned her horses' head and started out in a long, slow circle away from the river. Then, would depend on what he did. It was always good to have alternative plans, but you had to be ready to react to what your enemy did first.

Hoofbeats behind her made her turn, to see Ephiny and Pony trotting up. She gave them both a nod. "Looks good."

Ephiny leaned back in her saddle. "For a mud pile, sure." She gave Xena a wry look. "I'm glad you have us doing hit and run, though. I think I'd go nuts stuck behind there."

"Your folks ready?"

Pony nodded. "We split up in two groups. One's on that side." She pointed. "The other's over there. We set up camps in the trees , and sentries all along the forest line."

"I've got everyone who isn't building tree platforms making arrows." Ephiny chimed in. "How's Gabrielle?"

Xena felt her mind shift gears. "She's doing all right. Probably be up here tomorrow ." She scanned the horizon. "If we get everything set up today, I'd like to run some drills, especially close order. We're gonna get tangled up in our own armor if we don't get that right."

Both Amazons winced.

"All right. I'm going to go scout around a little. Meet you guys back at the camp." Xena turned Hercules' head and nudged him into a canter, heading out ward towards the hills.

"Xena.." Ephiny called after her. "Don't you think you should.."

"No."

A sigh. "Take an escort..no, of course you don't." The regent exchanged looks with her weapon's master. "C'mon, Pony… let's go fletch something."

Xena rode on, enjoying the breeze that pushed her hair back and ruffled her cloak. She moved quickly past where the snakes had appeared, pulling Hercules up and jumping off to examine the grass carefully in a couple of places. She knelt and brushed the stalks back, touching the damp earth and releasing a rich, slightly pungent scent to her sensitive nose.

"Mm." Xena straightened up and wiped her hands on her leggings, then walked forward, leading Hercules by his reins. "Wonder what the deal was with those snakes, Herc… were they just to scare us, or worse?" She approached the small ring of trees in the hollow below the attack site, and noted the skins flapping in the wind.

Then her nose twitched, and she stiffened, her hand halfway to her sword even as she turned her head to locate what had triggered her reflexes.

But there was nothing. It was still, only the grasses brushing by each other in the wind, and the slight patter of leaves falling off the trees and onto the wet ground. Her nape hairs prickled, though, and she took two steps, launching up onto Hercules' back in a smooth motion and settling her legs as she turned the horse in a circle, using his height to good advantage.

She turned her head into the wind, lifting her chin and cocking her ears as she searched, sucking in lungfuls of the damp air trying to detect the hidden presence her instincts told her was there.

Grass, wind, Hercules's breathing.. the soft stamp of his hooves, her own heartbeat….

Ah. A winding creak, so soft it could have been two branches rubbing together. Xena released her reins and let her hands drop to her thighs, waiting. Her senses screamed, raising the hair on her arms.

An ear twitched as she heard another creak, from a different direction. Uh oh. Without hesitation she dropped low over the horses neck and kneed him forward explosively, digging her heels into his sides and sending him plunging through the grass as several arrows passed over her head.

Then a hand reached up and grabbed his bridle and she shifted her weight back, giving him a signal and making him rear as his holder was given the choice of letting go, or being dragged upward. The hand let go, then a swarm of bodies attacked her in eerie silence, faces hidden behind masks and hands and knives making their way towards her.

Xena guided the stallion in a circle, clearing a small path and drew her sword, keeping the horse moving and her weapon between her and as many of them as she could. She felt a burning pain along her thigh and glanced down to see a dagger sticking out of it, then slammed the hilt of her sword down on the head of the person who'd put it there.

Her anger rose, and she kicked a second, slashing down and taking the arm off a third. She whirled Hercules around in a tight spin and caught two more scrambling, plunging her sword into flesh and throwing her head to one side as a gush of blood exploded upward.

The stallion kicked out at her command, and sent a thug flying, then the grass rustled as the remaining attackers bolted. Xena raced after them grimly, catching one with a downward swipe of her sword and beheading him. She shoved the next one into a tree, and watched his face disintegrate as it hit against the bark, then she was at the tree line, and faced with dismounting or letting the rest go.

Her fingers flexed on her sword, and she exhaled, but realized chasing them on foot wasn't the best idea. She backed Hercules up and glanced down, to see a spreading stain against her leggings. The dagger she'd tucked in a fold of her saddle, and now she drew it out and examined it.

Lion's crest. Xena's lip twitched into a snarl, then she leaned closer, and examined the blade. It was stained with more than her blood, and she cursed softly under her breath as she sniffed it. Nothing she knew, and now the pain in her leg was starting to spread, taking on a numb, burning sensation that made her realize she could be in trouble.

She quickly sheathed her sword and gathered her reins, then urged Hercules back towards the camp, swallowing down the nausea that had started to grip her guts. Past the little hollow, she was about to move into a gallop when the grass exploded into motion, and she was overwhelmed.

Hands pulled her down off the horse, and a growing dizziness kept her from responding, as she struggled to fight them off.

Something long and hard hit her in the back of the head with a sickening, hollow sound, and she dropped into darkness, the last sound she heard being a light, mocking laughter.

********************************************

She woke bound tightly, and unable to move. Her throat was parched and painful, and she could feel rope rubbing against her skin, and the damp wetness of the ground.

"Well well." A boot kicked her hard in the side, and she rolled over, peering up at the face of her tormentor. "Look at the great warrior princess now."

Xena remained silent, studying the sharp, youthful features in a strange face she was fairly sure she'd never seen before. The woman was roughly half her age, and slim, taller than Gabrielle but with the calm assurance of a warrior in her movements. She had light hair, and a curious shade of golden eyes, giving her an almost catlike appearance.

"How's it feel?" The woman kicked her again, then again, when Xena refused to reward her with a reaction. "Ho.. you are a tough one, aren't you?" She sauntered over to a small brazier one of her hooded companions was heating some water over and picked up a slim metal rod, gazing at it before she walked back over. "Let's see how tough."

Xena focused straight ahead of her, mentally preparing herself for the worst. An explosion of fire seared through her, jolting from the already painful spot on her leg.

She let it roll past, taking inventory of herself instead. The ropes were tight enough to cut off her circulation, and she felt an unpleasant tingling in her lower legs and arms.

The burning pain disappeared, leaving behind a pounding throb, which echoed through her body matching the throbbing in her head.

Screaming was never an option.

"Okay, so you are tough." The woman regarded her prisoner, then crouched down. "Maybe I'll just kill you."

Xena regarded her in silence. The poker came closer and closer to her face.

"Or maybe I'll make you ugly." A chuckle. "How'd you like to be called One eye, hmm?"

She could feel the heat against her skin, making her right eye sting and causing her to blink against the sensation. She kept her gaze steady though, giving away nothing to this unknown attacker.

A thought entered her mind, gently nudging aside the cold practicality of the moment. She let her eyelids close, and allowed the familiar image form, filling her awareness with gentle warmth, and sad green eyes.

*************************************

Gabrielle paused a moment, taking a few breaths to collect herself before she approached the inn. She'd put on a set of her winter Amazon leathers, which were nice and warm at least, and her thick cloak with it's trim of soft, fluffy rabbit that brushed against her chin.

At her waist, she'd bound her dagger in it's worn leather sheath, the hilt gleaming dully with Xena's crest on it. It was her one edged weapon, and though she'd probably never use it, she felt better with it on, almost as though she had a little bit of her partner there. She caressed the hilt absently with her thumb as she squared her shoulders, and gave a little nod. Okay, Gabrielle. Amazon Queen time. Suck in the gut, and throw on the attitude. She took a last breath, then started forward with a determined stride.

The inn was full, between Gabrielle's grim Amazons, and the nervous others, and the uneasy murmurs fell to silence as the door opened and Gabrielle entered, flanked by Cait and Johan.

She walked to the table they'd set up for her and stood behind it, letting her hands rest on it's surface. "All right." The bard kept her voice low, and even. "I have a prisoner in the cellar. An Amazon, who tried to attack me in my cabin."

Bodies shifted.

"I've got two choices. Either I find out who that Amazon was working for, or I put all of you who aren't part of my Nation in there with her."

"That's a tiny room." One of the women protested.

"Not my problem." Gabrielle answered immediately. "So if anyone here knows anything, you'd better speak up now." A pause. "Otherwise, I hope you're very friendly with each other."

There was a sullen silence.

"Okay. Well then, take them over." The bard spoke. "Tie them up and gag them, then put them inside."

"You can't do that." One blurted.

"Of course I can." Cold green eyes pinned her. "I could just have you killed."

"You wouldn't… " A short, tow headed woman started. "They said…"

"Oh, they did, did they?" Gabrielle advanced on her . "And who would they be?" She came even with the woman, tilting her head slightly to meet her gaze.

The tow headed Amazon clamped her jaw shut. A disgusted murmur drifted over from Gabrielle's Amazons, who shifted and gripped weapons, exchanging angry looks.

"How much did they offer?" The bard asked quietly. "Must have been a lot." She was aware of Cyrene's eyes on her, from the corner of the inn. "All right. Take them." She turned and walked back to the table, allowing the shuffle of moving bodies to start behind her before she turned to watch.

"Excuse me, your Majesty." Cait piped up. "You might want to bind their eyes as well, to keep those burrowing weevils we've had such trouble with out."

Gabrielle turned her head and lifted a golden eyebrow, then turned back to her prisoners, who were staring at her in horror. "Nah." She remarked cheerfully. "Better if they see them coming." A smile. "Don't you think?"

Even her own Amazons exchanged glances at that, looking at her a little round eyed.

"All right" The tow headed woman whispered, swallowing. "If they were wrong about you, maybe they were wrong about other things." Another woman cuffed her, and she twisted out of the way. "Let go of me. I'm not gonna lie in my own filth with the lot of you."

"Bring her in here." Gabrielle jerked her jaw at the woman, then turned and stalked into the kitchen, letting the wooden door swing closed behind her. She heard a scuffle, then the door swung back open and Cait shoved her target through, drawing her knife and giving the woman a poke. Paladia followed her inside, letting the door close and standing with her back against it.

"Get on there." Cait ordered. "Or I'll put a hole in you."

"Hey, you little punk. Cut it out."

Cait had the knife at her throat in an instant, pressing her body up against the taller woman's and knicking the skin, exposing a single, round bead of blood. "I don't rather like that." She warned softly. "Stop it at once."

"All right.. all right." The woman gave her a look. "I said I'd talk, didn't I?" Cait released her, and she tucked her hands under her arms as she faced Gabrielle, unable to meet the intense green eyes. "So you got it right."

"What did I get right?" The bard asked. "What deal did they offer?"

"A hundred thousand dinars." The Amazon stated softly. "To get you, and bring you out to a spot near the hills. That was all."

"Mm." Gabrielle folded her arms. "Why?"

"Who cares?"

The bard sighed. "I care - what's your name?"

"Hanna."

"Hanna, did you really think they were going to pay you that hundred thousand dinars?"

The tow headed woman snorted. "Hades no. That's why I turned em down flat." Her expression was disdainful. "He's nuts - only that stupid kid was dumb enough to give it a try."

Gabrielle shook her head sadly. "And you didn't think about telling someone she was going to try?"

An uncomfortable shrug. "Figured you knew - not like it takes a genius to guess he'd love to get his paws on Xena's partner."

"Is that why you stayed here, then? To see if your buddy was successful, and maybe share in the loot?"

Hanna laughed humorlessly. "No. I stayed here because I don't want to spend my day digging mud, and being a target."

Gabrielle absorbed this, then nodded. "Fine." She motioned. "Take her out." She watched Cait shove the Amazon out the door, then closed her eyes, sinking down onto the work table and rubbing her temples.

Her stomach hurt. She put a hand down and rubbed it gently, feeling a gnawing in her guts that woke stark, frightening memories, but surely it was the tension of the moment. Xena could hardly have gotten into trouble yet, right?

"You look like crap." Paladia stated succinctly, with typical bluntness.

"Thanks. I feel that way." The bard murmured. "What in the heck do I do with these people?"

Paladia considered the question seriously. "Make em babysit your kid?"

Gabrielle sighed, and pushed herself towards the door.

*****************************************

It was dark.

Xena could feel the pressure of a bandage around her eyes, and a throbbing in her head that was almost audible to her. Her body was cramping from the long period spent in the same position, and she'd lost most of the feeling in her hands and feet.

The sound around her were of a camp at night, the flutter of a campfire, and the soft footsteps and rustles of people moving around. She could smell people, horses, and food, and the rich scent of the earth she was lying on.

A sound of ribald laughter came closer, and she tensed in reaction just before a booted foot crashed into her face, slamming her back against the log she was lying near.

For a moment, she balanced between despair, and anger.

"Cut that out, Stark." The woman's voice rang over. "Get over here."

The laughter faded, and she was alone again. Slowly, she ran numb fingers along the ropes holding her arms behind her back, searching until she found a knot. It was snugged painfully tight, and there was no real way for her to loosen it, but very carefully, she put the edge of one finger against the coil and pushed.

Just a little.

It creaked, just a little.

Xena put her fingers on the other side of the coil and pulled it back. It moved, the tiniest amount. She settled down grimly, ignoring the ache in her shoulders and the pain in her head, and kept up the small, almost futile motions. Her thoughts felt fuzzy, she realized, and she suspected they'd given her something to keep her quiet, which added to the sense of heaviness she felt laying over her like a blanket.

Okay. She patiently ordered her thoughts. This isn't good. The bandage around her eyes was very tight, and she could feel a sharp pain underneath it, bringing up an image of the young boy she'd treated back in the caverns. Her body stilled as a wash of horror came over her, and she let her head rest on the wet ground with a tiny groan. No.

Dear gods, no. She felt sick. Footsteps approached and she didn’t' even have the energy to care. A boot kicked her shoulder, rolling her over onto her back and she simply lay there, listening to the sound of breathing and the soft rasp of skin against leather.

"So." A soft creak and the sensation of a body approaching hers. "Bet you're wondering what we did to you, hmm?"

Xena didn't answer.

"Maybe not." A chuckle. "Maybe we knocked the brains right out of you.. who knows?"

A hand slapped her cheek, and she kept herself from reacting, though she could feel her shoulder muscles tense unconsciously. A sharp point jabbed her in the arm suddenly, making her jerk, then another one, this time a searing line that she knew drew blood. A dark, dangerous energy stirred in her guts as the laughter followed, along with several more jabs.

"Hey, you are alive in there… what do you know."

Fingers grabbed her throat and she felt her air cut off, and her body reacted as she hurled herself up off the ground by sheer strength, curling herself up in an arc and slamming her bound knees into her tormentor with surprising force. She heard a thump, and a scuffle, and a loud curse and she laid back down, returning to a still silence.

"Son of a Bacchae." The voice snarled, then Xena heard the mud squelch as the woman got to her feet and she braced herself, guessing what was coming. The boot caught her in the stomach and she went with the blow, taking the force of it and letting it curl her body around the woman's leg, trapping it. She slammed her head into the lower calf, then wrenched herself in the opposite direction, feeling and hearing the curse as her adversary was tossed across her and into the log.

Her blood was pumping now, and it brought tingles of pure pain to her legs, and made her head throb almost unbearably, but she had enough energy to curl up into a ball as the expected retaliation came, in the form of a branch that slammed against her back, sending shivers of bark all over her.

"Bitch!" The woman cursed, beating her over and over again. "I'll kill you!"

Xena rolled back over and kicked out with both bound legs, hearing a satisfying crunch as she found her mark by instinct and body language alone. The branch disappeared, then something large, and heavy hit her in the head, and she felt the dark rush over her again in an explosion of pain.

**************************************

Cyrene wiped her hands, and glanced out the window. Then she walked over and peered out, seeing a familiar form on the porch. "Gabrielle?" She opened the door and walked out, coming up behind the still figure near the railing. "Sweetie?"

The bard had her hands on the wood and was staring off towards the river. "Something's wrong." She whispered. "Xena's in trouble."

Cyrene stared at the remote profile. "Are you sure?"

A nod.

"Why are you standing here then?"

Gabrielle turned her head, her green eyes lustrous in the torchlight. "I was about to leave." She indicated a pack resting on the wooden floor. "Do you have a piece of bread or something I could take with me."

"Sure." Cyrene lead her inside and took a loaf of bread, slicing it down it's length and putting a selection of cheeses and meats inside it. "How are you feeling?"

"Terrible."

The innkeeper looked up quickly, catching the look of anguish on her daughter in law's face. "Is it that bad?"

Bad? The twisting in her guts had grown every moment since she'd locked up the out Nation Amazons, in an unused hut instead of the cellar. She'd thrown up twice, then simply gotten dressed and packed. "It's bad." She confirmed, feeling the fist slowly tightening over her heart. "I’m just going to say goodbye to Dori, okay?"

She didn’t wait for an answer, she just pushed through the inner door and went down the back hallway into the room that used to be Toris's, and was used as the nursery. Right now, the usually cheerful room was echoingly empty, since the twins and the triplets were all back in the caverns. Only Dori's cradle rested by the fireplace, with Ares curled up next to it. "Hey boy."

The yellow eyes peered up at her.

Gabrielle knelt beside the cradle, resting her arm on her knee as she gazed at her sleeping daughter. "Honey?" She picked the baby up and cradled her in her arms, getting a grumpy look from half opened eyes. "Hey, sweetie pie."

"Bck."

She bent her head and kissed the child on her small forehead. "Dori, I know you hate when I go away - " She felt her throat close, and had to wait a minute. "But I have to go find your Boo."

"Boo."

"That's right." The bard whispered. "I have to go find her, and help her, and I might not see you for a while." Another pause. "It's not because I don't love you too, Dori, please believe me."

"Bck." The baby caught her thumb and sucked on it. "Mama."

"But your Boo and I have to go together, okay?" She kissed Dori's head again. "Be a good girl for me, honey, please?" She felt the tears start, and couldn’t stop them for a minute, letting them drop down into the soft cotton folds of the jumper Dori was wearing. "Be good."

The echo of those words slammed her hard, as she faced the reality of leaving behind a child yet again, though for direly different reasons. Slowly, she bowed her head over Dori and let the grief out in soft, choking sobs.

The baby anxiously touched her face, wriggling in distress and gurgling. "Mama!"

She calmed, and tucked the tiny form to her, stroking the soft, silky hair with one hand. "I'm sorry, honey." She rocked Dori, kissing her hair and hugging her. Then she tucked the baby back into her cradle, and settled her new doll with her. She studied the child for a minute, thinking, then she reached up and unclasped the silver necklace she wore around her neck and looked at it, watching the green stone wink back at her. "You should have something from both of us, right?"

She carefully fastened the necklace around Dori's neck, shortening it so it didn't hang down. "There you go, honey." Then she pulled a piece of parchment from her vest and tucked it under the edge of the soft furs that lined the cradle. "That's from me and Boo also, just in case." She touched the baby's cheek, tracing it's line gently. "I love you."

"Wuv." Dori burbled. "Wuv Mama."

Gabrielle smiled through her tears.

"Wuv Boo."

She caught her lip. "Oh… honey, did you tell her that?"

Dori just sucked on her thumb and snuggled closer to her doll. She moved a little, rocking her own cradle back and forth. Gabrielle leaned over and gave her a last kiss, then stood and wiped her eyes, squaring her shoulders before she left the nursery and headed back to the kitchen.

Cyrene was waiting, and she handed her a packet, tactfully not mentioning Gabrielle's tear stained face. Instead, she pulled the younger woman into a hug. "Take care of yourself, cutie pie."

"I will." The bard tucked her package under her arm. "You too, mom."

"I will." The innkeeper cupped her cheek, giving her a compassionate look. "I'll try to keep tabs on the little one, but you two hurry back, okay?"

Gabrielle didn't answer. Her gaze lowered to the floor, then lifted slowly as she raised her head up. "We'll do our best." Then she put her arms around Cyrene again and hugged her. "Thanks for everything, mom." It came out in a whisper. "I love you."

Cyrene felt a jolt of fear hit her chest, but she merely patted the bard's back. "I love you too, Gabrielle." Then she released the younger woman, who backed and smiled, before turning and leaving the kitchen, letting the door swing closed with a softly final echo.

*************************************

The cold woke her, eventually penetrating even the haze of pain that had kept her unaware of where she was. She could feel rough wood at he back, and knew she was upright, strapped by her arms and legs to some kind of support.

She was also naked, and the fitful, cold rain brushed across her body, raising goosebumps that prickled unpleasantly.

Well. Xena tried to dredge up some coherence out of the fog that had settled on her mind. At least her arms weren't behind her anymore, and the tight bindings around her knees were gone, allowing some blood flow to her legs.

Every movement of her head hurt, though, and her body was starting to scream for water. Experimentally, she opened her mouth and caught some rain, it's sparse moisture almost more agonizing than a total lack. But if she kept at it long enough - her ears told her that most of the camp was asleep, and she was grateful for that, though a soft shifting of skin against leather nearby told her she had a guard.

"You'll never get enough to drink that way. " A soft, male voice murmured. She ignored it and persisted in her attempt, shifting a little and sending an agonizing jolt of pain through her leg.

"Don't worry." The voice reassured her. "As soon as Andreas gets here, you wont' have to do that." A rustle, and the sound of motion. "He'll either kill you, or give you that stuff that makes you like him, but he wont' do something like this. Nellis is just mad at you."

Xena tilted her head towards his voice.

"She's mad because you mussed her up." The voice was much lower. "We all thought it was kinda funny, though.. there she was, all high and mighty, and there you were all tied up like a hog, and you tossed her ass over heels into the mud."

The warrior cocked her head a little in a shrugging motion.

"So you're Xena, huh?"

A nod.

"Jarvy - leave her alone!" Nellis' voice rang out. "Get away from her before I cut your cock off."

The body retreated, and she was left in quiet. So. She had a name now, which meant nothing to her, and a potential friend, if not ally. Very useful for a naked, injured woman tied to a tree. The rain pelted her again and she shivered, starting to feel the ache of the cold entering her bones. She opened her mouth, and let her thoughts drift, deliberately calling up a warmer, more pleasant time.

"Xena!" A frustrated young bard had stood in the middle of a field, her hands on her hips. "Where in the Hades are you?"

Xena had watched from the grass, her damp body coiled up and waiting, as her friend wandered closer and closer. Gabrielle had just purchased her new outfit, a green cut off top and wraparound skirt, and the sun gilded her newly tan body, glistening off the droplets of water from their bath.

"Xeeeennnnaaa!"

The warrior had crept closer, parting the sun warmed grass with careful fingers, watching the irritation grow on her young friend's face. C'mon, Gabrielle.. she'd thought silently. You can find me.. I know you can.

"Bacchae butts." The bard had scratched her jaw, then moved slowly in a circle, poking the grass with her staff. "C'mere, Xena Xena… here… " She clucked softly. "I know you're out there… I can almost… smell you… "

Xena had muffled a laugh, since she was well downwind of the bard, and could, in fact, smell her. She lifted her head a little and sniffed, smiling as she caught the scent of the river water and the herbal soap from Gabrielle's skin. Nice. She'd thought, lazily regarding the searching woman. Nice outfit too. She'd decided, indulging for a guilty moment her usually well hidden animal attraction to her traveling companion.

"Xena.. c'mon now.. I'm getting hun.. yow!" Gabrielle's prodding had startled a rabbit, who jumped out and dashed past her heading straight for the warrior.

Never, Xena always had told herself, look a gift rabbit in the mouth. She captured the furry beast as it came within reach and stood up casually, brushing her leathers off. "Great. You found dinner, then."

Gabrielle had blinked. "You were there all along?" She squealed. "No way." The bard had trotted over, running fingers through her drying hair and examining the grass around her feet. "Centaur poop.. I can't believe it." She sighed, looking up at her friend with an adorably cute expression.

Xena had smiled at her. "Better luck next time - c'mon, let's get this rabbit on the firel" She'd glanced down at the struggling bunny. "Bet you're gonna be tasty, huh?"

"Aw." Gabrielle's lip had poked out in a pout. "He's so cute."

"Oh, don’t you start that. I had to eat raw apples last night because you thought the fish was too cute. No way, Gabrielle. I'm hungry." Xena had started off, shaking her head.

Momentary silence, then bounding footsteps. "But Xena… fruit is healthy for you." Gabrielle had insisted. "Fruits and grains.. they're much better for you, honest - there was this trader at Potadeia who told us all about that kind of thing and he was right!"

"Was he selling anything?"

"Um… well, grain cakes, sure, but.."

Xena had given her a look. "And you don't think him selling grains had anything to do with that? Besides, I've always eaten meat, and it hasn't stunted mygrowth." She'd reminded her smaller companion pointedly.

"Was that a short joke?" Gabrielle had asked, with a mock glare.

"Me, make a joke?" Xena had opened her eyes wide in feigned innocence. "Never."

"Mm." Gabrielle had bounced along beside her. "So, I guess asking if I could keep the bunny is right out."

"Yes."

"Even if I told you I made those little dumplings you love for dinner instead?" Mischievously sparkling green eyes had watched her.

Xena had stopped, and faced her, putting her free hand on her hip as she'd tried to come up with a snappy answer. Finally, she'd just shaken her finger at her young friend and laughed. "You are getting too smart for your britches, little bard."

"Put the bunny where your mouth is, warrior princess." Gabrielle had held out a hand in triumph, treating her to a big grin and a wrinkle of her nose.

She'd turned the bunny over, watching Gabrielle coo over it for a bit, then set it free. As they'd both stood and watched it bound away, she'd rested a hand on the bard's shoulder, driven by an unspoken need for contact, one that had been stealing over her more frequently lately. "Probably a tough old thing anyway."

"Take one to know one." Gabrielle had teased, returning the touch with a casual pat on the side, standing so close Xena could almost have felt her heartbeat if she'd moved just a bit nearer.

And then she had, and Xena had pulled in a breath of sun warmed skin and flowers, before she'd cleared her throat, and given the shoulder she'd grasped a squeeze. "Better get going."

"Sure." The bard had shifted her staff to her outside hand and turned to walk along side her. "Thanks for letting the rabbit go, Xena." Her voice had been serious, and a tentative, hesitant hand had crept back over and warmed her back. "I know it's silly of me."

"It's all right." Xena had succumbed, and draped an arm over Gabrielle's bare shoulders. "I wasn't really in the mood for rabbit anyway."

They'd both laughed and walked off into the setting sun, kicking the long stalks of grass out of their way as the cool breeze washed over them.

A sting of pain in her chest brought her back to the present, and she refocused her senses, her nose picking up the scent of leather and sweat, and whatever it was that Nellis cleaned her armor with.

"Little cold out here, isn't it, Xena?" Nellis asked, drawing a sharp point down the front of Xena's chest, from her breastbone to her belly. "See, I'd like to just start carving… " She moved the point up to a rib. "But Andreas made me promise to leave you in one piece." She pressed a little, and drew blood. "He didn't say I couldn’t make a few holes though."

Xena kept her head forward, extending her senses past her tormentor. She could hear rustlings of people moving beyond the fire, and knew they had an audience.

"Wonder what he sees in you?" Nellis mused, stepping back and eyeing the naked form. "You're a pretty beat up old thing."

Xena heard the soft sound of motion, and had time to tense her abdominal muscles just before Nellis hit her. There was a solid thunk, then silence. Xena merely took another breath and listened intently.

Jarvy poked his neighbor as they sat near the fire, watching the show. "See?" He murmured "Look at that." The man grunted in assent. It was an almost surreal scene, the tree with it's dark, damp bark and Xena's naked form spreadeagled across it, with ropes binding her ankles, wrists, and hips. The warrior's body was battered, but even through the mud and grime, and her own bloodstains, the image of confident strength wasn't lost.

"She's really something, huh?"

"Tough." His neighbor agreed. "Kicked Nellis' ass back there… damn, that was funny."

"Yeah." Jarvy watched their leader deliberately stick her knife into the skin just under their captive's ribs. "Not a sound… and she's gorgeous."

"Wild."

"Oh yeah - no wonder Andreas wants her."

"Get her on our side, for sure, no one'll stop us." The older man commented, watching the battered, but proud head lift in an almost arrogant motion as Nellis' jibes were dismissed. "Now that's a warrior."

"Yeah." Jarvy watched the long arms tense, holding the woman's weight up off her injured leg, showing strong, tempered muscles in a sturdy upper body that tapered through a trim waist, then flared through her hips to powerful thighs and long, muscular legs. She was well proportioned, and despite a few scars, and the dirt, he found her incredibly attractive. "Makes Nellis look like a furking kid."

"In more ways than one." His companion snorted. "I hope Andreas does whatever he has to and gets her on our side."

"It'll just take one of those neck things - but yeah." Jarvy agreed enthusiastically. "I"d follow her anywhere." He leaned forward. "Hey.. think she can hear us?"

"From here? You're nuts." The older man chuckled.

"Bet she can… hey, Xena.. you hear me?" Jarvy stared intently at the bruised face, and saw just one corner of a lip twitch into a hint of a smile. "You can, can'tcha?" Another twitch. "Son of a Bacchae!"

"Wow." His friend was honestly impressed. "Y'know.. it's too bad she's gotta stay tied up like that - I'd like to hear what she has to say."

A low murmur agreed with him, from the scruffy group around the fire. "That's a leader." One whispered. "And she don't use no herbs or nothin."

"You know, Xena.. " Nellis was getting tired of her games. The woman was just plain boring to taunt, and showed no reaction to her poking at all. "I'm beginning to think we really did knock your brains out."

The dark head turned and tilted slightly, and if there weren't bandages around them, Nellis knew the pale, eerie eyes would be staring right at her. The silence was spooking her, along with the air of feral, almost malevolent intelligence that seemed to exude from her captive, and she remembered the incredible power she'd felt coming in contact with that battered form for just those brief, few moments.

This was a caged animal. She was glad she couldn’t see the eyes anymore. "You won't be so cocky after Andreas gets here. He's going to make a nice, collared pet out of you."

Xena smiled, and the suddenness of it made Nellis step back. The warrior arched her back, moving forward a bit despite her bounds, and her captor backed again, staring nervously at the ropes. "I'm not sure who's crazier. You or him." She muttered, then turned her back and left the tree, allowing her captive some peace.

Xena exhaled carefully, and eased herself back down, biting the inside of her lip against the pain. The strain against her arms was getting intolerable, and she shifted, trying to find a position that didn't send jolts of agony through her.

The quiet settled, as the fire burned down and the rain slowed to a mere drizzle, just enough to drive her crazy as it dripped down the leaves and onto her skin. Her sensitive ears told her the rest of the camp was rolling up in their warm, dry bedrolls, and she spared a moment to get mad at herself for being in such a stupid position in the first place.

That out of the way, she let her head rest against the tree, and tried to think of something else. Other than being cold, wet, hungry, thirsty, in terrible pain, and missing Gabrielle, of course. She strained her arms against her bonds, keeping pressure on the wet ropes to stretch them out a little, and wiggled her fingers, at least glad she had feeling back in them.

Something tickled her arm. She went still and waited, senses as alert as she could get them as the tickle continued, then turned into a touch that crawled up her skin. Snake? No. She could feel tiny feet, scraping against her arm hairs.

Many feet.

It crawled up her arm, and she could feel tiny hairs tickling her all the way up her shoulder. She extended her nostrils, sucking in the air to catch a hint of the insect, opening her mouth a little to aid in the process.

Ah. Caterpillar. The faintly spicy, faintly mushroomy scent reassured her. Not a centipede, whose bite was poisonous. It crept closer and closer, up over the point of her shoulder and along her collarbone.

With a quick motion, Xena turned her head to one side and captured the bug in her teeth, ignoring the squirming and biting down on it briskly. The juices exploded in her mouth, and she ignored the mildly moldy taste as she swallowed the remains, licking her lips as she sent this little bit of sustenance into her complaining stomach. It wasn't much, but it was something, and it had moisture in it too.

She cocked her head and listened, hoping for more.

Unaware of her silent, awed audience.

************************************

Gabrielle felt herself relaxing just a little into Iolaus' rolling stride. She concentrated on what was before her, hearing the soft drum of the two sets of hoofbeats behind her. Cait, of course, who had caught her saddling the stallion, and her ever-present shadow Paladia who insisted stubbornly on coming along.

The sound got louder, and she glanced over as Cait pulled up even with her, at ease on her feisty gray filly who eyed Iolaus with nervous speculation. "Hello."

"Hi Cait."

"Mind if I talk a bit?"

"Please." The bard turned her head gratefully. "It'll take my mind off worrying." The gnawing ache had settled down to a dull throb, and she wasn't sure if that was a good sign or a bad one. Silently she cursed herself for not insisting on going along in the first place, not heeding the instincts that were nudging her hard as she'd watched her partner leave alone. "What's on your mind?"

"Sex."

Gabrielle experienced a mental whiplash that almost made her fall off her horse. "Excuse me?"

Cait eyed her. "Surely you know what that is."

"Ah… " The bard coughed, giving herself a minute. "Um.. well, sure." She knew she was blushing. "I mean, yes - yes I do.. why?"

Cait nudged her filly closer. "I've been thinking about it a lot."

You wanted a distraction. Congratulations, Gabrielle, you got one. "Ah.. well, that's kind of natural at your age, Cait." She gingerly counted the number of years between them. "I know it was for me."

"Really?" The girl asked with deep interest.

"Uh.. sure." Well, kind of. When she wasn't thinking about her father, or life, or stories, or… "It's natural. My sister and I used to talk about it all the time." Well, okay, once.

"Excellent." Cait nodded. "How do you know when it's all right to do sex?"

They cantered down the road, heading towards the bridge that would bring them into the army encampment. Gabrielle found herself wanting to gallop, but she restrained the urge. "Well." She cleared her throat. "I think you know it's okay when you feel really strongly about the person you want to do it with."

"Hm." Cait appeared to consider the words. "I didn't quite mean it like that." She murmured. "I suppose what I want to know is, how are you to know when it's all right to trust a person quite like that?"

A clue smacked Gabrielle square in the forehead. "Oh." She nodded. "Are you asking me if it's okay for you to get involved with Paladia?"

The gray eyes peered at her through the cloud scattered moonlight. "Well, yes." She admitted. "I quite like her, but I've got that whole thing with Ephiny stuck in my brain, you see, and it just won't get out."

"Ah." Gabrielle slowed Iolaus' progress to guide him over the bridge. "That’s a hard question."

"Quite." Cait followed her onto the bridge, and glanced behind her at the trailing Paladia. "Come on then."

"I guess you came to the right person to ask, though." Gabrielle admitted softly. "Let me think about it, Cait - we'll talk later, okay?"

"Right." Cait answered briskly as Paladia caught up and they urged their horses towards the camp. Already, guards had spotted them, and a familiar form was running towards her, dark hair flowing out behind her as Pony raced with deadly earnest along the ground.

Gabrielle urged Iolaus into a gallop to meet her, pulling up as they met and jumping off the horses back to grab hold of the Amazon as she plowed to a halt. "Pony.."

"Just.. " The woman held up a hand, catching her breath. "Look.. "

"Tell me." Short, sharp. A command.

"Xena's missing."

"I know. What happened?"

"She… you know?"

"Pony, TALK."

"She went out to do a little scouting, and she didn't come back. We went after her, and found Hercules… he's dead, Gabrielle. They cut him in pieces."

She went ice cold, and swayed, reaching out and touching Iolaus's shoulder to steady herself. "Gods."

"There was a scuffle.. I saw blood, and a lot of dead bodies." Pony went on rapidly, her breathing short and labored. "No sign of Xena. We tried tracking.. the prints just disappeared near the rocks."

Act. Don’t' react. Xena's quiet words steadied her. Take the information, and make a plan. Worry about the emotions later. "Okay." She took a breath. "Let's meet. I've got some other news to tell you . Then we'll decide what to do, and how we're going to find her."

Pony nodded, then took in the slightly accusatory stares from Cait and Paladia. "We wanted to go with her, Gabrielle. I swear. Eph tried to convince her."

But the bard merely shook her head. "I know better, and so do you." She turned and got up onto Iolaus, holding an arm down. "C'mon.. let's ride." Eponin hesitated, then took hold of her forearm. Gabrielle set her body then pulled, leaning to her right and hauling Pony up behind her.

Damn. That was a heck of a lot harder than it looked. She tucked that away for later, and started Iolaus on his way. They headed through the camp, and Gabrielle could feel a sense of tension around her, getting worried looks from the men and women she passed who recognized her.

"Your majesty…" Pony started to say from behind her.

"Pony, it's okay." The bard half turned her head. "It's not your fault. Xena is a big girl, who makes her own decisions. You couldn’t have stopped her, and you probably couldn't have helped that much if the problem was big enough to have gotten to her." It was blunt, but true, and even without seeing her, Gabrielle felt Pony's shoulders slump as she remained quiet. No sense in getting mad at the hapless Amazons.

Her partner, on the other hand. Gabrielle cursed silently at the stubborn streak that sometimes put her own to shame. When I get my hands on you, Xena, boy.. are you gonna be sorry. She pictured herself scolding the warrior, firmly believing in the picture and expecting the contrite, sheepish look from under dark brows that always made her wind right down and secure a hug instead.

It would be just like that. Xena would be fine.

Ephiny spotted them and started over, accompanied by Gillen and Bennu. The regent looked heartsick as she put a hand on Iolaus' bridle. "My Queen…"

Gabrielle threw her leg over the stallion's neck and slid down. "C'mon - let's get started. We don't have time to sit around figuring out whose fault it is." She moved past them and walked towards the largest tent in the near cluster, where she'd recognized a familiar pennant.

Ephiny and Pony exchanged looks, then followed, the rest of them trailing after.

********************************************

They cut her down after dawn. A messenger had come in, Xena had heard him, and apparently brought some news because the camp began to stir with sounds she recognized as those of a group getting ready to move. Before they touched her bonds she felt several pricks against her skin, and a sudden wave of sickening lethargy followed them.

It disoriented her, and the numbing drugs made it impossible to move even when the ropes were cut and she dropped helplessly to the ground. Rough hands threw some kind of rough cloth over her and then bound her again, this time with her hands in front of her.

Something cold, and sharp fit itself around her throat, and tightened, and she had to work to breathe, then a boot caught her in the side and sent her against a bundle of something before the voices and footsteps faded away .

It felt good to be lying down, at least. She took advantage of the lull to relax her body as much as she could, glad of the light cloth which covered her as well. She listened to the activity, catching words here and there as she lay motionless.

"Gotta move the whole camp? Damn.. it was nice here!"

"Drag our butts two days just to meet up with him - why can't he just come here?"

Ah. Xena's ear twitched. Four days.

"Guess he wants to get his paws on her."

"Runner made it - he could have."

"Not with his whole advance group - take too long. Anyhow - if we meet up, maybe we don't have to fight these guys at all."

"Yeah. He'll get her with us, then we can get the hell out of this backwater."

"Head to Athens - yeah."

It would take them, Xena figured foggily, about a candlemark to get going. There was nothing she could do while the herbs were so strong, so she coaxed her pained and stiffened muscles to loosen, and allowed herself to slip into an uneasy sleep.

*****************************

"I'm going."

"Gabrielle, damn it, we can't risk you."

"Ephiny, this is not an option." Gabrielle turned, as she fastened the buckles on her scaled armor. "You can't track her."

"We've got more people, and good daylight now. We can find her"

"No, you can't." The bard reached up and tied her hair back into a knot. "Besides, this is not a democracy. I'm going."

"Gabrielle.."

"Look." The bard closed on her, putting a finger against her chest. "It's my plan, it's my responsibility, it's my choice, and it's my soulmate. So just back off, and get used to it, Ephiny." Her voice was very serious. "I mean it."

The regent dropped her gaze and shook her head, putting her hands on her hips. "Is it going to do any good if we lose both of you?" She pulled her last big arrow out.

Gabrielle reached up and touched her chin, meeting her eyes with almost frightning directness. "If something happens to her, you've lost us both anyway." She told her friend softly. "Ephiny, I can find her. No one else can."

Ephiny studied the determined face, and sighed. "I had to try." She murmured. "Even though I knew it wouldn’t do any more good than it did with Xena." A shake of her head. "Gods, you two are so alike sometimes."

Unexpectedly, Gabrielle smiled, warming her green eyes and bringing a touch of forgotten youth to her expression. "Thanks."

"That wasn't supposed to be a compliment." But Ephiny smiled back.

The nose wrinkled up into a further grin. "I know." Then Gabrielle picked up her cloak and slung it over her shoulders. They'd planned most of the night, and now, at first light she felt herself anxious and ready to move out and towards the knot of anxiety that represented her soulmate to her. "Let's go."

She strode outside, to find a small group waiting, all Amazons and the best of Bennu's men, including the tall captain himself. She'd only just convinced Toris to stay behind, and she took a deep breath before she walked over and mounted Iolaus, taking a moment to stroke the rough mane and spare a sad, quiet thought for his lost brother.

Poor guy. He must have tried to help Xena. Gabrielle felt irrational tears sting her eyes, as she remembered watching the young stallion grow from a frisky colt.

Argo's son.

Xena was going to be devastated.

Ephiny handed her up her staff, and she hefted it, then strapped it down alongside Iolaus' saddle and settled her dagger, shifting a little to settle the still unfamiliar armor now covering her upper body. She smoothed the fabric of her thick leather leggings, and gave Bennu a nod. "Move out."

And they did.

***********************************

Continued in Part 20

These characters, and boy, are they ever characters, are mostly the property of Renaissance Pictures, Universal MCA, and whoever else owns stock and interest in Xena: Warrior Princess. This fiction was written for my amusement only, and not in any way, shape or form for profit - and it is not intended to infringe on the copyright holders of the characters.

Some of the characters are mine, and the story ideas.. well, who knows where they come from? Must be one weird place, that's for sure.

Specific Story Disclaimers:

Violence - this is a Xena: Warrior Princess story. This is not Teletubbies. Even though there are some rumors of similarities. Some of the violence is graphic, but we try not to dwell on it.

Subtext - Considering that the TV Series just aired an episode establishing Xena and Gabrielle as eternal soulmates, any disclaimer of subtext on my part is really kind of goofy in the extreme. The two characters are in love with each other, and have been for years. You can choose to see them as just friends, but then you might not want to read this fanfic, in case it changes your mind or anything like that.

Emotional Content - this is not one my more comedic efforts. There are moments of humor, however.

********************************************************************

Dark Comes the Morning - Part 20

By Melissa Good

The nap helped a little. When Xena woke up, as loud noises started coming towards her, she felt a lot less hazy, and had time to prepare her reactions as hands grabbed her and jerked her upright. Her leg screamed, though, and she could feel a tight throbbing where the knife wound was that made her fear the wound wasn’t doing so well.

She caught her balance, bending her knees a little and trying to get her bearings as she was knocked around a little, then Nellis’ voice came closer.

"All right." The woman now sounded businesslike. "This is how this works. We ride, and you can either be dragged, or tied to the back of a horse if you behave. Which is it gonna be?"

Xena kept her silence, standing completely still.

"If you walk, and you trip, this is gonna take your head off." Nellis jerked on the neck strap, and she felt the sharp metal teeth close around her throat. She noticed, however, that the woman was standing well out of range, something that made her smile inwardly. "I’m not going to slow down because of her. Get her up on that nag, and tie her down tight."

There was a very conspicuous silence after that, until finally footsteps shuffled closer and she could smell the sweat of fear near her. With a slight motion, she turned her head to follow the closer of the two men, and heard his breath intake. Her nostrils twitched, catching the scent of worn leather and metal as he came closer, then hesitantly reached out and touched her arm.

Fighting, at this point, would probably be pointless. Xena allowed him to lead her over to the warmth of a large animal, and waited while he tossed the throat lead over the horses neck. Then he stopped, apparently not sure what to do next. Xena slowly lifted her bound hands up and hooked them around the saddlehorn and gathered herself up, crouching a bit then hauling herself on board, somehow managing to get her injured leg over the high saddle back and into place.

The horse shifted as she slid her knees home, finding her seat with an ease born of years of experience and the talent of a natural horseman. She could sense the cocked weapons around her though, heard the whine of crossbows cocking, and she kept still, when all her instincts were to send the horse plunging away.

They tied her hands to the saddlebow, and roughly tied her legs underneath the horse’s belly, pulling at her injury and sending agonizing jolts straight through her. The line around her throat jerked, and she sat up, the sun making her head ache and reminding her of how thirsty she was.

"Move out." Nellis called, and they started moving. Someone had the reins of her horse, and kept up a steady pressure on her collar, and Xena suspected it was her little blond friend. Every few steps she’d give it a jerk, making the metal teeth bite in to the skin of the warrior’s neck. "Hey, wait a minute."

They halted, and Xena listened to the hoofbeats as Nellis came closer. She could smell the woman, and cocked her head as a faint gurgling sounded, then just kept from jerking as a hand grabbed her jaw and forced her mouth open.

The taste of the liquid was pungent, and she was forced to swallow by pure reflex, as the smell sent the hair lifting along her neck.

Nellis laughed. "There… that’ll keep you nice and calm." She forced another mouthful down. "Maybe you’ll even get to like it."

Xena felt the grasp relax, and she gripped the saddlehorn as an unpleasant queasiness spread through her body. She shuddered, and her body reacted, as her insides convulsed and she turned her head and leaned, ignoring the bite of the collar as she violently threw up the herbs, the spasms so bad they almost unbalanced her and sent her off the side of the horse.

"Hey!" Nellis pulled angrily on the leash, hauling her upright. "You little bitch.. just for that, you’ll get double." She pulled Xena’s head closer, and tangled her fingers in the collar, then tried to force the warrior’s mouth open again.

Xena dodged her head sideways and caught the woman’s hand in her teeth, closing her powerful jaws and wrenching her body backwards, shaking her head like a dog with a bone.

Nellis screamed, and dropped the wineskin, then drew her sword and slammed it into the bound warrior’s head in pure fury, hitting her again and again as Xena crouched over the horses’ neck, taking the abuse mostly on her shoulders. "Bitch!"

She finally stopped, breathing hard.

Xena straightened, then turned her head towards her tormentor and carefully spat a mouthful of blood and skin on the ground.

Then she smiled, feeling a warm splash of blood stain her chin. She felt the blow coming, and ducked her head, feeling the fist brush by her ear as Nellis overbalanced. Xena slammed her head into the blond woman’s, hearing a satisfying crack, then a rustle, and thud as her attacker fell off her horse.

Nellis got up, and ripped her crossbow from her saddle, cocking it with an efficient motion and pointing it at the blinded warrior sitting now motionless on the horse above her. The dark head cocked slightly, and she could see the muscles in the bare shoulders tense helplessly, causing the ropes binding her wrists to creak.

This woman was crazy. She’d taken a beating that would have killed anyone else, and it hadn’t dampened the fire of her wild personality even a little. Andreas had to be nuts to want her to join them.

Maybe she should just kill her. She raised the crossbow and aimed at the curved arch of the warrior’s neck. It would be better, in the long run for everyone.

Especially for her, since this was a potent rival she couldn’t afford to compete with.

She fired.

With a snakelike motion, Xena evaded the arrow, and it went past her and thunked into a nearby tree, bringing on another of those evil smiles.

Nellis lowered her weapon, aware of the stares of her men around her.

Maybe she was going at this the wrong way.

She turned and got onto her horse, looping the collar’s leash over her shoulder and starting off without another word. As the slack ran out, she kept moving, aware of a long instant before the force against her hand lessened and Xena’s horse followed.

"Let’s get over this ridge, then up onto the rocks. We’ll cross the stream there, and lose anyone who tries to follow us."

Xena leaned her weight wearily on her hands, drawing breath with difficulty against the snug hold of the collar. She was starting to get a little dizzy, and with the chills figured her leg wound wasn’t doing her any favors. Her eyes were stinging now, too, little darts of pain in time with the horse’s pace. She pushed that aside though, since thinking of what might be under those bandages –

No point in that.

The darkness was beginning to bother her though. She could feel the sun warm her skin, and though her other senses provided an enormous amount of information to her, she found she missed being able to see and it was weighing on her more and more.

A soft wind blew against her face, bringing a smell of water logged vegetation to her, along with the musky scent from the tree moss in the forest around them, and a far off hint of water coming across the open plains.

And.

Xena’s head lifted, and her nostrils flared. Her ears cocked, moving away from her head and cupping slightly to catch the slightest sound over the rasp and clank of the moving soldiers.

The line pulled taut, and she felt the teeth dig into her skin, a warm wetness trickling down she knew was her own blood.

And deep inside, she felt a savage, angry jolt that brought a grim smile to her lips.

********************************

"This is where we lost them." Ephiny pushed her hood back and surveyed the empty grassland. "You see, the tracks end here, then they went up onto this rocky escarpment, and there’s just no sign of where they went."

Gabrielle slid down off Iolaus’ back and stepped around the signs of a scuffle, kneeling down and touching the ground lightly. She picked a stalk of grass up and examined it, seeing the distinctive, rusty stain.

Then she dropped to both knees, and closed her eyes, exhaling and turning her focus inward. It was… it wasn’t quite a feeling, and it wasn’t quite a sensation, really. Just a gentle tugging, pulling her more in one direction than any other. "That way." She murmured, letting her eyelids open and gesturing with one hand.

There was a respectful silence. "You know, Gabrielle – that’s really amazing." Ephiny finally muttered.

The bard rose and nodded, then got on Iolaus and urged him forward, letting her heart lead them through the rocky floodwash towards a cluster of dense forest beyond a small stream.

They came to the water, and gazed across. Beyond was a flat area, very exposed, before the looming green of the trees, and Ephiny got down off her mount and peered over suspiciously. "I don’t much like being that out in the open."

Gabrielle edged past her. "We don’t have a choice." She urged Iolaus down into the water, which came up almost to her boots. It rippled strongly, carrying the weight of the rain they’d been having, and she felt the horse straining against the flow as he made his way across. She heard the splash as the rest of the group joined her, and Cait caught up as she reached the other side. "Careful." She indicated a deeper spot near some rocks.

"Quite." Cait agreed, nimbly moving her filly around the hazard and encouraging her to climb the far bank. "Is it far?"

Gabrielle sighed. "I don’t know." She admitted. "It’s not – it’s not like reading a scroll, or anything like that, Cait. I just know something’s not right, that’s all. And I get a feeling which way to go."

"Oh."

"All right. You two spread out." Ephiny ordered quietly as they came into the open area. "I don’t want any surprises."

"I’ll go." Cait didn’t wait for an answer, as she slid down off her horse and loped forward, diving into the tall grass and disappearing, leaving behind only the faintest shiver of the cattail tops to show where she’d went.

Pony also slid off, and went down the other side of the open area.

They moved slowly on, the halted, at a clear bird song.

"Sentry." Gabrielle whispered. "Keep moving." She eased Iolaus forward, heading towards the thick patch of forest. Three Amazons moved up alongside her, providing a living shield, and Bennu took the point.

A movement at the edge of the forest drew their eyes, as Cait leaped out of the grass and attacked, winding her arm around a half armored man’s neck and cutting it with her knife so quickly it hardly had time to bleed before he was dying on the ground. The young Amazon wiped her blade carefully and sheathed it, then peered into the trees, and beckoned them on.

"We searched in here." Ephiny murmured. "Twice."

Gabrielle shook her head, and ducked as she entered the trees, the soft ferny leaves brushing the top of her head. After a few steps she pulled Iolaus up, then got off an decided to lead him.

It was very quiet in the dell, a few desultory birds chirped, and the wind rustled the branches over head, but other than that there wasn’t anything to indicate the presence of other humans. They kept walking, the twigs underfoot crunching gently, until they were in the very center of it, where a tiny clearing allowed them to stop and look around.

"Gab.. are you sure?"

She closed her eyes and felt the pull, stronger now. "Yes." But as she turned in a circle, there was nothing there to see. "This way."

They pushed on through a much thicker section of trees, trying to find a way around them, the branches interlaced so thoroughly it seemed more one huge plant than a collection of individuals.

Gabrielle stopped, and put her hand on a thick tangle.

"Can’t get through there. We tried." Pony murmured. "It’s solid all the way round, believe me – I looked." She pointed. "And it backs right up onto the rocky highlands – you’d have to be on foot, or riding goats to get up there."

The bard handed her reins to Cait, then stepped back a few paces, regarding the trees, and thinking hard. She tipped her head back and looked up, seeing the huge trunks spreading a little far overhead.

She took a step forward, then leaped lightly up, catching the first branches and pulling herself up into them, then finding hand holds and footholds as she scaled her way towards the tops of the trees. Finally, she reached a point where she could squeeze her slim form through the now more flexible limbs and peer down.

A long moment’s look, then she turned and swung down, releasing her hold just above the horse’s heads and landing on the moist ground with a little thump and a hop. "C’mon." She skirted the edges of the bramble, moving down towards a natural dip in the forest floor that in flood times would hold a stream. She scrambled down into the rut and moved to where the start of the tangle was, slipping and almost falling as the ground suddenly sloped.

Ephiny came up behind her and put a hand on her shoulder, peering past her into the darkness. "Wh…" She felt a hand cover her mouth.

Gabrielle ducked under the last few branches, moving through an earthy smelling tunnel through draping roots that just brushed the top of her head. She cleared the last of them out of her way and moved into a fairly large, open space in the center, with fitful sunlight filtering down into it, and the signs of a fairly large camp recently left behind.

"Damn." Ephiny forged ahead, and they spread out, searching the signs of the group that were scattered all over. "Neat – I’ll give them that."

Gabrielle nodded, wandering over the leaf strewn ground and noting the carefully tamped fire, and orderly squares that indicated a well kept camp. She stopped before a thick, fallen log and knelt, brushing her fingertips over the leaves, then pausing. "Eph." Her voice cracked, as she parted the debris and closed her hand over something.

"Yes?" Ephiny came closer, and knelt. "What is it? You know, Gab, we don’t’ even know if…" She stopped speaking as her friend opened her fingers, and displayed with she’d found. "Oh. Dear Artemis."

The crystal necklace, stained a deep rust, sat lonely and forlorn in Gabrielle’s palm.

"Okay." The bard took a deep breath, and stood, fastening the necklace around her own neck and tucking it under her armor. "I don’t think they went far."

"Fire’s still warm." Bennu agreed grimly.

They lead the horses across the ground, following the deep hollow to it’s exit point, a wider mouth that showed rock at it’s tip. Bennu eased up and peered out, then paused. "Ah."

Gabrielle was at his elbow at once, putting a hand on his shoulder to balance as she stood up on her toes and looked past him. Not far away, near a flooded, pebbled area was a group of soldiers.

Her eyes found the disheveled, mounted figure at once, and she froze. "Oh my gods." The harsh whisper hardly sounded like her voice. Xena’s head was half covered in a rough bandage, and what was visible was bruised almost past recognition. She could see liberal blood stains smeared on the sacking covering her, and the very posture of her body made the bard ache in stark sympathy.

"Easy." Ephiny rubbed her back. "At least she’s alive."

Gabrielle watched as a slim, blond figure mounted a horse just in front of her partner, and started to move, dragging Xena behind her with a rope tied around her neck. The bard’s hands twitched, and she started forward, as Ephiny grabbed her. "Let go of me."

"Gab – just hold on. Remember the plan."

"To Hades with the plan." Gabrielle pulled herself up out of the thicket and tugged Iolaus after her. There was still a thick string of trees between them and the raiders, and she slipped behind a larger one, watching with racing heart and rising anger.

The collar bit into Xena’s neck, and she saw blood. Her heart bounded, sending a flush of energy all through her, and she turned and mounted, waiting for the rest of her group to join them. A wind blew at her back, rustling the leaves, and as it traveled forwards, she saw that dark head lift and turn, cocking in her direction.

The fighters gathered around her. "All right." Gabrielle murmured. "Let’s move along that line of trees there, and see if we can surprise them."

"We could use a distraction." Pony grunted. "Maybe I could.."

"No, let me." Cait pushed forward.

"No." Gabrielle tugged her cloak straight. "Stay behind me, out of sight." She moved Iolaus forward. "I’ll make them stop, then on my signal, attack."

"Gabrielle!" Ephiny hissed.

The bard glared at her fiercely. "That’s an order." She urged her horse towards the open space between the trees, and was out before anyone else could protest.

Ephiny cursed softly, but followed, with the rest of the soldiers ringed around her. "Bennu, we’re about even with them, but I think what Gabrielle’s after is getting close enough to Xena to keep her from being beheaded when the fighting starts."

"Aye." The big fighter nodded. "Me and the lads here’ll take the flank, if you lot want to shoot those buggers offn their horses."

"Right." Ephiny loosened her sword, and checked her crossbow. "Let’s go."

**************************************************

Xena could hear the soldiers moving around her, and she struggled to get herself balanced in the saddle, yanking impatiently against the thick rope that bound her hands to the saddlehorn.

"Stop that." Nellis jerked the leash.

"Or what?" Xena finally spoke, jerking her head back and almost pulling it out of the woman’s hands. Her throat felt sore, and her voice was raspy, but that wasn’t entirely a bad thing.

"Oh. So you can talk." Nellis eased her mount back over. "And here I’d thought you were some kind of mute."

Xena could hear the shifting of bodies, and knew she was the center of attention. Good. "S’allright. I thought you were some kind of idiot."

"Don’t you push me, Xena."

"Or what?" The warrior taunted. "You’ve been making threats against a tied up blind woman for a day now – very impressive." Her ears caught soft horse hooves approaching, and she shifted her weight, causing her mount to sidestep. "Think your odds of getting me much further are any good?"

"As you pointed out." Nellis yanked hard on the collar, shutting of Xena’s breathing and sending the spikes perilously close to her jugular vein. "You’re tied up and blind. I think my odds are pretty good."

"Well, I think they’re pretty lousy myself." A cool, clear voice interrupted, with a commanding ring to it.

Nellis whirled, to see a single horse standing there, it’s rider balanced neatly on it’s back, a thick, heavy pole clasped in one hand. "Ah.. it’s your little Amazon whore."

Xena dug her knees into the horse’s ribs, and he backed violently, as she ignored the pain screaming through her neck.

"Hey!" Nellis turned, and as she did, Gabrielle let out a yell, and charged. "Stop her!" She struggled to haul her fighting captive in. "To Hades with it." She growled. "I will kill you."

Amazons and soldiers burst out from the trees, galloping in a neatly spread formation as they rounded the curve and thundered right at the pivoting raiders. Their opponents kept good order, and swung to meet them with efficient discipline, and two drove towards the oncoming Gabrielle.

Staffs had, the bard grimly acknowledged, a big advantage over swords when it came to one very critical area.

Reach.

She balanced her seat as Xena had taught her, and released the reins, relying on her powerful legs to keep her steady. Then she whipped up her staff and engaged the rushing horsemen, whacking one in the head with one end of her weapon, and stiffarming the other in the chest, knocking him right off his horse.

They staggered past and she drove on towards her goal, who was fighting blindly, using pure strength and stubbornness to keep the furious Nellis off-balance.

The blond fighter tied the leash off to her saddlehorn and drew her sword, kicking her horse closer and raising it. She aimed a blow at the bound warrior, who somehow.. somehow dodged it, deflecting it’s power to one side with a shrug of a broad shoulder.

How!!! She swung back and smacked her with the hilt, knocking Xena off balance and causing her horse to half turn, exposing her chest. Momentarily disoriented, the warrior hesitated, and Nellis saw her chance. She wrapped both hands around her hilt and drove it forward, aiming for the tanned, dirt stained skin she could see through the gashes in the fabric. The sound of approaching hoofbeats rolled past her, but she ignored it, knowing they wouldn't be in time. "Die, you blasted.. " She lunged, closing her eyes and tasting the sweetness of the moment.

Then the world fell on top of her. Something fast moving and heavy slammed into her body, throwing her right off the horse and onto the gravel, as a hot, shocking pain drove right up past her breastbone and into her heart.

She never even had a second to realize she was dying.

Gabrielle shoved the woman away from her and rolled to her knees, jerking the dagger free as she did so.

For a very short, and very private moment, her world stilled.

And went silent, so much that she could clearly hear her pounding heartbeat, as her mind registered the blood stained knife clutched in her fist and absorbed it’s implications.

Then she took a breath, and wiped it off, shoving it back in the sheath as she got to her feet and bolted for the horse nearby. Without thinking much she grabbed Xena’s arm, and pulled her self up behind the warrior, then her senses returned and she took out the knife to cut her soulmate free.

She wrapped one arm around Xena’s waist, and sawed at the ropes around her hands with the other, stripping the bonds from them then working on the one she could reach by the warrior’s right calf.

Then they were moving, and she tangled her other hand in the horses mane, holding Xena securely in front of her as they bolted away from the raiders train and towards the fighting. "Let’s go!" Gabrielle yelled, as they started to disengage. She felt a hand curl around hers, and laid her cheek against Xena’s back for a brief moment, hoping she could keep it all together long enough for them to escape.

They raced through the retreating raiders towards the stream, and the rest of the group formed a rear guard.

Then they just had to run for home.

"Bennu, be careful." Gabrielle eased past him and held the torch high, setting it in it’s sconce at the back of the big tent. "Put her down there."

Xena had made it part way back, then Gabrielle had felt her flagging as she held on anxiously. By the time they were in camp, the warrior was half unconscious, enough so that she didn’t even protest when Bennu lifted her gently off the horses back and carried her inside.

The big fighter knelt with almost exaggerated care and laid his burden down on the fur covered pallet Xena had thrown together for a bed. "Aye, lassie." He whispered. "They done her like dirt."

Renas hurried in, followed by Toris and several others, including Ephiny. "Gods." The healer closed his eyes a moment, then set his kit down and rolled up his sleeves. "I’m going to need water."

Toris went to his sister’s bedside and dropped to one knee, touching a mud stained hand in stark sympathy.

"Right." Ephiny gave a nod to Paladia, who was standing mutely by the tent flap. "Buckets." For once too rattled to comment, the big ex marauder left, the flap swinging closed behind her.

"Hey guys." Gabrielle had tucked her hands under her arms. "Can I ask you to give me a minute with her before we get started?"

Everyone looked at her.

"I mean it. I know you’ve got things to do, Renas, but I need a little time alone with her." The bard stated quietly. "Please."

They filed out obediently, leaving her in a quiet peace she wanted to just sink down into. Instead, she walked over to the pallet and knelt, putting a hand on the bruised shoulder under the coarse sacking they’d covered her in. "Xe?"

"I’m here." The voice was faint and rough. "Just."

Gabrielle leaned closer and touched her head, bringing it closer and kissing it very gently. "Oh gods."

Xena responded to the caress, nuzzling her and releasing a weak sigh of relief. "Ungh."

The bard took a moment just to let her body relax. "I know – I need to let Renas at you, I just… "

"Sokay." Xena muttered. ‘Andreas is four days out."

Gabrielle eased back and started to examine her soulmate. "Okay."

"He doesn’t’ give the troops anything – just the generals." She tried to get the most pertinent information out first. "They’re not drones, Gabrielle."

"Shh." Hesitantly, the bard touched her partner’s battered head. "Honey, what happened here? What’d they do?" She felt the bandage, biting her lip in fear.

"Don’t know." The weak response came back. "Ev’rything hurts." A pause. "Water?"

Gabrielle grabbed the waterskin from the end of the pallet and unstoppered it, easing Xena’s jaw open with her free hand while she offered the spout with the other. "Here.. easy now." She watched the warrior’s mouth close around the end and suck at the liquid. "Not too much at once."

The soft gurgling went on for a bit, then Xena nodded wearily. "Was that your plan to get me?"

"Yes." Gabrielle felt her throat close on the words.

"Good girl." An attempted smile tugged at Xena’s lips. "Good plan."

A tiny, painful smile. "Honey, I’m going to let them back in now." She started to stand, but a light grip held her. "What?" She knelt back down.

"Take the bandage off."

"Xe, I’d better let Renas do that.. let me.."

"No." The hand held her. "I want you to do it." Xena paused awkwardly. "Please? If it’s bad, I’d rather hear it from you."

Sometimes, the burden of friendship was heavier than at others. "Okay." Gabrielle steeled herself, then very carefully untucked the dirty bandage and started unwrapping it, cradling the back of Xena’s head in one hand. She could feel lumps under her fingers, and could smell the blood and worse on the warrior’s body. "Just a little more." Visions of the young boy in the cavern flashed in her mind, and her hands shook, so she paused a moment and collected herself again.

The last fold of the filthy rag came free and she set it on the floor, examining the blood covered pad folded over her partner’s face.

It took so much for her to force her hand to lift, and take hold of it. "There’s a.. piece of cloth here. It’s pretty bloody." She watched Xena nod just a little, preparing herself, then she gathered her courage and worked the pad free, biting the inside of her lip almost through as she leaned closer to look beneath it.

There were rusty stains, but.. She squinted in the low light, then turned the pad over, to see tiny thorns in it. "That son of a bacchae." The curse escaped her lips, as she studied the device, then a small sound made her look up, realizing what it must have sounded like to her soulmate. "It’s okay, sweetheart."

She took a wet rag Renas had left nearby and gently swabbed the warrior’s eyelids, cleaning the blood away from the thorn pricks. "Can you open your eyes?"

Dark lashes obediently moved, and as the lids opened the torchlight caught glints off two very whole, very blue, though painfully bloodshot eyes. The pupils dilated immediately as Xena blinked, then lifted a hand and shaded her vision from the torch. "Ow."

Gabrielle stroked her cheek with her thumb. "Everything okay?" Her voice was shaking with relief, along with the rest of her.

The half lidded gaze focused on her face. "I think I’m having a vision." Xena murmured. "But it’s a beautiful sight."

The bard produced a wistful smile as she wiped more grime off. "Okay – now it’s Renas’ turn."

"Gab?" Her hand was captured. "Did Hercules come back?"

Of course. Xena, the consummate horse master, would always think of that first. How many times had she watched her partner take care of Argo, brushing and feeding her before allowing the bard to take care of her own injuries?. Gabrielle slowly lifted her gaze to meet her soulmate’s. "No, sweetheart, he didn’t." Her eyes stung. "He…. Um.. he must have tried to help you, Xe… and they.." The words stuck in her throat, and she gave a small, helpless shrug.

"Oh." It was a tiny, very anguished sound. "Damn." Xena whispered, raising a hand to her lips and biting a knuckle as her eyelids closed for a very long moment. It hurt more than what they’d done to her, and she sat there aching as a strong arm slipped around her shoulders and pulled her close, mud and all.

"I’m sorry." Gabrielle sighed, wishing she could give Xena back something more than just comfort. She rubbed the warrior’s side very carefully. "Let me go get Renas, and get you taken care of – okay?"

She felt Xena take in and release a breath, then nod, and she eased the taller woman back against the head of the pallet, before she stood and walked to the tent flap. "Okay." She murmured to the healer waiting outside. "I’m sorry, I …"

"It’s all right, Gabrielle." The gentle healer patted her arm. "I don’t’ question things when it comes to you two. You know best." He lifted the pail of water they’d brought over and entered. "I could use some help – the rest of that lot decided they’d wait to pay their respects."

"Sure." The bard followed him inside, but not before seeing Cait’s patient form seated on guard outside the edge of the tent. "Thanks for going with me today, Cait."

"Do you know something?" The young Amazon responded, looking up at her queen with pale, colorless eyes. "I had quite decided there really only was one person I would be satisfied with taking orders from absolutely."

"Did you?" Gabrielle was puzzled.

"Yes." Cait replied promptly. "Now there are two." She rested her arms on her knees and put her chin down, a figure of infinite patience.

Oh. "Thank you." The bard answered, before she reentered the tent, thinking about that as she moved across to where Renas was busy working over her partner. The healer turned as she knelt and gave her a shocked look. "I know." Gabrielle sighed, taking a piece of the clean linen he’d brought and dipping it in the heated water. "I think the leg there might be the worst."

It took a long time, just to clean off the worst of the dirt and old blood, exposing not only the knife gash in her thigh, but a burn next to it, and several breaks in her skin next to bruises that looked like they were inflicted with a mace. Gabrielle finally had to stop, taking her water up to the head of the pallet and spending some time just washing off Xena’s face and hair while Renas stitched up the worst of the places."

Xena was fading in and out on them, her skin warm with fever, a little restless until Gabrielle offered her the waterskin again, and held it while the warrior drank, her eyes closed.

"All right." Renas said, finally. "Do you have something clean we can put her in. That’s about all I can do for now."

Gabrielle retrieved a shift from her partner’s pack and brought it over, helping the healer as he removed the coarse sacking, and slid the clean garment around the battered form. Then he left her to rest, gathering the piles of filthy linen and tying them in a bundle. He stood and backed away, motioning for Gabrielle to come with him.

"Be right back." The bard whispered into a now clean ear. She stood and walked the healer to the tent flap, and ducked outside as he exited. "Wow."

"Gabrielle." Renas paused, and put a hand on her shoulder. "That leg wound really worries me. Keep an eye on it, and come get me if it starts to fill up again." He had opened the wound and drained it. "She’s in pretty bad shape."

"I’ll take care of her."

A weary smile. "There wasn’t any doubt about that." He patted her arm. "Get a lot of water into her, or a little soup if you can. She’s pretty dry."

The bard nodded. "I will. Tell everyone… " She paused.

‘They know." Renas gave her shoulder a squeeze and turned, fading off into the afternoon sun towards the main supply area.

Gabrielle turned and reentered the tent, taking a breath before she moved inside a few steps and considered her next act. Well. She glanced down at herself. First things first, now that she’s taken care of. The bard unbuckled her armor and pulled it off, setting it by the door for later cleaning. She then stripped out of her muddied and blood spattered clothing and walked to the water basin, running one of the last few bits of linen over her body and getting off the worst of the grime.

Her things, of course, weren’t there, but a quick look into Xena’s pack got her a heavy, worn old blue tunic she put on and belted. Then she made her way over to the pallet and kneeled back down again, finding still bloodshot eyes gazing out at her. "Hey, sweetie. How are you doing?"

"Not one of my better days." Xena joked faintly.

"I know." Gabrielle took her hand and interlaced their fingers. "I have something for you."

Blue eyes opened a touch wider, tracking as Gabrielle’s free hand dropped to her throat and exposed both crystal necklaces, nestling together. It brought a genuine smile to Xena’s face. "Where did you find it?" She whispered.

"Where they were camped." The bard replied. "I’ll keep it until your neck heals, okay?" It was hard to look at the raw, jagged wounds caused by the collar.

"Okay."

"Cait has your weapons and armor."

Another smile. "You guys did good." Came the soft reply. "I think I can retire now."

Gabrielle lifted their joined hands and kissed Xena’s fingers. "I had the best teacher there is." She rubbed her cheek against the knuckles. "You need to get some rest."

A very faint nod. "Don’t’ have much time."

"Shh. You’re not going to worry about that right now." Gabrielle leaned over, and helped her ease into a more comfortable position. "Your job is to just lie there and do your magic, okay?" She pulled up the furs and tucked them around the warrior’s shoulders. "We need you in one piece."

"How are you feeling? You look beat, too." Xena murmured. "C'mere."

As though the words were some kind of trigger, Gabrielle felt the anxiety of the last day, and her efforts drop over her. "I’ve got so much to do." She disagreed.

"Nu uh." A warrior paw wrapped itself around her and tugged. "Your job is to c’mover here and help me do magic."

"Xe.." Gabrielle felt her body obeying the summons regardless of her otherwise intent. She sighed, and eased herself onto the pallet, sliding herself under Xena’s head and wrapping her arms around the warrior’s shoulders. She mollified her conscience by offering the waterskin again, pleased when Xena sucked at it without any argument. Who are you kidding, Gabrielle - there's no other place you want to be, and you know it. But there was so much left to say. So much more she had to tell Xena. She felt the warrior’s exhausted body relax against her, and she closed her eyes, putting it all aside for a later time.

Except. "Xe?"

"Mm?"

"That woman – the one who had you tied up. Do you know her name?"

"Nellis." A pause. "Why?"

"I just wanted to know."

"She get away?"

"No." Gabrielle murmured. "She didn’t." She let herself drift into pensive thought as Xena’s breathing steadied, and they were both left in silence.

******************************

Ephiny was sitting on a log, patiently waiting while Pony stitched a nasty cut on her right shoulderblade. "We got so lucky."

"Finding them?"

"Yeah."

Pony sniffed. "Didn't think it was luck, much. Gabrielle knew where she was going." She carefully put in another tiny stitch. "You see her go after that woman?"

"Yes." Ephiny looked at her hands gravely. "I'd better go talk to her about that. You know how she feels - I think she was going just on instinct there." She tried to dismiss the disturbing image of Gabrielle's face, tensed in a savage anger as she hurtled over the horse's back and pounced on the raider. "At least - I hope she was."

Pony absorbed that. "She's changed a lot."

"Oh yeah." Her lover agreed. "She's learned a lot. I think I'd consider her a formidable leader on her own right now." She winced. "Ow."

"Sorry." Pony dabbed at the bit of blood. "I told you to duck when that jerk came at you." She finished up. "There - try not to rip em loose, huh? It's bad spot." The cut ran over the curve of Ephiny's shoulder, where the skin had to flex when she moved. "It was a good fight though, wasn't it?"

The regent ruffled her hair. "They're all good for you." She wiped a bit of soot from the weapons' master's cheek. "Thanks for the patch job. I’m going to go check up on our patient, and see if they need anything." She stretched a little. "Make sure those outer sentries watch like a hawk - I don’t want a surprise counter attack hitting us at the wrong moment."

She picked up her weapons and padded towards the command tent, giving Cait a half smile before she poked her head inside, letting her eyes adjust to the low light. Xena was asleep on her pallet, her head cradled in Gabrielle's lap with one of the bard's arms draped carefully over her. Gabrielle's eyes were closed as well, and the regent simply stood for a moment, absorbing the unexpectedly tender scene.

They'd done a number on the big X, that was for sure. Ephiny shook her head in dismay as she counted the visible bruises, and imagined the others. The bandage was off her eyes, though, and she couldn’t see any damage, so at least maybe that… Quietly she paced forward, waking the bard as she reached the pallet and knelt. 'Hey."

"Mm." Gabrielle lifted her free hand and rubbed her eyes with the back of it. "Didn't meant to do that." She checked her sleeping partner anxiously, putting her hand on the warrior's forehead and producing an unhappy look. "Fever. Damn it."

"How's she doing otherwise?" Ephiny asked quietly. "Looks like they really worked her over." One entire shoulder was darkened with bruises, and a long angry cut marked the warrior from her elbow to her wrist. "And yet she was fighting them. Damn."

'Yeah - that's my Xena." Gabrielle produced a smile. "She found out Andreas is about four days away." Now she looked up at Ephiny. "Gods… I should have come and told you that. She also found out whatever the stuff is they're feeding people, they're not giving it to the line soldiers." A pause. "She seemed to think that was important."

"Mm… could be." Ephiny nodded. "It means the largest part of his army can be influenced one way or the other." She shook her head though ."Good information. Lousy price to pay for it." The regent added ruefully. "We'll need to have a war council - I'll set one up for you after dinner."

For me? No. Gabrielle opened her mouth to speak, then slowly closed it again. Yes, Gabrielle. For you. Xena can't do it, and you marched up here and took charge, so get used to it. "All right. Thank you."

"How are you doing?" Ephiny balanced herself with a hand on the bard's knee. "It was a pretty hectic fight out there."

Gabrielle didn't answer.

"Listen - for what it's worth, any of us would have done exactly what you did, Gabrielle. Don’t feel guilty about that." Ephiny urged her.

The answer surprised her. "I don't."

She'd thought a very long time about it, before she'd fallen asleep. Carefully taking the entire experience out and examining it thoroughly, peering at it from all sides with a sense of calmness that had startled her. She'd expected to feel horrible.

She'd expected to feel the crushing, nauseating disgust that had almost crushed her before. But somehow, this time.. this time had been different.

So different. She didn't feel good about it, still wished she'd found a different way, hadn't given in to her anger as she'd ridden towards them. But it was, she had finally realized, the price that had made the difference.

Xena, had made the difference. Her soul couldn't' find it within itself to feel grief over losing a piece of itself to keep Xena whole. It was a very curious, peaceful feeling, knowing she'd made that sacrifice in this cause. "I always thought… " She whispered. "Always, right from the start, I thought if I was going to ever kill someone, Eph - it would be just like this." A wondering pause. "It would be for her - I don’t' regret that. I can't." Her conscience was at peace with what she'd done. "It's not something I want to do, but now I know it's something I can and will do, if I have to."

Given Gabrielle's significant martial prowess, Ephiny wondered if her friend realized just how formidable that knowledge made her. She suspected not. "I'm glad you feel that way. That bitch was bad news, not only for Xena, but in general. I think she's the one who snuck into the village that night you were there. She fits the description Xena gave us."

The green eyes narrowed thoughtfully. "I wonder if anyone else recognized her? Eph, ask around. In fact, ask Paladia to make a quick sketch of her, and show it. I wonder if she hadn't used what she looked like to blend in, and mingle with us and we never knew it."

"You think there's spies in camp?" Ephiny's face indicated it wasn't really a question. "There's a lot of people here we don't know really well."

"Xena thinks so, yes." Gabrielle nodded. "She says, you can't stop that, so you're better off using it to your advantage."

"Mm."

"Aslanta's youngsters tried to put a hit on me in Amphipolis, by the way." The bard mentioned. "I have them locked up in a grain storage hut."

"Conspiracy?"

"Stupid kids."

"That 'kid' is older than you are, you know." The blond Amazon reminded her, with a smile.

Gabrielle made a face. "Sure doesn’t feel like it."

Ephiny pushed herself to her feet. "I'm going to have some food brought in here. You both look like you need it." She made a mental note to check with Renas on what the big warrior's condition really was. "Get some rest, my friend. We can take care of things for a while."

The bard ran her fingers lightly through the dark hair spilling over her legs. "Thanks, Eph."

The Amazon left, and Gabrielle tilted her head, gazing down at the sleeping warrior under her care. "Tell you what, partner. How about I practice a story on you, huh?" She checked the most significant of her wounds, and sighed. "You want to hear A Warrior's Tale? I finished it."

A tiny sliver of blue and white appeared, and Xena stuck the very tip of her tongue out.

"Here." The bard offered the waterskin, inserting it into the corner of her partner's mouth and watching her suck at it. "Good girl." '

More blue appeared, and one eyebrow rose sharply.

"Aww… you're such a little softie. You fool everyone but me, Warrior Mushball Princess."

Xena gave her a completely outraged look, but the effect was ruined when her soulmate laughed, and leaned over to kiss her. "Think you can get some soup down?"

"Yeah." The warrior replied hoarsely. "I'm starving." A wry look crossed her face. "You don't wanna know what I had to eat last."

Gabirelle wrinkled her nose. "Was it moving?"

"Uh huh."

"Ew. You had to tell me that after I just kissed you, right?"

Xena produced a faint, but genuine laugh. The rest she'd had since Renas had left had restored some of her energy, and now it was mostly the all over pain that was giving her the most trouble. Just being here with Gabrielle helped. She could almost feel the warmth spreading out from her soulmate, bathing her in an affection far more potent than any herbs could ever be. She blinked, and flinched. "Damn - that stings."

"They put thorns on the inside of that bandage." Gabrielle reached over and picked up a tiny jar of salve, putting a bit on her fingertip and spreading it over the punctured eyelids. "The cruelty of these people scares me, Xe." She moved down to annoint the jagged, raw cuts and gashes on Xena's neck. "I got so angry when I saw her doing this to you."

"I know." The warrior regarded her seriously. "I felt it." She moved her hand, touching Gabrielle's knee. "After I smelled you guys coming."

The bard was silent, the need to talk to her best friend about what she'd done warring with the pain she knew it would cause her. She touched Xena's cheek, seeing the pain etched in her features, and set the matter aside for the moment. "And here I told everyone to take a bath before we left."

"Mm..it was you I recognized." Despite her injuries, there was a mischevious sparkle in Xena's eyes.

"Me?" Gabrielle sniffed her arm tentatively. "Do I smell?"

"Oh…yeah." The tired voice dropped into a sexy growl. Xena flared her nostrils, and took an exaggerated sniff, nuzzling the bard's belly.

"Ew. Xena. Cut that out." Gabrielle wrinkled her nose and made a face. "You're making me feel like a warthog or something."

"Nah.. that would be this." Xena made as snorting noise against the soft flesh she was pillowed on, causing her friend to burst into laughter. She snorted again, and chuckled a bit herself.

A throat clearing at the tent flap made them both glance over with guilty looks. Gillen was standing there with a tray, and now she moved gracefully across the floor, her compact, muscular figure outlined in rusty brown leathers and worn, but meticulously kept boots.

"Ephiny said you needed this." The Amazon queen remarked. "Xena, I'm glad they managed to break out from those bastards. Looks like you're recovering though."

"Gabrielle's a very good..um.. " Xena was painfully aware of just how precious a picture they must have presented. "Healer." Pause. "Among other things."

"So I have heard." The older Amazon's lips moved into a tight smile. "I have also heard there was an incident in Amphipolis yesterday? That you have some of Aslanta's people locked up?"

"That's right." Gabrielle stated, aware of the blue eyes watching her. "One of them tried to shoot me." She felt the coiling shift of Xena's muscles under her hands and stroked the warrior's arm. "Turns out they were approached by someone offering a hundred thousand dinars."

"For you?"

"Yes."

"Interesting." Gillen set the tray down "Ephiny tells me you called a meeting for tonight?"

Gabrielle smelled ego. "To share information, sure. Xena found out some things in the raider's camp - probably a lot more than they bargained on." She gave her partner a fond smile. "She probably made an impression on the ones that got away, too. That will work in our favor."

Xena folded her hands over her stomach, and quirked her lips. "I've given Gabrielle all the observations I made. She can add to that her own when she briefs you." Her eyes were closed, and she listened to the very significant, and chilly silence coming from the other Amazon.

"I see." Gillen replied shortly. "All right. See you then." She turned and left, leaving the distinct sound of ruffled feathers behind her.

Two sighs. "Amazons." Two voices murmuring together. "I don't think she's really pleased with me taking over like this." Gabrielle stated the obvious, from habit. "Maybe we should have backed off on being so.."

"No." Xena replied firmly, her eyes still closed. "Gabrielle, armies aren't run by committee. At least sucessful ones aren't." She muttered as an afterthought. "But every good commander has one person they can trust completely, who knows the plan, and who can take over in case something happens."

There was a little silence. "I guess that's me, huh?"

Xena opened her eyes. "Maybe that's why I never succeeded before. I never had anyone I could trust the way I trust you." The ex warlord admitted. "No one to share the plans with , or whose judgement I trusted and relied on to tell me I was going in the wrong direction."

The responsibility was almost scary. "I wish I trusted my judgement as much as you do." Gabrielle stated wistfully.

"I wish I trusted myself as much as you do." Xena countered honestly. "But between the two of us, I think we're okay."

Gabrielle offered her a spoonful of soup. "All right. But I don't want to stand in for you very long. Eat up."

Xena chuckled, but obediently complied.

******************************

She woke up from a doze much later, alone in the tent, though she could hear the faint sounds of the guards outside.

For a moment, she just lay quietly, stretching out abused muscles and testing the myriad of aches and twinges she felt on moving her limbs. Then she slowly pulled herself up into sitting position, and swung her legs over the edge of the pallet, resting her elbows on her knees and gazing sleepily over the bare, spartan tent.

Damn it. She winced as she blinked. Her eyelids were bothering her more than most of her other injuries. With an irritated grimace, she sat up and examined the heavily bandaged wound on her leg. It throbbed painfully, and by the slight chills she was experiencing, she guessed the prolonged contact with all the dirt had allowed it to become infected.

Great. With a stifled oath she pushed herself to her feet and limped over to her pack, removing her healer's kit and returning to the pallet to collapse back on it with a grunt. That caused Cait to poke her head inside the tent flap cautiously. "It's just me, Cait." Xena muttered, as she used her smallest knife to cut the bandage off.

"Hello." The girl eased her way in and padded across the grassy floor. "That looks awful."

"Thanks." The warrior regarded her leg crossly. The wound was, as she'd suspected, swollen and red, seeping a red specked yellow substance from where it had been stitched. She sighed, and ran her knife through the nearby candle flame for a moment, then paused to let it cool before she used the edge to slice through the stitches.

It opened with a pop, and started gushing various nasty substances. Xena glanced up as she heard Cait swallow, and gave her a wry, knowing look. "I could use some fresh, hot water."

"Right." Cait agreed instantly, turning on her heel and escaping.

The warrior regarded the wound pensively, then reached over and picked up Gabrielle's quill, which she'd left resting on her diary and put the end of it between her teeth, clamping her jaws down tight. She removed the stitches, then probed with the knife, breaking open two more pockets of infection and allowing them to release their poison over her skin.

Then she had to stop, as her hands were shaking from the pain. She waited patiently for it to subside a little, and turned her attention to the burn just next to it. Her face tensed in anger, seeing the brand that had been put into the reddened flesh.

Cait slipped back in, crossing quickly and bringing her over a steaming bucket of water, and some clean linen bandages. "Here, I thought you might need these." She knelt deliberatly close, apparently ashamed of her earlier queasiness. "That's awful."

Xena stared at the tiny lion, a darkly feral glare coming into her eyes. "Look away, Cait. You don't want to see me do this." She growled softly around the quill.

"I'd rather not, if it's all the same to you." The young Amazon replied steadily.

The warrior took a deep breath, then steeled herself as she carefully, and deliberately cut deep into her skin around the brand, then slid her blade under it, removing an entire square of flesh. She lifted it free and the space was filled with rich, crimson blood, which welled up and spilled over her leg in concert with a rush of intense pain that came very close to making her pass out.

She closed her eyes a moment and just concentrated on taking deep breaths, forcing her body to remain upright and shunting the pain to one side. After a minute, it subsided somewhat and she could look down again at the bloody mess of her leg. With a sigh, she put the square of skin down and picked up the clean linen, wetting it and starting to clean the wound off.

"May I do that?" Cait asked, in a small voice.

Xena handed the linen over without a word, and leaned back on her hands, curling her fingers into the furs as the girl, working painstaking caution, rinsed the raw spots out. The stinging was almost unbearable, but she fixed her eyes on a far point, and concentrated on thinking of other things until Cait's hands withdrew. "Thanks."

Cait sat back on her heels and bundled the bloody, pus streaked bandages in a pile, her face very thoughtful. "It's quite a bit braver to bear pain, than cause it, I believe." She looked up. "Isn't it?"

Xena nodded once. "You could say that." She agreed. "But the more you fight, the more you learn how to stand the pain, Cait. It comes with the job." She rummaged in her healer's kit and pulled out some of the powdered herbs. "After a while, you learn to live with it."

She chose an herb, and sprinkled it over the wound. The blood was running clear and red now and she held a square of linen over it, bracing herself for the next step.

"You didn't have to take that burned bit off though, did you?"

"Physically, no." Xena replied quietly. "But I'd rather suffer the pain of that than stand that bastard's mark on my body." She spread some salve on a bandage and pressed it into place over the spot, then tied the linen in place, before she turned her attention to the knife wound.

They heard voices approaching, and both looked up as the tent flap moved back, and Gabrielle entered, her body language fairly screaming irritation to her observant partner. "Hey.. " She stopped. "What are you doing?" Ephiny and Gillen had entered behind her, and paused, watching the warrior with respectful caution.

"Had to let the pressure out of that leg wound." Xena remarked casually, as she continued pulling a bit of gut and a bone needle from her kit. "How'd the conference go?" She glanced up at the visitors. "C'mon in. Siddown."

The two older Amazons took seats on the plain wooden stools Xena had brought into her command tent, and tried not to look at the open gash in the warrior's leg. "Xena, from what Gabrielle tells us, we've only got four days.. no, less, to prepare for a major assault." Gillen started in.

"Yes." Xena threaded the needle, the watched as it was taken out of her hands by her partner. Gabrielle sat down on the pallet and slid her own leg under the warrior's bringing the candle closer so she could see what she was doing. "I can do that, you know."

"I know. But you always get them crooked." The bard muttered, smoothing the raw skin with careful fingers. "It drives me nuts."

"That's why I want to get in some drills tomorrow in close order." Xena folded her arms and addressed the two Amazons. "One of the things I was hoping to find out when I went scouting yesterday was how much time we had. Now I know. The battlements are almost done, we've got outposts established, and the one thing I was really worried about, their advance raiding party has been neutralized."

They digested this. "Xena.. it almost sounds like you went out and got captured on purpose." Ephiny stated. "Did you?"

Xena smiled grimly. "It was one way to get the knowledge I needed, but no." Her face went still for a moment. "And I lost a good friend out there." She looked over as Bennu entered. "We have to use the time we have left to build up stores of arrows and spears, and clear the areas between here and the hills of anything Andreas could use to make siege engines."

"That means burning t'forest." Bennu commented.

"Yes."

"Let's get trap pits dug in the soft areas." The warrior continued. "As he gets closer, I'll want a team to dump every bit of trash we have in the feeder stream just past that outer band of trees to foul the water supply they'll have to use."

"That's a lot to do in four days."

"Guess we'd better get started." Bennu grunted. "Glad t'see you're feeling better, genr'l."

"Does that answer your questions?" Gabrielle looked up for the first time, eyeing Gillen."

The older Amazon exhaled, and folded her arms. "We'll do the best we can." Her eyes met Gabrielle's. "I have to make sure my people are safe, Gabrielle. If that means I ask lots of hard questions, and you're not comfortable with that, it's just to bad." She stood up. "And if you did go out there and get captured on purpose, Xena, it's about the most irresponsible thing I could think of you doing. This army depends on you."

Gillen turned and left, giving the impression of slamming the tent flap behind her.

There was a brief silence. "I would think if she coughs hard enough, she could get that feather out of her backside." Cait finally spoke. "She's ever so jealous of you."

"Of who?" Xena and Gabrielle asked, at the same time.

Bennu cleared his throat. "Genr'l - I figgered to give t'men a little wine tonight."

"Fine." Xena nodded at him. "We'll do field drills tomorrow morning." She paused. "Not at first light, though."

"Will do." Bennu agreed, and ducked out of the tent.

"They've just finished with a lovely smelling stew, would you like some?" Cait asked. "And flatbread and cheese."

"That would be great." Xena smiled. "Thanks, Cait."

The girl scrambled up and left, taking her used linens with her, leaving her two heroes behind.

Gabrielle snipped the last bit of gut, and put the needle down, then looked up as Xena leaned forward and rested her head against the bard's back. "You okay?"

"No." The warrior moaned.

"Easy." She swung Xena's legs up onto the pallet and held her as she laid back down. "You and that too tough for your leathers attitude." She slid her arms around the taller woman as she curled onto her side, and burrowed her head into Gabrielle's chest, seeking comfort.

"You could have called for help, instead of doing this yourself." She scolded the warrior, as she scratched the back of her neck lightly. "What am I going to do with you?"

"It needed to be done." Xena muttered into the warm body she was hugging. "Damn thing was killing me." After a minute or two the agony faded, and she was able to roll over and rest her head on the pillow, laying her forearm over her eyes. "Must have been something on that knife - it was nasty in there."

"Hm." Gabrielle bent over to pick up the debris from the cleaning, then paused, seeing the small, blood covered piece of skin. She straightened and glanced at her partner's leg, then turned around and looked at her face. "That wasn't all from the knife wound, was it?" She pulled Xena's arm away from her eyes. "Xena." The warrior's eyes were a little glazed, and Gabrielle put a hand on her forehead. "Was that really necessary?"

"Probably not." Xena produced a sheepish scowl. "On the other hand, these people are crazy enough to burn herbs into a wound like that. Who knows?"

"You just didn't want that mark on you." Gabrielle fastened a light bandage over the cut, then pulled the furs up over her charge and handed her the waterskin. "Was it worth all that pain?"

"Yes." Xena replied shortly. "I don’t wear anyone's mark."

Gabrielle thought about the hawk on her shoulder, but kept silent. Xena had offered to remove it, after all, and she'd chosen to turn her down. "It's strange, how people use markings. I remember in Brittania, I saw so many of them. I didn't understand what most of them meant, though."

"Clan markings, most of them. Status, that kind of thing." The warrior replied.

"I remember one I saw a lot - a snake with it's tail in it's mouth." The bard went on, picking up the scattered herbs and bits from the kit. "Like armbands, sometimes , they had it."

"That's a symbol for eternity." Xena had her eyes closed. "The neverending circle."

"Eternity.. that's like forever." A smile. "No wonder I really liked that one." Though she had almost, then, stopped believing in forever, she'd briefly considered having one put on her arm. Grasping at straws? Maybe. She shook her head, then glanced up to see Xena watching her, and to her surprise, felt tears welling up.

Xena put a hand on her arm, puzzled. "Gab?"

The bard shook her head, blinking and watching the droplets fall on her leg.

"Hey." Now alarmed, Xena struggled to sit up. "What is it?" She shifted her hold from the bard's arm to her face, turning it so she could make eye contact. "Was it the mark? Damn, Gabrielle, al right. I admit it was a stupid thing to do, okay?"

She covered her eyes with one hand and let a small laugh escape. "No.. I'm sorry." She scrubbed her face. "Something happened at that camp and I think it's just making me think of things."

"What happened?" Xena asked, predictably. "Did someone hurt you?"

"No." Gabrielle gathered both of Xena's hands in hers, feeling the warmth in them. "It was something I did." She took a deep breath, aware of the sharpening of Xena's gaze. "That woman - the one who had you tied up."

"Nellis."

A nod. "You were fighting with her."

"I was trying to provide a distraction for you."

"I figured that out." Gabrielle whispered. "Well, you were, but she was.. " She had to stop a minute. "I was coming towards you, and I saw her lift up her sword, and go at you."

Xena's brow creased, as she was obviously trying to put together non visual sensations. "I knew I - got around her a few times. She knocked me off balance. I thought… "

"Yes." Gabrielle agreed. "You were turned right towards her, and she was.. her sword was coming right at you. I…" Now her own memory was surprising. "I jumped over your horses head and I.. " The viceral image of the knife going in made her hands shake. "I stopped her."

"Mm." Xena didn't seem disturbed. "I felt something brush by me, and then the next thing I knew you were grabbing my arm." She smiled. "Thank you." She hesitated. "She didn't hurt you, did she?"

Gabrielle blinked, gazing into space for a moment. "Xena, I killed her." She lifted her eyes to see the shocked face across from her. It was obviously the last thing in the world her soulmate expected to hear.

A dozen emotions raced across the angular face, ending with a stark sorrow that seemed to have rendered Xena speechless.

"It's okay." Gabrielle released her hand and touched the now chill skin on her cheek. "And before you ask, no, it wasn't an accident."

"Gabrielle." Xena spoke on an exhale. She collected herself and caught the hand caressing her face, chafing the fingers. "Are you all right?" She felt like her world had just turned up side down.

A nod. "I had a chance to think about it while you were sleeping before."

"Damn."

"Are you mad at me?" The craving for Xena's approval had never really faded, she found.

"I'm mad at me." Xena admitted softly. "For putting you in a position where you had to make that choice." A thousand pounds of guilt fell on her as she fell back down onto the pillow.

"Well." Gabrielle laid down next to her. "I don't know - maybe having Dori changed something for me, Xena."

Blue eyes watched her intently.

"I've become more.. I want to say selfish, but it's not that. More protective of what's mine, I guess." Gabrielle mused. "More conscious of the lengths I'll go to in defending myself, and my family." A pause. "They say there's no fiercer thing in nature than a mother with her cubs, right?"

Xena thought about that. It was true, she realized. Gabrielle had changed since she'd had Dori, except they'd spent so much time at home, she hadn't had a chance to really appreciate it until now. She was, undeniably, much fiercer, and more confident, both of her own judgement and Xena's. Wish it'd had that effect on me. The warrior sighed inwardly. Different time, different people, Different circumstances, I guess. "That's what they say, yes."

"I'm not giving up my staff, Xena." Gabrielle snuggled up to her, wrapping an arm around her stomach and resting her head on the warrior's shoulder. "I never want to choose violence first."

"Mm." Xena didn't agree. The thought of her gentle soulmate even having to make that choice sickened her in ways she felt almost impossible to articulate. But Gabrielle needed her support in this, no matter how she felt about it personally. What would being negative bring to either of them, besides tension and unease, in a situation where they could neither afford that?

On the other hand, a thought suddenly intruded. How many people in your life have you known who were willing to risk their life, and soul in your defense?

Xena sighed. Then she reached over and pulled Gabrielle's fair head closer, kissing it gently. She felt the bard let out a breath of relief and relax, and ruffled her hair in deep affection. "I'll try to stay out of trouble, in that case." Another breath of relief. "I'm glad you told me about it."

"Me too." Gabrielle felt almost lightheaded. She'd been more worried about her soulmate's reaction than she'd realized, and now that it was over, she didn't feel like moving a single inch.

Xena tilted her head, and regarded the soundly sleeping bard with a bemused smile. Then she shrugged, and pulled the covers up, gazing thoughtfully up into the gloom.

********************************

Gabrielle woke when the first light turned the sky outside from black to purple. She turned over and checked her partner, who was still asleep, arms clasped lightly around her. Xena's skin was warm, and she could see the furrows in her brow, though, and she sighed softly, giving the warrior a worried look. "Hey." She stroked Xena's cheek gently.

Slowly, the dark lashes fluttered, and tired blue eyes appeared. "Hey."

"You look like Hades, sweetheart." Gabrielle smoothed some very disheveled hair back out of the way. "Didn't sleep well, did you?"

Xena shook her head and shifted, visibly biting the inside her lip as she rolled over onto her back and grabbed her leg.

"Here. Let me do that." The bard sat up and lit the candle by the bedside, bringing it close and carefully removing the bandage over the wound in Xena's leg. She sucked in a breath with a hiss. "Oh. Xena." The cut was swollen and tense, an angry red that was painful even to look at. "Okay - sit still." She got up and collected the things she'd need, kneeling over the small brazier in the tent and stirring up the almost dead coals to heat some water.

Xena watched her, letting her weight back down onto the pillows and tugging the covers up around her shoulders. She felt, frankly, like a pile of centaur poop. Between shivering and the ache of her wounds, it had been an uncomfortable night at best, and the only thing that had even made it bearable was Gabrielle's close presence, which had provided warmth and soothed her restlessness. She laid there quietly, steeling herself for the trial she knew was coming, the reopening again of her leg wound, which was throbbing so tightly it was making it hard to breathe.

A gentle pressure on the pallet made her opened her eyes, to see Gabrielle's concerned expression facing her. "Gonna have to open that up again."

"I know." The bard handed her a cup. "Here, drink this."

The warrior took it and sniffed suspiciously. "I thought I was the healer."

"Xena, shut up and drink it." Her partner scolded her. "Don't make this tough on me, okay?"

She drank the mixture down, recognizing the fever herbs, and the ones to make her sleep, and couldn't really argue with either of them. Forcing herself out of bed in the condition she was in wasn’t' only a stupid idea, it was one likely to earn her the justified wrath of her partner.

"Lay down." Gabrielle put a hand on her shoulder and pushed gently, then laid a fresh, clean piece of linen over the injured leg and set to work, deliberately keeping her back to Xena so she didn't have to see the pain cross her soulmate's face. She opened the cut again, and let it drain, then cleaned it very carefully, rinsing the red, angry flesh out repeatedly with clean water.

Xena didn't make a sound, and the leg under her touch remained still. Gabrielle packed the wound with clensing herbs and wrapped it firmly, instead of putting stitches back in, then she rested her hand on Xena's knee for a moment, before she turned and met the quiet eyes watching her. "All done."

"Thanks." Xena murmured, peering down the length of her body. "Good job."

Gabrielle put the used linen down and swiveled around, picking up a waterskin and making sure the warrior drank a good portion of it. "I'm going to go check things out for you." The bard put a finger on her partner's nose. "I'll see what needs doing, get people started, make sure everyone's busy, then I'll come back and let you know what's going on, okay?"

Xena folded her hands over her stomach and regarded her bemusedly. "Okay." She agreed "If you'll pass over here that set of scrolls, and a couple of quills. I need to write out the battle plans."

Gabrielle drummed her fingers on the bed. "You'll stay right here though, right? Tucked into this bed, nice and warm and comfy?"

"Yes, I will." Xena promised gravely. "If I could get an apple or something to chew on."

"Oh, I think we can do a little better than that." Gabrielle picked up her hand, and rubbed the knuckles and against her lips, kissing them. "How do you feel otherwise?"

Totally, completely, absolutely disgusting. "Fine." Xena produced a smile. "G'wan."

"All right. I'll be back in a little while with some breakfast. You lie down now, and just rest for awhile, Xena."

Obediently, she closed her eyes and let the darkness come back in for a while, leaving the pain behind.

Gabrielle watched the planed face relax, and she spent a moment just sitting there, holding the strong hand clasped in hers. Then she pulled the covers up a little tighter, and stood, walking to the water basin to scrub her face, shaking herself into wakefulness in order to face the day.

She changed into a padded undertunic and heavy leggings, then slipped the layered armor over her head and let it settle onto her shoulders, buckling the belt and arranging the dagger so that it rested against her leg. She was starting to get used to the armor, she was surprised to realize, after wondering how Xena stood wearing hers for all those years.

"Guess you can get used to anything, after a while." She murmured, as she shrugged her cloak over her shoulders and fastened the throat catch. At the tent flap, she turned for just a moment more, and watched the sleeping warrior shift restlessly. "Be right back, Xena." She turned and ducked out of the tent, jumping as a slim form rose out of the morning mist to greet her. "Zeus… you scared the poop out of me, Cait."

"Sorry about that." Cait apologized. "How's Xena?"

"Not very comfortable, but we're working on that." Gabrielle replied. "I'm going to go check things out, then bring some breakfast back here. She's sleeping right now."

"Right." Cait nodded. "I've been trading off with Pally keeping watch - she likes the daytime better, so she can draw and whatnot, so I"ve taken the night bits."

"Thanks, Cait. If I know you're out here, it makes me feel a lot better." Gabrielle smiled at the young Amazon. "There's always levels of trust, but there's only a handful of people I'd feel comfortable leaving around Xena when she's not up to par."

"Goodness. What a compliment that was. Thank you." Cait laughed in surprise.

Gabrielle wrinkled her nose in a grin, then started off towards the central supply area. Her head was still a little stuffed up, but otherwise she felt pretty good, and the cold breeze moving through the encampment felt nice ruffling her hair.

"Morning, Gabrielle." Gillen caught her up as she crossed in front of the makeshift armory. "Just heard in from the four outposts - all's quiet so far."

"That's good." The bard sighed. "Listen, I think I owe you an apology for last night. I was pretty rattled over the whole day."

The older Amazon Queen strolled along for a bit, considering the words. "Gabrielle, it's not that I don't respect you." She spoke slowly. "But I've been the leader of my people for a long time, and I've seen and done a lot during that period."

"I understand that, Gillen. Your experience is invaluable to what we're doing here."

Gillen sighed. "Gabrielle, may I speak frankly?"

"Sure."

"I'm old enough to be your mother."

Gabrielle nibbled the inside of her lip. "And having to listen to me is making you totally crazy, right?"

"Something like that." A tilt of her head. "I know you've had experience, Gabrielle. In some areas, more than I have. I know you've traveled, and you've lived for a number of years with a very canny strategist, but damn it, you're just a kid!"

"Mm." Gabrielle held open the flap of the rough tent they'd set up for the battle commanders to meet in. She could hear voices already in side, and she exhaled. "I wish I felt like a kid sometimes." She admitted softly. "Gillen, you're just going to have to trust me. I really do have a grasp on what's going on, and the trust of the matter is, there's some things that Xena knows, and has plans for, that she'll only tell me."

"She doesn't trust us?"

"Given what happened in Amphipolis, would you?"

Gillen made a sucking sound as she followed Gabrielle inside the tent. "We'll talk about this some more."

Gabrielle nodded, then moved to the table in the tent, which was covered in maps and surrounded by half lit forms. "Good morning."

Heads turned. "Morning, Gabrielle." Ephiny gave a half wave of her hand. "How's Xena'?"

"Doing all right." The bard assured them. "That leg gash is the worst of it. The bruises have already started fading. You know Xena."

"She's tough." Tyldus nodded gravely. "My warriors have set up a routine to exchange information with the outposts - we didn't want to trust signal fires."

"Good." Gabrielle circled the table and studied the map. The river was prominent, and their positions on it were carefully marked and deployed in a defensive arc that covered the span from past the bridge, back to the forest. The outposts were shown, the furthest out just at the point where the hills came down to the river valley. The road it watched was the only land route that approached Amphipolis, which Andreas would have to use for his supply wagons. He could take them off the road, but the boggy areas and the outthrusts of granite made passage by wagon very tough, and they were banking on the fact that Andreas would not have had time to restock his horses to use a pack train instead.

So the plan was, to let him come ahead, down the road until he cleared the foothills. Then the Amazons would start hit and run attacks, using the forest that ringed the river valley for cover, and their horses for fast escape.

Not that it would stop Andreas, of course, but it might demoralize some of his troops, and as Xena said, every soldier they put out of action was one less they had to face in battle. "How are the pits and traps doing?"

"No bad." Bennu grunted. "Need some more pointed sticks, though."

"We have some here." Gillen nodded. "I'll have a bunch ridden out to you after the recap."

"Xena wanted to run the ground troops out onto the plain today, and practice close order." Gabrielle reminded them. "It's our weak area."

"Right." Paliemon agreed. "Rampant individulaists that we are." He chuckled and scrubbed a hand through his close cropped blond hair. "What did Xena say, we've got about four days, wasn't it?"

"Looks like it, yes. Maybe a little less - it depends on if Andreas pushes or not." Gabrielle replied, cocking her head as she heard a low rumble of thunder. "And I think the weather's working on our behalf. Discipline or no discipline, marching in the mud just slows things down."

"Gabrielle, what's the plan if we can't hold them?" Gillen suddenly asked.

The bard arranged one of the markers. "We fall back behind the river." She replied. "Destroy the bridge, and dredge the ford. Xena had chains run to the logs and left the ends on the far side."

"How long will that keep them, though?" Gillen persisted.

"It depends." Gabrielle rested her weight on the table. "The thing about the river is, we can hold them there with a reduced force, and start moving troops and the support people out to the valley." She moved a marker idly. "As long as they don't cross and block us off from there, we'll be fine. But Xena's hoping to hold them at the battlements long enough for the really bad weather to set in, and that's going to make it very tough on them. The river here doesn't freeze over, but the outsprings towards the hills do."

"So, if they do break through, we have to keep them from getting between us, and the path through the pass towards the valley?"

"Right." Gabrielle agreed. "But Xena figures if we can keep them on this side of the river, when the weather starts clearing we can start pushing them back." The thunder rolled again. "I don't.. " The sound of hoofbeats approaching made her stop speaking. Tyldus trotted to the tent flap and looked outside, recognizing the sound as centaur and not equine. He bent his head outside for a long moment, then pulled it back inside. "Gabrielle, the furthermost outpost is sending word that they've pass through some refugess." The centaur's face was very grave. "They are fleeing before Andreas army, and they have some horrible stories to tell."

Gabrielle nodded. "Ephiny, take two warriors, and some extra horses - see if you can get them up here more quickly. We need that information." She got off the table. "I'm going to brief Xena. I expect she'll want to talk to them as soon as they get here."

There was a rustle of moment, and Gabrielle ignored it as she walked out of the tent, and headed towards the meal preparation area. She collected a basket of breakfast then made her way back to where her soulmate was resting.

Cait and Paladia were seated side by side near the tent flap, sharing some bread and cheese. Gabrielle gave them a little wave, before she ducked inside the tent and focused her eyes on the pallet. Xena was still curled up asleep, her body finally relaxed except for the faint flexing of her fingers against the blankets.

The bard set her basket down and knelt by Xena's side, wishing she didn't have to wake her. Finally, she put her hand out and tested the temperature of the tanned skin, not surprised when the dark eyelashes fluttered. "Sorry."

Xena yawned and blinked, focusing on Gabrielle's face reluctantly. "Your fault." She rumbled. "You put enough of those damn herbs in that cup to knock out Argo."

"You feel a little cooler." Gabrielle noted.

"Ungh." Xena rolled over onto her back and cautiously stretched her body out. "That leg's killing me, but everything else seems to be okay." She probed the bandaged area. "But it doesn’t feel as tight as it did before."

"Good." Gabrielle tugged her basket closer and sat down cross-legged to dig out it's contents. "There are some refugees coming in who have firsthand knowledge of Andreas. I thought you might want to talk to them." She stirred up some thick venison stew and offered her injured companion a spoonful. "Open wide."

"Gabrielle." Xena moved back over onto her side. "I'm not Dori."

"I know. She'd have just opened her mouth and not given me a hassle." The bard replied blithely. "Open up." She rewarded the warrior with a grin as she complied, and started munching. "I sent Ephiny to go fetch our guests, and it looks like Bennu and Paliemon have the traps and pits under control."

Thunder drowned out her next words, and she paused, to wait for it to finish. "And, it's going to rain."

"So I hear." Xena reached out a hand idly and let it rest on Gabrielle's propped elbow. "Did they get those pits finished?"

"Almost." Gabrielle offered up another spoonful. "They were getting asking for more sticks." A vivid picture came to her mind of the use of those sticks, and she winced. "I know this is stupid, but I wish there was a way for us to do this without fighting."

"You do?"

A sigh. "Yeah." Gabrielle shook her head as she regarded the stew. "I know he's an evil person, and I know someone has to stop him, but damn it, Xena - there should be a better way."

"You really feel that way?"

"Yes." Gabrielle looked up. "At this stage, it's kinda stupid, isn't it?"

Xena smiled. "No." She rubbed her soulmate's arm. "I'm glad you feel that way. It's the right way to think, Gabrielle - because you're absolutely correct. There should be a better way. War is stupid." She exhaled. "Believe me, that's been on my mind. If I could have though of a way to stop him without going through this, I would have done it in a heartbeat." She shook here head. "But there wasn't. In order to negotiate, as you know, you need to have something the other person wants. Either land, or money, or something - the only thing I could bargain with was that we'd stop resisting him, and he knows he's got a force big enough to roll over us anyway."

"He does." Green eyes watched her face.

"Yes, he does, or at least, he thinks he does." Xena amended. "All we really could do is run, or break up into little groups and harass him."

"Would that have worked?"

"Maybe. After a long time, and after he'd rampaged all over everyone else." Xena sighed. "It would have been very hard to coordinate."

Gabrielle fed her another spoonful of stew. "You want to take this, and I'll change your bandage again? I think packign it with that herb mixture helped." She handed the bowl over. "But Xe - this isn't going to heal in three days."

There was a quiet moment, then a soft scrape of the spoon against wood. "I know." Xena replied evenly. "It won't be the first time I've fought hurt."

"Xena…"

"Don't forget, Gabrielle, that's how I learned to be as good on horseback as I am - I had no choice." The blue eyes regarded her seriously. "As long as I can stay on Argo's back, I'll be fine."

Gabrielle stood up and paced, visibly agitated. "Xena, this is not the same thing. They're going to be coming right for you, we both know that."

"This is not a negotiable item." The warrior stated flatly. "I have to be out there, Gabrielle." Xena sat up, then gingerly swung her legs over the edge of the bed. "I've fought with worse than this."

Gabrielle regarded her for a moment, then sighed. "Not this kind of fight." She picked up her supplies and sat down on the ground with a thump, taking her temper out on the strips of linen as she yanked them from the bag. "Stubborn." She muttered under her breath, as she prepared another dressing.

Fingers scratched her lightly on the back of the neck, and she turned her head with a scowl, to see gently twinkling blue eyes gazing back at her. One winked, and she replied with the tip of her tongue, poking it out from between her teeth.

Xena took that as an invitation and inclined her head, bending over and capturing the tiny pink slice, then lengthening the contact as Gabrielle tipped her head back, her neck muscles loosening as the teasing exploration started a familiar ache in her belly.

They paused to breathe, and the bard rubbed her cheek against the warm leg next to her, gazing half lidded up at her companion. "I think… " She took a breath, and started unwrapping the bandage. "I'd better take care of this." A soft puff of breath moved her hair, and she felt a little nibble against her scalp. "While I still can."

Xena chuckled, a deep, rich sound that vibrated her senses, and she worked quickly, removing the old linen and repacking the wound, distracted by subtle strokes that ran up and down her arms, then circled her belly, tickling in unexpected places. "Xe." She chuckled softly, trying to wind the bandage around the muscular thigh. "Oo.. um, hold still..ah, no, on second thought.. " Her hands slid from the linen to skin, returning the light touches carefully, but now that her task was finished, the exploring fingers became more insistent. "'Y'know… it's broad daylight."

Xena nibbled her way up her partner's neck to her ear. "And your point is what?" She growled.

"My point is.." Xena's hands hit a very sensitive spot and she sucked air in. "Um… my point is…"

"Mmm?" Xena bit down on the skin of her neck, rolling the tiny fold in her teeth and licking it.

"Um."

"Oo.. I found one of your points." Xena had unhooked her armor and slid a hand beneath it.

Gabrielle felt her mouth go dry, and she turned, sliding up onto the bed and reaching carefully for her partner's battered body. It was…

A little scary, because she knew someone could walk in at any minute.

Xena pulled her down and stretched out next to her, and she stopped caring if anyone did or not.

"No more arguments?" The low voice rumbled softly.

Gabrielle tilted her head and kissed the waiting lips. "No." She whispered.

"Good." Xena smiled.

***************************************

The tent was very quiet. The brazier off to one side made it's occasional crackle and spat, and the wind ruffled the tent fabric, making the candle on the rough desk flutter, but the soft patter of the rain was all Xena could hear outside as she sat, fingers curled around a quill, and wrote with firm, steady strokes.

The troops, she knew, were out in front of the camp drilling, despite the weather, and the refugees were almost all the way to the river. Xena paused, and put her quill down, then picked up a warm cup and took a mouthful of the herbal tea, rinsing it around inside her mouth before she swallowed it. She shifted a little and winced, then slowly eased her leg into a more comfortable position. The ache had spread it's way down almost to her knee, and sitting up wasn't helping any.

And everything else ached too, as the damp, cold weather played havoc with her abused body. Xena allowed herself a moment of self pity, then she shook her head and went back to her writing, taking another sip of the tea as she carefully copied out a list of the troops under her command.

She pulled a map closer and studied it, then nodded and scribbled something else down, reaching up and pulled her cloak a little closer around her neck. A soft pattering of footsteps made her ears prick up and she paused, eyeing the tent flap as it was nudged aside and Ares entered, his tongue lolling and water glistening off his dark fur. "Hey there, boy." Xena found herself smiling, glad to see her furry friend. "C'mere."

Ares obligingly trotted over and stuck his large head into her lap, getting her wet and jostling her wound painfully. She ignored that, and rubbed his ears. "How are you doing, hmm?" She felt under his collar, and unclipped the round, bone holder, sliding a gut band off it and opening the small capsule. Inside was a tightly rolled piece of parchment, which she undid and spread on the table, reading it while idly petting Ares. Her mother's note was brief, as usual, and to the point. Xena shook her head and turned it over, sharpening her quill and dipping it into the ink, then scribing a short response. "I'm fine, just a couple of scratches - don't worry. Gabrielle is fine. Tell Dori we love her. X.

She rolled it back up and inserted it. "How'd you like some stew before you go back, hm, Ares?"

"Arogr." The wolf licked her knee.

"Hey, Paladia!" Xena lifted her voice, managing a half grin when the tall, dour Amazon poked her head inside the tent.

"Yeah?"

"Ask one of those guys outside to bring a pot of stew next time they go past, okay?"

The pale eyes regarded her.

"Enough for all of us?" Xena suggested.

"All right." Paladia agreed. "Bout the only way I'm gonna get fed. They sure wouldn't bring it just for me."

Xena decided not to tell her the stew was for the wolf. "Right."

Paladia disappeared, and Xena propped her head up, reviewing her work. Moments later, a soft tap on the tent surface made her look up, to see Gillen outlined in the doorway. "C'mon in."

The older Amazon entered. "Glad to see you up and around." She commented, seating herself on one of the low stools near the desk.

"Not the first time I've taken a few knocks." Xena dismissed the injuries with a wave of her hand. "What can I do for you?"

"Still, it doesn't get any easier, does it." Gillen smiled. "I know how my bones hate this weather, and it's been years since I've broken any of them."

"Mm." Xena rocked her hand in a gesture of agreement. "Like anything else, you deal with it." She scribed a number onto her list. "This weather's our friend."

"True." The Amazon agreed briskly. "But sickness won't help us any."

"By the time a true sickness could spawn, and work it's way through here, the battle will be over." Xena replied flatly. "The drilling might save some lives."

Gillen thought about that, making a light sucking noise against her lower lip. "Interesting view of things." She admitted. "Well, I'm going to ride out to the outposts. See what I can see."

Xena nodded. "Good idea. I'll want to lead a raiding party out there in about a day, when Andreas gets a little closer."

Gillen regarded the sturdy, dark haired figure behind the desk, it's strong profile outlined in candlelight. In the flicker, you might miss the lurid bruises, but she knew they were there, and the angry line of abraisons across her eyes, along with the ragged cut at her throat were very obvious. "Sure you're up to that/"

Very pale, cool blue eyes flicked to hers. "Are you questioning it?"

A hand. "Just asking." Gillen stood. "You're one tough bastard, Xena - and we all know it. Don't feel like you have to keep making the point." She walked out, leaving the warrior to ponder her words, the dark furred wolf curled at her feet twitching his ears.

Xena regarded the now empty tent, and took a sip of tea, waiting to go back to her writing when she heard very soft footfalls approaching, with a rolling, familiar rhythm to them. She propped her chin up on her fist and smiled as the flap was brushed aside with an air of ownership and Gabrielle entered, a cast iron pot hanging from one hand. The bard was drenched, her pale hair plastered to her head, and dewy moisture glistening on her face. "Gabrielle." Xena sighed. "You didn't have to bring that over here. Someone else in this camp of thousands could have done it."

A damp grin. "Hey, Ares! How are you boys! I had to come over here anyway. I'm freezing, and I needed to change." She plunked the pot down on the table and stripped out of her cloak. "Did I just see Gillen coming out of here?" She paused to ruffled the wolf's fur, as he got up and rubbed against her legs.

"Uh huh." Xena climbed painfully to her feet and limped over to her bags, pulling out one of her own warm tunics and a piece of linen. "Here." She extended her arm. "This is heavier than what you've got."

"Brr. Thanks." Gabrielle gladly removed her armor and the padded shirt under them, then slipped into the wonderfully warm fabric. "Mmm." She hugged her arms. "So. What'd she want?"

"To give me a hard time." The warrior grumbled. "I don't know where everyone gets the idea I have this stoic, gotta prove it doesn't hurt attitude."

Gabrielle paused in mid motion as she tied her belt, and her eyebrows lifted almost up into her hairline as she peered at her soulmate, who was limping around the room determindly. She snorted softly, then went back to her task. "I can't imagine."

Xena stopped. "What?"

"Nothing." The bard smiled. "You thinking of doing some drills in here, or would you like to just sit down and let me change your bandages?"

The warrior put her hands on her hips and glared. "You're making fun of me, aren't you?"

"No." Gabrielle shook her head. "I'd never do that." She walked over and held her hands out. "C'mere."

Xena narrowed her eyes, but complied, easing her weight back down on her chair and exhaling. "It's not getting any better."

"Well, you know, honey - like you always tell me, it takes time for your body to fix things." Gabrielle answered lightly, kneeling and untying the lacing that held her leggings on and peeling them back to expose her injury. "It looks better." She looked up in time to catch the faintly discouraged expression on Xena's face. "It's only been a day, Xena."

A fist propped the warrior's head up. "I know." Xena admitted. "But there's so much to do, and so little time to do it in, Gabrielle. I don't have time to be hurt."

"Maybe if you stayed off it… " Gabrielle suggested gently. "The refugees won't be here for another candlemark at least - why not lie down?"

"Won't help."

"It won't hurt." Gabrielle replaced the drawing herbs and refastened the bandage, aware of the muscles moving restlessly under her fingertips. "Is Ares just visiting?"

"No." Xena sighed grumpily. "He brought a note from my mother, worrying over nothing, as usual."

"Worrying about you, as usual, you mean." Gabrielle tied the soft leather laces back up, and gave the injured leg a small pat. "Everything all right back there?"

"Dori's fine - mother said something about feathers, and a bucket, but didn't get into details." Xena pushed herself upright and pulled a set of wooden bowls over, separating them, then scooping the steaming, richly scented stew out.

"That for Paladia?" Gabirelle picked one up as she watched Xena nod. "I'll take it over." She stood and walked to the tent flap, sticking her head out and spotting the dour, damp form right outside. "Hey… hungry?"

Paladia looked up, her straight blond hair dripping into her pale eyes. "Yeah." She took the bowl and drew her knees up. "Thanks." A flap of the tent fabric had been propped up to shelter the front of it from the driving rain, but it was hard to stay dry because of the wind.

Gabrielle ducked back inside and picked up her thicker cloak, which had a waxy waterproof covering, then went back outside and offered it to Paladia. "Here.. I think this's a little better than yours."

Paladia stopped eating, and put her bowl down, then took the cloak and examined it. Her eyes flicked suddenly up and captured Gabrielle's, in an exchange of memories that marked the mixed history between them. "Thanks, Gabrielle."

With a faint sense of shock, the bard realized it was the first time Paladia had used her name since they'd met in the cavern. "You're welcome, Paladia." She replied quietly.

The gray eyes examined her a moment more, then Paladia returned her attention to her stew, after tucking the cloak around her body to keep the rain off. Gabrielle reentered the tent, and found her partner hunched over the desk, chewing half heartedly at her stew.

Poor thing. The bard could see by the stiffness of her movements just how miserable her best friend was. She walked over and took the spoon from her, setting it into the bowl and lacing their fingers. "C'mon." She pulled.

Xena considered arguing, then simply gave up and allowed herself to be led over to the pallet, dropping down onto it and curling onto her side. She expected Gabrielle to tuck her in, but didn't expect the added warmth of the bard's body folding around her own as she joined her in bed, pulling the covers up over both of them.

Boy, that felt good. Xena exhaled in sheer relief. Okay, so maybe a nap wasn't such a bad idea after all.

Maybe she was being a little grumpy.

Gabrielle's voice floated lazily over her, as the bard's hands rubbed her shoulders, easing the stiffness out of them Even the fever she'd felt settling in her very bones seemed to fade, and she closed her eyes, abandoning the fight for the time being.

"And then, the storyteller came to a small village high in the hills, where she found the people of the village having a terrible fight." Gabrielle felt Xena relax against her, and she smiled. "They told the storyteller the village was split into to parts, and all the people with dark hair stayed on one side, but all the people with light colored hair stayed on the other side. "

"Mm." The corner's of the warrior's mouth twitched.

"And the storyteller said, "But you are all from the same families, how can you divide yourselves like that?" The people told her. "We must, because we are different. See how different we are? The dark haired people do not like the light haired people, for they are trecherous."

"Sneaky." Xena murmured.

Gabrielle chuckled softly. "Sometimes, yeah." She added as an aside. "And the light haired people took great offense to that, becoming angry, and throwing rocks at the dark haired people, until they all ran away, and went behind their walls, vowing to come out the next day and fight again." She fell silent, seeing the peaceful look on her partner's face.

"And?" The warrior's voice was low, but intelligible.

"Thought you were sleeping."

"Resting my eyelids."

"Mm. I see. Okay, well.. " Gabrielle wriggled her toes, and got more comfortable. "The Storyteller was very sad, but she went with the light haired people, for she was of that kind herself, and listened to them planning their war. She tried to tell them how wrong they were, but the people would not listen to her, and just told her that she did not understand."

"All dark haired people are evil, and violent, and we cannot trust them. " They said. "You saw yourself, how they spoke horrible words about us. We must fight them, and rid our village of their ugly kind." Her fingers slowly eased the tangles out of the dark locks spilling over her chest.

"And the Storyteller cried." Gabrielle whispered. "You are wrong," She said. "For my greatest friend has dark hair, and there is no better a person in all the wide world." She traced a cheekbone with one finger. "But as she tried to convince them, and great yell went up, and all the light haired people rushed off to see what was the matter. The storyteller followed them, and they all gathered about the well in the center of the little houses they lived in."

"Mm."

"Now, this well was very deep, and very slippery, and a man cried out as they came that a child, the youngest child in the village, had slipped when getting a dipper of water and fallen down the well." The bard felt the light exhale against the chest of her skin. "And the light haired people cried out to the Storyteller, and said, "You are wise, and you must help us. How can we save this child? We have no rope, for it is all on the dark haired people's side, and we cannot reach the child, who is sobbing, and breaking our hearts."

"And so." Gabrielle murmured. "The storyteller thought, and thought, and then she told them. "I can bring someone to help you, but you will not like them." The people cried out that it did not matter, and told the storyteller to go on. "I have a magic." The storyteller said. " My magic lets me close my eyes, and wish with all my heart, and when I do that, a very special friend will come to me."

The warrior was asleep now, breathing slowly and evenly.

"So I did." Gabrielle lowered her voice. "And you came." She pressed her lips against Xena's head and sighed, saving the rest of the story for later.

Hoping there was time later, because she knew, after this brief bit of peace, that time would shorten unmercifully, bringing them towards a conflict whose edges were building even now out there, not very far away.

And Xena wasn't ready for it.

************************

These characters, and boy, are they ever characters, are mostly the property of Renaissance Pictures, Universal MCA, and whoever else owns stock and interest in Xena: Warrior Princess. This fiction was written for my amusement only, and not in any way, shape or form for profit - and it is not intended to infringe on the copyright holders of the characters.

Some of the characters are mine, and the story ideas.. well, who knows where they come from? Must be one weird place, that's for sure.

Specific Story Disclaimers:

Violence - this is a Xena: Warrior Princess story. This is not Teletubbies. Even though there are some rumors of similarities. Some of the violence is graphic, but we try not to dwell on it.

Subtext - Considering that the TV Series just aired an episode establishing Xena and Gabrielle as eternal soulmates, any disclaimer of subtext on my part is really kind of goofy in the extreme. The two characters are in love with each other, and have been for years. You can choose to see them as just friends, but then you might not want to read this fanfic, in case it changes your mind or anything like that.

Emotional Content - this is not one my more comedic efforts. There are moments of humor, however.

********************************************************************

Dark Comes the Morning - Part 21

By Melissa Good

Things had quieted down, finally. Paladia had set her bowl down and wrapped her arms around her knees, glad the damn tent only had one approach she had to watch.

Smart, that Xena, to have put her kit up in a u shaped space surrounded by a natural sort of cove in the river valley, where the rocks and stuff had pushed up and formed a little cup, so no one could get near the damn thing without climbing up it and showing their heads against the sky, or by coming up the path she was sitting in front of.

Frigging lucky thing, because otherwise she’d have to be marching her butt around in a circle watching the place or risk a lecture. As it was, except for the drippy rain, this wasn’t a bad duty to be stuck with, since the big shots shared whatever they got to eat with her, and she got to sit down the whole day.

And didn’t have to carry much.

It was sort of boring though, and the rain kept her from drawing. She had a couple of things in mind she wanted to do, and even the ground was too wet for her to trace in it with a twig. Like watching Xena fight all tied up and blindfolded, kicking people’s butts up one side and down the other.

Or seeing little miss ‘violence is not the answer’ go completely wild animal and gut that blond leathery bitch with that short sword she called a knife. Whoa. Paladia’s eyes had almost popped out, though most of the Amazons hadn’t been surprised at all.

"The Queen is very protective of Xena."

Paladia had looked at them, then looked over at the snarling, feral looking dirt covered, blood covered, vicious warrior, who, now with her hands free as they rode off was grabbing people’s heads and smacking them against trees.

Oh. Yeah. She needed protection, in the worst way.

Weird ass people.

Paladia sniffed the cloak she had wrapped around her and her nose twitched. At least Gabrielle took care of her stuff, and it didn’t smell like three week old dead deer. The garment was well tanned, and very soft, even with it’s waxy coating, and had a lingering trace of mint and spice in it.

They were both pretty tidy, she decided, having spent some time in the camp. Not like some, whose names she’d keep to herself, who thought water and soap were poisonous. Even when these two got dirty and they got dirty a hell of a lot, they dragged their butts off somewhere and washed.

Even saw Xena slog into a half froze stream on a morning so cold it curled Paladia’s butt hairs just to think about it. Like that damn pool inside that stupid cave, that the crazy woman had dove into to find that stupid little hole they’d all gotten stuck in.

Course, she hadn’t had any problem getting back out. Just picked her ass up out of the water and shook herself like a stupid dog, making Cait go all goo goo eyed cause she knew just what a bitch it was to even try to get through that stream.

Stupid kid. She had a bet on with Cait, though, that the little pissant was Xena’s kid, and not just Her High and Mighty Majesty’s. Cait said, no way, but bones are bones, and you only had to take one look at that little brat’s face to see whose bones she had in there. Besides, the fuzzybutt had about said it right there in front of them, so what was Cait’s problem anyhow?

Speaking of. Paladia checked the sky out. Where was Cait? Wasn’t like her to spend a heartbeat less time by her idols than she could have. She looked around to see if there was anyone she could ask, then cursed and hoisted herself to her feet. At least the rain was letting up, so maybe she could get her sketch pad while she was at it.

Cautiously, she poked her head inside the tent and waited for her eyes to adjust to the dim light inside. Huh. Must be nice. Both of them were curled up in bed together, and she thought they were both sleeping until the candlelight glittered off Gabrielle’s eyes as she looked over.

"Gotta go get Cait." Paladia kept her voice down.

Gabrielle nodded in understanding. "Can you see if those refugees are almost here?" She whispered.

Sure. Like they’d tell me. "All right." Maybe they’d tell Cait.

Yeah, they probably would, or she’d cut their toes off. She let the flap down and squished away, pulling her boots from the muddy ground with a sodden sucking sound that reminded her of cows farting.

People were moving around a whole lot, though. Lots and lots of muddy, grubby guys and girls were entering the camp, heading for their tents with little clangs of weapons and armor. She made her way through them and up towards where Cait had picked a spot out to put up the little tent they shared.

Naturally, she’d found the bitchiest, most inconvenient place in the whole damn camp, where you had to practically pull yourself up a damn embankment and climb a tree to get to it. Paladia bit back a yelp as she barked her knuckles on a branch, and glared at it, then gave up in disgust and climbed to the little nook, just large enough for the tent, and a place to stand before it.

Nutball.

She crouched, and carefully moved the tent flap aside, not wanting to have her fingers taken off by a knife. You had to be careful of Cait that way, because she carried a half dozen of the things, and always seemed to have one out and pointed somewhere dangerous.

It was dark inside, though, and very quiet. Paladia eased onto her half of the furs and blinked, until her eyes adjusted. Cait was there, all right, curled up inside her thick blanket asleep, her pale hair loose and disheveled out of it's usual neat braid.

Paladia sighed. Every damn time she looked at Cait lately, she got the weirdest stomachache. It was like she wanted to throw up, but on the other hand, she didn’t, and it was driving her nuts. She folded her hands in front of her and cleared her throat. "Hey."

Usually, Cait snapped awake and started reaching for sharp things. That’s why she kept her distance and made sure she wasn’t within range. But this time the fair lashes lifted slowly, and Cait blinked a few times, lifting a hand to rub her eyes before she looked over.

"Gosh. Is it late?"

"What do you think?" Paladia asked bluntly. "Some of us had to slog over here in the rain."

"Sorry." Cait pulled herself up, sitting cross legged. "I was having the most horrid dream. Good job you woke me." She reached over and captured a waterskin, pushing her hair back and drinking from it thirstily. Then she stopped in mid gulp. "Who’s watching Xena ?" She demanded, wiping her mouth.

"Gabrielle." Paladia answered placidly. "Don’t get all wacky on me. She said I could go get you."

Cait subsided. "Well, that’s all right then." She admitted. "I’ll just wash up, then we can get some supper on the way back over."

"Fine." Paladia started rummaging out her sketching thigns. "Rain’s finally stopping."

"Excellent." Cait shrugged out from under the furs and laid them neatly back down, tucking the edges in with serious precision. She grabbed her small bag of soap and ducked out the back section of the small tent, hitching herself up on a shelf of rock that dipped down just enough to become a small basin like hollow.

Of course, it was filled with rainwater at the moment, exactly what Cait was looking for.

"Y’know, they got washing up barrels down below." Paladia remarked loudly. "You don’t have to scrub up in a freaking puddle."

"It’s quite nice." Cait disagreed sturdily, scooping up a double handful of the icy cold water and scrubbing her face with it. Her gray eyes popped wide open and she sucked in a breath at the shock, but didn’t make a sound otherwise. "It’s .. fresh." She took a sip. "And very clean. You know, Xena always says that’s so important."

Paladia rolled her eyes. "So clean water can’t be warm?"

"Well, we’ve got no fire up here now, do we?" Cait replied, taking out her soap and washing her mostly exposed, mildly shivering body. "Besides, Xena says it’s not a bad thing to get used to cold, then you don’t’ mind it so much when you’re fighting."

"She’s inside a warm tent snuggling up to Gabrielle." Paladia muttered. "Who I betcha woudn’t let her go wash in the rain right now for nothing."

"Sorry… did you say something?" Cait called.

"No."

Cait leaned back and let the finely misting rain cover her, rinsing the soap off and leaving her feeling quite clean. She dabbled her feet in the little pool and regarded the clouds, the mossy rocks she was resting on providing a not too uncomfortable spot.

"Hey."

Cait jerked, then turned her head. "What? Don’t do that. You startled the life out of me."

Paladia was standing next to her, hands on her hips. "You’re lying there sleeping in the rain, doofball. I called you six times."

"Was I?" Cait blinked in astonishment, viewing her completely soaked body. "Well. I guess I was." She agreed. "Wasn’t that stupid?" She sat up and swung her legs down over the rock, which was high enough to bring their heads almost on a level. "Must have been that dream - it knocked me right off."

Paladia scowled. "Yeah, well – why don’t you go inside and put some clothes on before you freeze your butt off?"

Cait studied the square, sometimes sullen face. "You all quite died."

The honey colored brows contracted. "What?"

"In my dream." A breath. "We had this big fight, and when it was over, I was walking around with all these bodies lying everywhere." Cait laced her fingers together. "I was the only one left."

Paladia licked her lips. "Why can’t you ever have dreams like normal people?"

"I can’t help it." Cait protested. "I don’t’ do it on purpose." She fell silent for a moment. "It felt awful." Not that she thought it might come true. She had more faith in Xena than that, and she knew surely, that if anyone was going to be dying in the forefront, Cait would be one of the first, and not the single remaining witness.

But still. It made you think, about what was coming, and what could happen, and how short and meaningless life could be if you let it.

Hm.

Experimentally Cait lifted her hand and extended it towards Paladia’s face. The taller woman jerked back inmmediately.

"Hey!"

"Hold still." Cait told her.

"What are you doing?"

"Just hold still. Don’t make me hurt you." Cait continued her movment until her palm was laying flat on Paladia’s jawbone. Nervous, wary eyes watched her, as she slowly moved her thumb across the taut skin, examining it’s surface.

"What are you doing?" Paladia asked again, in a much lower tone.

"Does that bother you?" Cait repeated the gentle stroking, watching the confusion warring with something more earthy on her tall friend’s face.

"Yeah." A murmur. "I mean no." Paladia hastily corrected herself. "Of course it don’t bother me. Why should it bother me?"

Cait slipped her hand through the short, scruffy pale hair and felt the goosebumps rise along the back of Paladia’s neck. She pulled. "Come here."

"Why?"

"Please just shut up immediately and do what I ask." Cait replied seriously.

So Paladia did. She walked the one step that brought her up against the stone, and found her self face to face with her sometimes scary, often homicidal companion, who was, despite all that, the most attractive person Paladia had ever met.

Sometimes, if she tried real hard, and crossed her legs, and squeezed util the blood rushed to her head, she could almost understand crazy Gabrielle. "Now what?" She asked.

"Now this." Cait leaned forward and kissed her, tilting her head slightly and tasting her lips curiously with a warm tongue before she proceeded to increase the contact, feeling the tiny gasp of surprise brush against her skin.

The world seemed to go very quiet for a moment, even the sounds of the camp fading as she eased back, and glanced up to see what the reaction was to her unexpected advance.

Paladia gazed at her in utter shock for a heartbeat, then the pale eyes rolled up into her head and her knees unlocked, dropping her straight to the ground in a dead faint before Cait could move an inch.

A bird warbled impudently, sounding very much like it was laughing.

"Bother." Cait licked her lips, studying the interesting tastes and sensations. "I quite liked that." She got off the rocks and knelt beside her fallen friend and patted her cheek. "I wonder if this is a good sign or a bad one?"

**

"Bring them in here, please." Gabrielle held the flap open, as the battered, frightened, exhausted men edged past her and entered the tent. They stopped short after a few steps though, until the dark haired woman seated behind the work table glanced over at them.

"C’mon in. You’ve had a rough trip, I hear." Xena’s voice echoed strongly across the space. "Sit down."

The three of them did, awkwardly taking the stools and sitting, their clothing ripped and torn, and covered in mud or worse. The oldest, a tall, very thin man getting on in years with an ugly head wound spoke first. He looked across the desk at the quiet, even stare watching him and licked his lips. "You’re Xena?"

"That’s right." Xena folded her hands on the table. "And you are?"

"Belas." The man answered. "We’re from a small fishing village in the next river valley."

"Were." One of his companions grunted, a small, very stocky man with dark hair and a beard. "Nothing left of it now."

"We’re sorry to hear that." Gabrielle brought over a tray of mulled cider, and offered it to them. "Here… take something warm." She smiled at them.

"Thanks." Belas gave her a weary smile back. "You must be Gabrielle the Bard."

"That’s right." Xena remarked. "They tell me you escaped ahead of Andreas army."

"That’s true." Belas sipped the hot drink. "He came to our village, and told us we could join him, or be forced to join him. Most of us ran, maybe he was expecting that, but who knows? They burned the village, and took everything. Every last animal, every bit of grain, every living body they found there."

Gabrielle shook her head.

"But while we were still hiding around there, we heard some of his men talking. They weren’t happy." Belas went on. "Seems they’ve had raiders sneaking alongside them for about a hundred leagues, coming in on the mist, knocking off a soldier or two, then disappearing."

Xena nodded judiciously. "How many men does he have?"

"Close to four and a half.. maybe five thousand." The shorter man told her. "Had up over five, but he’s had some trouble lately, and lost a few. "

"That’s made him mad, or so the men say." The third man spoke up, and now both Xena and Gabrielle glanced over, at the pleasant alto voice. A slim hand lifted and pulled down a muddy cloak hood, revealing a slim boned, beautiful face under russet curls. "He doesn’t’ take women as soldiers." Her eyes, an odd, golden hue met Xena’s in wry amusement. "Says he doesn’t trust them."

The warrior merely raised an eyebrow.

"Keeps them for everything else, though." Belas grunted. "S’why we had Jere here dress as a man. Didn’t want to take no chances." He thought a minute. "They got word out to slaughter any woman caught in fighter’s togs – we heard they think the stalkers that keep after them are some kind of Amazons."

Gabrielle turned her head and gazed at her partner in mild puzzlement. "But I.."

Xena held a hand up. "They might well be." She allowed. "He’s on his way here, then, I take it?"

"Fast as he can go." Jere agreed. "They got word a day or two back about something that put a fire under them, but we heard afterward that things didn’t work out the way they wanted them to." She studied Xena curiously. "And there are some wild stories going around about you." A pause, and a smile. "No offense."

Xena smiled back. "None taken."

"From what we hear, there’s not a standing village between here, and the far mountains." Belas went on. "Had some scraps of people come through, odds and ends, but most are either dead, or making their way out towards the coasts."

"Except here." The short man interjected. "The last little bit left, and after a few days from now, not even this."

"We’re here to tell you to run, Xena." Jere leaned forward, seriously. "He knows your troop strength, and the layout here – you haven’t got a chance."

The cool blue eyes regarded them carefully. "I disagree." The warrior stated flatly. "But thanks for the advice."

"Xena, what sense is there in dying? " Jere stood and paced forward. "With these troops you can split up and go around him, and get him like those raiders are doing. Where is the logic in making a stand like this here, in a dinky backwater piece of marsh like this?"

The warrior stood, towering over them, backlit by the torches. "Because it’s my home." Xena replied. "I was born here, and my family lives here, and he’s not going to set foot on an inch of Amphipolis dirt." She paused. "Not if I have to stand in the gates myself and hold his entire army off, and kill them all one man at a time."

There was a moment of uneasy silence.

Rain started falling again outside, the thunder fitting it’s shape around her words and lending them a weight beyond even that her own powerful personality did. The water pattered erratically on the tent fabric, and a gust of cold wind puffed inside the loosened tent flap.

"There are some men in that army." Belas stated, very quietly. "Who believe you can do just that."

Xena smiled, showing even, white teeth.

"That’s why he doesn’t want to kill you, Xena." Jere said. "He wants you to join him. He knows that, between the two of you, nothing could stand in your way."

"Except me." Gabrielle spoke up for the first time, from her spot near the brazier

The three refugees looked at her in surprise, and Xena focused a look of wry affection at her.

The bard crossed her arms over her chest and gazed back at them. "To get to Xena, he’s got to go through me first, and let me tell you something. I don’t think he’s got what it takes to do that."

Thunder rolled again, and a flash of lightning outside briefly turned the gold and black shadows to stark silver. "Well." Jere murmured. "I guess we came to the right place then. We’d… " She looked at her companions. "I mean, I’d like to join the warriors. Belas is a healer, and Arne’s a blacksmith."

"Sure." Gabrielle smiled reassuringly at them. "I know it’s been tough on you. I’ll have someone show you where the camps are, and get you settled in." She moved towards the entrance, and they got up to follow her, but Jere paused at the flap and turned.

"Xena, can I have a word with you?" She paused. "In private?"

The warrior seated herself and picked up her mug, propping one booted foot up against a stool and leaning back. "Sure." She replied. "Gabrielle, on your way back, I need to talk to a man by the name of.. " Xena dug a piece of parchment form her pocket and peered at it. "Sacha, in Bennu’s regiment."

The bard cocked her head in question. "Okay – I’ll get him." She left, but not without a final look back, meeting the pale eyes behind the desk, and receiving a tiny wink from one of them.

Xena watched the fabric fall, then turned her attention to her russet haired visitor. "Now." She took a long swallow of cider. "What can I do for you?"

****

Ephiny snuggled her shoulders back into the furs of her bunk and sighed, glad to be dry, clean, and off a damn horses back after way too long a day. Pony was out scrabbling up some dinner, and she was very content just to lie back in her corner of the Amazons area, with the comforting sound of the tent roof intercepting the rain.

Tomorrow, more than likely, they would start the first stages of battle, with the Amazons riding out to form raiding parties that would circle the oncoming army and try to pick off stragglers. That’s what made these quiet moments all the more precious, knowing it might be a very long time before she’d have a chance to experience them again.

"I beg your pardon."

Ephiny opened one hazel eye, to see Cait standing there, patiently waiting. "Oh. Sorry Cait. Whats up?"

The young Amazon took that as permission to approach, and she did, settling on the crudely cut bench next to the bed. "I’ve got a bit of a dilemma, and I just wanted to talk to you about it."

Oh. Great. Where in Hades was Gabrielle when you really needed her? "Sure… what’s on your mind?" The regent inquired.

"Well." Cait took a breath. "I suppose you could say it has to do with a conflict in loyalties."

Ephiny waved a hand at her. "Cait, Cait, Cait… relax, okay? It’s no problem, we’ve already discussed it."

"You have?"

"Sure." The regent patted her knee. "Gabrielle and I talked about it." She shifted a little, getting more comfortable. "I’m well aware of your personal loyalties, and I’ve got no problem assigning to you be part of Xena’s personal staff during the duration of the war – you follow her instructions, not mine."

"Oh." Cait rubbed her chin. "Well, no, that wasn’t quite what I meant. Though, thank you for making that sort of official." Not that she’d have done any different in any case, but it was nice when the uppers thought you were going along with their plans rather than devising your own. "I was actually talking about Paladia."

Ephiny cocked her head. "What about her?"

Cait fidgeted. "We’ve become quite good friends."

"No, really?" Ephiny drawled. "Yes, Cait. I realized that, and I’m glad, because I think you both needed a friend."

"Right." Cait agreed. "But you see, I think we’re going to become a bit more than friends."

Ephiny regarded her in mild surprise. "You mean you…. " She stopped speaking. "Is that bothering you?"

The slim blond’s face tensed into a frown. "Not… well, you see it’s like this. I was very angry you know, about what happed with you in that awful cavern."

"Mmph." The regent took a breath in. "I wasn’t thrilled, myself."

"Quite." Cait agreed. "And the trouble is, I have this angry bit still in me, you see, and I’m rather afraid that bit will want justice." She scooted a boot forward. "And that I’ll take it out on Paladia, even though I like her quite a lot."

Ephiny let herself go still, as she studied the pale haired girl in a flash of sudden insight. Time had dulled the edges of what she’d gone through, and she’d thought she’d long since released herself of any need to see Paladia punished for it.

After all, the renegade had become a sullen, if productive member of the Nation, slowly gaining the trust, and occasionally, the respect of the tribe for her dogged strength, her ability to put up with Cait, and her truly unique talent at making pictures.

Paladia had rescued Pony, during the occupation of the village, and had fought against their enemies when she could have slipped away and evaded their grasp.

She’d even been instrumental in saving Dori and Cait from the undersea cavern.

Did she, Ephiny, really have a need to see the woman put through any further trials? She regarded Cait’s waiting eyes and wiggled her toes.

Sure she did. "Cait…. It means a lot to me that you thought about what happened, and that you’re concerned about my feelings regarding Paladia, and regarding the two of you."

Cait’s lips pressed into a thin smile.

"But the fact is, I’ve had the justice I need." Ephiny told her, with quiet sincerity. "I think you and Paladia make a good team, and if you want to go further, I’m happy for you both."

"Really?" Cait replied, her voice a touch surprised.

"Absolutely." The regent assured her. "I really mean it."

Cait exhaled, obviously relieved. "Thank you, Ephiny. I mean that."

Ephiny patted her on the knee. "Go get some dinner. You’ve got a long watch tonight."

The blond girl stood and brushed her leggings off. "Right. I’m off then." She turned and slipped through the Amazons’ tent, disappearing out into the misty weather.

Ephiny folded her hand son her stomach and chuckled. "Paybacks are a bitch." She advised the tent fabric above her head. "You just gotta wait long enough."

**********

"What did you have on your mind, Jefe?" Xena took a swallow of cider. "I've already made up my mind on taking a stand here, so don't waste your breath on giving me reasons why I shouldn't."

Jefe took the stool nearest her desk and leaned her forearms on the rough surface, gazing at Xena with unconcealed fascination. "So. You're Xena." Her intelligent eyes studied the warrior's face. "You're not what I expected."

Xena lifted a dark eyebrow. "What'd you expect?"

Jefe smiled. "Heads hanging from your belt." She replied. "A barbarian's tent, complete with shackles and a post for whipping."

The warrior chuckled, and lifted a hand, gesturing around her spartan, almost painfully neat space. "That never was my style, even when I was out raping and pillaging."

Jefe nodded. "This is a soldier's quarters." She glanced out the tent flap. "This is a well disciplined camp, with an obviously well trained force lead by an experienced military commander.. not what Andreas is trying to convince his men."

"He's no slouch at organizing." Xena remarked. "I was impressed with his army. "

"Did you really walk into his camp?"

The warrior nodded. "And fought my way out."

Jefe laughed softly. "You know, he doesn't give a damn about this little pissant backwater, or your army." Her eyes studied the quiet woman behind the desk. "It's you he wants."

Xena smiled.

"It's you the men talk about. It's you he knows they're laughing about telling stories." Her voice dropped. "You're all he thinks about, Xena. He won't stop until he owns you, body and soul."

"Then he's a fool." Xena toyed with her cup, her eyes going half lidded. "He's not near man enough to own my body, and my soul's spoken for already." She chuckled, low and deep. "He better watch out. If he's not careful, the closer he comes, the more I might get an itch to go… get….. him." Her tone hit it's lowest register on the last word.

Jefe stared at her, then forced a laugh. "Maybe he'd better watch out." She stood and lifted a hand. "I've taken enough of your time. Thanks, and I'll go find a bunk." She walked backwards until she got to the door, then ducked underneath it and disappeared.

Xena sighed, and swished a mouthful of cider around before swallowing it. "Little overdramatic, huh Ares?"

"Agrroo." The wolf sneezed.

"Nah… she loved it." The warrior chuckled wryly, easing her injured leg down and gathering her strength to stand up. A light tap on the tent flap made her halt though. "Yes?"

Cait poked her head in. "There's someone here who says you asked to see him?" She looked down at a piece of paper, and read off a name.

Ah. "Send him in." Xena stretched back out in her chair, watching as a bandy legged man with a close cropped russet moustache and beard entered. He paced forward, his hands clasped on a well worn leather bag, and a diffident look on his face.

"Ye called fer me, Genr'l?" He had a soft, drawling voice.

"Got something I"d like you to do." She held up a scrap of parchment. "Can you do that?"

He took it, and looked at it, regarding it thoughtfully. "Aye." He nodded. "Who'd ye like it done to?"

Xena smiled. "Me."

*****************

Gabrielle glanced at the sky, then altered her steps to bring her over to the food tent. A good sized dinner, she decided, was needed, and then she'd go back, take care of her partner's leg, and force her back into bed. Xena had been in a better mood after their nap this afternoon, and besides… Gabrielle stifled a yawn. She hadn't gotten much sleep the night before either.

She almost tripped over the outstretched legs before she saw them, and turned her stride into an awkward hop, bouncing over them and landing with a sodden splat on the earth. "Hey!"

Paladia's pale eyes peered up at her from under a lock of blond hair. "Sorry." She pulled her knees up and rested her arms on them.

Gabrielle crouched next to her. "What are you doing out here?"

Paladia just looked at her, a completely bemused expression on her face.

"Paladia?" The bard waved a hand before her eyes. "Hello? Anyone in there?" She sat down next to the ex renegade. "You okay?"

Paladia turned her head. "How old are you?"

Gabrielle was a little surprised at the question. "Um… twenty two…. Why?"

"I used to think you were the biggest jerk in this place." The taller woman told her bluntly. "All full of that sappy crap and all that stuff."

"Uh… " Gabrielle wasn't sure if she was being insulted or what. "What changed your mind?" She wondered if it was the raid.. she'd noticed a change in the attitudes of a few people around her since then.

A scowl. "I got kissed."

The bard scratched her nose. "Um… that was a good thing, right?"

"Yeah."

"By Cait?" She hazarded a guess, based on their prior conversation.

"Yeah."

"Hey, that's great." A genuine smile. "I'm really glad." '

Paladia grunted, then thought a minute. "How do you know if it's all crap or not?"

"What do you mean?"

"Like before."

Gabrielle considered. "You mean, how do you know if it's really love?"

Paladia turned red, visible even in the twilight. "Whatever."

"Mm." Communication, she knew as a bard, was a matter of finding a common frame of reference. Flowery poetry wasn't going to cut it here. "Well, I could tell you all the wordy stuff that comes to mind when someone asks me that question, but I figure you don't want to listen to that."

"Huh."

"Okay, so here's the bottom line." Gabrielle told her. "It's the real thing when that kiss can make you forget you're standing in front of two or three hundred other people in a thunderstorm with mud up to your kneecaps."

Paladia shifted, and rubbed her shoulder. "How about if you pass out?"

Gabrielle grinned impishly. "I'd say that's a good sign."

"Hm." The ex renegade scowled. "It feels weird."

A sigh. "I like the way it makes me feel." The bard admitted. "I like knowing I'm a part of someone… I like the look in Xena's eyes when she sees me… and how I feel when I look at her and my whole body tingles."

Paladia blinked. "Whoa. More stuff than I needed to know." She snorted. "I thought you were all into that high and mightly poetry goofy stuff."

Gabrielle laughed. "Oh, Xena inspires my poetry, all right." She agreed. "But we don’t' recite poetry to each other in bed at night."

The younger woman's eyes widened at her.

"You wanted to know the bottom line." Gabrielle reminded her. "Would you rather I go back to talking about flowers and stuff?"

A look. "You are so damn strange."

The bard chuckled. "Thanks. I think." She patted Paladia's arm. "For what it's worth, I think it's the real thing." She told her. "And I'm really glad for both of you." She got up. "See you later."

Paladia rolled her eyes. "Yeah, whatever."

Gabrielle chuckled to herself as she collected some dinner, then weaved her way out of the encampments and headed towards the isolated command tent.

She was pleasantly surprised to find her partner already lying down, sitting half propped and studying a list of supplies by candlelight. "Hey."

Xena looked up over her parchment. "Everything settled?"

"I think so." The bard put her burden down and perched on the edge of the pallet, reaching out to lay a hand on her soulmate's forehead. "Still a little warm." She watched the warrior nod in confirmation. "How's the leg?"

"Hurts." Xena admitted. "Getting on my nerves a little." She shifted. "Had to lay down finally, once I got rid of our redheaded friend."

"Mm." Gabrielle cocked her head to one side, and studied the wry expression. "Another one fell for you, huh?" She chuckled at the wearily rolling eyes. "I swear, Xena. You should get a little charm every time, and make a necklace. It would be really pretty by now." She brushed the backs of her knuckles over one high cheekbone and smiled. "Though, I'm hardly one to talk, I guess."

Xena let her head fall back against the pillow. "I had a visit from Cait."

"I tripped over Paladia."

They both exchanged looks. "I think they're cute." Gabrielle smiled.

"Think so?" A teasing grin. "She was asking me what I did to get those little yips out of you."

Gabrielle's eyes turned into large, round, green saucers. "Ju.." Her jaw worked a few times. "You… " A hand lifted. "Didn't…..uh.."

"Tell her?" Xena blinked innocently at her. "Sure."

The bard's jaw dropped. "You didn't." She spluttered. "Xena, how could you!" She stood up and paced, blushing furiously.

"C'mon, Gabrielle.. it's not like it's a big secret."

The pale haired woman turned, and her nostrils flared out as she stared in shock.

Then she saw the twinkle. "What….exactly…. did you tell her?" She put her hands on her hips and glared at her partner. "Don't you give me that 'who, innocent little me' Warrior Princess look!"

Xena snickered. "I told her I held the nutbread up over your head just out of reach."

"Tcha." Gabrielle lifted her hands and let them drop.

"She believed me." Xena wagged a finger at her.

The pale brows lowered. "I'm going to hurt you."

The warrior sighed. "Okay.. but can you change this bandage first?" She gazed penitentially at the bard.

Gabrielle sighed aggrievedly. "I can't believe you did that to me." She got her kit and wandered back over, sitting down and taking care of the ugly wound with gentle fingers. "Looks a little better." She glanced over her shoulder to see Xena lying with her eyes closed, and a furrow in her brow. "Almost finished." She went back to her work. "Not that I'm yelling at you, but cutting a bit out of yourself in the same spot wasn't the smartest thing you ever did, honey."

"I know." Xena forced out the words from between gritted teeth.

Gabrielle fastened the bandage, and felt Xena relax. "I mean, I understand the point about the sigil, Xena - I know I wouldn’t want it on me, and I'm glad I ended up with something else, but y'know…."

"I could have waited for it to heal." Xena finished. "I know."

"I hate to tell you this." Gabrielle reclined her side, next to her partner. "But you know the fighters are all having hawk's heads put on them."

An eyebrow lifted.

"I asked Bennu about it.. he said, they want to make sure when they get to Hades, he'll know what side they were on." Gabrielle rolled her sleeve up, and regarded her own mark, then nodded. "Yeah." She looked over at Xena. "The right side."

Xena reached over and traced a finger along the bard's jawline. "I think he'd know anyway."

"Maybe… but it also brings them together, and makes them feel like they belong." Gabrielle touched the hawk's head. "I know that's how I felt, walking through the camp and seeing them all do it." A pause. "That I was part of them. That I belonged to something." Her eyelashes fluttered. "Belong to someone."

A faint smile touched the warrior's lips. "I understand." She murmured. "I..um.. " Xena seemed a touch either bashful or embarassed, which made Gabrielle wonder. "I had a visit from one of the guys doing it.. so I decided maybe I should get one too."

Wow. Gabrielle was honestly surprised. "I didn't think…. You got one like this?"

"No." Xena reached up and unlaced her shirt, her eyes never leaving Gabrielle's. Then she pulled the front down on her left side, and watched as the bard's gaze wavered, then dropped to her skin. A moment's total silence, then Gabrielle looked back up.

"It's the snake, from Britannia."

A nod. "It means eternity."

Another look. "That's the glyph I used to sign my name, in the middle."

A faint smile. "Yes, it is."

Gabrielle's eyes filled. The mark was squarely over the skin just above her soulmate's heart. "It must have…" She stopped a second. "Hurt to put it there." She got the last words out in a rush.

Xena's jaw muscles shifted, then she glanced down at the reddened, angry skin around the tattoo. "Didn't feel a thing." She murmured. "Honest."

Gabirelle blinked, and the tears spilled over her eyelids, scattering down her cheek in a startling wash of crystal in the candelight. "You're lying." She whispered.

"Everything worth having in life, Gabrielle." A fingertip touched the bard's nose. "Is worth hurting for."

It was an essential truth for both of them.

Gabrielle smiled through tears, and kissed the warrior's palm.

"So, when we get to Hades, some day." Xena simply chose to believe it. "He'll know what side I was on." She rolled up onto her side and kissed her partner, then nibbled the salty tears off her skin with gentle lips. She rested her forehead against Gabrielle's. "I love you."

The bard felt a profound peace drift over her No matter what happened tomorrow, or the next day, or the next - she had this one, sweet moment to tuck away and savor, that was hers.

No one could take it away.

*********

The horse hooves sounded sodden on the muddy ground as the group gathered in front of the embankments. "All right." Xena moved Argo sideways and shifted shoulders to settle her sword. "Once we pass that outer fringe, everyone stay close, and stay quiet. I don’t want any mistakes."

Two dozen heads nodded at her. A mixture of Amazons interspersed with some of Bennu’s more accomplished horsemen made up the group, armed to the literal teeth and covered in thick leather and metal half armor.

Xena herself was wearing her new black leathers, with extra heavy arm bracers and two new leg pieces that covered her upper thighs. "You ready?" She turned her head towards Gabrielle, who was fiddling with one of the side buckles on her layered breastplate. "Here." She sidestepped Argo over and moved the bard’s hands aside, pulling the strap tight and buckling it. "How’s that?"

Gabrielle wriggled her upper body, then nodded. "Better. Thanks." She checked the strap that held her staff firmly alongside Iolaus’ body and twitched her cloak straight. "Ready." A glance down. "You set with everything. Eph?"

Ephiny leaned on the stallion’s shoulder and plucked a mane hair. "I have everything included a set of very wadded leathers because I’m not going, yes." She tapped the bard on the knee. "Watch out for Pony, willya?"

Gabrielle smiled. "What am I, the designated Warrior babysitter?" She glanced over to where Eponin was waiting next to Gillen, somehow giving the impression she was bouncing up and down while sitting absolutely still. "Don’t worry. Xena’s whole point in this is to shake them up, and make sure everyone gets back here."

Ephiny nodded. "I know… " She stood on tiptoe and peeked over Iolaus’ neck, and lowered her voice. "She okay?"

The warrior had moved off a few paces, and Gabrielle studied the tall form a moment. "Pretty much. That leg wound’s still pretty bad, Eph… it’s worrying me. She’s not getting over it like she usually does."

"Mm." Hazel eyes flicked over Xena. "Something on the knife? He seems the kind to do that."

"Xena thinks so." The bard admitted. "It’s healing, just really slow. I made her promise to stay up on Argo as much as possible, so she doesn’t go breaking it open again." That, and the fever her partner was still suffering from, which was making her a touch cranky.

Well. Gabrielle watched the angular face crease into a frown. Crankier than usual. "Take care, okay? We’ll try to get as much information as we can about his deployment."

"You too." Eph gave her a slap on the leg. "Getting down to the starting line."

Gabrielle rubbed her hands, and slipped them inside a new pair of lined gauntlets she’d received that very morning as a surprise gift. They were very soft deerskin with a rabbit lining and fit her hands perfectly, and she flexed her fingers, enjoying the warmth of them. She kneed Iolaus gently and directed him over to where Xena was waiting, her cloak ruffling lightly in the wind.

"Let’s go." Xena called out, turning Argo and moving into the lead, easing the mare into a canter. She held her breath as the first few strides jarred her leg painfully, then settled down to a dull ache. Damn. Her eyes caught Gabrielle keeping watch on her from a few paces back, and she forced herself to relax into the saddle, working out her balance to ease the pain a bit.

Iolaus’ ears came up next to her.

"Don’t ask." Xena shot her a look.

Gabrielle straightened a little. "I was going to suggest a story." She answered "But if you’d rather just listen to the mud flying, that’s all right with me."

Xena played with a bit of Argo’s mane, then slowed a step, so they were even with each other. She gave the bard a furtive look. "Sorry." There was an awkward pause. "I’m not really at my best this morning."

"So I see." But she added a smile to it, and light pat on the knee. "Wish I could do something more to help."

Xena sighed, and leaned forward against her saddlebow. "Just my luck… I think I’m about to cycle, on top of everything else. " She and the bard exchanged very wry looks. "Talk about timing."

"Mm." Gabrielle grunted in sympathy. "You don’t’ often, but when you do… no wonder you look so miserable." Then she closed her eyes and made a disgusted, clucking sound. "You realize what that means."

Blue eyes peeked at her. "Sorry."

"I knew I was feeling a little off." Gabrielle gave her partner a disgusted look. "And it’s your fault."

They exchanged glances, then started laughing. Xena let her chuckles wind down, then stretched a bit. "By the time we bump into Andreas, we’re both going to be in some kinda mood."

"Mm… let’s not take it out on each other then, huh?" The bard handed over her waterskin. "Here… I had a feeling I was getting close.. I mixed up some raspberry tea."

Xena accepted the bag and took a swig, tasting it then licking her lips. "Is there any raspberry leaves in there? All I taste is honey."

"Hah hah." Gabrielle stuck the tip of her tongue out. "Just for that I’m going to sing."

Xena spit a mouthful of tea over Argo’s ears, startling the mare.

&&&&

"Okay. Hold up." Xena spoke quietly, lifting a hand as she eased Argo into a small copse of trees. It was almost dark, and they’d been riding hard all day, stopping only twice to water and rest the horses. Now, her senses told her they were closing in on unfriendly territory, and she turned her head into the wind, letting it whip her hair back as she listened intently.

It didn’t need much in the way of hearing. That many people on the move was a distinct rumble, and the wind brought to her nose the smell of humans, and leather, and metal that was distinctive in it’s own right. Xena took a breath, and released it, a quiet sense of inevitability coming over her. "We’re close." She nudged Argo forward. "Let’s get through this, and see if we spot them."

Gillen was at her side, and now she moved ahead, threading her sturdy gelding through the trees towards a break in the foliage. They all came out on a slight ridge, which sloped down towards a flat area bisected by a dusty, uneven road.

For a long moment, there was only silence.

"Great Artemis." Gillen finally breathed.

Xena sat back in her saddle and exhaled. The road was black with men and material, as far as her eyes could see, walking at a steady pace ten abreast. Most carried spears and shields slung over one shoulder, and they were ringed by outriders in heavier armor carrying maces. Oxen rumbled between the regiments, pulling carts of supplies, and at least two siege engines. The entire army had an air of calm discipline, and the sounds of a marching song could just be heard on the wind.

Gabrielle moved up next to her partner and stared. Then she turned her head and looked up at Xena, watching the angular face take on shadows as the muscles shifted around her jaw, and her nostrils flared as she took a deep breath.

The lead ranks slowed, as the outriders yelled out commands, lifting a pennant up and waving it, and the army started to spread out, evidently intent on halting for the night.

"We’ll wait for them to make camp." Xena’s hands rested on her saddlehorn, as she tipped her head back and regarded the darkening sky. "Let them settle in, and start to relax, then we’ll move."

Gillen turned her head and stared. "That bastard must have five thousand men down there."

Xena regarded her steadily. "And?" She arched an eyebrow in question, looking completely unconcerned.

The group was stunned, just looking at the army, and then at her in shock and horror. "They’ll slaughter us." Gillen whispered. "We’ve got no chance."

"Huh." Pony spoke up before Xena could answer her. "Some Amazon you turned out to be." She nudged her horse over to where Xena was and peered at the army. "So they’ve got a couple thousand.. .so what? Half of them probably can’t get out of their own way."

Gabrielle shook herself and shifted a little. "We knew their troop strength." She shrugged. "It’s part of Xena’s plan."

"Yeah." Pony agreed blithely. "Hey, Xena… see those guys there?" She pointed. "Bet that’s the grain stores. Torch in there’d be a good idea."

Xena reached over, almost invisible in the growing twilight, and tweaked one of Pony’s braids. "Since there’s no towns between here and the river, I’d agree." She gave the Amazon a little grin when she turned her head. Pony wrinkled her nose back in response. "All right, everyone get down and relax."

There was a subtle sense of relief as the small group spread out silently, getting down off lathered horses and reaching for waterskins and dry rations. Gabrielle waited for the area to clear, then slid down off Iolaus’ tall back, holding onto the saddle as her boots hit the ground and her legs took her weight. "Ow." She winced, leaning against the stallion. "Ow, ow ow." Cautiously, she straightened cramped legs, and stretched muscles stiff from riding too long."

Xena watched her for a moment, then sighed, and gathered herself up, swinging her good leg over Argo’s neck and dropping to the ground. The jolt nearly forced a gasp from her, but she held on grimly, and clamped her jaw tight until the stars faded. Then she moved around to Argo’s other side and limped over to where Gabrielle was. The bard turned as she came up and moved forward, until their bodies were just touching. "You all right?" Two low voices asked simultaneously, followed by two weary smiles. Xena glanced around, then slid an arm around her partner’s neck and pulled her closer, giving her a kiss on the head and rubbing her back briskly.

"Remind me again how I let you talk me into riding instead of walking?" The bard muttered into a chestful of leather and armor.

"We're attacking on horseback, and you wanted to participate." Xena obediently replied. "Besides, you'd have had to run the whole way to keep up."

"Oh yeah. " Gabrielle answered. "Maybe I'll run on the way back. I could use it." She felt Xena chuckle soundlessly. "Be good inspiration for the Amazons, right?" She reluctantly released her hold and stepped back, studying her companion closely. The strain was apparent to her, at least, in Xena's face and she tensed her lips. "Wanna let me check your leg out?"

A silent nod.

"C'mon." Gabrielle motioned Cait over. "Cait, can you take Iolaus and Argo over for a drink?"

"Absolutely." The girl assured her, taking the reins and clucking softly to the two horses. Gabrielle shouldered the bag she'd taken off her saddlerings and led Xena over to a fallen log, which the warrior seated herself on, stretching her injured leg out gingerly.

"Aren't these new pieces hurting you?" Gabrielle carefully unbuckled the upper thigh piece from behind Xena's leg and released the strap that held it to her leathers.

"No." Xena watched Gabrielle unlace the leather laces that held her leggings closed, and pull them back, exposing her injury. "The bandage keeps them from rubbing, and I really don't want to risk taking another shot there unprotected."

"Mm." Gabrielle changed the bandage and studied the injury. "If this swelling goes down a little more, I think we can put stitches back in, Xe… you'd be more comfortable. I think the herb packs in there must be driving you a little nuts."

A brief sigh. "Yeah. But they're helping. The red's gone down, and I don't feel feverish."

Gabrielle tested that theory, and found it sound. "A few days bed rest would be even better." She remarked, as she rolled a new bandage around the muscular thigh. "How's that for a fruitless wish?"

Xena chuckled, then put a hand on Gabrielle's shoulder. "You sure you're up to doing this? You don’t' have to, Gabrielle. You can wait here for us to get clear."

The bard shook her head stubbornly. "I'm sure. I've been practicing with my staff on Iolaus - you can do a lot with it from horseback." She tied Xena's leggings back up. "I just wish I could hold onto something at the same time - it's hard to keep my balance." She looked around, then bent over and put a kiss on the injured leg. "Okay.. now, what's the plan?"

Xena wiped the ground before her clear of leaves, and motioned the rest of the group over. She picked up a stick and drew in the dirt. "We split up in twos….."

***************************************

Oh gods, not again. Gabrielle had closed her eyes, and groaned, seeing the scruffy bunch of men kicking around villagers in the square. They'd been running into these guys all day long, and even she could see her companion was just plain tired after a whole day's fighting. "Maybe I can distract them with a story or something."

Xena had looked at her, then sighed. "Just stay down, and keep out of the way, Gabrielle." She'd shaken her head and squared her shoulders, and headed off towards the melee, clearly expecting the bard to obey her commands.

Reluctantly she had, tucking herself behind a wagon and shifting her grip on her staff. "I don't know why you carry this thing, Gabrielle." She'd muttered to herself. "It's about as useless as a square wheel." Not that she hadn't tried, and not that Xena hadn't tried to teach her. She had.. oh, and she'd gotten the bruises to show for it, whacking herself a lot more frequently than whatever she'd been aiming at. 'I'm useless." She'd said to the warrior just that morning, after they'd broken camp, and she'd considered leaving the big stick behind.

"No you aren't." Xena had replied shortly. "Let's go."

So here she was, leaning on the big old useless thing, watching Xena confront the ruffians and plow into the crowd of them, throwing punches right and left and bowling one of them over with a well placed kick. She didn't even need a weapon, Gabrielle exhaled softly. "I'll never be able to do any of this… I don't know why she puts up with me."

And then it had happened. Gabrielle had no idea how, just one miniute things were fine, the next minute she'd seen Xena go down under a pile of dirty black leather.

And she hadn't gotten up.

Gabrielle hadn't stopped to think, which was pretty normal with her. She'd just found herself running out from behind the wagon, towards the knot of men and the still, dusty figure in their midst. There hadn't been time to get ready, or to talk herself out of it, and as she'd reached the first of the men she'd just swung that staff at him, driven by panic more than anything else.

Who had been more shocked when she'd knocked him back off Xena, dumping him in a pile? Gabrielle hadn't had time to wonder, as she just kept swinging, frantically trying to beat the men back off her friend, thinking of nothing but Xena.. Xena.. Xena….

Thwack. Thwack. Thwack. She'd known she was yelling something, but had no idea what, flailing about her so wildly the men simply gave up and started running, anxious to get out of range of this noisy madwoman in their midst.

And then it had been very quiet, her hoarse breathing so loud it hurt her ears. She'd dropped to her knees in the dirt, throwing her staff to one side as she'd reached for the limp, bruised figure lying slumped in the mud. Her hands had shaken, touching the dusty skin. "X…Xena?"

One blue eye had opened and looked brightly at her, then a flash of white appeared as Xena grinned. "Toldja you could do it." The eye had winked at her.

Gabrielle had simply stared at her in total shock, her jaw hanging open in the warm air. "Buh…"

A hand had patted her thigh. "Good job." Then Xena had rolled over and stretched, crossing her booted feet at the ankles and relaxing on the muddy ground. "I needed a break."

"Buh." Gabrielle had finally managed to get her mouth closed and her tongue to work. "You were faking?"

There had been that annoying, superior chuckle.

"Oh, I'm going to get you for that." The bard had finally spluttered. "Xena, I thought you were…. I thought…."

Then the look had turned serious. "You thought I was in danger."

"Yes!"

"So you didn't stop to think, you just reacted."

"Yes!"

"And because you really do know what to do, you did it, and did it right."

She'd sat down in the mud at that, realizing it was true. "Yeah." She'd answered softly. "I guess I did." She could remember little bits of it then. "But I didn't care about that, Xena, all I could think about was…" She'd looked up, to see Xena watching her. "You."

Xena hadn't answered. She'd merely sat up, then gotten to her feet. "C'mon." She'd held a hand down to Gabrielle. "Partner."

The bard had felt a smile stretch her face as she put her hand in Xena's, and stood, accepting the staff the warrior handed her after neatly retrieving it with a boot. She'd never expected to hear Xena call her that.

Never.

She hadn't known whether to laugh or cry, but then a friendly arm had descended onto her shoulders as they made their way towards a nearby inn. "Let's see if we can find a room and a bath." Xena had suggested. "I think we both deserve it."

"Yeah." Gabrielle had almost stumbled, as she'd walked along in a delighted daze. "That sounds great." Her hand had curled around the wooden staff and she'd glanced at it, seeing it in a whole new light. "Hey, Xena?"

"Mm?"

"I really did it."

"Yes, you did."

"Wow."

"Hey, Gabrielle?"

The bard started, coming back to the present with a jerk, to see Pony at her side. "Oh.. sorry, Pony. I was just thinking. " Gabrielle rubbed her eyes, feeling a wistful echo from that younger version of herself. "We about ready?"

"Yeah.." The Amazon nodded. "Listen, you watch out for the champ there, okay? Make sure she stays outta trouble."

Gabrielle pulled herself up onto Iolaus's back, and unstrapped her staff, the worn wood slipping into her hands with a solid familiarity. "I will." She smiled at Pony. "She knows her back's safe with me watching it."

Pony snorted. "She knows how lucky she is…that's for sure." She gave the bard a pat on the leg. "Wish I were in her boots.. I've got my doubts about old high and mighty I was an Amazon back when Zeus was a kid over there."

"She'll be fine." Gabrielle shifted in the saddle, getting as comfortable as her protesting muscles would allow. "Just remember to keep moving." She put a hand on Pony's shoulder. "Good luck."

"Same t'you." Pony gave her back a brisk nod, as she moved over to her restive horse and climbed on board.

Gabrielle exhaled, then glanced up as Argo appeared from the darkness, carrying her partner. "Time to go?"

Xena edged the mare closer. "Yeah, but hang on.. hold still and let me.." She leaned over and clipped something to Iolaus' saddle then looped a length of leather through Gabrielle's belt and tied it off. "There."

"Huh?" The bard looked down, startled. "What's that?"

Xena repeated the action on the other side and backed off, with a satisfied look. "There."

Gabrielle looked down at herself, then back at the warrior. "Xena, I do not need a seat belt." She gave her soulmate a highly insulted look.

"You said you wanted better leverage."

"Well, yes but.."

"Try a staff move."

Gabrielle gazed doubtfully at her, then lifted her staff and swung it. She found the straps held her firmly to her saddle, and provided a feeling of comforting security. "Oh." She wriggled a little, then swung again. "Hey… that's neat!"

Xena rolled her eyes.

"You're such a genius." The bard smiled, and tapped her lightly on the shoulder with the end of her staff. "No wonder I love you so much."

Xena coughed, and ignored the grins of the soldiers and Amazons around them. "We ready?"

They went very still, as a prickle of excited energy swept over them. Xena pointed to two shadowy figures. "Go."

*************************

Gabrielle sat, tensely watching as the first two riders, low in their saddles, approached the posted guards. The horses hooves had been wrapped in fabric, and she could hardly hear even that muted drumming over the wind whipping the trees. She knew it was Cait and Pony, and forced herself to keep looking as the two riders split, and headed towards a guard each, drawing a deadly bead and firing from loaded crossbows as they passed to one side.

The guards both dropped without a sound.

"Go." Xena's voice sounded unnaturally loud next to her.

Two more riders started forward, long, twisted iron hooks dangling from one hand.

"Go." The warrior stated.

Two more, carrying lit torches low by their sides.

Cait and Pony had circled, and now thundered in with the first set of new riders through the gap in the guard. The four split as they reached the outer section of the camp, ripping through the first rank of tents in eerie silence.

Reloaded crossbows fired, and two more men dropped, then the hook bearers launched their barbs into two of the larger supply tents, and tied them off to their saddles as they raced by. The tents promptly collapsed, and only then, did yells start to be heard.

Torches hit two more tents, and the rough fabric ignited, the wind whipping the flames round. One of the tents being dragged lit, and now the racing, silent invaders changed course, and headed out towards the edge of the camp again.

"Go."

Four riders launched, armed with short bows. They came in firing, nailing running, confused men who had no idea where the attack was even coming from.

"Go."

Four more riders, with torches. They came in at a different angle, and raced through the now half panicked camp, lighting the huge pavilion set up for getting the soldier's fed ablaze.

"Go."

A group of eight riders, heavily armored, who cut through the ranks of soldiers, firing short bows and letting out wild yells, the first sounds the attackers had made. They drew the beginnings of the counterattack, and raced to one side, as the rest of the riders made their way out of the camp and started a wide, silent circle back to where Xena was waiting, her forearms resting on her saddlebow.

Watching with intelligent interest, and a pleased half smile. "Nice." She chuckled softly, then glanced at her quiet companion. "Ready?"

Gabrielle swallowed, then released the straps holding her staff in place and nodded. "Whenever you are."

The defense had started chasing down the last attack, firing crossbows and longbows at the riders lit mostly in stark firelight and shadows from the burning tents. Xena shifted her weight in Argo's saddle, and drew her sword, then urged the mare into a gallop as she took aim on the camp.

Aware of Gabrielle behind her, but opening up the wild part of her that welcomed the violence, touching off her darker instincts and bringing a laugh bubbling up to her lips. She reached the outer edges of the camp and barreled through the confused soldiers, taking a deep breath and letting out her battle yell as she leaned to one side and removed a head from it's shoulders in one clean swipe.

She didn't even stop to see the reaction, she just kept moving, cutting and slashing as Argo charged right through the heart of the gathering defense, ignoring the milling numbers and depending on speed and her armor to keep the arrows out of her body.

Right for the center of the camp. She guided the snorting mare through the flames, allowing her to kick out when she felt men closing in. A soldier bravely rushed her and she deflected his battle ax, then suddenly tossed her sword to her other hand, gutted a second attacker with it, then grabbed the ax from it's hapless owner. "Thanks!" She cheerfully whacked him with it, separating an arm and sending him sprawling.

She heard a thud from behind her, and she turned her head, to see Gabrielle stopping a man dead in his tracks with the end of her staff, her momentum and the straps Xena had rigged giving the bard impressive leverage from her seat atop Iolaus.

All right. Let's get this over with. Xena turned and spotted her target, then let out a yell, and changed Argo's direction, bolting through the milling troops at a gallop. Two men tried to intercept her, and she sheathed her sword, using the battle ax to sweep one off his feet, then she switched hands and brought the edge down on the other's head, splitting it open like an egg as she raced by.

Now a mounted soldier came at her, and she waited, shifting both hands onto the axes hilt as she galloped, keeping her seat with an ease borne of many years on horseback. The man lifted a sword and stabbed at her overhand, and she took the impact on her shoulder armor, then she swiveled in the saddle and swung the ax, catching him in the back and side and slicing right through his leather and plate.

He screamed, and died, falling off the horse, and Xena laughed, then let out her yell as she kept on her course.

There it was, the commander's tent, right in the center of the camp. She doubted anyone was in it, staying in side your tent while your camp was being attacked wasn't something she'd expected of Andreas, but he wasn't he goal anyway.

She drove right past the guard, aware of the hundreds of soldiers running towards her, and freed her boots from the stirrups as she closed on her target. The wild flush of energy coursed through her, and she roared a defiant cry as she thundered towards the tent.

They scattered, as she'd expected them to, and she gathered herself up, leaping up to stand on Argo's saddle as the mare approached the pole holding Andrea's standard. As she passed under it, Xena leaped and caught the banner with one hand, and sheared the fabric off it's pole with the ax, then flipped in mid air and landed back on Argo's saddle, dropping down to resume her stirrups as the horses momentum took her right past the entrance to the commander's tent and out towards the edge of the camp again.

And there, outlined in the fire, was Andreas. Xena touched Argo's sides, and the mare reared, both of them lit unmistakably by the orange glow. Andreas stared at her, the crossbow in his hands half forgotten as she looked him right in the eyes, and smiled.

Then she laughed, and he fired, the crossbow bolt snatched neatly out of mid air by a gauntleted fist. Argo came down on all fours, and she leaned forward, urging the mare into a canter that brought her right by him, so close her boot brushed his outstretched hand.

Now, run like Hades. Xena gathered the fabric up and tucked it inside her armor and settled her seat, leaning over Argo's neck and urging her faster. She let out a yell as she directed the mare through the lines of tents, and saw her riders heading towards her as she gained the outskirts of the camp and the friendly darkness, with Gabrielle barreling along barely a nose length in back of her.

She could hear screams as men got caught in the fire, and the sounds of troop leaders yelling commands. Xena cocked her head for the one sound she was hoping not to hear as they raced through the rolling grass back towards the safety of the trees.

She didn't hear it.

A smile stretched her lips, and she flexed her hand on her new weapon, hefting it with a sense of martial pleasure. Every nerve was tingling, and she caught her breath, little thrills of excitement tickling her.

Damn.

She'd forgotten just how good this could feel. Oh, she'd fought in the last few years, sure, but it had mostly been one on one, or strictly in a defensive mode.

Not this time.

The wind blew against her, and she shook her head, freeing her dark hair to whip around her, cooling her sweat dampened neck, and bringing the scent of earth, and grass, and impending rain, as they gained the forest again, and slowed, gathering in a loose, hard breathing group to look behind them.

Fire danced over the camp, shooting up and outlining the running, shadowed forms now swarming over the grass.

"Wow." Pony exhaled, stowing her crossbow. "Xena, you shoulda seen the look on those guys faces when you took that banner. You'd a thought Ares himself had made an appearance."

A low murmur of agreement, and chuckles greeted that statement.

"Everyone back?" Xena responded quietly, not entirely immune to the waves of admiration oozing her way. Her ego soaked it up contentedly, extremely pleased with itself, escaping as a smirk she could feel tightening the skin around her mouth.

"Noses are counted." Gabrielle told her. "Is everyone okay?"

There were a few cuts, one broken wrist, and several arrow hits, but armor had done what it was supposed to do, and the punctures were minor.

Considering they'd just plowed through a five thousand man army, that was damn good, Xena nodded to herself. Damned impressive, in fact, as she'd mentally resigned herself to at least a couple of losses, despite what she'd told Gabrielle.

"All right. Good job, everyone. I don't think they'll be sending anyone after us - they don’t' have that many mounted troops, and sending them out on a night like this after what we just did would be stupid." The warrior exhaled. "And Andreas isn't stupid."

"No.. but I bet he's madder than a she boar right now." Gillen chuckled. "Haven't had that much fun in a long time."

"Did you see his face when the genr'l caught that arrow?" One of Bennu's men crowed. "Thought he was gonna lose his damn eyeballs."

Another round of agreement. Xena stretched her legs in her stirrups, wincing a little as her injury made itself felt, now that her battle high had worn off. "We got the big supply tent." She nodded. "They'll be a while getting that restocked, and hitting them right as the troops were settling down to dinner plays havoc with morale." She absorbed the respectful looks. "Hungry, tired fighters just aren't as effective."

"Bet I know what they'll be talking about round the campfires tonight." Pony smiled. "Maybe they're wondering about which side they picked."

Xena smiled, a full, frank grin that was visible even in the sparse moonlight. "That was the point." She glanced up. "C'mon. Let's find a place to hole up for the night. I have more surprises for them in the morning."

They slipped off into the trees, their muffled hoofbeats almost inaudible against the breeze, and the beginning pattering of rain striking the earth. Xena allowed Gillen to take the point, trusting the Amazon to find a spot to camp, as she relaxed in her saddle, glancing sideways as Iolaus' head nodded up next to her.

Gabrielle was gazing thoughtfully between the horses ears, her lips moving in a silent dialog.

Xena watched her in fascination. It went on for a minute, then her partner nodded to herself, and looked up, reacting with a little start when she found herself the object of Xena's curiosity.

"Hey… that was really something." Gabrielle smiled. "I didn't know you were going to go for that flag like that."

"What were you just doing?" Xena asked.

"Having a bard attack."

A dark eyebrow lifted. "Excuse me?"

Gabrielle sighed, and shifted her feet. "It's like this. Most of the time, when I'm riding, or walking, or whatever, I make sort of story things in my head, or poems, or whatever, but it's when I have time and I'm not doing anything else."

Xena sorted through that. "Okay." It made sense, once you untangled it.

"But sometimes, the images I see are so strong, and so vivid, I have to stop right then and just sort them out and set them down up here." Gabrielle tapped her head. "And sometimes a poem hits me in the face and I can't ignore it."

"Okay." Xena nodded amiably.

"You do that to me a lot."

"I do?"

"Oh yeah.. ." Gabrielle freed a hand from the reins and waved it. "I mean… there's this army, and.. it's huge, and it's night, and the camp… and just this little group, and the fire… and you.. and that banner.. and.. "

"Okay.. okay..okay.. " Xena reached out and patted her on the leg. "You had a bard attack. Gotcha."

They paced along in silence for a moment. "Gillen was right."

"About what?"

"For that moment, in the firelight, with the banner?"

"Yeah?"

"You had that whole camp mesmerized.. both sides."

"Mm." Xena eyed her curiously. "Even you?"

The bard laughed, a strange, light sound in the darkness. "Especially me." A breath. "Xena, you have no idea what effect you have on people, do you?"

Xena puzzled over that. "Well, I mean really, Gabrielle.. I was trying to impress them - that was the whole point, remember?" She protested.

A few more steps in the dark. "In that moment.. " Gabrielle's voice had a hint of wonder. "If you had asked me to kneel, and deliver up to you my soul, I would have."

The warrior was stunned speechless.

"Of course.. " Now the bard's voice was more normal. " It's already yours, so that would have been pointless, but you know what I mean, Xena."

"Mm." A firefly zipped past, and she reached out unthinkingly and caught it, feeling the trembling against her skin as the tiny insect tried to escape. Slowly, she opened her fingers and the bug crawled out, pausing to collect itself and lighting Xena's hand in ghostly green.

Then she smiled, and reached over, offering the pretty insect to her partner, who allowed it to crawl over her hand then fly away, dissapearing into the forest gloom.

*************************

It was a quiet, very well sheltered little glade tucked into a corner of remote forest, in the late hours of a long day. Mostly dark, with just a tiny, smokeless fire barely glowing under a canopy of guarding leaves, surrounded by a circle of tired, but still exuberant warriors.

Voices were kept down, not whispered, but low, soft tones, and the one approach not cluttered with tough briared hedges was watched by two alert, fur wrapped guards with loaded crossbows. Only that small sound, and the scent of herbs and horses gave their location away to anyone close enough to catch it.

"Gabrielle." Pony looked up from where she was fixing a bit of her leathers.

"Mm?" The bard was sitting cross legged next to Xena, who was leaning against a tree trunk with her heavy cloak tucked around her.

"Wouldja tell that story.. the one about the giants?"

"Pony.. you've heard me tell that a thousand times." Gabrielle protested, with a smile.

"Sure.. but they haven't." The Amazon responded. "I"d ask you to tell one of the champs' there, but I know she hates it when you do."

A mutter of disappointment rustled the quiet.

Gabrielle turned, and looked at her partner, lifting an eyebrow ever so slightly.

Xena returned the motion with the faintest shrug of one shoulder.

"She'll live." The bard grinned, glad of the rare permission. Xena was in a definitely good mood, despite the rain and the exhausting day, and now that the warrior was comfortable, with a cup of mulled wine in one fist and a belly full of meat pastries, she was obviously receptive to a bit of storytelling even if she happened to be the subject.

"Okay… " Gabrielle sat up straight, collecting her thoughts and letting herself settle into what she thought of as her bard mode. "How about if I tell you about how we first met the forest dwellers?"

Murmurs of interest, since they'd all met Elaini and some knew Jessan and the triplets as well. "It's got funny bits, and cute bits.. and .."

"Blood?" Cait asked, hopefully.

Gabrielle sighed, but smiled wryly. "Ah.. yes, that too."

Xena held up a finger. "There were only a hundred."

"Three." Gabrielle immediately countered.

The warrior rolled her eyes, but gave in, and sucked at her mulled wine, which slid down her throat with a warm richness. "You going to tell them the whole thing?" She interrupted again.

Gabrielle looked at her. "What do you mean?"

Xena grinned, a flash of white teeth in the crimson flicker.

"Tch…. No, they don't want to hear that."

"Sure we do." Pony's ears visibly perked up. "What is it?"

"Xena." The bard gave her a warning eye.

The ex warlord blinked innocently. "I though it was cute."

"Xeeeennnaaaa…" Gabrielle's voice dropped a pitch. "You'd better cut that out, or I'll tell them how you reacted to Dori's being born."

The warrior subsided with a pout, but she reached over and got a tickle in, which made her partner jump.

"Xena!" An outraged glare. "I'm going to hurt you!"

Xena chuckled, crossing her booted feet and letting out a long sigh as she ceased tormenting her soulmate.

"Just for that, it's four hundred." Gabrielle stuck the tip of her tongue out at the warrior and turned, gathering the shreds of her dignity around her and clearing her throat. "Now.. where was I?"

Xena relaxed, and let the sound of Gabrielle's voice sooth her, the familiar tones rising and falling as she wove the story. She was tired, but not sleepy, and the wine was allowing tense and aching muscles to ease, despite the hard ground.

What she really wanted to do was pick Gabrielle up and take her to bed, curling up with her in their shared furs. The battle was over, but she had residual of energy left, brought on by the success of the raid, and the reaction of her troops. It was a half remembered feeling, a dark, edgy need that brought her eyes up to study her partner's lithe form, it's shadowy outline making her want to reach out and stroke the nearby arm, it's skin looking soft and very inviting.

As she considered that, she watched Gabrielle drape that very arm over her outstretched legs, and start to play with her boot laces, the familiar touch making her lips twitch into a grin. She shifted, and slid her uninjurd leg over onto the other side of the bard, so she was bracketed between Xena's boots and got a quick, raised eyebrow look back over Gabrielle's shoulder that made her grin even more. She let her calves warm against Gabrielle's hips and settled back, content to bide her time while her partner told her story.

"So that's how we met." Gabrielle concluded, to a round of grins, and soft clapping. "And Xena led the army to victory, with their help." She felt a squeeze on either side of her, and let her hands drop to the sturdy legs she was nestled between.

"They make great allies." Gillen commented. "But, will they come, Xena?"

The warrior shrugged. "Hard to say. It would be difficult for them now - since Andreas has gotten to where he is - it's not like they can march through the countryside in the daylight."

A murmur.

"I'm not counting on them." Xena went on. "If they can come, they will."

"Why would they help us?" The older Amazon questioned. "They might be glad to see us slaughter each other, from what you've said about them."

"There's another part to the story." Gabrielle answered. "Let's just say Xena holds a certain position in Jessan's tribe, so like she said, if they can come, they will."

"But you said there aren't that many of them." Gillen persisted.

"No… but one of them is worth an awful lot of us." The bard shot back. "They're incredible warriors."

"I can believe that." Gillen leaned back on her elbows and nodded thoughfully. "So… what position is this you hold, Xena?"

A faint smile was seen in the darkness. "I'm their champion."

There was a momentary, very respectful silence. "I see." Gillen murmured. "That must be quite a story."

"It is." Gabrielle responded, giving Xena's leg a pat. "But I think we should get some rest now."

Low chuckles answered her, and she gazed across the tiny fire, seeing rawly envious looks peering back. What's that all about, I wonder? Curiously, she glanced over her shoulder, to find Xena watching her, a sexy smile on her face. Ah. That's what that's all about. The warrior crooked a finger playfully at her, and she scrambled over a leg, as Xena opened her cloak invitingly, tucking herself inside the nice smelling, warm nest with lots of her partner to hug.

She felt the chuckle under her hand, and she gave the soft skin there an affectionate rub, ending with a tickle that prolonged the chuckle just a bit.

Envy me. Oh yeah. Gabrielle tilted her head to see those beautiful eyes looking back at her fondly. But you're not jealous of the right thing…. Not at all. Oh - yes, she's gorgeous, and I am so attracted to her, but that's not what the important thing is… that's not what matters to me over everything else. "Hey, Xe?"

"Yes?" The low voice vibrated through her.

"Can you reach the saddlebag?"

"Sure." Xena lifted a long arm and did so, pulling the leather sack over and lifting it over her chest. "There you go, Red."

Gabrielle poked her tongue out. "Just for that, no cookies for you, madam warrior princess."

"Cookies?" Xena sniffed interestedly at the packet she pulled out. "You didn't say you had cookies."

The bard unwrapped the packet, releasing the scent of buttery pastry and nuts into the air. "Well, I do… and no amount of warrior puppy eyes are going to get them from me." She waited to see what ploy her partner would use to coax one.

"May I have one, please?" Xena asked quietly.

Gabrielle scowled. "Xena, that's no fair."

"What?"

"You're supposed to be sneaky."

"Well… it's been a long day, Gabrielle… and… " The warrior peered past her. "What is that?"

Gabrielle whipped her head around and looked, then turned back, seeing nothing.

Except a cookie sticking out of her partner's mouth, and a twinkle in her eyes.

"You little fink."

Xena bit down and offered her the other half. She leaned over and took it, brushing her lips across the warrior's lightly. Then she chewed her half of the cookie and swallowed it, enjoying the simple pleasure of being in Xena's presence.

This was the important thing. The friendship that bound them together, and made them want to be a part of each other's lives outside any romantic feelings between them.

They were best friends. That's what you should be jealous of . Gabrielle told the rest of them silently, as they bedded down for the night. She took a second cookie and bit into it, then glanced up at her buddy inquiringly. "Wmf smf?"

"Sure." Xena inclined her head and captured her half, then tucked it into her cheek as she explored Gabirelle's lips, tasting the sweetness of the pastry on them. "Mmm…" She felt Gabrielle's fingers flex against her body as she slid a palm up the bard's side, and the slumbering energy still trickling across her awareness woke, reaching hungrily for the object of her desire.

Gabrielle felt a surge of need almost take her over, as her body reacted to her soulmate's close presence, wanting Xena's touch badly, in a wholly unexpected way. She took a deep breath, but that made it worse, since it filled her lungs with her partner's scent and almost pushed her over the edge. She paused, her lips just over the pulse point on Xena's neck, able to feel the powerful beat trembling against her skin. They were isolated on the other side of the fire, true, and it was very dark, but…. Xena's touch slid down her belly and tickled the inside of her thigh, and for a moment, she teetered on the verge of not caring if she was in the middle of an Amazon joining ceremony. Then she remembered just who was potentially watching her, and she sighed, letting her head drop to rest on Xena's collarbone. Okay. So maybe you should be jealous of this too. She amended in wry silence.

Xena responded by putting both arms around her and pulling her into a warm hug, making her back pop and relieving some of the riding agony she'd suffered all day. "Sorry about that."

"No you're not." Gabirelle mumbled into the soft skin of her neck. "And it's your fault.. if you hadn't told me about that yipping.. I might have been able to forget we've got an audience."

Xena shook with silent laughter.

"All of them sitting there, turning as green as my eyeballs."

Xena laughed harder, her legs curling up a little as she fought to keep it quiet.

"Hah hah."

The warrior finally wound down, relaxing back onto the furs and giving Gabrielle a pat on the back. Her body still wanted to go further, and she knew if she pushed a little harder, the bard would go along with her, but the quiet, innnate respect she had for the bard's sensibilities put a cap on that.

And that, Xena, is how you know you've changed. She mused to herself, as Gabrielle shifted, and got more comfortable against her, both of them snuggled beneath Xena's heavy cloak. In your younger days, you would not have stopped, no matter how Gabrielle would have felt.

She let herself drift for a moment, imagining what would have happened, if she'd met Gabrielle before she'd been in a place in her life where change was her only option.

Would I have killed her?

Would I have loved her?

Xena regarded her slowly relaxing partner, who yawned, and nuzzled her neck.

Would she have loved me?

Would she have changed me?

She remembered that younger self, so full of anger and hatred, and she remembered Gabirelle's younger self, so full of wonder and innocence.

They'd both moved closer to the center, hadn't they? She was no longer that angry kid, and Gabrielle… Xena sighed. Sometimes, secretely, she missed that wondering innocent.

"Hey, tiger?" Gabrielle's sleepy voice burred.

"Mm?"

"Why do you suppose stars twinkle?"

Be careful what the Hades you ask for, Xena. "Um."

"No.. I mean really… the moon doesn't twinkle, the sun doesn't.. why do the stars?"
Xena stared up, where only a few of the little buggers were blinking down at her. "To give bards something to write about." She finally said. "And because they're prettier that way."

Gabrielle's brow creased as she thought about that. "Damn. You're absolutely right." She lifted herself up and gave Xena a kiss.

"Thank you." The warrior responded contentedly. "Got any more cookies?"

Gabrielle laughed. "Didn't you have enough pastries for dinner?"

"Nope." Xena secured herself a treat and chewed on it. "I've been using up energy faster than I can take it in lately." Part of that, she knew, was her body's healing itself from her captivity. Part of it was the long hours she was spending in constant drilling and preparing for war. In either case it wasn't a good thing, because fighting took up all the reserves she could muster, and if they weren't there, it made things a lot tougher.

"Mm." Gabrielle ran her fingers over the warrior's ribs. "I've got some nutbread we could share." She offered.

Xena's eyes widened. "You're offering to share your nutbread with me? "

Gabrielle just looked at her.

"Nah.. I'm fine." The warrior chuckled, accepting a kiss instead. "Save it for breakfast." She rested her forehead against the bard's. "Thanks for watching my back out there today."

"You made it easy. You've got eyes in the back of your head, Xe." Gabrielle smiled. "I'm glad it went well… and no one got hurt." A pause. "I wish all of it would be like that."

"I know you do." Her partner replied, in a somber voice. "But look at it this way, Gabrielle…by focusing Andreas on me, how many people.. how many villages did we save because he came this way, not towards Athens?" Xena sighed. "Amphipolis is a backwater… we both know that. But this part of Greece has a quarter of the population he'd have encountered going the other way."

"I know." A pause. "But what it if it doesn't work.. what if we can't stop him, Xena… he'll go back that way anyhow."

"We'll stop him." The blue eyes captured her, and drew her in. "One way or the other, Gabrielle, we'll stop him." She bent her head and whispered in the bard's ear, then pulled back, to see Gabrielle lifted her head and gaze at her in wondering surprise.

Xena just smiled back.

****************

The sun poured over them in a rich, red tinged slant from the west as they walked down a long, dusty road towards one more small village in one more obscure area of Greece.

"Hey Xena." Gabrielle had poked her in the leg with her staff. "Look… a festival."

Xena had looked up and yawned, listening to the noise coming their way on the wind. "Yep… sure is."

"Can we go?"

"Again?" The warrior had given her a wry look. "Didn't you get in enough shopping at the last one?"

"That's not fair, Xena.. you know I didn't get to shop at all.. we got captured by that warlord, and then the river overflowed it's banks and we had to save those cows and…"

"Okay.. okay… okay… " Xena had laughed. "Go on… I"ve got to get a new saddle pad anyway, so I'll meet you in the front of the merchants area, okay?"

Gabrielle had hopped twice, then impulsively threw her arms around Xena's neck and kissed her on the cheek. "Thanks, Xena… " Then she'd spun and dashed off down the road, carrying her staff at her side, her rust colored Amazon gear taking on a richer tint in the sunset's glow.

"Sure, kid." Xena had thrown her arm over Argo's neck as she walked behind her young friend. "Doesn't take much to make her happy, does it girl?"

Argo had snorted.

Xena had made her way into the town, and gotten her saddlepad, choosing one in a sort of subtle striped pattern to replace the worn one Argo had been wearing. Then she'd wandered the festival grounds, glancing at the raffish stalls full of fabric and the odd set of knives, fruits and dried meats, and herbs by the hundreds. She knew she was getting suspicious looks from the vendors, but she ignored them, taking her time and fingering the soft, frilly things under their nervous eyes. "How much?" She'd asked one wary man, holding up a frivolous crimson shirt, with beads trailing along a low neckline.

"Two dinars." He'd said quickly. "But if that's too much…"

Xena had paid him, reflecting that there was bargaining, and there was bargaining, and size sometimes did count. She'd slung the shirt over her armored shoulder and strolled on, picking up some herbs she'd been short of and a couple of other trinkets she stashed in her saddlebags.

Then she'd heard a commotion, and figured Gabrielle was in the center of it. She turned and threaded her way through a curious crowd, to find her young friend by the ink seller, arguing vociferously and half covered in dark, gooey liquid.

Xena had sighed, and shook her head, and bumped her way through the onlookers, until she was standing behind Gabrielle, eyeing the angry tradesman over the girl's shoulder.

"It's not my fault!" Gabrielle had been shouting. "You tripped, and dumped that stuff all over me! I'll never get this clean! You owe me for new clothes!"

"Look, kid, I'm not gonna.." The merchant had waved her off, then lifted his eyes and stopped dead in his tracks. "Uh…"

Xena had lifted a single, elegant eyebrow.

"Ah.. all right..all right…but pick something cheap!" He'd babbled. "I ain't a rich man!"

Gabrielle had cocked her head, obviously confused by his change of attitude. "All right, I will… " Then she'd turned and almost crashed right into Xena. "Oh!" She'd blurted, then backed off a pace, and glanced down at her self, looking back up at the warrior with a woebegone expression. "Hi."

"Hi." Xena had shook her head, muffling the laugh she knew would hurt Gabrielle's feelings. "Had a run in with a rabid parchment worm, I see."

"Yeah." Gabrielle had sighed. "Help me pick a new outfit?" She'd perked up and tugged Xena towards the nearest stall. "Maybe I should do leather, like you."

"No." Xena disagreed. "It's hot, and it itches."

"You wear it."

"I fight. I have to."

"I fight too!"

"Not the way I do. Your staff takes the place of armor in keeping people off you."

Gabrielle had sighed. "Okay… what about this?" She'd held up a sturdy, woolen short gown.

Xena had lifted an eyebrow. "Uhm…."

"No, huh?" The bard had dug back into the pile. "What about this?"

A head shake.

"This?"

Another head shake.

Two handfuls of cloth, one green, one brown and a questioning look. "It's about all there is."

"Hmm." Xena's lips had quirked. "That has possibilities."

Gabrielle had changed, and observed her new wardrobe doubtfully. "I don't know, Xena… I think this one's smaller than the other one.. there's more of me showing."

And so there was. "Summer's coming." The warrior had shrugged. "It'll be cooler."

"That's true." Gabrielle had tucked her old outfit away for rags, after getting as much ink out as possible. "But I don't see you taking any of your stuff off, even when it does get really hot."

"I…"

"Fight in it. I know." Gabrielle had sighed. "Hey… they've got cold fruit drinks over there… want one?" She'd looked up, and caught Xena studying her, a mischievous little grin on her face. "What?" She'd looked down. "What's wrong? "

"Not a thing." Xena had remarked, strolling on with Argo, with the faintest hint of a cheerful whistle.

***************

Xena sighed, and leaned her chin against Argo's saddle, waiting in the gray mist for everyone to mount up. In a way, those first few years they'd traveled together had been… not fun, really, because they were constantly in the middle of battles and trouble, but enjoyable in a way that not even their close relationship could change now. She'd been in a period of radical change in her life, and so had Gabrielle, and they'd worked through it together, learning new things about themselves, and about each other almost every day. She chuckled softly, rearranging Argo's pale mane with idle fingers.

"What's so funny?" Gabrielle appeared at her elbow, dressed in her armor and tucked into a thick cloak.

"I was just remembering that day you ran into the ink vendor."

The bard laughed. "Why… do I have a spot somewhere?" She examined herself. "What brought that up?"

"Nothing… it just occurred to me." Xena shifted, keeping her weight off her bad leg.

"You know.. I remember fantasizing about that, imagining you picked that outfit out because you liked the way I looked in it." Gabrielle leaned against Argo's side. "Did you?"

"Oh yeah." The warrior cheerfully informed her. "I was thinking of finding some desert for us to cross so I could push the heat issue."

A snort. "You'd have keeled over in those leathers." Gabrielle slapped her on the butt. "But thank you for the compliment." She stifled a yawn, then tugged Iolaus closer. "I miss traveling with you.. but I sure don't miss being that feckless kid."

Xena cocked her head. "Really?"

"Oh, c'mon, how much fun do you think it was wandering around in a constant state of not knowing what to do?" Her partner protested. "Wondering what goofy thing I did next would get us into trouble, or me stumbling into a trap have you scrambling to pull me out, or… " She ran out of words. "I like being a competent human being, thanks." She glanced up. "I had to work very hard to earn your respect… and I cherish that achievement, Xena."

"Oh." The warrior watched her mount her stallion with muscular grace, and reflected on the statement, as she turned and pulled herself up on Argo, settling her boots carefully in the stirrups and checking the angle of her weapons. "I never thought of it that way." She admitted, as the rest of the group started forming up on them.

"I know." Gabrielle answered softly, watching the angular profile with a wistful smile. It was just before dawn, and the fog rolled around the horse's legs, rising up and sending wisps past the bard's kneecaps. They moved out silently, just the damp leaves brushing against her skin and leaving a wet, green scent behind as they made their way out of the deep forest and split up, going off in sets of two riders, to silently circle the uneasily camped army.

**********

The fog hid them, as they crept closer and closer. Gabrielle minded Iolaus' steps, and kept him precisely behind Argo, conscious of the fact that she was serving no real purpose in this part of the plan. All the other pairs were both armed with cross or long bows, but she only carried her staff.

Xena carried the bows, and right now, she held a hand up, stopping them and got down off Argo to creep over to a large, flat rock and rest her elbows on it. The bard kept very still, peering through the fog and trying to see whatever it was that had alerted her partner.

There. Just a blur of darker gray. Damn, Xena had incredible eyesight.

The warrior cradled the crossbow against her shoulder and paused, allowing a puff of wind to pass. Then she steadily squeezed the trigger and the bolt fired, cleaving the air with an almost audible noise before striking something solid.

A thud, and a rustle, and a patch of fog roiled, then everything settled down again peacefully.

Save that not far off, under that fog, a man was dead. Gabrielle took a quiet breath, watching the look of predatory interest on her partner's face as she reloaded the crossbow with practiced fingers. Xena motioned with her head, and waited, until Gabrielle dismounted and tied the horses off, then crept over to her.

They eased through the grass together, Gabrielle finding the rhythm in her partner's steps and emulating it as the rough stalks brushed against hands clenched firmly around her staff. Then Xena stopped again, and waited, seeming to sense the very movement of the air around her.

She lifted her crossbow up and went still for several heartbeats, then a finger moved slightly, and the mechanism released.

A thud.

A cough.

Then silence again, except for the tiny creak of the crossbow being rewound. Xena motioned her forward, and then dropped to her knees, sliding through the grass with only the faintest rustle.

Now, this wasn't easy. Gabrielle cradled her staff and did the best she could, glad when the boots in front of her stopped moving, and she could lean on her elbows a moment. The silence settled around them, a bit of pearly opalescence from the coming dawn lighting the mist. The dew drenched her, chilling her hands and she closed her eyes momentarily, then opened them again.

Xena half turned, and handed her back the crossbow, then made a hand gesture for her to stay put. She watched the tall warrior slide off through the murky air, becoming a dark figure that paused, coiled in tense wariness.

A rustle in the grass resolved itself into a cloaked guard, sweeping the air at waist level with a loaded bow as he peered into the fog. As he turned, Xena leaped, exploding away from the ground and simply engulfing him in a powerful grip that took them both back into the grass. There was a hiss, and a the sound of a knife entering flesh, then the distinct coppery scent of blood lifted over the earth.

Xena reappeared suddenly, almost making her jump. The warrior had a splash of crimson across one arm, and she wiped her dagger off, reseating it in it's leather sheath with a contented scrape of metal. She took her bow back and motioned with her jaw, blue eyes darkened to steel gray and filled with a palpable, edgy energy.

Hunting was a challenge, Xena turned, and moved through the grass, smelling the rich earth under her boots as she searched the air for something else. Grass, water…. Ah. Her lips twitched into a smile, as she detected leather, brass and fear just ahead.

"Mikah!" A hissed whisper. "Hey.. where are you?"

In Hades. Xena answered him silently. Where I left him. She edged around a fallen log, and peered forward, seeing if she could get a clear shot.

Hoping she couldn’t. Her hands itched to draw steel again, and her instincts, overjoyed at being allowed to run rampant, were surging forward and pressing her unmercifully, wanting to feel the hot blood over her skin up close.

He was behind a tree. Xena grinned, and dropped to the ground, knowing Gabrielle was covering her back, and moved smoothly forward, hugging the ground and slipping over rocks and dirt without the slightest sound.

"Mikah?"

She chuckled.

"Hey.. c'mon.. where are you?" A soft crackle as he edged around the tree, holding his crossbow at waist level. He was fairly young, with a thick, light brown beard under her helmet, and a sturdy, competent air. "Stop fooling around."

Xena paused, and melted to the earth, coiling up her legs and waiting, letting him come to her, keeping her eyes glued to his chest. He came closer, stepping over a log, and putting a boot down inches from her hand. She shifted her weight back and closed her fingers over his ankle, then whipped her body around and nailed him in the knee with her elbow, collapsing the joint and dropping him over onto his side with a frightened yell. The crossbow fired up into the air and he rolled over, grabbing for his leg and looking up.

She waited, wanting to see his eyes looking at her before she finished him. He froze, and stared at her face, and they faced off for a long moment, until Xena smiled, and flexed her hands.

And then he lowered himself to the earth and whimpered, covering his head and laying very still.

The tiger snarled, and Xena teetered on the brink, smelling the fear, and wanting the blood, the dark violence calling to her with insistent seduction. It was war, wasn't it? He was an enemy, and he'd have shot her in an instant.

She pounced, landing on him and whipping his body over, straddling him with both hands clasping his neck, knowing how little pressure it would take to snap it like a twig. He was shivering, and she could feel the fear coming from him, and she reveled in the sheer power over life, and death that tingled through every bit of her.

It was so sweet.

Then she took a breath, as she heard her name and turned her head, as the mists cleared, to see Gabrielle looking back at her, a lost, heartsick expression on her face, that reminded her all over of who she was.

What she was.

She looked back down at her victim, and released one hand, touching him on the nose with a long fingertip. "When you're on guard, you can't worry about your buddies."

He stared at her with wide, uncomprehending eyes.

"Stay on your post."

Then she leaped off him, and rolled into the grass, disappearing from view before he could so much as lift his head. She worked her way through the grass and slid up next to Gabrielle, who had resumed her low crouch behind the log, and met the bard's gaze for several heartbeats. "Thanks." She uttered softly.

Gabrielle didn't even ask for what. She pulled Xena's head over to her briefly and kissed it, then pressed her cheek against the warrior's hair for just an instant, letting her guts settle into an understanding of what had just happened. Xena remained still, perhaps absorbing the same thing, then lifted a hand and gave the bard's leg a gentle pat.

"C'mon. Let's finish this up." Xena murmured, turning and easing off into the grasses again. Gabrielle followed her, aware of the thinning fog dispersed by the rising sun, and mindful of the increasing visibility. She crept after Xena towards a small brook, as they approached a larger outpost, with four guards standing alertly behind a stack of bundles, watching the approach.

Then an errant bit of wind blew the fog back, and one shouted, pointing towards them. They dove for the earth as crossbow bolts sang over their heads. "Get ready.": Xena barked back, as the noise increased, and heavy footsteps approached them. "Take these guys out, then run like Hades!"

"You betcha." Gabrielle vowed, as she watched Xena lunge to her feet and bolted after her. The warrior met the first guard with drawn steel and disarmed him with a clash, then kicked him in the chest and ducked under the spear thrust of the second.

The bard got in close and got the edge of her staff in on the spear bearer, stopping him in his tracks and sending him flying backward. Then she moved slightly to one side and drew the attention of another guard, engaging him with a swift, savage motion that deflected his sword, and dodging to let him move past her, then turning as he turned, and bringing her staff up to meet his swing again. He hacked at her, and his blade stuck in the wood. She pulled backwards, and jerked him off balance, then stepped forward and kicked him soundly in the gut, making him release his weapon and reach for his middle.

Gabrielle took advantage of that to shake the sword loose from her staff, and bring the end of it down smartly on his head, sending him sprawling.

She looked up to see Xena engaged with the remaining guard, surprisingly, but one glance at the man's style made her realize he was a good match for her partner in skill. A quick review of Xena's expression gave her the go ahead to step in and get an end of her staff under his elbow, then swivel, pulling the sword from his grasp and making him yell in surprise.

Xena belted him with her sword hilt, then whirled and pointed the way they'd come. "Move it… there's more on the way."

Gabrielle needed no second urging. She tucked her staff into a running position and bolted, racing through the grass as it whipped against her arms. She could sense Xena behind her, aware that the warrior was deliberately keeping back, guarding her as she'd guarded Xena during the fighting. She spotted the small stand of trees they'd left the horses in ahead, and angled towards it, putting all her energy into running as fast as she could without tripping and falling.

It was eerie - running through the fog, her steps scattering it around her like slowly drifting water. All she could hear was yells far behind her, her own steps, and the heavier, steady footfalls as the warrior chased after her. A low whistle sounded, and she heard Argo nicker, then both horses trotted out from the trees and galloped over. Gabrielle tucked her staff under her arm and reached up, catching the saddlehorn and pulling herself up onto Iolaus' back. She gathered her reins as she turned to see Xena vaulting aboard Argo, then they were urging the horses into a full gallop, thundering together over the grass shoulder to shoulder as the sun lifted up over the trees, bathing them in a wan, pink light.

Xena didn't pull up until they regained the safety of the forest, and they slowed to a trot, moving carefully through the trees, then turning and looking behind them. Hooded blue eyes viewed the softly waving grass, and she cocked her head, listening for pursuit.

Gabrielle exhaled. "Wow."

"Mmm."

The bard glanced over, seeing the brief clenching of Xena's jaw muscles. She moved Iolaus closer, and touched her partner's arm. "You okay?" She could hear the warrior's breathing, faster and heavier than usual, and felt a jolt of concern. "Xena?"

The warrior shifted in her saddle, then leaned on the front of it. "Yeah… I got kicked in the leg." She winced. "Damn… "

"C'mon." Gabrielle now could see blood coming from where her wound was. "Let's get under cover, and let me take a look at that."

"It's all right. It just stings…" Xena protested, but turned Argo's head, and started her towards the meeting point with the rest of their group. "Broke open the stitches, probably." She straightened with an effort, and exhaled, resettling her boots. "We've got to check the pits, then fall back… we'll have another chance with the second force tonight."

Gabrielle didn't answer. She just kept Iolaus at Argo's shoulder, and her hand resting on Xena's knee, worrying in silence.

****************************************************

It would take them a little time to get moving, Xena reasoned, as they found their slaughtered guards. The group had all met in a small, sheltered dell, and she allowed them a short time to dress injuries gotten in the raid. They dismounted and gathered near the shallow pool at the back of the dell, and she glanced down at a touch on her calf.

Gabrielle crooked a finger at her. "You too."

Part of her resisted. The leg had just gone from a sharp pain to a nagging ache, and she knew the bard's ministrations would reverse that. But she also knew that Gabrielle was right, and she reluctantly eased her boots from the stirrups, and swung her good leg over Argo's neck, sliding down and catching herself on the mare's shoulder. She walked stiffly over to a log and sat down, forcing the pain to the back of her awareness.

Gabrielle sat down next to her, and set her saddlebag on the ground, then worked the buckle that held her upper thigh protector off, and lifted it clear. "Oh boy." She murmured, as she took the small, very sharp knife Xena kept in their healer's kit and cut the blood soaked bandage off, trying to be as gentle as she could.

She heard Xena's breathing increase though, and a glance upward confirmed the closed eyes, and the rigid tension in her soulmate's body. "I'm sorry, honey… " She murmured, watching a pain filled blue eye appear. "All the stitches broke… there's not enough skin here for me to put them back in."

Xena nodded briefly, confirming her diagnosis. "Pack it." She enunciated her words carefully.

"Xena…"

"Gabrielle, just do it." The pain made her voice sharp. "We're in the middle of a war zone."

Yeah. The bard put her head down and complied, knowing the pain of the process had to have been terrible. Xena never made a sound, not even an indrawn breath, and her hands remained resting on the log, twitching only slightly as the bandage was wrapped tightly around her leg.

Gabrielle finally looked up, hearing the short, tense breaths, and seeing the withdrawn look on Xena's face. She dug in the pack and pulled out the herbs the warrior kept there, mixing three together as she'd seen her partner do on many occasions. She put them in a cup, then added water from their waterskin, swirled them, and handed it over. "Here."

Xena didn't even utter a word of protest. She drank the mixture down, then handed the cup back with a stiff, precise motion, still maintaining an iron control in the face of the rest of the party nearby. Gabrielle gazed at her in mute respect, wishing she could do something to comfort her suffering friend, but knowing Xena wouldn't accept any obvious mothering.

Not now. Not when the Amazons, and the soldiers were watching them from their nearby circle, sharing whispered stories of the raid amongst themselves. Finally, the bard felt the tension in Xena's leg start to relax, and her breathing deepened, and slowed. "Better?" She subvocalized.

A hand touched her shoulder, and she felt a rub against her neck from Xena's thumb. She turned her head slightly and brushed the hand with her lips, then pressed her cheek against it. Xena returned the caress with a squeeze, in a rich physical language between them that needed no words.

Never had, though it had taken her a long time to understand that, to set aside the anxiety over the warrior's lack of speech, and look to her actions instead which told much more. Xena used touch, Gabrielle had learned, as a way of communicating emotions she wasn't comfortable expressing otherwise. A gentle cheek caress, and a special tilt of her head, that faint smile, and the warmth showing in her eyes that meant I love you just as much as the words ever had.

Xena's soul showed so clearly in those blue depths. Gabrielle had just needed to learn how to see it, and now that she had, speech seemed almost clumsy in comparison. As she looked up, she could clearly see the hurting child behind the warlord's tough façade, and she just wanted to hug it. She pursed her lips, and wrinkled her brow, and Xena ruffled her hair in somber acknowledgement.

"Thanks."

"Just doing my job."

"I think you're due a raise."

The bard chuckled softly. "What's next?"

Ears perked up. "We need to make sure the pits are ready, then trade off with Solari's team." Xena decided. "I want to get back to the main camp and make sure everything's ready there." She eyed her team. "And get those cuts patched up."

"Sounds like a great idea to me." Gabrielle stated positively. "When do we start?"

"Everyone done?" Xena asked, in a brisk tone, getting a murmured response. "Let's go then." She got up and walked over to Argo, putting her hand son the saddlebow and vaulting aboard the mare in one smooth, easy motion. There was no trace of a limp. Gabrielle shook her head in mild wonder, and put her things away, then also mounted up. As they rode under a lightening sky, further into the forest that skirted the river valley, she dug in her saddlebags and pulled out a packet, balancing it on her saddlebow and cutting several slices off.

"Here." She handed one over to Xena.

The warrior glanced over, then accepted the offering with a half grin, and took a bite. "Must be my lucky day." She mumbled around the piece of nutbread, glad of the distraction

They'd traveled about a half candlemark, down a long, steep trail Xena had found the week prior, which hid them from view most of the way back to the woodland outposts the Amazons had built. It was quiet in there, the trees softly rustling and far off, the sound of water moving through a tiny spring meandering it's way down to the river, barely more than a trickle. A thunder of hooves split the quiet, however, and they stopped, as Xena lifted her head, and listened. "They're tracking us."

The sound went by them, and they waited, sitting stock still amidst the trees. Then there were several shouts, and a hint of burning tar hit them. "Hades.. " Gillen hissed. "They've got torches."

The sound of fire penetrated, then more shouting. "They're setting the woods on fire." Pony blurted, hearing the faint crackle of leaves igniting.

"Keep moving." Xena urged Argo on, catching the first hint of smoke on the wind.

********

These characters, and boy, are they ever characters, are mostly the property of Renaissance Pictures, Universal MCA, and whoever else owns stock and interest in Xena: Warrior Princess. This fiction was written for my amusement only, and not in any way, shape or form for profit - and it is not intended to infringe on the copyright holders of the characters.

Some of the characters are mine, and the story ideas.. well, who knows where they come from? Must be one weird place, that's for sure.

Specific Story Disclaimers:

Violence - this is a Xena: Warrior Princess story. This is not Teletubbies. Even though there are some rumors of similarities. Some of the violence is graphic, but we try not to dwell on it.

Subtext - Considering that the TV Series just aired an episode establishing Xena and Gabrielle as eternal soulmates, any disclaimer of subtext on my part is really kind of goofy in the extreme. The two characters are in love with each other, and have been for years. You can choose to see them as just friends, but then you might not want to read this fanfic, in case it changes your mind or anything like that.

Emotional Content - this is not one my more comedic efforts. There are moments of humor, however.

********************************************************************

Dark Comes the Morning - Part 22

By Melissa Good

"That way!" Gillen yelled, spotting an open space. "There’s a path there."

The half panicked horses headed in that direction, glad to get away from the approaching flames. Xena started Argo towards the gap, then pulled her up, and stood in her stirrups, studying the terrain despite the closing roar behind her. "Wait!" She yelled suddenly. "All of you! Hold up!"

It was a struggle for them to obey, Xena knew. All their instincts were howling at them to run, but the note in her voice made them turn, and look back at her, hands frantically trying to calm their frightened mounts. "It’s a trap!" The warrior pointed. "They’ll be waiting for us at the clearing….you can only go single file there. They’ll pick us off like sitting ducks."

Everyone stared at the opening, then back at her. "How can you tell?" Gillen shouted. "It looks clear!"

"Because that’s what I’d do." Xena answered calmly. "Everyone get down….get to that little stream.. NOW!!" She slid down off Argo’s shoulder and landed, sending a tiny spray of dirt up into the air. The wind tugged around them, bringing a warning, smoky stench with it. "Everyone douse your clothing…. Get in that water, and get as wet as you can."

"She’s crazy." Gillen muttered, but complied, splashing into the tiny stream and dropping to her knees in the icy water.

"Get the horses in there." Xena led Argo forward, until the water was up to her knees, then tapped the mare’s shoulder and eased her down until she was lying in the downstream channel. This caused the water to back up. "Bring Iolaus over here, Gabrielle." She commanded the stallion to settle next to his mother, and he snorted, clearly unwilling. "C’mon, boy…"

"What are we doing?" Gabrielle asked nervously, keeping her voice way down as she watched the wary glances towards her partner.

"Just relax, and get in the water." Xena replied, finally successful in getting Iolaus to his knees. She stripped her cloak off, and wet it, then wrung it out, keeping one eye on the approaching flames, which were consuming the trees at a frightening pace. She draped the cloak over both horse’s heads, then turned. "Get down… " She pointed to the pool of water now spreading quickly over the ground, dammed by two large animals. "Get your horses down if you can, if you can’t, just let em go. Keep your cloaks over your heads. We’re gonna let the fire pass us by."

Gillen glanced at the pool, then at the small depression they were in, then she looked up at Xena with genuine respect. "Right."

"I hope this works." Gabrielle winced as the cold water chilled her legs, an odd counterpoint to the rising heat of the approaching firestorm. A hot wind puffed over her, and for a single, bleakly frightening moment her memory flashed back to the sickening scent of the lava pit, forcing a tiny utterance from her throat as she froze in place.

"Gabrielle!" Xena’s hand on her shoulder made her head jerk up, to meet the warrior’s eyes. "What’s wrong?"

She shifted her gaze to the flames, then back to her partner’s face. "I d..d…don’t think I c..can do this." She stammered softly, starting to get to her feet to run. "Not…no, Xena I …"

Xena stared bewilderedly at the fire, then at her, reaching out instinctively to hold her in place. "Gabrielle… take it easy… you can’t go anywhere."

"No!" The heat triggered a panic attack, and Gabrielle twisted in her grip, her lungs filling with the scent of burning things. She only knew she had to get away from it, and she fought the hands holding her fiercely, striking out with both fists and connecting in a blind fear so intense she could hardly breathe.

She could feel something stronger than she was pulling her down, again, and she whimpered softly. "No… no.. please….not yet."

Then the heat vanished, and the smell of burning was gone, replaced by the chill of cold water and Xena’s familiar scent, which surrounded her completely as the warrior pressed against her, wrapping Gabrielle’s wet cloak around both of them.

She stopped struggling and tangled her fingers in Xena’s armor laces, unable to see anything but her partner’s dim outline. The roar outside got louder and she shivered, but a low voice gently reassured her.

"It’s okay. I’ve got you."

"I’m…." Gabrielle wet her lips, as the roar began to resolve into loud crackling. "scared."

"I know. It’s okay." Xena’s lips were very near her ear, and the warmth of the warrior’s breath cut the water’s chill. "Trust me." A breath. "Just trust me, Gabrielle.. I won’t let anything happen to you, I promise."

She would have once given up that trust without a second’s thought.

She had once sworn to never trust so wholly again.

Now she found herself having come full circle, as she buried her face into the scent of leather, and sweat and spice and released her fear, believing in Xena with a heartfelt completeness so profound it blocked out everything else.

She felt her heartbeat calm and slow, as Xena pressed a warm cheek against her own. Gabrielle remained still and quiet, ignoring the thunder and crackle now directly overhead. She felt Xena jerk, as something hit her back, then muscles surged as the warrior tossed it off them.

Argo let out a worried nicker, and Xena’s voice sounded again "Easy girl… it’s almost over."

And then it was. Xena stood up quickly and pulled Gabrielle up with her, as the edge of the fire moved past them and towards the edge of the woods, leaving them standing in knee deep, ash covered water. The air was still thick with smoke, and heat, but the flames were hungrily swallowing up fragile leaves high above, being pushed by the wind away from them.

"You okay?"

Gabrielle tilted her head up and gazed somberly at her. "Yes." She moved her lips into a slight smile. "Thank you."

Xena cocked her head to one side, looking a trifle puzzled. "Anytime." She patted the bard on the shoulder, then drew a breath. "All right folks.. let’s go. This ain’t over." Eight of the horses had been kept, the rest had fled, besides Argo and Iolaus. "We’ll go out this way. " She pointed. "Circle around, and get past them, then make for the outposts."

"What if they follow us?" Gillen asked, shaking her gray streaked head to dislodge a scattering of ashes.

"Then we’ll fight them." The warrior replied. "Everyone all right?"

Low murmurs responded. There had been some minor burns, and one cut where a branch had fallen on top of one of the soldiers, but otherwise they’d escaped fairly unscathed. They got the remaining horses on their feet and started off, following Xena’s tall form through the smoldering trees.

They paused near the edge of the woods, as Xena held up a hand, and allowed the warrior to advance quietly, slipping through the smoky, burned foliage with careful steps. After a moment, her eyes confirmed what her ears and nose had already told her and she exhaled. "They’re burning the grass." She turned then pointed at a line of fire racing across the plain.

"Burning our cover." Gillen amended, coming up next to her. The Amazon Queen had scorch marks across one cheek, and was covered with smears of ashes and dirt. "They’ll expose the pits that way."

"Mm." Xena reviewed the group of enemy soldiers setting the blazes, then turned, and mounted Argo. "I think they need to be discouraged." She jerked her chin at the horses. "Those of you with rides, follow me. The rest of you, stay here."

"Maybe Queen Gabrielle should stay here." Gillen stated quickly, having been one of the ones who’d lost their horses. "You still look a little upset." This was to Gabrielle directly.

"No." Xena replied before the bard could even get enough air in her lungs to answer. "I want her with me." She dismissed the subject, gathering Argo’s reins in one hand and reaching over her back to loosen her sword in its sheath. "Let’s go."

Gabrielle pulled herself up on Iolaus and checked her staff, caught halfway between a guilty pleasure at her partner’s decision, and a mild irritation at not being part of the decision itself. Not that her choice would have been any different, and Xena knew that perfectly well, but…

One did like to be asked.

A finger caught the edge of her cloak, and she edge Iolaus up next to Argo. "You do wanna come, right?" Xena whispered.

"That’s not a serious question, is it?"

"Just checking."

Gabrielle sat back, her ego fully satisfied now. "What are we going to do?"

Xena moved towards the edge of the woods, and re settled her boots carefully, lifting herself partway up out of her saddle and regarding the enemy with hooded eyes. The group doing the burning was small, touching the grasses alight with torches while several waited to one side holding their mounts. Even their small group, she reasoned, could easily take them and her palm itched, wanting to feel the pressure of her sword hilt against it. She let herself feel the seductive thrill, then drew a breath to order them forward.

"Xena."

She turned her head. Gabrielle was looking past her right shoulder, shading her eyes with one hand. "What?"

"Those rabbits are running towards the fire." The bard pointed. "Why?"

The warrior looked. "Everyone get back." She ordered quietly, signaling Argo to move in reverse. Moments later, she heard the soft thundering of hooves, and a group of soldiers rode around the edge of the burned forest, at least fifty strong, and headed across the back end of the burning grasses towards the pass the army had to come through.

They were almost clear, when one of the last outriders happened to turn his head and spot them.

"Oh boy." Xena clamped her legs down. "Get ready…. We’ll hold them off, and the rest of you take off through the woods and get out the other side."

"Xena, don’t be crazy." Gillen was loading her crossbow. "We can fight just fine on foot. We’ve been doing it for hundreds of years."

A shout rang out, and the group changed direction, heading straight for them. "No time to argue." Xena cursed, as she drew her sword. "C’mon!" She sent her battle yell ringing out over the grass, and kneed Argo into a gallop.

************************

These were not casual soldiers, Xena realized, as she met the first of them and was almost unseated. The man hooked an arm into hers, and pulled, and it was only her powerful legs that kept her in Argo's saddle as she clamped down and signaled the mare, who lunged sideways and jerked her free of his grasp.

Her opponent had a light mace, and he used it to good advantage, alert, intelligent eyes flicking over her and aiming the blows towards her off side, away from the deflection of her sword.

He didn't expect her to switch hands, though, and she did, meeting the mace with her blade on a backswing and circling around him as they fought for position.

Around her, Xena was aware of her troops meeting the riders, and a mess of horses and mud and arrows that confused friend and foe equally. Her enemy swung again and caught her in the chest, and she absorbed the blow, then shifted her weight and freed a leg from a stirrup, lashing out sideways and nailing him in the side with a vicious kick.

That surprised him, enough to topple him from the saddle and send him to the mud, and Xena took advantage of that by slapping his horse on the rear and sending it plunging away.

She moved on to the next rider, who was hacking at an Amazon, and lifted her sword, bringing it down on his head and cleaving it like a coconut, then kicking him out of his saddle as well. "Watch out!" She yelled in Gabrielle's direction.

The bard was circling, having just finished a round with a tall, burly man on a big gray gelding. She nodded, then ducked his ax swing and swiveled her body, smacking him in the ribs with her staff, the impact rebounding and putting speed into her reverse which he just barely avoided as he lifted an arm to protect his head.

Xena kneed Argo forward, and got in the middle of three enemy soldiers, drawing their attack and edging a little away from the melee in the center of the plain. She caught a sword blow on her bracer, the metal ringing dully as she swept her own blade in under her raised arm, and cut into the man's armor, jerking her arm back to pull it out then plunging the tip of her sword through his leather overplate and into his heart.

That occupied both hands for a minute, and she felt something approaching. She pulled her sword free just in time to turn and meet a hurtling body, which slammed into her and sent them both tumbling off Argo to the mud.

Xena rolled once then got up and roundhouse kicked her opponent in the jaw, ducking by instinct as a mace came whistling by her head from the third, still mounted fighter.  He didn't miss the second time, and she went with the blow on the backswing, hitting her in the side of the head as she dove into a somersault, coming back up onto her feet and blinking the painful stars from her eyes.

The man charged her, and she waited, catching her balance as he closed and lifted his weapon to cut her down, taking advantage of her momentary weakness.  T

he world went a little hazy for a second, and Xena went to dive out of the way, but he realized her intention and shifted to meet her, a triumphant look on his face as he struck. Xena heard approaching hoofbeats, and felt a presence, then all of a sudden her enemy was just....

Gone.

Disappeared off his horse after a sound like a melon splitting.

warrior rolled up standing again, and glanced around, then fixed her eyes on Iolaus' hindquarters, which were bunched up as the stallion was pulled up into a halt and turned.

Gabrielle half stood in her stirrups, her staff couched between her side and arm, it's end wavering just past her horse's head. "You okay?" The bard yelled.

"Yeah." Xena whistled, then pulled herself up on Argo as the mare thundered over. She checked her sword and finally found her opponent, who was lying senseless on the ground in a huddled ball. "What did you do to him?"

"Oh." Gabrielle smiled grimly, shifting her grasp on the staff. "This makes a great battering ram."

The warrior glanced at the tip of the staff, then at the soldier, then her eyebrow lifted, but she had no further time to consider the subject as a crowd of fighters bore down on them. "Thanks!" She saluted the bard with the tip of her now drawn sword and headed Argo straight for them, letting out a thunderous yell as she met the first wave, driving past them and slashing for all she was worth.

"You're welcome." Gabrielle muttered as she followed, glad of the straps which held her firmly to her seat. She chased after Argo's mud spattered tail and rammed another rider, then pulled up and shorted her grip, using the staff sideways to batter a crossbowman in the side, sending his aim wild and missing a dodging Amazon.

Xena had just scared her half to death. She was still shaking inside, from her headlong, frantic rush to intercept the attack on her partner, which had, by only a split tail hair from Argo's butt been in time.

She let her instincts take over momentarily, parrying a soldier's sword as she kept one eye on Argo's rider, who was busy crossing blades with a man at least a half a foot taller and twice as heavy as she was.

The warrior seemed none the worse for wear, and she could see the smile starting to edge across Xena's mud spattered face as she fought, half her body lifting up out of Argo's saddle as she twisted in a powerful sweep, her blade and his hissing and crashing in a rapid exchange of strokes.

Then she couldn't see Xena anymore and she felt her heart speed up, as she angled away from the crowd of horses suddenly in front of her. They crowded her back, and she turned Iolaus, trying to circle around them. The line surged as she moved, and kept between her and her partner, and Gabrielle realized with a cold shock that she was being herded deliberately.

Then she saw the net. "Son of a BACCHAE!!!" She yelled in alarm, clapping both hands on Iolaus' neck and tucking her staff under her arm. "Go!" She turned the stallion's head and kicked him with both heels, sending him careening away from the crowd with his ears pinned back to his golden head.

A yell, then a thunder of hooves after her, and she knew she was in trouble. Some instinct told her to duck, and she did, as an arrow hissed over her shoulder, landing in the dirt Iolaus passed quickly by.

"Oh boy." She molded herself to the stallion's back and urged him faster, angling in a line directly away from the attackers and towards the woods that held their outposts. She had two advantages, one, that Iolaus was young, and fast, and two, that she was lighter by far than most of her followers.

The golden horse sped through the grass, ears back, head down, catching Gabrielle's urgency as she gripped the reins near his neck, and tried to move with him like Xena had taught her. She glanced to her right and saw one soldier closing on her, spurring his horse unmercifully until she could see the blood running down the big animal's flanks.

He had the net, and something else that looked like a blow tube, and she thought fast, trying to come up with something as he came within reach of her and readied himself.

Well, her staff was on that side, but there wasn't' any way to swing it but.... The bard wrenched her head around, and desperately estimated angles, then wrapped the reins about one hand and sat up abruptly, hauling Iolaus to a stop and clutching her staff with a tight, deathlike grip.

There was no way for him to stop, even though he tried. His throat took the impact of the end of her staff, almost knocking her right over Iolaus's head, and his horse crashed into the stallion, who stumbled to one side, and screamed in anger.

Gabrielle didn't wait to see what happened. She kicked Iolaus forward and resumed her flight, her eyes straining forward to see what her imagination persisted in painting as another group of horses coming right at her.

A heavy body caught her from behind, and she lost her grip on her staff, grabbing frantically at the saddlehorn as a burly soldier wrapped his arms around her and tried to pull her off her horse, not realizing she was strapped down. He hurtled off the other side and dragged her with him, pulling Iolaus over as well, and they tumbled the earth helplessly, with Gabrielle half trapped under her frightened mount.

"Damn bitch!" The man roared, yanking a knife from his belt and coming at her. "I don't' care what that bastard said, I'm going to carve your heart out for that!" He landed on her, and lifted the blade.

Gabrielle could barely move, and as she looked up at him, saw her death waiting patiently to one side. She met the soldier's eyes with calm deliberation, lifting her chin a little as she listened, hoping for the sound of help coming at her.

Yells, she heard, and a soft drumming, but her instincts told her it wasn't going to be soon enough, even with the faint hesitation her brave look had earned her from her attacker.

It would hurt, she knew, as the knife blade started to descend in a weird, almost slow motion. But maybe not for long. She closed her eyes, and concentrated on something more important, gathering up as much of the love she felt as she could and projecting it towards her soulmate.

Then the air sliced over her, and the blow that should have been sharp, and painful was a dull thud on her chest, spattering something warm, and coppery all over her face.  She opened her eyes, and found the soldier collapsed over her, his hand ending in a bloody, spurting stump laying on her chest, and the hilts of two knives emerging from his lifeless body.

Death shrugged, and walked away, leaving her to take in a deep breath as she was surrounded by friendly, frightened faces and familiar hands touched her face.

"Don't' move." Xena's voice was hoarse, and so strained Gabrielle almost didn't recognize it.

"I don't think I can." She answered softly.

"They retreated... saw the Amazons coming." Xena told her, as hands lifted the dead soldier off her body. The warrior cut the straps holding her to Iolaus off and coaxed the horse up, as the Amazon rescue party came thundering across the grass, circling them protectively.

Gabrielle breathed a sigh of relief, and closed her eyes as Xena's hands felt all along her body anxiously, checking for injuries. "I think I just got the wind knocked out of me." She told her partner, as she cautiously moved her hands and toes.

Nearby, she could hear the sound of the flames in the grass, and she turned her head to look. "We'd better get out of here." She started to sit up, but Xena forestalled her, picking her up and cradling her and getting to her feet from her kneeling position.

"Xena, put me down." She murmured, a little embarrassed under all those eyes.

"No." The warrior stubbornly refused. "Let's get back to the outpost, all of you." She moved towards the patiently waiting Argo.

"Xena... honey, it's okay. Put me down." The bard coaxed softly. "I can ride... no sense in.."

"No." A flat, definite word.

Gabrielle put a hand down on the warrior's chest and took a breath to continue the argument, then stopped as she felt the pounding heartbeat under her hand. She looked up, and saw the her partner was a pale, ghostly white color under her coating of mud, and a second touch felt the rapid, short breaths jerking Xena's body with every step.

Somehow, the last few strides towards the mare lengthened, and she felt Xena's body coil under her hands, then release, a wash of air across her and a dizzying movement of the sky ending in a solid thump, and impact, and they were both on Argo's back, with the warrior's legs clamping down over the horse's sides as she balanced the double weight.

Gabrielle put her arms around Xena's neck and laid her head down on the warrior's shoulder, feeling the grip on her tighten convulsively. "It's okay." She whispered, willing the rapid beat under her ear to slow. "It's okay, Xena."

The warrior swallowed a few times as they moved off, the horseless Amazons capturing some of their dead enemies mounts and riding with them. Three of their raiding party woudn't need them, however, having fallen to the enemy attack. Their bodies were being ported back, a silent, cloth wrapped reminder of haunting possibilities.

"What about the fire?" Gillen pointed, as the wind shifted and whipped the flames through the grass.

For an answer, Xena jerked her chin towards the sky, where dark clouds were gathering. A soft roll of thunder echoed eerily as though in answer, as they started off.

"You okay, Xena?" Eponin rode closer, the only one daring to approach the silent warrior.

For a very long moment, there was no answer. Then Xena turned her head slightly. "Fine, thanks." She responded horsely. "You guys did a great job."

"Us guys had a remarkable example to follow." Pony responded, glancing at Gabrielle. "A pair of them, as a matter of fact."

Xena just nodded, hugging the bard a little more closely.

"Those last fighters were pretty good." Pony continued gamely.

"Horse raiders... hired." Xena answered shortly. "If we're lucky, he doesn't' have many of them. If he does, it could be trouble."

Gabrielle felt the rigid body under her start to finally relax, as Xena's heart slowed, and her breathing became deeper, and more regular. She released one hand from around her partner's neck and slid it down Xena's side, stroking her gently through the tough leather armor. At last, the angular face tilted, and haunted blue eyes met hers. "That was too close." Xena told her, very seriously.

The bard simply nodded. "For both of us."

Xena's turn to nod.

Gabrielle waited a few more minutes. "You want to let me at least ride in front of you?"

Reluctantly, Xena's grip loosened, and she helped Gabrielle swing a leg over Argo's neck and settle into place in the saddle. "Sorry.. I just... "

Gabrielle took the now slack hands resting on her thighs and pulled them around her, hugging them to her body. "I know." She murmured.

They walked in silence, as the first raindrops pattered around them, bringing the smell of damp earth and moisture up from their horse's hooves.

"Xena?"

"Mm?"

"Are we going back to the river tonight?"

Xena thought in silence. "I'm going to give orders for the outpost groups, then yes. We're going back to the river."

Gabrielle blinked against the rain. "Can we go see Dori?"  The wind kicked up, brushing grass against their legs.

Xena watched a bird, trying desperately to make headway against it give up, and start flying in the other direction. "Sure." She rested her chin on the bard's shoulder, and exhaled, allowing the tight knot her soul was tied in to loosen just a trifle.

The rain turned the fire behind them to a roil of smoke, and flattened the leaves in the nearby trees, as they made their way home.

*****************

Gabrielle made her way across the puddled ground towards the supply tent, pulling her hood around her head to try and keep out the persistent rain. She was tired, and very grumpy, everything hurt, and she was sick to gods be damned tired of this blessed…

"Gabrielle?"

Patience. Patience Patience….deep breath. Relax, turn. "Hi." Gabrielle paused, and issued Gillen a smile. "What can I do for you?"

The older Amazon cleared her throat, appearing slightly embarrassed. "Actually… is there anything I can do for you? We've got things settled, and there are runners going out to check the outposts… I know it's been a tough day."

Time for snowball fights in Tartarus. "Ah… thank you, Gillen.. I really appreciate the offer. I'm just going to get cleaned up, then Xena has a list of things she said she wanted to go through." Her partner had gotten quieter and quieter on the ride home, ending the trail in a closed, silent mood that even closed out her soulmate. "We don't have much time… she figures the advance scouts will be in the area by the morning."

"I know." Gillen ran fingers through her salt and pepper hair. "Listen… if you want, I could go and get that list… it's butting in, I know, Gabrielle, but you both look like you could use a little down time."

Gods, how that must be showing. Gabrielle sucked in a breath. "You could try that." She murmured. "Thanks."

Gillen patted her arm, and slipped past, into the rain as she headed towards the command tent. Gabrielle managed a little smile before she continued on her way, ducking under the flap of the supply tent and stopping short at a very familiar voice. "Mom?"

Cyrene was standing there, swaddled in her heavy cloak, hands on her hips. "Hey, cutie pie. I've got a friend over there who'd love to see you."

"Mama!!!!" The squeal was so welcome, it was painful. Gabrielle headed for it, scooping up Dori as she toddled over, her arms held out wide in delight. She snuggled the baby close, and breathed in her scent, as Dori wriggled in happiness, pulling her hair and giving her sloppy, baby kisses.

"Hello, honey."

"Mama." Dori gurgled. "Mama.. mama… good!"

"It's good to see you too." Gabrielle stroked her head, then cradled her. "Oh my gosh…what a pretty outfit.. where did you get this?"

"Your mother made it for her." Cyrene spoke quietly. "Between the two of us, we've managed not to let her wreck the place."

"Oh." Gabrielle ran a finger over the delicate embroidery. "Wow."

Cyrene motioned to the man she'd been talking to, and he slipped outside, leaving them alone. The older woman crossed to the younger, and put a hand on her arm. "You okay, cutie?"

Gabrielle simply looked at her. "It's been a rotten day." She admitted, watching Dori tug industriously at her armor clasp. "We lost some people… and we had to fight… a lot… Xena's leg's still pretty bad… "

Cyrene put an arm around her. "I figured we were getting pretty close to the bad stuff." She told the bard. "I made the decision to bring everyone from the town up here.. who hasn't already gone to the caves." She paused. "Your mother's here."

Gabrielle blinked in surprise.

"Lila and the baby went to the caves… Lennat is with the supply group." Cyrene rubbed her back. "But Hecuba decided she wanted to come with us… do what she could to help."

"I'll have to thank her." The bard murmured. "I came over to get something to eat… Xena hasn't had anything all day, and that's not helping." She rocked Dori, who warbled at her. "This'll help though.. we were going to come down to see you tonight."

"Mama?" The tiny green eyes peered adoringly up at her, and Dori smiled.

"Hey honey… I know someone who'll be so glad to see you." Gabrielle whispered to her. "Guess who that is?"

Dori sucked a finger, then pointed at her. "Boo!" She announced. "Go Boo!"

"That's right.. good girl." A weary smile appeared. "Have you been behaving for grandma?"

"Eh." Cyrene forced a chuckle, as she rummaged in the storage bins. "She's actually been pretty good… for her." A eye went to the squirming baby. "She's sensitive.. she knows something's wrong, I think, and she misses you two terribly. I .." The innkeeper hesitated. "I found her hugging that little doll Xena gave her and crying yesterday."

Gabrielle studied the tiny face seriously, tracing it's outline with gentle fingers. "I'm glad you brought her." She replied. "I've missed my little scamp too." The bard looked up. "Let me go take her over to our tent…she might be better than food at this point."

Cyrene gave her a worried look. "Here… take this too. I'm going to see what I can do here… and I'll come over later to say hello."

"Gabu, mama…go bck." Dori advised her seriously, a bitty pucker in her small brow.

"Absolutely, honey." Her mother assured her, giving her a kiss on the head. "C'mon." She gave Cyrene a one armed hug, then took the basket the woman was holding and exited the tent, feeling half her weight as she headed across the rain soaked ground.

Their tent was quiet as she got there, and she paused, before she ducked her head under the flap, giving the sentry outside a brief smile. Inside, she let her eyes adjust for a minute before glancing over to the brazier, where a dark form was sprawled motionless in a chair nearby. "Hey."

For a long moment, there was no reaction.

"Boo!" Dori had spotted her.

Now the dark head jerked, and Xena turned, gazing through the flickering light in startled surprise. "Dori?"

Gabrielle smiled at this first sign of true life since the morning. "Mom's here." She crossed to her partner, trying to keep hold of her wildly wiggling child. "Dori.. you're going to fall.. now cut that out… argh." She managed to get the baby into Xena's hands before she lost her grip and watched, with quiet satisfaction, as the light and life came back into her partner's face.

Xena had stripped down to just her leathers, and she hugged the baby to her. "Hey, kiddo…"

"Boobooboobooboobooboo." Dori squealed, making her parent wince at the volume. She cliimbed up the warrior and threw her arms around Xena's neck, giving her an enthusiastic kiss. "Good!"

Gabrielle perched on the chair arm, letting her hand rest on the warrior's shoulder, and simply watching. Xena's tactiurn demeanor relaxed, now allowing the weariness to show plainly beneath the control she'd been tightly holding. "I sure was glad to see her."

"Mama?" Dori looked up inquisitively. "Cookie?"

Both her parents eye's widened at the same time, and the bard managed a half strangled laugh. "Oh… no…."

A small chuckle escaped her partner as well. "Thanks, mother." Xena mentioned softly, letting out a breath as she leaned her head against Gabrielle's hip, wordlessly seeking comfort, and receiving it in the form of a draped arm, and nuzzling in her hair.

"She's a little miracle worker." The bard murmured, indicating their restlessly exploring child. "She got you talking, at least."

Xena glanced up at her, and their eyes met. "I've been fighting with myself the whole day, Gabrielle… I don't know if I can go through with this."

The bard felt the shock course thorugh her. "Not g…" She looked around them in pure reflex. "Xena…"

The warrior sighed, looking for a moment very un warriorlike and perplexed. "I realized something about myself today." She gazed at Dori, who was trying to unbuckle her leathers, a serious expression on the tiny face. "I'm afraid of dying." Her eyes lifted to the bard's face. "I'm afraid of you dying."

Gabrielle blinked. "Xena… this is a war… everybody's afraid of that." She whispered. "I certainly am, and always will be."

A slow, definite shake of the head. "I never have been before." Xena replied. "It's how I do what I do… it's how I go all out, the way I do. I never cared about the consequences." She paused. "Now… I'm so scared… I can hardly think about what's going to happen tomorrow. " Another head shake. "I don't know if I can do it."

The bard was truly at a loss. She sat quietly, running her fingers through her partner's hair, deep in thought. "You once told me." She carefully felt her way. "That fear was a good thing… it kept you focused." She watched the sharp profile. "Are you saying it's never affected you before?"

"Not like this." A breath. "Not freezing me in my tracks, and almost costing you your life like it did today."

Gabrielle stifled a shiver. "But it didn't. You got there in time."

"I almost didn't."

"Almost never counts." The bard recited. "You either do it, or you don't." She put a hand under Xena's chin and tilted her face up. "Someone once told me that."

Xena rubbed her eyes. "There are no good choices, Gabrielle… I could ask you to stay here, and something could happen. I could let you fight at my side, and something could happen." A helpless lift of the hand. "I don’t know what to do."

Gabrielle didn't know what to do either. She doubted even Artemis would have any useful suggestions in this case, since so much of the problem was wrapped up in Xena's own mind, and in the history between them. Finally, she sighed. "Xena?"

The warrior had been playing idly with their daughter, making mindless noises at her. Now she looked up. "Mm?"

"We have to do this." She told her partner. "The lives, and the fates of all these people here are counting on it…and there's nothing that can change that at this point." Gabrielle laced her fingers with Xena's. "Whatever happens…. You, and I will get through this together, one way or the other."

"G.."

"We will find a way." The bard interrupted her, speaking forcefully. "There is no other option." She watched Xena look away, a look of painful confusion on her face. "Xena." Gabrielle gentled her voice, and recaptured the warrior's jaw, coaxing a reluctant eye contact back. "Think about this a minute…maybe the reason you weren't afraid to die before was because you didn't really have any reason to live/"

Xena went still, and her head cocked just slightly to one side as she absorbed the idea. Her eyes unfocused, then, after several moments of silence, cleared and fastened back on her face. "Now I do." She murmured, almost under her breath.

"Now you do." Gabrielle confirmed. "Let that work for you, Xena… take strength from it, instead of thinking of it as a weakness." She could see the idea working it's way through in a fascinating wave of subtle body shifts and tensing muscles that ended with lips twitching into a smile, and blue eyes once more holding their quiet glint as they gazed at her.

"It's worth a try." But there was peace in that voice. "Something to think about, anyway."

"Boo!" Dori, having tired of listening to this drama, decided to focus the attention of her parents on herself. "Gogogogogo." She had both small hands wrapped around Xena's leather straps, and was tugging them fiercely, only the strong material's tough stitching keeping the warrior's clothing on.

"Hey." Xena relaxed, grabbing the baby's hands. "Where do you want to go, short stuff?"

Dori giggled, then jumped up and down on the warrior's thighs. "Boo!"

The warrior winced. "Oof."

"Dori… easy honey." Gabrielle caught her daughter and lifted her up. "Boo's got an owie there… c'mon now, let go." She pried the tiny fingers off the leathers. "Sorry, Xe."

"It's okay." Xena caught one of Dori's flailing feet and held it, examining the little bootie covering the toes. "Where'd she get this stuff?"

"My mother."

Lifted eyebrow. "Nice."

The small talk relaxed the tension in Gabrielle's guts, and she exhaled, fighting off a wave of exhaustion with difficulty. Xena had once told her that dealing with emotions was far more tiring than fighting all day, and right now, she could readily believe it. "How about we all sit down over there on the rug, and have some lunch… how's that?"

Xena pushed herself out of her chair and limped over to the brazier, settling down on the bearskin rug with a tired sigh. She took Dori from Gabrielle, and sat her down between her outstretched legs, pushing aside her doubts and letting her mind clear for the time being.

"You want me to change this?" The bard touched the bandage around her partner's thigh, as she set the basket down next to them.

"After lunch." Xena mumbled, letting Dori hold both of her thumbs, and swaying her back and forth. "It's bearable right now."

"Oo." Dori had spotted the basket, and now she toddled over and gripped the sides, almost overbalancing and ending up head first inside it. "Mm." A finger pointed. "Cookie!" She leaned over and made a grab for a packet.

"Ah ah ah!" Gabrielle warned her. "That's not a cookie.. that's nutbread, and you'll have to fight me for it." She snatched it away and held it up over her head.

Dori pouted, looking at her in outrage. "Mama!" She toddled around the basket and started to climb over the bard's leg, reaching up towards the bundle. "Ma…ma….. ma…"

"C'mon, Dori.. I bet you had lunch already." Her mother protested. "This is my lunch… and I"ve had a rough day!"

Dori sat down abruptly, and poked her lower lip out sadly.

"Dori!"

A tiny sigh.

Gabrielle lowered the package and broke a corner off. "Oh, all right." She handed it over, and watched the toddler cram it in her mouth gleefully. "Wench." She glanced up. "What are you smirking at?"

Xena had her hands folded in her lap, as she watched in silence. "Me?" The warrior answered. "I’m not smirking."

"Uh huh."

"I’m taking notes."

Gabrielle peered over at her, to find a larger, sexier version of Dori's pout in evidence. "Oh gods." The bard moaned. "I'll never get any nutbread at this rate." She threw a piece at her partner, who caught it in neat, white teeth. "Doesn't anyone want sliced venison?"

Xena chuckled, and accepted a waybread sandwich, leaning back against the tent's center pole and munching it while Gabrielle shared her lunch with their ravenous offspring. The headache that had plagued her all day faded slowly as she relaxed, and she was content to take the moment as it was, enjoying the presence of her family, and the spicy, distinctive taste of her mother's venison.

Dori decided to try another victim, and left her mother's side, trailing a series of breadcrumbs across the furs as she ambled up to where Xena was sitting, reaching up and grasping the edge of the warrior's leathers where they curved over her breasts and trying to haul herself up that way.

Gabrielle almost snorted a berry.

"No doubt whose daughter SHE is." Xena remarked dryly. "Here, shorty." She offered Dori a bit of meat.

"Mm."

"Like that, huh?"

"Good." Dori resumed her climbing attempt. "Bck."

Xena leaned back a little, making it a much easier slope, and watched in wry amusement as the baby sprawled on top of her and grunted happily. "Nope. No doubt at all." She curled an arm over Dori and exhaled. "She even grunts like you do."

"Hm." Gabrielle had put away the basket, and now she crawled closer, with her healer's kit. "What a great maternal trait for me to have given her." She sat down and started the task carefully, cutting away the bloodstained and dirty bandage. "Dori…. You hug your Boo real tight now, okay? So she'll feel better."

"B..b..b..ooo." Dori repeated.

Xena looked away, accepting the pain and letting it go past her as she listened to the rapid patter of rain on the tent's roof. That would act in their favor, making it difficult for Andreas to move his army, and giving her, personally, a chance to rest and heal a little before the coming battle. Tomorrow, she figured, around sundown Andreas should be within striking range. Whether he continued on and started the fight, or left it for the dawn….

Well, no sense in worrying about it. The camp was as ready as it could be, the attack parties were out, the pits were dug, supplies were laid in… Bennu had done a good job while they were gone, and all that now remained was…

To wait, and listen to the rain, and enjoy the feel of Dori's tiny heartbeat against her palm. To turn her head and drink in Gabrielle's serious profile, tracing the clean, even lines over and over again as the bard worked in the low light.

Gabrielle was right, she acknowledged silently. There were no longer any options. She curled her other arm around the bard's waist, and was rewarded with a quick flash of warm green eyes, which twinkled at her, then disappeared again as Gabrielle resumed her task.

Reasons to live. Xena looked down as Dori burped, then hiccuped, her eyes drooping shut, bringing a smile to the warrior's face.

Something to think about.

****************************

It was very quiet, in this waiting time before the dawn. A gentle fog spread through the camp, dampening fabric with it's passing, and stilling all but the sharpest noises. On the ramparts, the watch crouched silently, wrapped in heavy, waxed cloaks to keep out the cold wind, and the clusters of tents housing the troops were peaceful, where tired bodies were drinking in what rest they could before the coming day.

Through the mist, a dark, cloaked figure walked, the slow, powerful stride sending wavelets of fog rolling to either side, dimly seen in the fluttering torchlight that lined the paths inside the camp. The watch near the river bridge noted the coming presence and straightened to attention, lifting a fist in salute that was answered by a casual wave.

The fog obscured the wooden bridge, but the sound of heavy boots sounded on the planks as the figure crossed the river, disappearing halfway across from the sight of the watch as it headed away from the camp.

Xena stepped off the end of the bridge, and onto the soil of the lands around Amphipolis. She paused, looking around her, then continued on down the silent road. She reached the fork, which on one hand lead up to her home town, and on the other down the riverside towards an eventual rendevous with what used to be Potadeia, a day and a half's walk away.

She walked alone, wrapped in her cloak and her memories, as the town gates appeared, closed and silent. She went up and pushed one open, slipping inside and closing it behind her, then leaning against it as she studied the barely moonlit shadows surrounding familiar buildings.

Home.

Xena exhaled, and walked slowly through it, the gravel and rocks underfoot crunching as her boots hit them. She mounted the steps to the inn, and walked inside, letting her eyes scan the quiet interior, every table scraped and empty, chairs put neatly against the walls. She continued on into the kitchen, which was bare of everything useful, it's fires cold and dead.

She pushed the kitchen door open, listening to the creak of it's hammered iron hinges, then went through and crossed the small garden her mother jealously guarded, now gray and empty, it's beds dug up and harvested in their entirety for use in the fight.

Xena sighed, then continued on her way, passing buildings older than she was, and some so new she'd barked knuckles in their building. She walked past the well, and the barn, then paused and went back, sticking her head in the large structure and sparing a wistful smile for it's sturdy interior. Her eyes lifted for an instant to the overhead rafters, not needing any light to see the names engraved in one of them. She closed the door and went on, her feet finding the path to her own home without any conscious direction from her.

She didn't spend much time there, just a moment, taking in the smell,and the sights of the small room and storing them away. Then she left the cabin, closing the door firmly behind her before she walked down a small, neatly stone lined path towards her actual objective.

It wasn't a big place. Just a stone doorway carved into the curve of a sloping hill, with an iron gate she unlocked and pulled open. A set of stone stairs led downward, and she took them, running her fingertips along the wall and feeling it's winter borne chill. She paused at the bottom of the steps, and lit the torch sitting in it's sconce just inside.

The smell of oil mixed with the musty, damp scent of the stone in the crypt as she walked forward, to lay her hands on the stone sepulcher that housed her brother Lyceus' bones.

"So." Xena's voice sounded odd, even to her own ears, echoing slightly off the crypt's walls. 'Here we are again, Ly.. back where it all started." She straightened, and turned her back on the coffin, roaming about the chamber, and touching the niches there for future occupants. "I.. was almost here with you, Ly." She laid her hand flat on the stone. "I wonder if mom would have let me lie here, when I came back the first time, if Gabrielle hadn't followed me…. You think?"

Xena sat down on the slab. "I don't think she would have, Ly. I think they'd have just left me out in the woods… give the wolves something to chew on other than one of the calves." She rested her elbows on her knees. "Now they're asking me to lead them again. Weird how that worked out, isn't it?" She studied her hands, clasped loosely in front of her. "I'm glad you never lived long enough to see what I became."

She got up and went to the coffin, gazing down at it's graven surface. "But I wish you were here now."

Xena remained silent for a moment, leaning on the stone in quiet reflection. "Wish me luck, Ly." She finally whispered, before leaning over and pressing her lips on the stone. Then she straightened up and walked slowly out of the crypt, dousing the torch before climbing up the stone, close fitting stones and shutting the iron gate.

Dawn was closing in on her, Xena realized, as she leaned against the cold metal and looked out at the faintly graying sky. With a sigh, she pushed off from the gate and continued up the now rocky path, walking between thick, old growth trees covered in moss. The fog scattered before her boots, and the wind rustled the crisp, drying leaves over her head and dropped the odd one onto her shoulders. Her leg was painful, but she just put that out of her mind and refused to limp, putting pressure on the limb to take it's full share of her weight as she knew it would have to do in the battle coming very, very soon.

The path lead upward, and she leaned forward as she walked, pulling her cloak more closely around her as the dew settled on it, weighing it down with moisture.

Finally, she broke out into a familiar plateau, where the forest thinned and sloped to a rocky spring, with it's tiny, gurgling waterfall She climbed up onto the rocks and sat down, regarding the water with pensive eyes. "Well." She unhooked her cloak and folded it neatly, setting it to one side and leaving her in just a light linen tunic and her boots. She'd always had a personal habit, before any big battle, and it didn't seem the time to be changing that. Arranging for a heated bath just wasn't an option, not this morning, not when everyone was scrambling to get things organized, but here, she had a nice, big bathtub.

Unfortunately, it was bone chillingly cold, but… Xena propped one boot up and started unlacing it. She tugged it off, along with it's sock, then did the other. Then she stood up and loosened the belt on her tunic, stripping it off and exposing her skin to the damp, cold air.

A deep breath, then she took a step and dove into the spring, her whole body jerking in shocked reaction to the icy temperature. She surfaced with a gasp, and sucked air hard into her lungs, the shivers racking her as her body tried to adapt itself to it's new environment.

Long experience made her force herself into motion, swimming back and forth across the spring with powerful strokes until her heart started pumping warm blood through her, and the biting cold receded, going from unbearable to merely uncomfortable after a few minutes.

Okay. Xena angled back over to where she'd entered the spring and retrieved the bar of soap, then started scrubbing herself all over.

A ritual.

This odd penchant of hers for entering a battle clean, her body scoured of the dirt and sweat that would surely cover every inch of her before the fight was in it's infancy. Xena carefully cleaned her hands, then scrubbed the skin of her forearms and shoulders, raising an herbal scented lather as she washed the back of her neck, then her face, leaning over to rinse the soap from her eyes.

She lathered up a double handful of the soap then and scrubbed her long, dark hair, then rubbed the soap down her body, lifting herself up out of the water to cut free the bandage around her leg, and allowing the water to rinse the ugly wound as she carefully cleaned it.

Ow. Xena sighed, as she lowered her leg back into the water and watched the newly bleeding gash stain the clear liquid. The skin around the cut was swollen and painful to the touch, but the pain eased a bit as the cold water rippled over it.

One more lather over her body, then she sloshed over to the tiny waterfall, a sturdy trickling over the granite that filled the spring, and was the actual headwater of it. She stood under the flow, letting the pristine water wash over her.

Despite the chill, it felt wonderful, the gentle pressure of the water thrumming against her shoulders, drenching her in it's clean, sharp scent. She opened her mouth and drank some, tasting the unique combination of minerals that also filled their well water, and meant home to her in a way few other things did, here in this spring she'd known from childhood.

Xena leaned her head against the rock, and remembered teaching Lyceus to swim here, holding onto his small body as he kicked and spluttered, never as at home in the water as she had been.

As Dori was, who had learned in this very same pool in the summer's heat, her small head breasting the surface as she churned determinedly with tiny arms and legs.

Xena smiled, and drank another mouthful, then opened her eyes and regarded the granite surface, carved over the years into the smooth slopes and rounded curves by the relentless surge of the water.

She ran a thumb over the rock, marveling at how it's impenetrable hardness could be shaped by something as soft and malleable as the spring into the image the spring needed to complete it's course. The rock never really had a chance, she mused. The water was in charge, changing the granite and molding it to it's will. Xena examined that thought.

Like life shapes us, sometimes.

Rosy gray light filtered through the leaves, picking up glints from the water. Xena slowly lowered her eyes, to the patch of fractured glitter on the surface that held her image, in a thousand different ripples. She took a step back, and turned, to a calmer part of the spring, and studied the form reflected back at her in the dawn's light.

A tall, feral figure looked back, naked and wet, it's mane of dark hair straggled around a stern face, and framing cold, remote blue eyes. The body was long, and lean, the muscles firm and evident, with powerful legs and wide, sinewy shoulders that led down to thickly corded wrists and strong hands.

A scattering of scars, in a spider's trace across tanned skin, and the one, tiny bit of warm color, her new tattoo gracing the soft slope of her left breast.

What has life shaped you for, Xena? The images lips twitched. A poet? A merchant? Xena laughed silently at herself, as she spread her arms into the growing light of dawn. No.

Accept what you see. She met the blue eyes in the reflection. Accept what you are.

Be the warrior this army needs to lead it to victory.

Xena let the first rays bathe her, and turned her face into the dawn breeze as she stood there half submerged in the spring. Then she drew in a deep breath, and released it, before she walked to the edge of the spring and pulled herself up and out of the water, shaking her body vigorously, then slipping on her linen tunic and belting it. A moment more to pull on her socks and boots, and she was heading back down the path towards the river at a walk that became a long, loping stride, and then a full out run as the sun rose up and painted the sky with a new dawn.

****************

"Mama." Dori slapped both hands into the water basin, and effectively doused her beloved parent.

"Mm.." Gabrielle wiped the water and hair out of her eyes. "Thanks, honey… now hold still."

"No." Dori squirmed around, trying very hard to swim in her bath. "Bck!" She splashed Gabrielle again, giggling furiously when her mother yelped.

"C’mon, sweetie.. I already had my bath." The bard coaxed. "You better be good, or I’ll tell Boo on you." She warned, jokingly, getting a suddenly wide eyed infant sitting still looking back at her. "Boo wont’ take you flying if you’re not good.. remember?"

"Boo." Dori picked up one of her toys, which was floating in the water and chewed on it, keeping obediently still for Gabrielle as she washed the baby’s soft skin.

"What a good girl." Gabrielle leaned over and kissed her head.

"Bck." Dori reached up and grabbed a lock of the fair hair hanging so invitingly close, pulling on it with a determined look on her face. "Good!"

"Ow." Gabrielle got the tiny fingers loose. "Honey, that hurts." She pushed her hair back behind her ears and finished scrubbing her daughter. "How do you get so dirty? You’re just like Boo, you know that? You attract mud like a dog attracts fleas."

"Growf." Ares’ ears pricked up. He had arrived a few minutes earlier, causing a ruckus when Dori spotted him and scrambled out of her cradle to go catch and greet her furry playmate.

"Boobooboobooboo…" Dori warbled in response, hopping a little in the water and sending it splashing against the sides of her little basin. "Boo!" A tiny hand pointed imperiously.

"Oh… let me guess." Gabrielle had already sensed the presence behind her. "That couldn’t be your Boo, now could it?"

"It could." Xena’s low voice answered, as the warrior padded over, unclasping her cloak. She dabbled a finger in the bath water and splashed her soulmate a little.

Gabrielle scowled. "Now I know where she gets it from." She glanced up, then turned and eyed her partner for a long moment. "You’re all wet." She finally murmured, taking in the aura of edgy energy she could almost feel pouring from Xena’s restlessly moving form.

"I got cleaned up." Xena replied, turning towards their box of supplies and removing her cloak, then stripping off her damp tunic.

Gabrielle gazed at the naked form pensively. "Y’know, honey.. I’m sure they’d have brought you some warm water if you’d asked." She commented, going back to her task. "Must have been freezing in the river."

"Didn’t go to the river." The warrior replied, removing the components to her armor, and setting them down carefully. "I went to our spring."

"Ugh." Gabrielle winced. "That’s worse.. it’s bone chilling even in summer." She pulled Dori out of the water and into a large piece of soft linen, drying the giggling baby off as she squirmed around. "Hey.. stop that, Dori.. you’re gonna fall."

"Wasn’t too bad." Xena settled the padded undergarment she wore beneath her leathers over her head, and smoothed the edges down. "I just wanted a few minutes to think… I took a walk through town." She turned finally, and met Gabrielle’s questioning eyes. "Visited Lyceus."

The bard’s lips tightened in understanding, as she got Dori into one of her heavier playsuits. She put the baby down, and watched her make a beeline for Ares curled body. "Dori… be nice."

"Urgle." Dori reached her objective and flopped down on top of the startled wolf. "Ruff!"

Ares whined, and gave Gabrielle a pathetic look as his ears were pulled.

"Sorry, Ares." The bard chuckled. "Hey… " She turned her attention back to her partner. "Let me put a bandage on for you." She came closer and dropped to one knee, reaching for the kit resting near the box. "Mm… looks a lot better, honey."

Xena glanced down in surprise, blinking at the now mostly closed wound, the swelling gone and the skin returned to it’s normal color. "Yeah…"

Gabrielle patted her leg. "Just took a little time for the magic to kick in, I guess." She smeared some of the clensing salve on the remaining opening, and wrapped a neat bandage around it, before leaning forward and kissing the skin lightly, with a sense of relief. "You must feel better… gods that must have been killing you."

Xena regarded the wound in silence. "It was." She replied finally, in a thoughtful voice. "Maybe more than I realized." Her fingers lightly touched the skin over the white bandage.

"What do you mean?" The bard asked, standing up and putting a hesitant hand against her partner’s stomach. She studied the angular face over her, and tried to pinpoint the difference she could feel, that was at once strange and very familiar.

Xena turned, and picked up her black leathers, stepping into them and pulling them up, tugging the fit straight and adjusting the shoulder straps. "I figured out I’d never be able to fight Andreas if I didn’t stop fighting myself first."

Gabrielle adjusted the back piece to the leathers and fastened the side buckle as she considered the words. "I know you’ve had some second thoughts." She went around to the other side and worked that buckle as well. "And some doubts."

"Mm." Xena fastened her thigh protectors to her upper leathers, and strapped them down, then settled her leg armor in place over her knees and boots. "But I can’t have either of those if I’m to succeed at this, Gabrielle." She turned, and reached for a bracer, facing her partner. "That means making peace with that very dark part of me that I’ve been struggling with the last month."

The bard started lacing. "Accepting it, you mean."

Xena nodded.

Gabrielle looked up into the shadowed eyes, where a now familiar fire burned. "And you have."

Another nod. "I need it, Gabrielle. It’s what makes me what I am."

Gabrielle smiled, just a little, and patted the leatherclad surface in front of her. "Xena…I know that. I’ve always known that." She collected her thoughts. "Sometimes I think you try to pretend otherwise, because you think that part of you will drive us apart from each other."

"Didn’t it?"

"No." The bard’s voice was very serious. "Lies and fear drove us apart." A breath. "Love and believing in each other knitted us back together."

Xena straightened her other bracer and reached for her brass armor, lifting it over her head and settling it onto her shoulders. She worked the extra arm guards into place, and lifted an elbow so Gabrielle could get at the buckle on that side. "I guess that’s true." She acknowledged softly. "Even in the worst of it."

Gabrielle nodded. "Especially in the worst of it." She patted Xena on the side. "I’m going to go grab us some breakfast, then get into my gear… Keep an eye on Dori for a minute, will you?"

"Sure." A faint hint of amusement showed. "Give me the hard stuff to do." She ruffled Gabrielle’s hair. "Get me double of whatever they have.. I’m starving." She watched Gabrielle duck outside the tent, then lifted her sword in its sheath and fastened it to the clips along her back.

"Boo!" Dori gave up trying to drag Ares across the dirt floor, and toddled over, grabbing the edge of Xena’s leg armor and pulling herself up onto the warrior’s boot. "Go fly!"

"Fly, huh." Xena lowered herself to one knee and took the baby’s hands, detaching them from her armor plates. "Not right now, short stuff… I’ve got too many clanky bits on."

Dori frowned, then reached for Xena’s shoulder armor, pulling on it with a little grunt. "Bad."

"No." Xena lifted her up, and cradled her along one arm, surprised when she realized Dori just barely fit along it’s length. "Boy, you’re getting big, huh?" She tickled the child’s foot, which kicked at her as Dori scowled. "My armor’s not bad, Dori… it keeps me from being owie."

"Bck." Dori sucked on a finger. "Go fly!" Her pale green eyes pleaded with Xena.

Oh boy. "Tell you what." The warrior bargained seriously. "After mama comes back with breakfast, you can come outside with me, and we’ll see then, okay?"

A scowl. "Now!"

"Dori." Xena’s voice dropped. "Be good."

The baby pouted, then found an interesting catch on Xena’s metal armor and started trying to unlatch it, fascinated with the shiny object.. The warrior watched her indulgently, then walked over to her weapons case and removed her chakram, settling it in its belt clip before she added three additional daggers.

Then she sat down on the bed, and set Dori on her knee, studying her daughter intently. "What’s life going to shape you for, Dori?" She mused, as the baby bounced a little on her leg. "Hmm? You gonna be a storyteller, like your mama?"

"Mama." Dori grabbed a better hold on her fistful of leather. "Gumph!"

"You’ll have to learn a few more words first, I guess…. But I’d bet you’d be good at it." Xena told her. "Or you could run an inn, like your grandma does. Would you like that?"

"Fug." Dori grabbed a bit of Xena’s leather armor and started to pull on it. "Gogogogogogogo." She kicked her heels into the warrior’s leg as though she were a pony.

"Okay.. maybe a horse trainer." The warrior chuckled. "You like horsies, doncha?"

Dori’s eyes lit up. "More!"

Xena laughed easily, feeling a sense of inner peace she’d been missing since the problems with Andreas had started. She flexed her leg, bouncing Dori up and down and making her shriek in delight. "Like that, huh?" She grinned.

"Boo!" Dori scrambled to her feet and squirmed up Xena’s chest, using her armor for handholds as the warrior leaned back, unable to stop laughing. They ended up nose to nose, the baby’s bright, alert eyes peering in to Xena’s larger ones intently.

"What are you two doing?" Gabrielle’s voice sounded.

Dori turned her head. "Mama!" She pointed at her victim. "Boo!"

The bard examined the pinned warrior and smiled, as she put a wrapped package down. "It sure is, honey… now c’mere." She picked up her daughter. "The outposts were attacked overnight, Xe."

The warrior stood, serious now. "When did they find out?" She reached for her cloak.

"Just now.. but its okay. They fought them off… two Amazons got hurt, but they’re a little shaken up." Gabrielle set Dori down, and took hold of her partner’s arm. "So… hold up a minute, and get something into your system while I change… then we can drop Dori off by mom, and go see what’s up, all right?"

Xena hesitated. "Change fast. We’ll eat on the way over." She compromised. "I want to get the details while they’re fresh." She felt her mind clicking into gear, and a dark thrill chased over her skin. "I want to get a counterattack going, the bloodier the better."

Gabrielle watched the focus change and tighten as even Xena’s speech became more abrupt and controlled. The indecision she’d seen there yesterday was gone, replaced by a single minded determination that rang solemn chords in her memories. "All right." She turned and headed for her neatly laid out scaled armor. "Why don’t you get a roll out while I'm doing this." She slipped of her tunic and pulled on her quilted surcoat, fastening the buckles quickly, then wriggling into the scale armor and settling it with a few tugs. "Xe?"

"Yes?" The word sounded almost in her ear and Gabrielle jumped., then turned as a hand touched her shoulder.

"You know I hate when you do that." She gave her partner a look.

Xena merely smiled, and adjusted the armor, pulling it taut over the bard's shoulders and buckling the belt in front. "There." She tore her pastry in half and offered part to Gabrielle, who took it in her teeth as she tugged her boots on. "Was it all the outposts?"

"Two of them." Gabrielle mumbled around her mouthful, lacing one boot and starting on the other. "The two outermost… but they got so close, it was almost too late by the time the alert went up." She swallowed, then leaned over and picked Dori up. "C'mon, honey… time to go play with grandma."

Dori scowled, and pointed at Xena. "Boo! Fly!"

"Not now." Xena patted her cheek. "Boo's gotta go to work, honey. "

The baby's face fell almost comically, and she pouted, curling up a fist near her chin and leaning against Gabrielle's warm body. "Did you promise her?" The bard asked her partner.

"Gabrielle." Xena finished putting together a sandwich. "I was going to, yes, but that was before you came back. I don’t' have time for that right now." The warrior glanced up to find two serious pairs of green eyes gazing at her. "In case you lost track, we're in a war." She shouldered her cloak. "Now, c'mon."

The bard sighed. "I know… I know.. c'mon Dori. We'll play with you later… okay?" She patted the grumpy infant, and followed her soulmate out of the tent.

Outside, the atmosphere was electric, and she could feel it. She watched Xena straighten, and throw her cloak around her shoulders, the thick fabric outlining her armored body. Cyrene came trotting over, and held her arms out.

"Here.. I'll take her Gabrielle.. I know you've both got a lot of work to do."

Dori clung to her, crying fitfully. "Hey.. hey… it's just grandma." Gabrielle checked her anxiously. "What's the matter?"

"Mama." Dori's hands clutched her. "No go."

"Shh." The bard kissed her head, and stroked the tiny face. "Honey… we'll be back for you in a little while.. it's okay." The watery green eyes peered at her uncertainly. "I promise.. and Boo will fly with you, okay?"

Dori sniffled. "Mama."

Xena had turned in her tracks, several paces away. "Gabrielle.. " She called back, impatiently. "Wh.. " Abruptly the bard joined her. "What's go.."

"Just go." Gabrielle gave her a shove, startling the daylights out of her soulmate. "Go on.. you said you were in a hurry, so move."

"Gab.." Xena caught her balance, and held both hands up. "Whoa." She glanced after her mother's disappearing form. "All right, hold it.. what's the problem?"

Gabrielle went right past her, boots thudding against the muddy ground. "I have no problem., Xena. I understand we're at war. I understand how important every thing we're doing is. I understand all of that." She stopped, and turned, her anger evident in her face. "But she doesn’t'." She pointed back the way they came. "She's just a baby, and babies don’t understand war." She turned and kept walking.

Xena jogged after her, catching up with little trouble. "Look, Gabrielle… "

"Don't look Gabrielle me." Her partner snapped. "I know it's ridiculous, for the gods sake. I am perfectly aware of just how trivial it must seem that I'm mad about my baby being upset. But I can't help it, Xena.. that's the kind of person I am. I feel for people. I feel for you.. for the soldiers, for the gods be damned animals, and for my little girl, who's anxious, and scared, and doesn't know what's happening" She wiped her eyes in irritation. "Poop."

They walked along in uncomfortable silence, as Xena studied her boots, scuffing along in the half dried mud. She had no idea what to say, but after a few paces she broke her sandwich in half, and offered a portion over to the sullen bard. Gabrielle looked at it, then looked up at her. Xena kept her expression open, lifting her eyebrow just a tiny bit in hopeful question.

After a long, tense moment the bard reached up and took the offering, her posture slipping from taut anger as she examined the meat and bread. Finally she nibbled a corner, then glanced back up at the quietly waiting warrior. "I'm not really sure where that all came from."

Xena took a bite of her own breakfast. "You always take up for the underdog, Gabrielle…especially for one who can't speak for herself." She commented softly. "I'll make it up to her. I promise."

Gabrielle exhaled, easing a bit closer. "I shouldn't have gone off at you like that. I'm sorry, Xena." An arm settled around her shoulders. "Not a great way to start the day off." She looked up to see two men running towards them, and heard shouts starting to rise from the battlements.

The wind brought a hint of blood to her nose.

Gabrielle took a deep breath. Not a good way to start the day at all.

**********

They got to the high battlements and Xena bounded up the steplike platforms built into their back, gaining the top level and peering over. A small group of Amazon riders was pelting their way, being chased by a larger formation of mounted soldiers, who were firing crossbows. "First group, mount up!" The warrior yelled. "Get the gates ready."

Fighters were scrambling, adjusting weapons as they ran to the back of the gates, tugging freshly retrieved horses by long reins. A group of twenty formed, and they waited, hands clenching on leather, fingers loosening weapons as they watched Xena's alert form.

She judged the distance, watching the slowly closing space carefully as the Amazons horses tired. Two of them were riding double, and she could see the rest had battle marks on them, blood stains becoming evident. "Ready... " She held a hand up to the four large men on either side of the gates, hands wrapped around thick ropes.

Just a little more... "C'mon... c'mon.. " Xena murmured, then as the pursuers crossed an imaginary line her eyes had drawn, she dropped her arm.

"Go!"

The gates swung open, pivoting on iron clad hinges salvaged from some long off raid and stored in the valley with the rest of her warlording things. The troops surged forward, moving rapidly into a gallop as they cleared the walls and headed down the slope built into the defenses. They came around a hillock and went straight for the oncoming attackers, who didn't see them for long seconds, and only then started to pull up.

Not in time. Xena's troops flew by the tired Amazons and engaged them, swords slicing through the enemies defenses as they tried to turn back.

Xena smiled, then hopped up onto the top of the wall, watching as the outnumbered attackers were cut down. Two broke free and started to run, driving their animals into a hard gallop, and Xena turned, holding her hand out to the nearest archer. "Gimme that."

"They're too far, genr'l" The man handed the weapon over anyway.

Xena selected a long shaft from his quiver and grasped the quills, raising the bow and setting the arrow in place as she drew the long gut string back to her ear. For a moment she was totally still, then her fingers released the arrow.

The lead rider jerked, and fell forward onto his horses neck.

Xena lazily selected a second arrow and took her time in aiming, watching the frantic rider ducking and trying to hide himself as low on his horse as possible. She judged the wind, then picked a spot on him and let fly, almost imagining she could hear the sound of the impact as the thin shaft penetrated the side of his armor, and entered his chest. He sagged sideways, then was chopped down as one of her people caught up to him.

Xena handed the bow back to the awed soldier, then hopped down off the wall and made her way to the next platform, watching as the Amazons trotted wearily inside the gates and were met by some of their sisters, along with a few of the militia. "What happened?"

The foremost glanced up, then straightened. "We were scouting.. .after what happened last night, Gillen wasn't taking any chances. This bunch surprised us on the other side of that forest strip.. just bad luck, I think We came around one side and they came around the other at the same time."

The warrior nodded. "All right." She jerked her head. "G'wan and get patched up." Xena let out a whistle, then leaped down to the ground as Argo came trotting up with out her saddle on. She vaulted to the mare's back and wound long legs around her barrel, then urged her through the gate towards where her troops were mopping things up.

Gabrielle exhaled, her guts still churning, then she went to where the Amazons were dismounting and held two sets of reins. "Anyone hurt?"

"Just scrapes." The group's leader sighed. "And Tereme, here... she got an arrow in the back." The Amazon was crouched over her horses neck, , her face tensed in pain. "Josa, help me get her down."

Gabrielle moved forward. "I'll get her." She helped the injured Amazon get off the horse, and held onto her as her legs buckled, a spurt of warm, coppery scented blood spurting over the bard's steadying hands. "Need a stretcher here!"

"Got it." One of the villagers ran up, and Gabrielle got the wounded woman to lie down on her stomach on the crude device, then watched as they took her off towards where the healers had set up a hospice area.

"Gabrielle.." Ephiny strode up. "I think we should send out reinforcements to the outposts.. sounds like they're taking a beating."

Gabrielle considered that. "Maybe, but let me talk to Xena. It's possible they're attacking those sites just to try and draw us out." She glanced out the open gates, seeing the troops returning at a canter, leading the captured horses. "I'll get back to you on that."

"Okay - but it's a little tough that it's just us taking the casualties." Ephiny reminded her. "Mostly Amazons in those outposts."

The bard looked at her. "Ephiny, you know the battle plan. They're there, because Xena's using them as strike and run troops, and the Queens agreed that was the best purpose for them." She took in a breath. "Don't' worry.. everyone here is going to get ample opportunity to be in danger." Gabrielle turned as Xena rode up. "Everyone okay?"

The warrior nodded. "Fine." She straightened. "Ephiny, no one goes out in groups of less than a dozen. I don't' want any more targets."

The regent nodded. "All right."

"Gabrielle...tell the non combatants to get back by the shelter near the ford. There's protection there if they start lobbing fireballs in on us."

"All right." The bard agreed quietly. "Do you think they'll be here today?"

Xena turned Argo neatly, and stared out the gates. "Tonight." She answered "But there'll be trouble before then." She pointed, and they looked out to see a haze on the far horizon. "They're burning cover."

Ephiny cocked her head. "Should we call in the outposts?"

Cold blue eyes regarded her. "No. They have their instructions." Xena nudged Argo's sides, and headed her towards the horse billeting area, where her tack awaited, leaving Ephiny and Gabrielle behind.

The bard took a deep breath, then released it. "I knew this was coming." She hesitated. "But I still wasn't ready for it." She felt Ephiny's hand clasp her shoulder. "I forgot what that side of her was like."

The regent gave her a compassionate look. "The situation needs it."

"I know." Gabrielle lifted her head. "But that doesn't mean I have to like it." She tugged her armor straight. "I'm going to go pick up my staff, and tell Cyrene to move her people back.. then we can start moving arms up to the wall from the supply area." She turned and headed towards the command tent, returning the hurried greetings as she slipped past running soldiers, and ducked back under the fabric into the dark, quiet interior.

Then she just stood for a minute, letting her nerves settle. "Okay, Gabrielle." She held both hands out in a calming gesture to herself. "This has to happen, so just remember that it wont' last forever, and she wont' be like this all the time." She drew a breath in, and released it, but was unable to prevent an echo of the grief she'd felt, as they'd slipped further and further apart the last time, color her memories in deep shades of gray and black. "Oh gods."

It was a horrible moment. She covered her face with both hands and just shut the world out, concentrating on forcing the scary thoughts out, knowing they served no purpose other than to hurt her. "It's okay... " She whispered to herself. "Be strong, Gabrielle... you can't lose it now." She felt the panic slowly, very slowly recede. Her shoulders relaxed, and she dropped her hands and straightened up, then reached for her staff and turned to leave the tent.

A tall, silent form blocked her way, making her pull up short and just stare, words catching in her throat as she met Xena's pale eyes. "Urk."

"Hey." The warrior uttered, in a husky voice. She lifted a hand and cradled the side of Gabrielle's neck, rubbing her thumb along the bard's soft cheek. "I'm still in here."

Gabrielle bit the inside of her lip until she tasted blood, gazing up into eyes now warmly familiar. "I knew that." She whispered. "It was just such a... it happened so fast, I.." She looked away, her fingers clenching the wood of her staff. "Didn't have time to adjust."

Xena pulled her closer, and wrapped both arms around her, kissing her head tenderly. "We've been through too much, Gabrielle... you and I both know how fragile what we have is." She tilted the bard's chin up and studied her seriously, feeling Gabrielle's body slowly relaxing and seeing her tense expression clear. "It's hard for me to balance what I know I have to do, with how I know it looks to people I love very, very much, but I'm going to do my best to try not to hurt you."

Why couldn't we have talked like this the last time? Gabrielle sighed inwardly. "I love you." She replied simply. "Thank you for saying that." She flattened her hand against Xena's stomach, feeling the warmth of her under the leathers. "I don't know why I got so shook up. .I've been telling you all along it was all right to use any advantage we have against Andreas..then you go and do it, and I fall apart. It doesn't make much sense."

Xena kissed her head again. "You may understand it, Gabrielle.. but that doesn't mean you like it."

The bard managed a faint chuckle. "You know me."

"I know you."

The world righted itself. "Ephiny's worried about the outposts... she wanted me to send reinforcements out there."

Xena was quiet for a few breaths. "What did you tell her?" She asked, warily.

"That I'd talk to you about it... that Andreas may be attacking them because he wants to draw us out, and that would put more people in danger."

"Good girl.. right answer." Xena gave her a proud look. "Even if you didn't like giving it."

Gabrielle sighed. "Xena, I follow my heart, most of the time. You know that."

"Mm."

"But over the years, you've taught me that sometimes you have to force this.." She tapped her forehead. "To overrule this." She touched her chest. "For the greater good."

Xena shifted an arm over her shoulders, and lead her back outside. They could see the pall of smoke now edging for the clouds, and a wind shift brought a smell of acrid burning to them. "That's true, Gabrielle." She finally answered, as they passed the gates heading toward the strategic tent, where the battle leaders were gathering outside. "You know, sometimes though, following your heart turns out to be the right decision in the end, even though it didn't make much sense at the time."

They both looked at each other. "Sometimes your heart knows the truth, even when your mind tells you otherwise." Gabrielle smiled.

Xena didn't release her, as they closed in on the waiting crowd. "Tell ya what... let's use my mind, and your heart.. and I think we got this licked." She paused. "I need nets brought out." This to the soldiers waiting nearby. "Spread em in front of the embattlements, about waist high."

"Nets?" Bennu asked puzzled

"Nets." Xena confirmed. "Get moving... I want them up before the end of this half candlemark." She pointed at the battle leaders. "Inside. We've got work

to do."

Far off on the wind, they heard the crackle of fire.

*******

"C"mon." Gabrielle picked up another armful of arrows, and started for the battlements. Two of the villagers, and three militia followed suit, and they made their way up to the front of the walls, stacking the weapons neatly near the bottom platform.

The sturdy defenses had been made wide on the bottom, and tapering to the top, leaning slightly outward as though ready to topple over. The backs had platform like steps where archers could stand, and gaps staggered through them for the arrows to emerge from. Wood and stone based, packed with round river stones and mud, they presented a considerable blockade to shelter Xena's forces with . The two huge gates in the center slanted outward, so that closed, they formed a beak that when pushed against, merely closed the portal tighter and tighter.

The battlements spread from one bend of the river to the other, so that the water itself formed it's own protection, and behind the walls were the troops, the horses, the supply areas, and the two critical sections of the river, the ford and the bridge.

Gabrielle had been working with her group for about a candlemark now, and they'd moved most of the arrows, spears, and miscellaneous small swords and knives up to the storage areas below the lowest platforms. Around them swords were being sharpened, bows restrung, and armor adjusted as the army geared itself up for the coming storm. It was noisy, and electric, and the bard felt her throat going dry as the messages were relayed in from the outposts.

"I need one hundred cavalry saddled up." Xena yelled, from where she'd been instructing two of the wall captains. "They'll send testing attacks first, to see what we've got. Keep the gates open."

"Xena, we've got the nets up. "Toris shouted from the open space. "Now what?"

Xena hopped to the top platform, and looked over. Across the huge plain, dark smoke was rolling, and her sharp eyes could detect the very edge of the burning area, outlined in lurid red orange against the pale wheat colored river grass. "Leave em be." She jumped down. "Josc… are the field men here?"

The reeve paused, and nodded. "Aye… in t'back, stacking the provisions."

"Have them get their scythes, and go to the gate." Xena ordered, then turned. "Toris, get a regiment, and have them bring all the buckets in the stocks up here."

Gabrielle peered out the opening, and studied the ground. "You're going to cut the grass down, and wet the earth?" She guessed, eyeing her soulmate.

"You got it." Xena patted her back, giving it a little scratch with her fingertips. "Cavalry - get outside the gates, and form up past that stand of trees." She whistled for Argo, and leaped aboard, then looked down as Gabrielle tugged on her leg armor. "What's up?"

"Here." The bard handed her a meat roll. "You hardly got breakfast." She exhaled, and rubbed her hands together in the cold wind. "What's next?"

"All the waterskins filled?"

"Yes." Gabrielle nodded. "And I had dried rations packaged and sent to the walls - they're stored in those boxes lashed under the platforms." She paused. "The healer's area is ready.. we had all the extra cloth boiled and set aside, the foraging group just came in over the river with as many herbs as we could find, and I had a squad of Amazons ride over to the westward wall just to see if everything's quiet. It is."

Xena rested her hands on Argo's saddlebow. "Good work, Gabrielle.. thank you." She glanced over her shoulder, then fiddled with the reins. "One more thing."

Gabrielle stepped closer and looked up. "What is it?"

"I want you to instruct the healers… when they have bodies… to put them in the river, and let the current carry them off. We don't have the space in here to keep them, and they spread sickness."

The bard took a breath, then a second. "I already told them that." She answered quietly. "But I also told them to take as much record of the names as they could.. so we know who we lose."

Xena released the rains, and put a gentle hand on her cheek. "I'm going to lead the front line troops, make sure we turn back their testing raids. Do you want to stay here, or come with me?"

"I'll get my staff." Gabrielle turned and jogged towards the horse corral, snagging her staff she'd left leaning against a case of dried beef and collecting Iolaus' reins. She climbed aboard the stallion, who snorted and shuffled his feet as she got herself arranged, then sent him towards the tall, patiently waiting figure near the gate.

They rode out into the grass together, past the group that was gathering with scythes and buckets. "We'll need to clear at least a league." Xena pointed. "Then douse the ground with water… get a bucket line going back to the river, and get everything good and wet." She nudged Argo past the busy workers and headed towards where the troops were gathered, exercising their restive mounts and circling in tight, nervous arcs.

"Hey, Xe?" Gabrielle carefully guided Iolaus around a net line. "What are these for?"

Xena glanced behind her. "That fire keeps coming.. everything in front of it's gotta come too." She nodded towards the far off fireline. "We might as well take advantage of that." She clicked her tongue and Argo responded with a canter. "All right… we're going out to the last stand of trees there… let's see what we can find."

Gabrielle surreptitiously buckled what she'd come to think of as her safety belts, as she sent Iolaus trotting after his mother. The cavalry formed up around Xena, in two large rolling squares, and they headed off across the grass. She tucked her staff into it's holding rings and flexed her hands on the reins, feeling the leather against her palms.

It was quiet, really. Most of the soldiers kept silent, and aside from the drumming of horses hooves, and the sound of the wind, nothing stirred. Gabrielle leaned forward a little, and urged Iolaus up next to Argo, settling into a nice canter knee to knee with her partner. Xena was chewing on the meatroll she'd given her, the tall warrior's head swiveling as she surveyed the surrounding area.

It was almost exciting, Gabrielle had to admit. Riding there in the center of a hundred warriors, armor clashing lightly, faces serious. Some Amazons, the largest of them, who preferred to fight in heavy armor and carry the longswords she could barely lift, mixed with Bennu's fighters, and Palaemon's, veteran soldiers with scarred faces, and easy, well trained seats that bespoke years of experience on horseback.

And Xena in their midst, sitting relaxed in her saddle as always, moving with Argo's rolling gait with a flexible ease that demonstrated her own lifetime of riding. The warrior had her cloak tucked back behind her, and as the bard watched, she half stood in her stirrups, her alert senses taking in everything.

They rounded the curve where the rolling hills sloped down, then headed towards the patch of forest Xena had indicated, getting closer and closer to the smudge on the horizon that was the burning area. Gabrielle imagined that the wind that shifted unpredictably back and forth brought her the fire's scent.

A candlemark went by, and now they were much closer, with the long line of forest running to their right that held the outposts.

A yell echoed weirdly, and Xena's head snapped up. She urged Argo to the front of the troops and lifted her body up, turning her ears to catch the slightest noise. Another yell, and the ring of metal on metal, and she lifted a hand, then pointed towards the last patch of forest near the end of where the outposts were. "C'mon!"

They gathered themselves up and sorted out a formation, a double arrowhead with Xena on one tip and Bennu on the other, and let their speed build as they aproached the end of the trees. "Around that side!" The warrior directed. "Look sharp! If they number more than we do, split up and start a cross attack!"

"Will do, genr'l.. and ifn' they aren't?" Bennu yelled back.

Xena drew a breath and let the solid charge of dark excitement take her. "If they aren't… kill them all!"

A yell went up from the troops, and they drew weapons, settling boots more firmly in stirrups as they leaned to one side, the horses curving around the last of the trees and allowing them to see the clearing beyond.

Xena let out a wild yell and urged Argo into a full gallop, the mare's strides lengthening as she spotted the carnage ahead. The attacking force spotted them and whirled, heading in their direction and leaving the scattered Amazons, who had built a hasty wooden palisade they were defending fiercely.

Their numbers were evenly matched, Xena realized, and she pulled her sword from her sheath as she marked her first target. Another yell erupted from her throat, then the two sides impacted, and she was in the melee, driving her weapon into the chest of the leading rider and yanking it back out again as his horse took him past her.

She swiveled on instinct and slashed back the other way, intercepting an ax from a well built soldier who reached out of her with his other hand. She cut it off with a negligent swipe, then drew her dagger and cut his throat, driving Argo on past him and into a thicker patch of enemies.

The fire was building in her, and she let it, welcoming the fierce strength it brought that redoubled her blows, and sent her sword cutting through bone and muscle as if they were paper and fabric alone. "Eyah!" She whirled in her saddle, slamming her hilt against an armored head then freeing her boot from a stirrup and kicking the fighter right off his horse.

Gabrielle was fighting to stay close, using her staff to fend off wildly careening enemy riders, and stubbornly getting between Xena and whoever was closest to her. She slammed the end of her staff into a man's chest, and he rocked backwards, startled, then dodged her next blow and came in swinging his mace at her chest. She managed to get the staff back down and deflect it, then she shoved him back wards, and nudged Iolaus in the ribs, making him jump sideways and adding power and weight to her motion. The man dropped sideways, but he tangled in his stirrups and couldn't get quite free. His head dangled down and before Gabrielle could move, Bennu swept by and took it off with a swipe of his broadsword.

No time to think. Gabrielle whirled her mount and charged after Xena, who was now battling with three enemy soldiers, two of whom had her pinned between them and the third who was coming at her with a sword. The warrior ducked one blow, delivered a dagger in the ribs to the man behind her, and as Gabrielle watched, launched hersself up to stand in the saddle, then leaped at the oncoming soldier with a wild battle yell, her weight and impact taking both him, and his horse to the ground.

"Die!" Xena rolled off him and grabbed his helmet, kicking him in the face with a savage knee. He dropped to the ground and she straddled him, lifting her dagger high and bringing it down to plunge to the hilts in his chest. Then she surged to her feet and yanked the knife free, only to send it whipping across a man's face, catching a second in the throat as he was about to gut one of Xena's troops.

The tiger was out now. Xena hardly realized how many enemy there were, or what the odds were, she just let the fire take her over with a sense of almost relief, abandoning her questions, and the doubts that plagued her, using her sword and daggers, her hands and body skills to carve a path through the troops without regard for her own safely.

She leaped for Argo, and pulled herself on board, then sent the mare towards a group of enemy and her own troops, holding her sword in both hands and simply hacking her way forward with savage, powerful strikes that carved flesh from bone, and sent blood flying for several feet.

She took the head off one of them.

She spit one on her sword, driving it deep in to his body, then kicked him backwards and twirled the weapon in her hand, shoving backwards to catch the rider who had leaped on her back. He slid off with a grunt, and she laughed.

Gabrielle stuck with her, focusing on Xena, and Xena alone as she threaded Iolaus through the melee, her small size, and quick movements protecting her from the charging soldiers, who spotted her face and hesitated just for an instant, long enough for her to take them out with a solid hit from her staff, or brush by them, grimly determined not to let her partner out of her site.

A hand grabbed her leg, and she reversed her staff, slamming it down on her assailants head. He hung on though, yanking a knife from his belt and stabbing upwards, but catching the point in the leather of her saddle. She hit him again, and this time he let go, and slid downward.

Then another man leaped for her, and she turned, but he landed half over Iolaus' neck and threw his arms around her before she could stop him. She struggled fiercely, then realized he had yanked the neck of her armor down, pulling her with it, and was moving towards her throat with a sharp, small knife.

Panic gave her strength, and she pulled herself up right by sheer will, away from the blade and half lifting his body up off the horses neck. He clawed for her, but she gave Iolaus a reluctant signal, and the stallion reared, making him arc sideways and dislodging him from the horses neck. He fell, and Iolaus snorted, coming down on him with sharp hooves and stiffened forelegs.

Then another body came at her, and she whirled, anger sending the staff in a vicious arc that caught the soldier right between the eyes and snapped his head back with a sickening crunch.

A yell.

The enemy struggled to retreat, as a ram's horn was sounded, pelting through the trees as Xena's troops gave chase to ride them down.

Then for just a moment, it was quiet. Gabrielle let the pounding in her ears recede, as she turned in her saddle, her anxious eyes finding Xena's still, composed figure seated on Argo's back in the center of a field of battle gore and bodies. There was no emotion, save perhaps satisfaction on her face, as she reviewed the field, where three score enemy soldiers now lay injured or dying, among a few of their own.

Gabrielle took a shaky breath and urge Iolaus over to her, watching the cold blue eyes sweep the area, then slowly, with butterfly lightness, settle on her face.

"You okay?" Xena's voice was low.

Gabrielle nodded. "You?"

A smile. Xena flexed her hands, and stretched like a cat. "Never been better."

The bard moved closer, feeling the swirl of dark energy around her that threatened to sweep her in. "Guess we won this round." She tried not to think about the carnage she was standing in the middle of, having truly seen worse in her short lifetime.

"Oh yeah." Xena turned, to see the Amazons from the outpost threading their way forward, Gillen foremost among them. The Amazon Queen had a bloody cut over one eye, but looked proudly triumphant. "Good job."

"They thought they'd roll right over us, Xena." Gillen told her, resting a bloodstained hand on Argo's shoulder. "Gave me a damned ultimatum.. said if we surrendered, they'd let us go." She spat. "Nothing I hate more than a stuck up horses ass who thinks I'm brainless." She looked up at the warrior with undisguised awe and admiration. "But I will tell you, I have never in my years seen anything the likes of you, Xena. They say you were Ares Chosen." Her eyes met the warrior's. "I believe it."

Xena smiled easily, absorbing the admiration, and the looks from her troops who were gathering back around her. "I'm hoping that reputation's gonna be worth something pretty soon." She straightened. "All right.. let's clean this place up.. start a fire, and get patched up. We'll circle around to the north next."

Gabrielle watched her partner casually flick a bone chip off her forearm, then turned towards her. The tiger showed plainly to the bard's eyes, but… behind the wildness there was something familiar as well, and a warm sensation came to her through the connection they shared.

Fire and ice.

Sunlight and shadows.

**************************

Continued in Part 23

These characters, and boy, are they ever characters, are mostly the property of Renaissance Pictures, Universal MCA, and whoever else owns stock and interest in Xena: Warrior Princess. This fiction was written for my amusement only, and not in any way, shape or form for profit - and it is not intended to infringe on the copyright holders of the characters.

Some of the characters are mine, and the story ideas.. well, who knows where they come from? Must be one weird place, that's for sure.

Specific Story Disclaimers:

Violence - this is a Xena: Warrior Princess story. This is not Teletubbies. Even though there are some rumors of similarities. Some of the violence is graphic, but we try not to dwell on it.

Subtext - Considering that the TV Series just aired an episode establishing Xena and Gabrielle as eternal soulmates, any disclaimer of subtext on my part is really kind of goofy in the extreme. The two characters are in love with each other, and have been for years. You can choose to see them as just friends, but then you might not want to read this fanfic, in case it changes your mind or anything like that.

Emotional Content - this is not one my more comedic efforts. There are moments of humor, however.

********************************************************************

Dark Comes the Morning - Part 23

By Melissa Good

They gathered near the trees, crouched in their saddles. Ahead of them, a group of Andreas troops were advancing, mounted warriors some two hundred in number.

"Advance guard." Xena murmured, stroking Argo's neck gently. Her eyes flicked over them, and past, to where a second unit of her cavalry was waiting her signal.

"They must know exposing themselves like that is asking to be attacked." Gillen stood slightly in her own stirrups. "What's their game?"

"Xena hunting." The warrior laughed quietly. "Let's make sure they have a fruitful hunt." She turned her head. "Everyone ready?" Her voice was low, but penetrating. "Watch out for arrows. We don't know if they're putting anything on the tips. Keep your body covered if you can."

Heads nodded, as flaps of chain mail were settled down over hands and helmets thumped into place.

"Archers set?"

The Amazons on foot shifted, lifting bow tips in a wavering line down the grass.

Xena stood in her stirrups, and lifted her chakram, catching the fitful sun in a brilliant flash . Across the space between them, slowly filling with enemy soldiers, an answering flash came.

"Fire." Xena stated calmly, reseating herself. "Get ready."

A hail of arrows exploded from both sides of the trees, then a second, then a third as the longbowyers aimed for heads and the unprotected flanks of the horses. The orderly columns shifted, and shouts rang out. Crossbow bolts answered their arrows, hissing lightly against the grass, their dappled cloaks providing a scant target.

"Fire." Xena leaned forward and loosened her sword, sensing the bodies shift around her. Andreas forces were rallying, moving shields forward to guard against the arrows, and moving into an attack phalanx. "Easy…. Easy…" Argo snorted.

Andrea's captains organized their troops, and started a charge towards the forest, intent on overrunning the snipers nests that were peppering them with shafts. They couched shields and the rumble of hooves over the turf got louder and louder.

"Archers, with draw." Xena pulled her sword out. "On my mark…. Ready…. " A low growl started in her throat, and rapidly built into a battle yell that shook the leaves around them. "Yeahhh!!!!"

Amazon archers dove out of the way as the cavalry charged, thundering out of the trees in a startling wave to meet the oncoming soldiers.

Gabrielle stuck determinedly by her partner's side, urging Iolaus forward to keep up with his mother as they plowed through the underbrush and met Andrea's fighters. Her focus was small, she let her world narrow down to a circle that contained herself, Iolaus, Xena, and Argo, and she worked aggressively to exclude anyone and anything else from that circle.

It was easier that way. Her staff gave her a reach beyond most of the other mounted soldiers, and Iolaus was well trained and feisty as he bit and kicked anyone who tried to get close to her.

She had a new trick, too. She'd let her staff rest right at her hips, across her body, and simply ride through the closely packed soldiers, shoving forward with her arms as the ends of the wood struck them. It startled the warriors, because no one had ever really taught them to defend against one, slight, half crazed Amazon with no sword, no knife.. just a big stick and a strong horse.

She felt a sharp pain against her shoulder, and rolled with it, and a mace slipped past to thump against Iolaus' rump. The stallion took exception to this, and kicked out violently with both back hooves, smashing the windpipe of her attacker's horse. The mare went down with a gurgle, as her rider pitched from the saddle and grabbed for Gabrielle's stirrup on the way down.

His hand was cut off by an almost casual swipe of Xena's sword, which then circled up and deflected an arrow whose feathers brushed lightly across the bard's nose.

In that moment's quiet, with blood and shifting hooves, and the screams of women and men around them, she lifted her eyes, and saw Xena, her Xena, looking back at her, from under unruly, gore spattered bangs, her proudly uncovered head making her identity starkly evident.

A blue eye winked.

Then the tide of battle rushed over both of them, and she was fighting to keep her staff out of the hands of a determined man on foot, trying to pull her down.

"Stop that!" She snapped, poking him in the chest violently, the copper shod end of her staff clanging against his chest armor. His head jerked, and he stared up at her, seeing the determined face and flashing green eyes.

He was a young boy, she realized, younger than she was, and his big, gray eyes widened as she raised her staff to knock him down. He ducked, and bolted, leaving her startled and a little bemused.

Andreas riders, caught between Xena's two lines of cavalry and the Amazon forces on foot, slowly began to retreat, circling their remaining soldiers in a tight cluster as they battled with crossbows and spears. Their numbers had been cut in half, though they'd taken their own toll on Xena's forces, and they started working a rear guard action as they sought to escape back to the main army.

"Let them go." Xena stood in her stirrups, brashly attracting the crossbow bolts that skimmed past her, deflected by flickering motions of her hands. "There's more where they came from."

A yell went up from her forces, as they shook their weapons at the retreating men.

Gillen rode up, wiping blood off an ugly gash in her arm. "What about the injured, Xena?"

"Get them double up and back to the camp." Xena responded, brushing her hair back from a dirt smudged forehead.

"I mean theirs." The Amazon lifted her helmet, and blew her own sweat dampened locks back. "There's about two score of em."

Xena cocked her head, and considered, as she used a bit of linen to clean off her sword blade. "We have any healer trained fighters? Have them check the wounded. If they're savable, we take them. If they're dying, give them into Hade's hands."

Gabrielle felt a protest rising in her throat, and she carefully clamped her jaw shut on it. Her instinct would be to bring them all back regardless. However… "I'll check them, Xena." She offered quietly, getting a quick look of wry understanding in return.

"Good." The warrior patted her knee. "I want this area cleaned up.. we'll keep an advance force here, since it's narrow, and we can try and slow his advance from here. " She shifted and turned. "Ephiny, send a runner back to bring up reinforcements, and supplies to bolster the outposts."

"Right." The Amazon regent nodded, moving off towards a clump of other Amazons.

Gabrielle unhitched her straps and clipped her staff to it's holder, then slid down off Iolaus' back and leaned against his warm side for a long moment. Then she collected two of Bennu's men and one of her Amazons, and started sorting out the wounded.

Xena stretched, then moved Argo a little away from the battle scene, scanning the far horizon for any signs of a counter attack. A hand touched her boot, and she glanced down to see Cait there, the young Amazon fairly covered in battle gore and looking quite cheerful. "Hey, Cait."

"That was absolutely splendid." Cait grinned. "Do you need someone to go and check up there? I'd be quite happy to." She glanced behind her. "Pally doesn't want to, but I gather I could rope her into it."

Xena looked over her shoulder, to where Paladia had stolidly started assisting Gillen in moving the wounded. "Might be a good idea." She agreed thoughtfully. "Tell ya what, let's wait for the first set of replacements to get up here, then you can take off… see what they're up to."

Cait's face absolutely lit up. "Gosh." She breathed in delight, reveling in the trust of her idol. "I certainly will."

Gabrielle dropped to a knee, and reviewed yet another moaning form. She gently pulled on the soldier's shoulder, rolling him over and exhaling, as she recognized her young attacker. He had blood pumping from a spear thrust just under his ribcage, the red fluid covering the hands he had cupped against his body trying to stop the flow. With a sigh, the bard tugged a folded bit of linen from her pocket, and pressed it against the wound.

"D..don't.. h…hurt me." The boy whispered. "I don.. don't got no knife no more."

"I won't." Gabrielle reassured him, pulling her protective headgear off and setting it down. "Just hold still… what's a little kid like you doing fighting in an army, huh?"

"N.. not a kid." The boy protested. "Just.. wanted to see..A..athens."

"You're not missing much." Gabrielle gently separated his armor, and studied the wound. The blood was already coming through her makeshift bandage, and she could see how erratic his breathing was. "It's dirty, and it smells… they do have good stuffed apples there, though. With honey."

Distracted, he studied her. "Really?"

She smiled. "Yep."

"Lass.." One of Bennu's healer soldiers put a hand on her shoulder. "Not much chance there."

No. Gabrielle exhaled. Not much of a chance for him, or for them to save him… but…

Maybe…

Gabrielle lifted her head, and turned her body, searching the crowd. She spotted the tall, commanding figure seated on Argo not that far away, lifted half out of her saddle as she yelled instructions and directed the army. The bard gathered her strength, and sucked air into her lungs, then projected a yell towards her partner. "Xena!"

Instantly, the dark head turned, focusing pale eyes on her with frightening intensity.

"C'mere a minute."

Gabrielle was aware of the soldiers watching and listening, with something close to wonder as their leader dropped down off Argo's tall back and strode towards the kneeling bard with long, rhythmic strides. Gabrielle tilted her head back as the warrior loomed over her, boots covered in muck and worse. "Can you help him?"

Xena knelt, and examined the boy, her head tilting in a fierce, almost hawk-like way. The enemy soldier was plainly terrified, but unable to move away from the warrior's threatening figure. "He'd die by the time we got him back to the hospice." She pronounced crisply.

Gabrielle gazed down at the mud between her boots, acknowledging the logic of her partner's statement. "Okay." She murmured. "Thanks." Her eyes lifted to the boy's, in gentle compassion. "I'm sorry."

His fear was so evident, it hurt. Xena cursed softly in a language Gabrielle recognized but didn't understand, and shifted next to her.

"Gillen get your people to make a fire, off by the trees there so we can treat our wounded. Cait, bring Argo over here, I'll need my saddlebags." The warrior stripped off her gauntlets, exposing long, powerful hands and eased forward, pulling aside the boy's slashed armor to expose the gaping wound. "We aren't using barbed spears." She directed her attention to the soldier. "Did one of your own people do this?"

His teeth were chattering in fear, but he nodded.

Xena leaned over him, her eyes boring into his with fiery intent. "Was there anything on their blades?"

The boy just stared. "Answer me." Xena snapped impatiently. "Or there's no point in my even trying to save your damned life."

His head finally jerked from side to side. "N…no… not… ours."

One of the other fighters grunted. "Good t'hear."

Xena pulled aside the bandage Gabrielle had pressed to the wound, and made a quick decision, as Cait thumped to her knees with the warrior's saddlebags. She rooted in one without looking and tugged out her healer's kit, which Gabrielle took and opened. "Gut, bone needle, hurry."

Gabrielle was aware of the eyes around them, their men and the captured wounded of Andreas, as they watched her douse the gut in Xena's clensing liquid and hand the threaded needle to her partner. She took her waterskin and uncapped it, pressuring the bag to squirt water out over the wound, and washed away as much of the grime as she could.

Xena worked quickly, stitching up the gash from the inside out with skillful hands, closing the wound and cutting off the horrible flow of blood. She ignored the boy's moaning, relying on the two soldiers to hold him down and still, as she finished tying off the gut and nodded to Gabrielle as the bard washed the spot off again. "Probably will get bad inside there anyway." She muttered. "All right. Add him to the batch going back." She tossed a fresh piece of linen on the boy's chest, then folded up her kit.

Gabrielle reached out and captured one of her partner's hands, feeling the warmth as she lifted it and brushed her lips against the skin. "Thank you."

The hand twisted gently free and patted her cheek, the ruffled her sweaty hair, but Xena remained silent. She stood up and twitched her armor straight, then strode off to continue ordering the troops.

Gabrielle allowed two of the soldiers to lift the fainting boy up and take him towards the trees, then she stood, and felt a sense of renewed strength filling her. She squared her shoulders. "Next?"

As she looked around, seeing death in piles around her, it was amazing just how much one single life could mean. She could see that in the eyes of the captured soldiers, and in the looks from their own fighters as they regarded her with something very close to awe. She shouldered her saddlebag and followed the healers over to the next pathetic huddle of armor and leather.

******************

They settled into an alert, edgy camp, after the wounded had been sent back to the river, two hundred of Xena's troops coming up to bolster their forces. Far sentries were set, in case Andreas chose to try and surprise them in the night, and the rest of the fighters curled up near the small, tidy fires to rest and eat the travel rations they carried.

Stories were spreading, Gabrielle realized, as she walked through the camp, as the newcomers were told by the fighters that had come with Xena about the battles they'd fought. The toll so far hadn't been overwhelming, they'd lost twenty men and women all told, of the hundred mounted forces Xena had brought with her, and the Amazons of the outposts, two of which had been from her own Amazon nation.

Footsteps approached, and she turned her head to see Ephiny trotting to catch up with her. "Hey.."

"Hey, Gabrielle." The regent sighed, as she dropped into step beside her. "Did you get dinner?"

"Heading there now." The bard replied. "Then I need to go find Xena…I haven't seen her for a candlemark or two."

"I think she commandeered a little clearing past those two outcroppings for herself." Ephiny pointed. "Thought I saw Argo over there before."

Gabrielle nodded. "Thanks… boy, it's been a long day. You think we'll have trouble tonight?"

"I wouldn't be surprised." Ephiny answered darkly. "We've stung him three times now - the other boot's gotta fall from the tree sooner or later." She motioned off into the darkness. "I've set a guard in the general area of that clearing - please don’t tell the tall dark and deadly one, okay?"

Gabrielle snorted. "Like she won't know? Please." She broke off her steps, and angled towards the area Ephiny had mentioned. "I'm going to see if she's over there. Maybe we'll stop by the main fire for dinner." She waved a hand at Ephiny, and headed towards the outcroppings. Sure enough, Argo was there, patiently cropping grass next to Iolaus, whose coat was brushed to a shine. Next to where the horses were, Xena had rigged a protective flap, which covered a smooth rock she had spread her maps out on, and was poring over them.

Her armor was stacked neatly next to her, cleaned and ready, and she was wearing her second set of leathers with the heavier protection across her thighs and back, the surface showing a spattering of water still dripping from the dark hair.

She looked up as Gabrielle entered the clearing, the firelight revealing the smile that appeared, frank and unapologetic as she spotted her soulmate. Gabrielle found herself smiling back, responding to the wild, feral energy Xena was exuding. "Hi."

Xena got to her feet, and extended a hand. "C'mere." She took the bard's fingers and pulled her down to a seat on the rock, settling an arm over her shoulders. "Did Gillen talk to you?"

"No." Gabrielle replied, giving her a curious look. "Why?"

"Fifty of Andreas men came in about a quarter candlemark, and surrendered." The warrior replied, with a grin. "Sure, it's a drop in the bucket, but…"

"Are you keeping them as part of our army?" The bard inquired. "That would be kind of weird."

"Mm… I'd love the numbers, but no." Xena replied, finding a tasty bard ear to nibble. "We're disarming them, putting them in tunics, and sending them on their way past the river."

"Oo. That tickles." Gabrielle muffled a laugh. "Are they okay with that?"

"Yeah. One of them told Gillen he was just glad to be out of there. Apparently we've been putting bees in Andreas britches the last fortnight or so." Xena nipped a little further, reaching the slope where Gabrielle's neck met her shoulders.

"Are you hungry, by any chance?"

"What makes you ask?" The warrior rumbled into her ear. "Maybe I'm just wildly attracted to you."

"Hmm." Gabrielle tilted her head back and gladly surrendered to the kiss that took over her lips. Her aches, and exhaustion dropped away for the moment, and she slowly released a breath as they parted. "Lucky me."

Xena chuckled, then spread out her maps a little, and muffled a yawn. "You did one Hades of a job today, my bard. Every time I turned around, there you were."

"Ugh.. yeah, I know. I'm feeling it. Those straps are great, Xe.. but I think even my bruises have bruises." Gabrielle admitted. "And we've just started."

"Hm?" Xena rolled the parchments up and tucked them in their case, then pulled Gabrielle back and cradled her shoulders. "Let me see." She untied the bard's cloak and exposed her ribcage. "Mm… yeah." She traced the dark marks with a fingertip. "Gotta do a padded belt for you there…I think I've got something that might work." She patted Gabrielle on the belly and tied her shirt back up. "Your armor need tending?"

"I cleaned most of it… I wanted to ask you if you could adjust a few things on it." Gabrielle found herself very content just to be lying in Xena's arms, reluctant to move. "Ephiny thinks there's gonna be trouble tonight, though. What do you think?"

The torchlight played across the sharply planed features. "I won't disagree." Xena quietly replied. "It's been enough time for the men we defeated today to get back to the main force, and report… I'd say we can expect some kind of retaliation, yes."

Gabrielle took a breath, then let it out. "I'm not sure I like being on this side of the surprise." She nibbled on a fingernail. "What are we going to do?"

"Get as much rest as we can." Xena gave her a light kiss on the lips. "And have some dinner. C'mon." She left an arm draped over Gabrielle's shoulders as they walked through the darkness, past dimly torchlit clusters of fighters and equipment as they headed towards where the quartermasters were distributing rough rations to the troops.

A low mutter rustled around them, Xena's name mostly, and the warrior lifted her free hand in return of the greetings. "Two, Hereicus." Xena told the hard working quartermaster.

"Genr'l… surely we can.." The man glanced around.

"Don't even try it." Gabrielle shook a finger at him. "Believe me, we've both had worse. Hand it over." She shrugged the cloak off one shoulder and extended her hand to receive the rations, the orange light showing her tattoo in sudden relief.

"Right you are, little hawk." The man chuckled, ducking his head as he surrendered the portions.

Gabrielle tucked them under her arm as they walked over to join the large fire, where Bennu was seated, with Gillen and Ephiny. A wineskin was being passed, though the conversation paused as Xena's tall figure entered the ring of light. "Ah. Here's someone who can settle the argument."

"Who, me?" Xena seated herself with a flourish of her cape. "What's the argument?"
"You?" Ephiny laughed. "Gods, no, Xena… I meant Gabrielle. When did you ever settle an argument?"

The laughter had a nervous tinge, until Xena herself joined in. "That's the truth." The warrior agreed wryly, as she stretched long legs towards the fire.

"No it's not." Gabrielle sat down cross legged next to her, unwrapping their meal. "You settled an argument between those two guys with that cow, just north of Athens. Remember?" She handed Xena a meatroll, and a somewhat withered apple. "When they couldn't decide whose cow it was?"

"Hm." Xena took a bite of the apple. "I seem to remember punching the cow, and saying whichever one of them could carry it home could have it."

"It did settle the argument." Gabrielle grinned and shrugged, as she felt the atmosphere relax. "And we got some of that nice cheese you like out of it." She cut a slice off the block of cheese in her packet and offered it to her partner, who accepted it with a gracious flash of white teeth. "Though I think the cow held a grudge."

Gillen chuckled. "How long did the two of you wander the countryside?"

"Over three years." Xena replied, munching on her meatroll. "Seemed longer at the time."

Gabrielle poked her in the ribs. "Is that a crack about my chattering?"

"No." The warrior nudged her back. "About your talent for trouble."

"You always say that." Gabrielle accepted the wineskin being passed, and took a tentative sip. "Yow." She quickly handed it back to her partner. "And it's not true." She went on, shaking her meatroll at the slowly increasing crowd around the fire.

"You saying you'd never have gotten into one bit of trouble if you hadn't met Xena?" Ephiny chuckled. "Y'know, Gab… "

"Actually." Gabrielle drew a knee up, and circled it with one arm. "I would have been captured by slavers, and probably been sold a half dozen times, or be dead by now if I hadn't met Xena."

Eyes were drawn to her curiously. "I don't think I ever heard about that." Ephiny murmured. "I just knew you two met outside Potadeia."

Xena stayed quiet, consuming her rations as she watch her soulmate's' profile. Gabrielle didn't usually talk about herself in her stories, preferring to relate things from an outside viewpoint. She wondered if the bard was going to make an exception tonight.

"Well… it was a summer day in Potadeia." The bard began. "A pretty ordinary day, really. I'd gotten up, and done my chores, and I was headed over to the washing area in the river with my sister Lila, and ten or twelve other kids."

"Kids?" Gillen queried. "How long ago was this?"

"Five years." Xena supplied succinctly.

"Oh great Artemis.. you are that young. Aren't you?" The elder Amazon moaned.

Gabrielle laughed. "Not my fault." She shook her head. "Anyway… we were on the path to the river, when we were surrounded by slavers, who shoved us together and pretty much had us at their mercy." Gabrielle took a bite and swallowed. "Then, when they were about to take us away.."

"Ah ah ah!" Xena tapped her on the shoulder. "Whoa."

"What?"

"Aren't we forgetting something?" Dark eyebrows lifted. "A few little details?"

"Is this my story, or your story?" Gabrielle shot back.

"Gabrielle forgets to mention that she very quickly offered herself to the slavers if they'd let the rest of the group go." Xena related smugly.

The bard sighed, and untied Xena's boot. The warrior shook the flaps at her and grinned. "That's true." Gabrielle admitted, to the smiling crowd. "I didn't have a really great home life.. and I wasn't sure how much of a future I really wanted to have."

Everyone went quiet.

"So I thought I could at least try and get everyone else off the hook. But it didn't work. So there we were, about to be rounded up and sold down the river, when this crazy looking wild woman showed up and beat the daylights out of all of them."

Xena laughed. "I'm surprised you didn't run for your life after that." She admitted. "I must have looked pretty scary, all right."

Gabrielle thought about that for a minute. "No." She shook her head, and chuckled ruefully. "I looked you in the eye and got so lost, I wouldn't have run if the Gorgon herself had whacked me in the head."

"Aww." Ephiny reached over and slapped her on the leg.

"Yeah…." The bard smiled, feeling a little silly for saying it in front of all the grizzled warriors around the fire. "Sappy, I know."

"That's all right." Xena reached over and tugged a lock of her hair. "I took one look at you, and got so lost I did get whacked in the head and it was almost a moot point." She crossed her booted feet at the ankles.

No one really knew what to say about that, Xena realized, as they worked on trying to reconcile what they knew of her as a warrior, with what Gabrielle was trying to tell them about her as a person. She wasn't sure if it was a good thing, or a bad thing, or whether it was even worth the effort.

"That's right. I forgot that." Gabrielle scooted back, and leaned back into the circle of Xena's arm. "But you got up, and kicked butt, and we didn't end up in slavery." She finished her apple. "Then we took off."

"Then you followed me to Amphipolis and saved my life." Xena corrected promptly, noting the growing look of wonder, and respect the bard was getting from the surrounding fighters. "You always leave that part out."

Gabrielle sighed. "*Then* we took off."

"Then I let you talk me into letting you come with me." The warrior took a swig of the strong wine in the skin, and cocked her head to one side, thinking. "Five years ago today, as a matter of fact."

The bard looked up at her in surprise. "Really?"

"Mmhmm."

Gabrielle grunted in mild surprise, and stifled a yawn. "How do you keep track of the days like that? I know it was the same season we're in, but down to the day?"

"I." Xena wiggled her boot. "Have many skills."

A low laugh now rose. "Ain't that the truth." Bennu chuckled. "Did you see that pair o them riders the genr'l took out right as we were charging…"

Gabrielle let the words go past her. Battle stories were, she knew, a way for the fighters to reassure themselves, and share skills and experience. But she had no desire to listen to them, since the feats they spoke about were not ones she shared. It was much more satisfying to snuggle closer to Xena's warm body, and lay her head against one leather covered shoulder so she could hear her partner's powerful heartbeat in the rhythm they both shared.

In that moment, she felt supremely lucky, in a raw, human way. The rest of the camp would be on edge, listening for the first hints of attack. Rest would not come easily to them, while she… Gabrielle closed her eyes. She was warm, and dry, and relatively comfortable, despite the hard ground, and she was curled within the protective embrace of the person who would know long before anyone else if something was wrong. Gabrielle stifled another yawn as she started to drift off. She felt Xena tuck the cloak she was wearing around the bard's body and she relaxed, welcoming the needed sleep.

The fire burned low, after the talking stopped, and warriors turned to cloth covered, silent lumps under the stars, which watched, and waited.

******************************

"Why do you gotta volunteer for this crap all the time?" Paladia grumbled, as she crept along after Cait's slim form. "Ain't whacking up on people all the damn day long enough for you?"

"Hush." Cait glared over her shoulder. "Don't be stupid, Pally.. we're sneaking up on an army, all right?"

"Yeah, yeah." The taller woman rolled her eyes. "Be glad when this stupid thing's over.. too much work."

Cait stopped and waited for her to come up even. "Paladia.. this is not work." Her face was unusually serious. "This is war."

Her friend promptly sat down on a nearby rock. "Work, war, you still gotta move things, carry things, get your hands dirty, and sleep on the ground." She advised. "Only difference is, now you can get dead easier, though hanging out with you ain't real safe even when there ain't no wars."

Cait sighed, and rested a casual hand on one of Paladia's shoulders. "You're just grumpy because you didn't get to draw for the last bit."

"Naw." Paladia smirked. "Got a good sketch in while we were waiting this morning..sun was coming through the leaves and doing weird stuff all over whatshisface, the big lumpy guy who slobbers over Xena worsen' you."

"Bennu." Cait supplied. "He's quite nice."

"Yeah.. whatever." Paladia glanced through the darkness. "He was listening to Xena go on and on, and it made a sort of cool picture." She paused. "We just gonna sit here?"

Cait impulsively leaned over and kissed her, then tugged her onward. "C'mon then… I want to see what this lot's up to." She lead the way through the grass, and they continued on for over a candlemark in silence.

Finally, even Paladia could smell a hint of smoke in the air, and she grunted. "Still burning."

"Mm." Cait slowed her steps, and angled towards a rock outcropping, which dipped down and followed the land's rolling profile. "Let's see if we can see something from up there." They crept closer, through the tall, winter dried grass, glad that the wind was coming towards them, and carrying the soft whispering away to their backs.

As she got within leaping range of the rocks, Cait paused, and cocked her head, touching her ear and glancing at her companion in question. Paladia also listened, then frowned, and made a motion with her fingers and thumb, moving them together in the sign for speech.

Cait nodded in agreement, and touched her lips with a finger. She got down on her belly and started to creep forward, silently imagining the look of disgust on Paladia's face as the larger Amazon joined her. Pally hated creeping, she really did, and Cait supposed if she were that big, she'd probably hate it as well, though Xena seemed to tolerate it just fine.

Xena had, in fact, once confided to Cait that she used to play with Gabrielle that way, hiding in the long grass and creeping up on her, hopping out at the very last moment and making the bard squeal. Cait hardly could stop giggling just imagining it, but she'd decided no one would believe her if she told them.

It made an excellent image, though, and she enjoyed thinking about it.

Now, she did her best Xena imitation, and slid through the grass, pretending she was a great cat hunting it's prey. The harsh grass stalks poked her, but she ignored them, flattening them gently as she slipped forward until she reached the first rock, and pondered. Over? Around? Which side? She listened to the still audible murmur of words, and decided they were to the left. So she crept around that way, hugging the rock.

A worm wiggled against her hand, and she forced herself not to jerk. Xena had told her, once, that worms could be quite tasty if cooked properly, and that she'd even eaten them raw, but this was one area Cait could not quite bring herself to emulate her hero in.

Ew. She removed the worm carefully, and set it aside, then squirmed on. She edged her nose around the side of the granite, aware that her blond hair and pale skin blended into the grass, and blinked, as she spotted large items that did not blend just ahead of her.

A horse. Two, actually, with riders standing next to them, heads bent together. One was an enemy soldier, she thought, the other was cloaked, and harder to identify. She settled her breathing, and strained her ears.

"…about two candlemarks due north, we think." The soldier muttered. "We don't know the size."

"Two hundred." The answer came back, lifting Cait's nape hairs. "Xena's there, and so's Gabrielle.. if you attack, go for the blond, because if you take her out, you're halfway home."

"Hard." The soldier shook his head. "Stays too close to Xena.. we tried. Can't you just take care of that?"

Son of a Bacchae. Cait's eyes almost popped right out and went rolling over the grass. That was Gillen's voice. Instinctively, her hand dropped to her sheath, and she pulled her dagger out, fingers moving the hilt into place against her skin automatically.

"I could try." Gillen answered. "But trust me, it'd be easier in the heat of battle, because they stay together like two peas otherwise."

"What'r you doing?" Paladia's bare murmur reached her, as the taller woman crawled up practically on top of Cait. "Wh…hey… isn't that.."

"Yes." Cait's teeth ground on the word. "And if you'd get off me, I'm quite going to kill her."

"Damn." Paladia pressed herself to the ground. "What a scumbag.. Xena saved her butt this morning, too."

"Excuse me a minute." Cait started to crawl forward, clamping her dagger between her white teeth. "Ilf brf bck."

"Wait." Paladia put a hand on her back.

Murderous gray eyes glared at her.

"Like.. I'm not this strategy type, but if you kill her, how're you gonna know who she's got with her back there?"

Cait drummed her fingers against the ground, then removed her knife from her mouth. "That's quite brilliant, Pally. Good job."

A shout made them both jerk, and flatten themselves to the ground, and they watched as two more horses rode up, to join the two they were watching. These were definitely Andreas men, well armored and armed, on horses obviously wearing battle armor themselves.

"The advance is starting." The first of them stated. "We've got two divisions set to sweep down over the ridge there and attack that forward camp of theirs."

"That'll work." Gillen nodded. "I drugged the outposts on that side."

Cait's fingers twitched on her knife, and she and Paladia exchanged looks. Paladia made a face, and chewed her lip. "Ooo.. I really want to kill her." The younger girl gurgled. "I do so want to… "

"We'd better warn people." Paladia mouthed back. "Then I'll help ya squish her.. she's a worm."

Cait sighed in deep aggravation. "Right." They watched Gillen mount up and leave, along with her initial companion, and the two other riders lingered, sipping water from dark leather waterskins. "We'd go lots faster with horses."

"I knew you were going to say that." Paladia sighed.

Cait smiled, then readied her dagger, pausing a split second before she whipped her arm forward, nailing the first man in the neck squarely. He jerked, and slumped in his saddle, making his companion spit a mouthful of water over his horses withers as he reached over to grab him.

"Hey.. what's up with you? Hey???"

Cait leaped to the top of the rock she'd been crouched near, then hurled herself through the air and slammed into him, burying her second dagger into his side just where his armor joined. He screamed, a sound that slid from a hoarse cry to a gurgle as she twisted the blade into his lungs and wrenched it out, the drove it in again ruthlessly.

She rode his body down off the horse and rolled free, wiping her blade neatly on the grass as she stood, to see Paladia already grabbing for the startled horses reins. The taller woman gingerly removed the already dead first rider from his saddle with a shove, and sidestepped his body as it slumped to the ground. "Ugh." She peered at the blood running liberally over the saddle.

"A bit messy, sorry." Cait took one of the sets of reins from her and scrambled up into the saddle. "C'mon… we've got to do some serious moving." She urged her horse down the path they'd crept up.

Paladia got up on her horse, and followed, glancing behind her into the darkness, jumping when she saw red, predator eyes already circling the bodies. Wolves? She blinked, and saw white fangs snapping. Yeah.

The moon slipped behind the clouds then, leaving them in muted shadows.

********************************

Gabrielle stood in the darkness, wishing the moon would come back out. She'd slept for candlemarks, then woken at Xena's light touch and gone to retrieve her armor for the start of another long day. It was still very quiet out, and there'd been no word from the outposts of trouble, but Xena's sense of trouble had gone off, and they'd both learned over the years not to ignore that.

She bent to the cistern, and splashed water over her face, grumpy and sore from the previous day's fighting, and wanting more than anything a hot bath.

No. Wanting more than anything for this damn war to be over. Gabrielle exhaled, and scrubbed at her skin. "I want my life back." She stated to the rude, wooden support that held the basin. "I want my kid, and my home, and honey buns in the morning back." She turned as footsteps approached, and smiled as she recognized their source. "Morning."

Ephiny padded in, yawning. "If you turn into a cheerful before the dawn person too, I'm gonna chuck up right here."

Gabrielle snickered a little. "No.. not much chance of that. Believe me, there's several places I'd rather be than here right now." She sighed. "I'm afraid the truth is, I really wouldn't make a good Amazon, Eph."

The regent dipped a bucket of water from the basin and dumped it over her head, plastering her dark blond curls to her head. "I got news for you, oh my queen…all those stories about Amazons loving the rough woods life, and spending years in the wild?"

"Hmm?"

"Lies. All damned lies." Ephiny assured her. "So if you're wishing you were back home in Amphipolis right now, or better yet, curled up with the tall dark and snuggly one, you fit right in with the rest of your Nation, trust me."

Gabrielle laughed out loud in reaction, leaning back and letting the sound bubble up from her insides. It was, she realized, probably a very odd sound in an army camp, so she bottled it back up again, but it made her feel better just to have done it. She pulled her tunic off and washed, scrubbing the mud marks from her arms and upper thighs. "Ugh."

"Wow." Ephiny wandered over. "What did you hit?"

"My own staff." Gabirelle lowered her arms, as though grasping her weapon. "I keep it down here.. and bam." She made a sudden move. "But on the rebound, it hits me right there." She smoothed a hand over the bruise right at her hipline. "Xe said she'd make a padded belt or something for me."

"Which I did." Xena's deep voice answered from the doorway. The warrior entered, already in her armor, and carrying a piece of leather. "Morning, Eph.. I'd like to send a group out towards the outposts when you get a chance. The runners haven't come in from them yet."

"Sure." The regent agreed. "I'll see if Gillen's group is done arming yet.. speaking of which, I wonder where she ended up last night?" Ephiny chuckled. "Didn't see her around our fire." She toweled her head off, and shook herself.

Xena shrugged, as she approached her partner, and laid the leather piece over her shoulder as she took the piece of linen Gabrielle had and dried her off. "Here.. hold still."

Gabrielle did so, while Xena settled the soft leather around her waist, and adjusted it. The armor piece had two thickly padded sections that extended above and below her waistline, even protecting the tops of her thighs, and a wide section in back covered her lower spine. It was warm, with it's lambswool padding, and smelled of well cured hide and the faintly earthy scent of the gut Xena had used to sew it together. "Mm." She nodded in approval, as Xena helped her on with her padded underlayer, then lifted the scaled armor over her head and dropped it into place. "Yeah… that feels good."

Xena fussed with the armor, then drew her sword and smacked the bard across the hips with the flat of the blade. Gabrielle hopped backwards, and yelped, but more in surprise than pain. "How's that?"

"Pretty good." The bard pulled her damp hair back and wrung it out. "I'm going to get Iolaus packed up." She ambled towards their area, shifting her shoulders a little to settle the armor into place. It had warmed from her body heat, and was getting more comfortable. She patted the new piece, and grunted in approval, as she circled Iolaus and Argo and started to pack up their gear.

"Ready for another fight, guys?"

Argo whickered, and lifted her head, giving Gabrielle a wry look that the bard swore she'd copied from her rider. "Oh yeah, sure, Argo.. go ahead and laugh at me." She poked the mare in the butt, and got a tail lash across her arm. "Oo.. bet that hurt, huh?" Gabrielle traced a thin gash along the mare's flank, which had been neatly sewn the day before. Xena had even clipped the hair near the wound very short, as always meticulous in her care for her equine favorite. Argo was already saddled, only her bridle was unfastened, the bit swinging loose as the horse whiled away the moments tugging up dried grass.

"You take good care of Xena, okay?" Gabrielle stroked the soft, golden shoulder. "I know I try to keep an eye on her too, but she really depends on you."

Iolaus nibbled her leather leggings jealously. Gabrielle scrubbed his ears. "Oh.. sorry, Io. Am I ignoring you?" Her hands messed with his mane, moving it to the correct side. "You know, I think I'm really getting to like horses, Io… who'd have thought it?"

She gave the stallion a hug around his neck, enjoying the rich, earthy scent of his skin, and the soft prickling of his mane against her face. He whickered softly, lifting his head, and his ears pricked, alerting Gabrielle to another presence. She turned. "Hi there. Ephiny was looking for you."

Gillen strolled forward, flipping her cloak around her against the cold breeze. "Was she? I didn't see her." The older Amazon paused by Argo's shoulder, giving the mare a pat. Argo shifted and peered at her, stamping a hoof in the moist earth. "Where's Xena?"

"Rousting the camp." Gabrielle tightened a buckle on Iolaus' saddle, and strapped her saddlebag in place. "I think she wanted you to send a runner out to the outposts… we haven't heard from them in a while."

Gillen circled Argo, and slid a hand down Iolaus' leg. "He's a nice animal." She commented. "I'll send someone to see what's up with those outposts.. probably nothing."

"He's a good boy." Gabrielle smiled at her, then turned to tuck her saddlebag strap in.

The blow drove her against Iolaus, and an explosion of pain seared up her back as she let out a gasp in reflex. Gillen clapped a hand over her mouth and twisted, and Gabrielle felt her knees buckle as she held onto the horse in a desperate attempt to stay on her feet. She wrenched her head to one side, freeing her mouth. "Why?"

Gillen was behind her, and a voice growled in her ear. "It's not a personal thing, Gabrielle.. I do like you, y'know? But you're the key to Xena, and without you, Andreas can take her." She glanced behind her as a yell rang out, and the sound of hooves approaching stirred the night. "There's the army… just in time."

Gabrielle sucked in a breath. "What's in it for you? He'll kill you too, Gillen.. don't be stupid." Her knees gave out, and she slid to the floor.

Gillen jerked her blade free and tucked it in a boot sheath as she slid down with her victim. "He's promised me a lot more than you could ever give me, Gabrielle… I'll take the Amazons with me, and we won't end up battle fodder."

The bard held onto one of Iolaus' legs weakly. "He'll destroy you… can't you see that? He won't tolerate any competition, Gillen.. look at what he wants with Xena.. not to beat her…he wants to own her."

Gillen grabbed the bard's shirt armor and tugged her closer. "It's so ironic… that she'd let someone so naieve be the one weakness she couldn't protect."

Gabrielle gazed at her, with a tiny, faint smile. "You know… Gillen.. a lot of people have thought that." She whispered. "They just forget two things about me."

The older Amazon leaned closer. "What's that?"

"I'm a bard." Gabrielle's body suddenly convulsed, and sturdy, booted feet thumped against the earth, bucking Gillen up and off the bard's body. Gabrielle rolled free and surged to her feet, ducking the older woman's wild grab. "Acting comes with the territory."

"You bitch." Gillen yanked her blade out again and leaped. "No matter."

Gabrielle dove out of the way and rolled again, coming up right next to Iolaus and pulling her own dagger from it's sheath. "Well, that's the other thing they forget." She stopped, in mid motion, surprising Gillen who was swinging towards her. She set her body, and balled one fist, then snapped her torso around and clocked Gillen right in the nose with a solid blow. "I'm also an Amazon." She glanced to her right, and saw flames rising, and felt a wild surge in her guts that confirmed her suspicions. Xena was very, very occupied, and it was up to her to get herself out of this. The gods only knew how many of their own people would be fighting against them.

As she circled Gillen, watching the Amazon's knife hand, she called up everything she could remember about what Xena had taught her, willing her panic to recede. She dodged a feint, then moved a little to her left, ducking an overhand blow and returning it with an upper cut that skimmed Gillen's jaw. They both jumped as Argo neighed, then bolted, thundering off between the trees in response to an unheard signal. "Your surprise is over, Gillen." Gabrielle warned her, dodging to one side and wincing as a kick nailed her in the thigh.

"It's just beginning." The Amazon got serious, and went for her, slashing her blade against Gabrielle's armor as the bard jumped backwards. "You thought you were so clever… so good to beat back those forces… it was all a trap, Gabrielle… he knows everything. Your numbers, your supplies…"

"He thinks he knows." Gabrielle stood her ground, then lunged forward, getting a hold on Gillen's arm and whirling, dumping the Amazon on her ground with an unexpected flip. She turned, and hurled herself on top of her opponent, pinning her to the ground and slamming her knee down on Gillen's knife arm. "He knows, what you know, right?"

Gillen was breathing hard, and twisting, against Gabrielle's surprisingly greater strength. "Hades take you."

"You know what we wanted you to know. " Gabrielle twisted the knife from Gillen's grasp, and tossed it from her, then grunted as Gillen managed to toss her off, and their positions were violently reversed. She found herself on her back, with the older woman's hands tightening around her neck, and she took a deep breath as the strong fingers closed off her windpipe. "I don't care. I don't care, and you know why?" Gillen rasped furiously. "Because at least I'm going to get to kill you, Gabrielle. I hate you… I hate everything about you. " She slammed the bards' head against the ground. "I hate your niceness, I hate your weakness.. I hate how you control Xena.. I hate you."

Gabrielle struggled against the hold, her animal instincts rising to the fore as her brain started to clamor for oxygen. She lunged under Gillen, and twisted, one boot catching on a rock and giving her leverage to use her powerful thighs to lift both of them off the ground as she fought.

She couldn't talk. She couldn't breathe. She could hear the thunder of her own heartbeat in her ears, over the screams, and the clash of battle that was steadily growing closer. She closed her eyes, and reached down deep, gathering as much strength as she could as she tried one last move, whipping her body up and to one side, and surprising Gillen just enough for her grip to loosen for an instant.

Half a breath. It was all she needed. Gabrielle got out a weak whistle, and ducked, pressing her head agianst the ground as Iolaus responded, kicking out backwards with both hooves.

They impacted Gillen's skull, sending her flying and releasing Gabrielle's throat to suck in a blessedly needed lungful of air. She rolled dazedly over, and looked up to see a bleeding, murderous Gillen launching herself into the air, and as though in a dream, she brought her arms around in front of her, bracing the dagger that had been Xenas, marked with her sigil, as the older woman landed sprawled over her.

Heat spread over her hands.

Gillen's grip on her relaxed.

Gabrielle slowly, weakly, pushed the slumped body off her and simply sat there for a long moment, covered in blood. Iolaus whickered, and edged around, nudging her with his nose. The bard reached up and clasped him above the knee, pulling herself up and getting very shakily to her feet.

Her hands left red stains on his glistening, golden coat.

She leaned her head against his neck, then turned as a clash of weaponry came much closer. She looked up at the granite boulder just to one side and drew in a breath as the stars were suddenly blotted out by a huge, caped form, which launched itself off the rock and hurtled towards her with frightening speed.

She didn't even move a hair, as the figure landed, and leaped forward, and engulfed her in a rush of brass and leather and bloodscent, immaterial against the solid, true warmth of the connection she could feel pulsing between them.

There was nothing she could say. Xena knew. And the long arms enfolded her, as she felt the chill of the warrior's blade rest against the backs of her legs. "You hurt?"

"A little." Gabrielle breathed. "I think I was just stabbed in the soul, Xena." She felt the expected cupping of her head, and buried her face into the skin above Xena's armor.

"Cait and Paladia warned us in time… we repulsed the first wave." The warrior whispered. "We're pulling back… they'll be on us any minute." A breath. "Gillen must have slipped in.. I was watching for her, but.. "

"She's not alone."

"I know." Another breath. "Come ride with me."

Gabrielle finally straightened, and looked up at the worried profile above her. "She was an Amazon, Xena. How could she have done that?" She asked the gravely searching blue eyes watching her. "I don't understand."

"Good." Xena gently kissed her forehead, then whistled for Argo. More hoofbeats answered, and Ephiny thundered up. "They coming back?"

"Looks like it.. we'd better ri… Gabrielle.. you okay? Wh.." Ephiny's eyes fell on the slumped figure in the shadows.

"Gillen." Xena stated succinctly. "I'd consider all her people suspect until we find out otherwise."

"Right." Ephiny pushed her hair back. "Gab?"

"I'm fine." The bard straightened up, lifting her head. "You can tell Gillen's people that she decided to challenge me, and she lost."

Ephiny looked at Gabrielle, her eyes slipping down to note the blood stains on the bard's arms, then she glanced at Xena. "I'll do that."

************************

"Damn." Xena peered through the brush. They'd had to circle through the woods to evade Andreas patrols, and now they were faced with a dilemma.

His army had gotten in front of them, and they were now clustered in the narrows that separated the uplands from the low river valley that lead down to the water. Xena exhaled, and played with Argo's mane, examining her options. They could climb up the escarpment, and go around that way, but it meant leaving the horses, and she wasn't thrilled about that idea.

She could also try ramming her way through the entire western part of Andreas army, and crossing her fingers. She wasn't too thrilled about that, either.

They could go back the way they came, and find another path through the hills, but that would take a lot of time, and that she didn't have much of. She studied the troops. Being outthought stung. "I should have figured on that." She muttered, not for the first time, feeling a very gentle squeeze around her belly as she did. Seeing Cait's face as she thundered in had rang so many alarm bells…they'd been lucky there. They'd been a little to the north of where Andreas had expected, and had just time to come to arms before the advance party was on them.

They'd lost thirty warriors. Seven had been Gillen's, and Xena had to wonder whether they'd been killed by the enemy, or by her own people, or….

The warrior ground her teeth. The defection had shaken her, even though she knew, at some level, that they had to have at least a few of the enemy in their camp. To have it be an Amazon Queen, though… it made her wonder, if that small bit of her past was finally catching up with her again. Amazons had long memories, after all. Gabrielle's Amazons had only just, and grudgingly at that, started to accept her due to the familiarity, and their genuine affection for the bard.

By any rights, though, the others had no reason to trust Xena. She glanced to one side as Ephiny came up next to her, the regent nursing a badly cut forearm. "Trouble." The warrior nodded at the army.

"So I see." Ephiny's eyes went to Argo's other passenger. "How are you doing?"

Gabrielle had her cheek pressed against her partner's back. "Okay." She answered, not very accurately. Her back was aching, a burning sensation that was reaching further and further both up her spine, and down into her thighs. She felt like throwing up, but she knew it wasn't the time, and certainly wasn't the place. A hand dropped unexpectedly to her thigh, and warmed it, and she gave the torso she was cuddled up against another squeeze in return.

"All right."

She could hear Xena's voice rumbling through her leathers, armor and the fabric of her cloak.

"We're going to have to wait until they clear this pass, then sneak in behind them and go around to the west."

Ephiny nodded. "I was thinking that." She pushed her curls back. "It's going to be very tight."

"That it is." Xena agreed. "But I figure once he gets through the pass, he'll deploy through the basin, and we can slip through the ranks." She shifted and turned. "Dismount. Get some rest and patch yourselves up. We're going to hold here until they clear the narrows."

Stolid, armored forms dismounted obediently, and Xena waited a few beats before she swung her leg over Argo's neck and slid down, turning to give Gabrielle a hand reflexively. The bard hesitated, then followed suit, grabbing onto Argo's saddle as her feet hit the ground and bolt of pain almost sent her sprawling.

"Hey." Xena grabbed her. "Gab? You all right?"

Truth? Lie? No way. "No." Gabrielle said, in a small voice. "I think… ow.. it's my back.. I.." She straightened, then gasped. "Oh."

"Damn it." Xena clasped her shoulders and turned her carefully. "Put your arms around my neck." She ordered, feeling her partner's back cautiously under her cloak. A gasp gusted against her chest as she touched area just above the bard's tailbone. "Okay… easy." Xena looked up at Ephiny. "I need some shelter."

"Right." Ephiny dissapeared into the thick underbrush.

"Gotta get this armor off you, Gabrielle." Xena unhooked the bard's cloak one handed, keeping hold of her with the other. "Why didn't you tell me you were hurting?"

"Mmp.. " Gabrielle bit her lip almost through. "Xe, please don't yell at me right now." Her voice was barely a whisper.

"Okay." The warrior unclasped the armor, and started to lift it off, feeling the bard's body almost convulse under her touch. "Easy… easy.. " She managed to get the leather off, and laid it over Argo's back, then she loosened the padded belt and removed it. The leather was stained dark with blood, and the coppery scent rose to Xena's sensitive nose. "Did you get cut?" She asked.

"Yes." Gabrielle shifted her grip to Argo's saddle as Xena moved around behind her and dropped to one knee, probing carefully. She flinched, and knew her partner felt it, by the comforting pat she got on her leg. "It… really hurts."

"It came very close to your spine." Xena's voice was very somber. "It's a bad cut." She touched a spot. "Does it hurt here?"

"Yes."

"Here?"

"Yes."

"What about here?"

"Ow."

Long sigh. "All right."

Ephiny appeared suddenly. "There's an outcropping right over there, Xena. It's big enough to fit under… we're tying the horses off near there."

"Okay." Xena stood and released her saddlebag, then slung it over her shoulder. "Take Argo." She handed Ephiny the reins, then carefully fit her arms around Gabrielle. "Around my neck."

"I can walk over there."

"Gabrielle, don't argue with me. Just do what I tell you." Xena snapped. "Now."

Arms slid around her neck, and she lifted Gabrielle up, cradling her cautiously as she made her way through the rough brush towards the rock. Cait anxiously caught up to her. "Cait.. get the saddle blanket from Argo's kit, and spread it down there."

Xena waited until the girl had done so, then she carefully laid Gabrielle down on her side. "Roll this way." The bard did, in silence, resting on her belly and drawing one knee up to relieve the pain a little. Xena paused, and took several steadying breaths before she eased down to sit cross legged behind her partner. "Gabrielle… I'm going to have to clean this, then sew it up. It's going to hurt." A nod. "A lot."

Gabrielle looked over her shoulder. "Okay."

Her soulmate handed her a bit of leather from her armor kit. "You can't scream." She watched the bard take the piece and slowly bite down on it, then curled an arm and set her head down on it. Xena gripped Gabrielle's upper arm for a long moment, before she started to work. Despite the aching tension, and the agonizing flinches Xena could plainly feel as she worked, no sound came from her partner as she cleaned the wound out very carefully, flushing it repeatedly to make sure nothing was left in it, washing out the clots of blood, and the tiny bone fragments from the bard's spinal column that the blade had fractured away. She dusted the deep, triangular gash with herbs, then sewed the wound up. "Almost done." Xena placed a pad of linen against the cut, then bound it into place with a strip around the bard's slim waist. "Okay." She laid a hand on Gabrielle's shoulder, and pulled her back a little, stopping when she saw the tear streaked face.

Dealing with her own pain was one thing. She'd been doing that most of her life. Seeing Gabrielle in agony like this cut her far more deeply. She was aware of the soldiers clustered all around her, and the dangerous situation they were in, but she tucked that knowledge away, and pulled her armor off one handed, setting it down next to her as she gently cradled the bard's body in her arms, stroking her hair in helpless comfort as sobs racked her.

Gabrielle's hands clutched at her leathers as the bard pulled herself closer, letting out a trembling sigh as she spit the leather bit out, the marks of her teeth starkly evident in it's surface. "There's no pressure point for that area." Xena murmured. "I'm sorry, sweetheart."

A breath.

A second. "Didn't even realize… "Gabrielle rasped. "Must have been so out of it after.. "

"Shh." Xena braced her back against the rock, and exhaled. "Just rest. " This put a new complication into an already dire situation. She also wanted to kick herself for not making sure Gabrielle hadn't been hurt in the attack, and for the fact that surely the bard had been suffering during their ride, and she hadn't noticed.

Yes, she was responsible for the troops. Yes, she had to make sure they all got out alive. But damn it!

Something poked her in the belly, and she looked down, her brows knit fiercely. Swollen and tear reddened eyes peered up at her.

"I was just trying to be a good soldier." Gabrielle uttered.

Xena wiped a tear off her cheek. "I don't want you to be a good soldier." She told the bard. "I just want you to be you."

"Okay." Somewhere, Gabrielle found a smile. "Stop beating yourself up, then." She received a brief tensing of Xena's lips in response, and she accepted that, letting her head rest against the warrior's stomach and curling one arm around her loosely. The incredibly vicious pain that had gripped her had subsided to a dull agony, and she was very grateful to simply be able to lie still and be with Xena. "Wow… that really hurt."

Xena idly ordered her sweaty hair. "It's very close to your spine… very sensitive there. You had bone chips… might have touched some nerves."

"Oh." Gabrielle absorbed that. "Good thing you made that belt, huh?"

"Mmhmm." Xena nodded, then glanced up. "How's it going?"

Bennu shook his head. "Something's slowing them up." He lifted his big body up over the rock they were crouched behind, and shaded his eyes. "Can't tell what." The battered troops around him seemed to let out sighs of relief, huddling down in small clusters around the boulder. Several were tending wounds, most pulled dried beef sticks or trail bars and munched quietly.

Xena rummaged in her saddlebag and removed one of their trail bars, breaking it in half and offering a piece to Gabrielle.

Cait crawled over, resting on her elbows. "I can just get to the top of that tree.. would you like me to see if I can see what's going on?"

"Go on." Xena murmured. "Be careful."

"Right." Cait beamed, and crawled off, skirting the boulder and heading for her target vantage point.

"Your trust means so much to her." Gabrielle commented. "She's so proud of that."

"She earned it." The reply was brief, and simple, but it raised a bittersweet tang in the back of Gabrielle's throat, as an echo of memory in a far off land surfaced.

I wonder. She blinked, her lashes brushing against the leather surface lying on. If I'll ever hear that word again, and not think of what I did in Chin. She closed her eyes, so Xena would not see the tears.

"Still hurting?" The warrior's voice rumbled softly.

Gabrielle nodded, sighing and letting her bit of rations to fall slackly against Xena's armor. A heaviness settled on her chest, and she just lay there limply.

Xena flicked her eyes to where Cait was making her way steadily, but slowly up the trunk, then returned her attention to her soulmate. The warrior's brow creased, and she chewed on her lip, worried about the uneasy sense she was getting from the bard. "Hey." She used a fingertip to tickle the edge of Gabrielle's ear.

A bloodshot eye slitted open, glinting with moisture.

Xena smiled. "I remember the last time you had to sleep like this… do you?"

A breath. "No."

One dark brow lifted. "You don't? Tch… c'mon, Gabrielle.. it took me three candlemarks to get those quills out of your behind."

A spurt of laughter was forced, unexpectedly from the bard. "Oh gods." Gabrielle replied, hoarsely. "I think I deliberately blocked that memory out."

'Well.. if I'd fallen on porcupine trying to get away from an angry mother goat who was chasing me because she thought I stole her kid… I'd probably forget it too." Xena allowed.

Gabrielle set the dark thoughts aside. "I wasn't trying to steal it..I just wanted to get it away from it's mamma's milk so I could.."

"Make me some cheese" Xena finished, with a fond smile. "I know.. I felt so rotten about you going through all that just… " She hesitated. "Just for me."

"Mm.. I remember… you brought me so many honey nut pastries, I almost got sick." The bard's nose twitched, as she edged into a smile of her own. She moved her head a little, and peered up. "Are we going to make it back okay?"

Xena chucked her on the chin. "We'll make it back."

Gabrielle nodded, and relaxed, moving her hand down and finding her partner's, whose fingers tangled around hers, soothing the dark edges still clinging to her thoughts. "How bad is that cut?"

The warrior smoothed her partner's hair back. "Bad enough for you not to be fighting for a while." She warned.

"Xena.. " Gabrielle protested. "C'mon.. I rode half the morning with it."

"And now you're lying here because of it." Her partner snapped. "What's with you, Gabrielle? Getting stubborn in your old age?"

A green eye glared at her. "If you think I've just started getting stubborn now, you're getting forgetful in yours."

Xena snorted. "Stop acting like me."

"Annoying, isn't it?" Gabrielle exhaled against her leather pillow. "You're not sending me back to the valley." She looked up when her partner didn't answer, and found quiet, serious eyes looking back at her. 'You're not."

"Gabrielle."

"Xena, I'm telling you.." Fingers covered her lips, and she stilled, but her expression darkened.

"Listen to me." The warrior insisted. "There is no one, no one in the world that I would rather have guarding my back than you."

"But.."

"But." Fingers stroked her face. "You fighting hurt makes it a lot more dangerous for both of us, Gabrielle.. for you, because you can't react like you usually do, and for me, because I'll be so worried about you I'll probably get my head lopped off."

Damn it. Gabrielle sighed, finding herself caught in between two very strong emotions.

"We'll talk about it later." Xena continued. "Let's wait until we get back to the river, and see how you feel, okay?"

"Okay." Gabrielle agreed.

For now.

********************************

Xena kept one arm over Argo's neck, and she walked forward, edging her way around a large oak to peer cautiously at the straits ahead. It was quiet, though the brush, the ground, and the trees showed vast evidence of the huge army that had just passed. "All right." She uttered. "Let's see how far we can get." She turned and pulled herself up on Argo behind the already mounted Gabrielle, winding a protective arm around her as they made their way out of the trees and down towards the pass.

Sitting in the saddle, pressed against Xena wasn't comfortable, but Gabrielle gritted her teeth and bore it, knowing if Xena had to draw her sword and fight, she'd be safer where she was than behind her soulmate.

The troops spread out behind them, with Ephiny and Eponin riding along one side and Bennu and some of his soldiers riding along the other.

It was very quiet, and Xena kept all her senses extended, hoping the lack of birds and animals reflected the fear of the army just past. They were riding into the wind, but it brought her only what she knew, that a large force had come this way, and were not too very far ahead of them.

Xena paused, as they cleared the outcropping of rock that formed the pass, and slowed Argo's pace, her warning senses coming alert as she stopped just short of the opening, and got down. "Stay here." She held a hand up and slipped forward, touching the sun warmed rock and cocking her head, listening intently.

Leaves rustling.

Tiny rocks, dislodged by wind and vibration, rattling down.

The stench of horses, and men blew over her, along with the smell of bruised foliage, and very far off, a hint of water. Her nape hairs prickled.

Slowly, lazily, she reached over her shoulder and slid her sword out of it's leather sheath with the barest whisper of steel and made a signal behind her. She took a step forward, and suddenly, without warning, thumped her hilts against the rock, making a loud bang.

Movement.

A snort behind the rock.

Xena yelled at the top of her lungs and heard a surge of motion. "Trap!" She bellowed. "Move!"

Her troops rushed forward, and suddenly there was a wall of men and animals swinging around the pass edge, weapons out and almost on top of them.

Xena leaped partway up the rock and caught hold of a small ledge, slamming her sword blade down and taking off the head of the first soldier through the pass. She kept up a continual battle yell as she swung again and again, using one booted foot to knock back the leading edge of the attack until her troops caught up with her, and dove into the fray. She glanced down to see Argo's familiar golden form and dropped off the rock onto the mare's back, behind her ducking partner. "Hang on."

"Like there's a choice?" Gabrielle answered grimly.

Horses were all around them, and the clash of swords and the fighter's yells filled the air. "We have to get out of here." Ephiny slammed her sword hilt into a helmed head. "We're gonna have the whole damn army on top of us, Xena!"

Gabrielle felt the hesitation behind her. "Over there!" She pointed suddenly, spotting an opening between the trees. "If we can make it through there… I think we can get over the creek!"

Bennu wheeled his big stallion around, slashing a space around him. "G'wan, Genr'l! We'll hold em!"

It went against everything she was. Xena saw the shield forming before her, and she fought against her instinct to spearhead it.

"GO!" Eponin slapped Argo on the rump. "For Artemis' sake, Xena… without you, we've got no chance!"

More enemy soldiers surged forward, and arrows flew, peppering the air as Xena reluctantly pulled Argo around, every fiber resisting the action. "All you in the rear.. follow me!" She finally yelled, aiming for the break in the trees, and urging the mare forward.

Gabrielle just held on, hearing the agony in her partner's voice. She tried not to think about the friends she was leaving behind, as they bolted for the woods, seeing a line of riders splitting off the attacking force and heading their way.

Xena saw them too, and switched her sword from her left hand to her right, swerving Argo to the right in pure instinct, to protect the rest of the fighters from the oncoming horses. She tangled her fingers in Argo's mane, and tucked as much of her body as she could around Gabrielle's, as the first of the interceptors reached them.

"Yeah!!!!" Xena met the sword blow, and deflected it, then angled her return stroke in and clipped the rider just under the chin, opening up his neck and sending a torrent of blood over his horse's head. The animal screamed, his eyes rolling, and reared, allowing Xena to thunder past and engage the second rider, who thrust a spear past her defenses. She released Argo's mane and caught the end, fighting to retain her balance as she and her opponent rode side by side, wrestling for control of the weapon.

Xena lifted up in the stirrups and brought her sword in from the other side, puncturing his armor just under his arm and jerking her blade out as he toppled over, leaving her with the spear.

She tossed it to the ground, and urged Argo faster, seeing the first of their troops reach the gap. "Go! Go!!!!" They thundered through, and she half turned, intending on pulling Argo up to guard their retreat. But four of her people forestalled her, forming a block in the gap and battling off the riders. All she could do was ride on, threading her way through the rushing horses until she was at the fore.

Behind them, they could hear the ongoing clash of battle, and the sounds of horns, as Andreas troops called for reinforcements. The sounds fell behind them, as they rushed along the narrow forest path, though, and slowly, the screams, and the clash of metal faded into a thrumming of hooves against moss covered ground, and the whipping rush of leaves that slapped against them leaving a trail of dark, green scent behind.

They slowed to a fast canter after their pursuit ceased, the tension almost palpable in the dim daylight of the forest.

Xena glanced around her, hoping the path would stay clear up to where they'd have to exit, and head across the large open area leading down to the river. Then, they'd be in the open, but she judged they'd be well ahead of Andreas' troops, with time enough to get behind the battlements.

She tried not to think of the people she'd left behind.

"You okay?" She asked the still, quiet form in front of her. Gabrielle nodded, but didn't answer, keeping her head down to keep out of the way of the branches whipping around them.

They rode, the horses lathering up and breathing hard, until they approached the thinning edge of the forest, and Xena slowed her pace, to give Argo a little relief. "Once we get into the plain, keep low, and keep to the edge of the woods." She called behind her, seeing weary nods. "You keep down too." She put a hand on the bard's shoulder. "How's the back?"

"Hurts." Gabrielle murmured. "But I'll live."

Xena inhaled, and settled her knees, then aimed Argo's head towards the open spaces.

And then, all at once, the light was blocked by armed, and mounted bodies.

Waiting for them.

Xena blinked, then drew her sword, and just drove on, spinning the in her hand, and letting out a wild, fierce yell.

A frantic hawk's cry rang out, and the riders in the gap scattered, bolting out of the way as though Hades himself were coming out of the trees at them.

The troops thundered out into the sun, through a milling force in familiar colors. Xena's eyes focused, then she exhaled, recognizing the faces around her. "Toris! What are you doing out here! Get them back!"

"Coming to help you!" Her brother yelled back. "We've got two raiding parties harassing their main force… c'mon!! They've been burning out the plains."

Toris edged his tall gelding over next to his sister, as Xena pulled up, motioning for the riders to slow. "What happened?"

Xena patted Argo's sweating shoulder. "What didn't?"

"You okay?" Toris asked Gabrielle, who was grimly holding on.

"Fine for now." The bard replied. "How are things back there?"

Toris glanced behind them. "Not great… we got a big flood of refugees in yesterday, Xena… you wouldn't believe what these bastards were doing to them."

"Sure I would." Came Xena's quietly chilling answer. "The more you terrorize people, the less they fight you."

"Branding people with hot irons? Putting their eyes out? Skinning them alive, and leaving them to die?" Toris shot back. "Would you do that?"

Xena sat quietly on Argo's back for a long moment, considering the question. Her troops milled around uneasily, waiting for the answer. Even Gabrielle was silent.

"No." The answer was almost thoughtful. "I would just have killed them." She looked up. "Let's get moving… I want time to map his order of battle before they hit the low area." She turned Argo's head, and threaded her way through the fighters. "It just gets harder from here on."

Gabrielle waited until they were a few lengths out before she turned her head to look up at Xena. "What about the people we left behind?"

"They'll either catch up, or they won't."

The bard's lips pressed together into a thin line.

Xena's eyes remained cool for a moment, then her expression softened a trifle. "I think they'll catch up, Gabrielle.. those were some damn good warriors back there."

"Some of them were damn good friends of ours." Gabrielle stated, very softly.

A sigh. "I know… that's why they stayed." Xena gave her a pat on the leg. "Don't start their pyres yet, Gabrielle. Anything can happen in war. "

The bard turned, and looked ahead, between Argo's golden ears.

**************************************

The mood was grim, now. Xena strode through the camp, as soldiers rushed to bring last minute supplies up to the walls, and struggled to move heavy boxes through the muddy ground. They'd had a thankfully peaceful ride back, and now she was anxiously moving from point to point, getting things as ready as they were going to get, given the fact that by her count, Andreas army outnumbered hers three to one.

"Genr'l!"

Xena looked up towards the lookout.

"Got another group walking in."

Xena spared a glance towards the gates. "Let em in and send them over the river."

The lookout saluted, and turned back, shouting out her orders to the gatesmen.

Bennu caught up to her as she continued on, and he paced at her side for several steps before he spoke. "Gonna be a bad one, Genr'l."
"That it is, Bennu."

They walked along for a bit. "Fighter's gotta go sometime." The tall soldier finally said. "Good cause, good leader… can't really ask for more'n that." Xena stopped and put her hands on her hips. "I didn't assemble an army for the purpose of getting it slaughtered, Bennu."

"No." Bennu replied. "But we all knew we'd be heading into a mess of trouble, Xena." His dirt smudged face wrinkled into a smile. "Whatever happens, it was a good thing in any case."

The warrior exhaled, then patted Bennu on the arm as she walked off.

*********

The healer's tent was a busy, anxious place. Warriors that had come in with Xena were getting patched up, and those who had been in the earlier skirmishes were huddled on pallets, faces drawn in pain. The several battle healers roamed among them, but Xena's eyes flicked past them to find Elani's distinctive form, kneeling next to a pallet at the back of the tent, a torch lighting her work.

She could feel the attention on her as she moved through the crowded area, and she took the time to make eye contact, giving her injured men and women a quiet smile, and the touch of a hand on a shoulder, or head. A wave of nervous excitement trickled around her in reaction, and even the healers looked up to see what the disturbance was.

Elaini's head turned, and a brief flash of long fangs followed. "Might have known it was you." The forest dweller rumbled. "Would you come here, please, Xena? This entire tent full of fighters aren't giving me as much trouble as one little bitty human here."

Xena ambled over and gazed over Elaini's shoulder, to see grumpy green eyes glaring up at her. "Funny… my mother always says that about Dori.. you think they're related?"

"Hmm." Elaini deferred comment. "I'm sure I wouldn't trade my three for either of them." She carefully changed the bandage on the bard's back. "This is a very bad cut, Xena."

"I know."

"It doesn't hurt that bad." Gabrielle rested her chin on her arm.

"You said it hurt you to walk." Xena disagreed. "And that you felt numb down to your knees."

Elaini frowned. "You didn't tell me that." She scowled at the bard. "Gabrielle, please… don't act like one of these ax heads, huh? You've got lots more sense than that, I know you do."

Gabrielle gazed up at her unhappily, reaching out with one hand to pluck at Xena's knee armor. "Sense has nothing to do with this." Her voice held a slightly hoarse note. The truth was, every move made a jolt go down her legs, and up her back, and she knew her soulmate knew that.

She also knew what Xena was thinking, and though her mind told her the warrior was right, her heart objected to the thought of leaving her partner at the very eve of the battle. She looked up into Xena's face, and saw the confirmation there, in the furrowed brow, and the pensive, thin smile. "Centaur farts."

Elaini reviewed that, then peered at Xena. "How do you do that?"

"Feed them beans." The warrior deadpanned. "G'wan, Elaini.. I'll take care of things here."

The forest dweller stood, and pressed Xena's shoulder, then went to her next patient, kneeling down next to a young man from the cavalry who'd had half his leg sliced off.

"Mom's agreed to take Dori, and a group of the worst wounded over the river, back to the valley." Xena stated. "You're going with them."

The protest died on her lips, as an inadvertent motion made her clamp her jaw shut, and bite the side of her tongue. Xena patted her head very gently, and she exhaled in weary frustration. "I don't want to leave you."

"I don't want you to go." The warrior replied honestly. "But knowing you're safe over there… will be a big weight off my shoulders."

"How long?"

Xena glanced outside. "Candlemark… maybe two." She answered. "They're packing the wagon now."

Gabrielle hitched herself up on an elbow. "Can you spare a few minutes before then?"

A nod. "For you? Always."

*******************

Cyrene turned at the sound of boots, to see a familiar figure fill the gap in the tent walls. "Ah." She pushed her hair back. "We're almost ready."

"Boo!" Dori craned her head around her grandmother, and spotted the newcomer. Her arms went out in an eager, grasping motion. "Booo!!! Booo!!" She wriggled on the crate Cyrene had sat her on, and almost toppled off.

"Easy there, kiddo." Xena caught her, lifting her up and tucking her small body into the crook of an arm. "Whatcha been up to, huh?"

Dori flung her arms around Xena's neck and squeezed, making little grunts of approval and happiness. "Bobobobobobobobobooo…." She hiccuped, then blinked. "Mama?"

"Yeah… we'll go see mama." Xena promised, giving her mother a glance. "We wanted to spend a little while together before you leave."

Cyrene rubbed her daughter's arm, but said nothing.

"C'mon, Dori.. wanna go find mama?" Xena rocked the baby as she walked out of the nearly empty tent. She was dressed in her gambeson, having washed the day's battle stains off before changing her leathers, and her hair was still damp from her bath. "Gods, you're getting so big."

Dori grasped the front of the padded fabric, and gave it a healthy tug. "Go go go!!!" She gave Xena a tiny scowl. "Go now!"

Xena gazed at her somberly. "I did promise you, didn't I, little one?" She murmured, as the trusting green eyes blinked up at her. "Okay… c'mon." It wouldn't take long, and the few minutes of play would take an honest weight off her shoulders. She looked around, frowning as the rough, drab camp spread to either side of her down the river banks. "No room back here…" She exhaled. "Guess we're going over to the other side, Dori. Hang on."

It was a surreal feeling, to be walking through a camp of war, on the eve of what she knew would be horrible bloodshed, cradling Dori in her arms as they passed through the tents, and past the boxes, letting the yells and sounds fall behind them as she reached the bridge and crossed it.

Her boots shook the planks of the footbridge, the smell of the river coming up and brushing her, as the wind shifted and came around. The sounds of the camp faded, replaced by crickets, and the rush of the water.

It was like stepping back into another world. Here there was no churned mud, no smell of men and horses, no blood. No cries of the wounded, or the stench of death. Far up the path she could see the gates of the town, and as she watched, a solitary chicken bobbed across the road, finding insects, and Xena took a deep breath of the clean, cold air as she walked. Her boots scuffed up a bit of dust, and for a brief moment, she wished it was just another morning, one that would end with her and Dori rambling back to the cabin, to wake Gabrielle and enjoy biscuits and fruit together.

"You know something, Dori?"

"Booga?"

Xena's lips twitched. "I've grown out of enjoying war." She admitted to the child, with a feeling of faint surprise. "Isn't that something?"

Dori didn't seem perturbed. She chewed on a buckle industriously and explored the simple crystal hanging around her beloved playmate's neck.

Oh well. Xena resolved to enjoy the moment. She took the right hand path, which circled Amphipolis, and broke into a jog as Dori squealed, wriggling in delight as she recognized the motion.

"Faster?"

"Go go go!"

Xena picked up her pace, adjusting her balance for the baby in her arms, since she'd left all of Dori's carry sacks back in the camp. "Like that, huh?"

Dori giggled, seemingly enjoying her front view. "Go!"

They raced up the slope, completely alone in the forest around the abandoned town, small animals scurrying out of Xena's way in surprise. She dodged through the trees, leaping over rocks and stumps, and laughing along with Dori's delighted chortles. "Ready?"

"Boo!"

She took a step, then launched herself upward into a flip, getting a squeal almost in her ear. After she landed, she vaulted right back up, turning twice and twisting, then she raced off towards a slight rise, leaping off the top with out the slightest hesitation.

"Booo!!!!" Dori yelled in excitement as they flew through the air, the wind rushing against their faces. The slope let them stay aloft longer, and Xena arched her back and turned onto her side, then tumbled over, getting her feet under her just in time to land. "Whoo… that was a nice one, huh, Dori?"

"Good!" The baby approved. "More!"

"All right." Xena spotted a boulder nearby, roughly half again her height. She bolted towards it and jumped, reaching the top of the rock and standing for a moment as the wind gusted. From here, she could just barely see the roof of her mother's inn through the trees. Dori thrust her hands out and waved them, her feet kicking industriously. "Okay, hold on."

She crouched, then leaped upward towards the sun, tucking her knees up and spinning rapidly through the air as Dori giggled in delight. Xena laughed with her, flipping over and over, the brief sunlight that had broken through the overcast pouring over them. She landed, then jumped straight up, reveling in her own strength as she turned and twisted, bouncing as the earth came back up to her, then simply letting herself fall back into the thick grass, as a cloud of dusty pollen exploded around them.

Dori sneezed, and waved her small hands, making a surprised face as she sat on Xena's chest. "Good!" She crawled over and gave her buddy a kiss. "Love Boo."

Xena hugged her, cherishing the moment without reservation. They rocked back and forth for a moment in the grass, then the warrior glanced up, sighing as she bounced to her feet. "We gotta go find mama now… okay?"

"Mama." Dori agreed. "Mama good."

They reached the bridge, and started over. "Be good, Dori." Xena sighed. "Keep your mama company for me, all right?"

"Mama." Dori repeated obediently.

The warrior slowed as she entered the camp, and paused in a patch of sunlight, gazing seriously at her daughter. "Dori?"

The baby looked up at her inqisitively. "Boo?"

"I love you." Xena touched her face with a fingertip. "I want you to promise me something." Dori clutched at her finger, and sucked the end of it. "Listen.. if something happens to me, Dori.. I want you to promise me you'll take care of your mama, okay?"

"Bck."

"It's going to be so hard for her… " Xena paused to swallow. "But I know she'll stay with you, because you're our daughter, and you need her." She kissed the baby's head. "And she loves you very much."

Dori stuck her tongue out, and scowled.

Xena sighed. "What in Hades am I doing? You don't understand a word of this, do you?" She shook her head, and headed towards the command tent, where Gabrielle was resting before starting the wagon ride out to the valley.

They still had a little time left.

*************

Xena ducked into the tent and smiled, as Dori squirmed at the sight of her mother and tried to wriggle free. "Hang on.. easy now. Remember what I told you."

Gabrielle was curled up in the rough chair, leaning on one arm to keep the pressure off her back. "Hey honey!" She produced a real smile as Dori hit the ground toddling and ambled over, crashing into the chair with infant abandon. "Ooh… careful." She gingerly helped the baby climb up, then winced as Dori threw her arms around her neck with a squeal. "Shh… shh.. I'm glad to see you too.. what took you so long?"

"I had a promise to keep."

Gabrielle looked up at her in surprise, then at Dori. "A promise?"

"Goosh!" Dori waved her arms.

The bard gazed at her daughter. "You took her for a run?" She murmured, wonderingly.

"Mm." The warrior didn't look at her. "Just for a few minutes… over the bridge and back.. I.." A faint shrug. "I did promise."

Gabrielle touched a fingertip to Dori's button nose, making the baby slightly crosseyed as she tried to follow the motion. "Yes, you did." She acknowledged. "Boo always keeps her promises, Dori… remember that, okay?"

"Bck." A small hand swiped at hers, and clutched it.

Xena picked up the bard's already packed saddlebags, then she set them to one side, and sat down on the ground cross legged. "They're about ready."

Gabrielle nodded, as she straightened Dori's unruly hair. "I figured. " She put a hand on Xena's arm, resting nearby. "Please be careful."

Xena looked up. "You too." She let Dori play with her thumb. "Got a feeling they'll start the attack tonight."

Another nod. "Any sign of… "

"Nothing yet."

They both quietly watched Dori play, as the baby explored the limits of the chair, and tried to climb over the arm of it. Xena moved her head into the way, and butted her back, making her sit down abruptly.

"Bck!" She objected, pointing at Xena. "Gaboo!"

Outside, they heard the creak of the wagon, and shouts as the horses were hitched to it. Xena quietly stood up and lifted Dori into her arms, then offered Gabrielle a hand up. The bard took it, and very carefully stood, taking a breath and obviously waiting for pain to recede. "Lean on me if you need to."

Gabrielle did, winding an arm around her. They walked together out through the flap, and across the churned, pungent ground to where the last of the non combatants were climbing up into the wooden cart. Xena gave Dori a kiss on the head, then handed her to a very reluctant Cyrene, turning to help Gabrielle up into the wagon.

Gabrielle rested her hands on the wooden side, resisting the urge to turn, and simply walk away, walk back to the command tent and refuse to go. She could see the soldiers watching her, and she felt like such a traitor to be leaving now, when the darkness was so clearly closing on them.

Over something so stupid, too. The bard cursed internally Gillen's aborted attack, to cause such a small cut which yet disabled her as surely as if the damned Amazon had cut her hamstrings.

But.

With a sigh, she allowed Xena to lift her up into the wagon, and settled gingerly on top of the furs, resting partly on her side and getting as comfortable as she could. The wall of the wagon was at her back, and she felt Xena's fingers ruffle her hair as she leaned her shoulders against it. She reached up in reflex and caught the hand, winding their fingers together as the rest of the passengers climbed aboard.

She looked up, to see Xena looking back at her. "Will you promise me something?"

The blue eyes flickered. "Sure… if I can."

Gabrielle reached up and laid her palm against the warrior's cheek. "Be good." She asked, simply.

Their eyes locked, all the history between them suddenly vivid and present in that one, single request.

"I will be." Xena finally answered. "I promise." She leaned over and they kissed, dismissing the uneasily watching crowd. Nose to nose, they took one last look, one last breath of each other. "Stay out of trouble." Xena uttered.

Just the hint of a smile answered her. "I will… I promise."

Then the wagon shifted, and they parted, Xena stepping back and resuming her mantle of cool leadership as the driver settled himself on the front board, gathering his reins. He turned and glanced at Xena, who gave him a brief nod of acknowledgement, before he set his feet and clucked to the two big animals pulling the wagon.

They surged forward, and the wheels creaked, squishing through the mud as they moved away towards the bridge, leaving behind a few watchers who stood in silence until they passed beyond the trees and out of sight.

Xena watched a moment longer, then turned as footsteps approached. "Yes?"

Toris ran a hand through his thick hair. "The lookouts report they smell pitch on the wind, Xena… we think they're going to firebomb us."

Cold blue eyes reviewed the camp. "Get everyone to grab the buckets, and douse everything with water. " She decided. "Let's go!"

*************************************

The wagon moved along slowly, the horse's rhythmic strides rocking the wooden cart and almost lulling it's occupants to sleep.

Or, at least that was the theory. Gabrielle sighed and tried to get more comfortable. They had hay in the bottom of the wagon, thank the gods, and she was resting against two stuffed sacks of grain, her cloak tucked around her closely. Cyrene sat next to her, with Dori snoozing blissfully in her arms, and the innkeeper glanced up as she felt Gabrielle's eyes on her.

"I'm surprised.. I thought she'd be all over the place. "

The bard lifted her hand and touched Dori's, examining the tiny fingers with a half smile. "Xe took her out to play just before we left." She responded, watching the baby's grip close about her thumb even in sleep. "She seems to know how to tire her out"

"Takes one to know one." Cyrene remarked placidly. "Tch.. look at those sleeves.. time for a new outfit, I think."

"Mm." Gabrielle agreed, touching the fabric which was creeping up her daughter's arm, halfway to her elbow. The green suit was snug across her body as well. "Yeah… she's outgrowing this one for sure." The bard sighed. "I think I've got a bigger one back in the caves…that blue one Ephiny.." Her voice simply stopped, and she let out the rest of the breath she'd been using to speak with, and fell silent.

Cyrene took her hand and chafed it, her face tensing in sympathy.

"This is so senseless." Gabrielle whispered.

"War always is." Her mother in law answered. "No matter how they justify it.. no matter who wins, or who loses… it all boils down to people killing each other for no purpose." She looked at Gabrielle. "But sometimes, Gabrielle… it comes to you and you can't stop it."

Dori woke, stretching her arms and legs, and yawning. "Brwp." She poked a lip out at her grandmother, then frowned, and turned her head, spotting Gabrielle. "Mama!" Her eyes lit up in delight, which brought a smile to Gabrielle's face.

"Here.. give her to me." The bard shifted, and leaned back against the sacks. "Keep my mind off my back anyway." She took her daughter's squirming form and tucked her in the crook of an arm, tickling her belly with her other hand. "Hey, cutie."

Dori smiled, her green eyes almost dissapearing into her chubby cheeks. "Bck."

"Ooo.. you're so cute." Gabrielle glanced around the wagon, where the six other badly injured fighters were laid, some watching her with tired, pained eyes.

Elaini was braced against the back wall, watching the worst off of them, a young Amazon who'd had most of one arm ripped off, and taken an arrow through her upper chest. The forest dweller was constantly changing the herb soaked bandage over the woman's wound, but her eyes roamed over the rest of them, and she smiled as they fell on Dori. "Uh oh." One furry eyebrow lifted. "I knew it was too peaceful to last."

"Hey.. she's being really good." Gabrielle protested. "She hasn't caused one bit of trouble in weeks."

Dori grunted, and squirmed over onto her belly, then pushed herself upright. "Mm." She stuck a finger in her mouth and looked up at her mother in question. "Cookie."

Tired chuckles lifted from the wagon.

"That's from you." Gabrielle gave Cyrene a dire look. "I try to make her eat good things like carrots, and what do you do?"

"I know my audience." Cyrene blithly responded, removing a nut stuffed pastry from her pocket and handing it to her granddaughter. "Here you go, sweet pea."

"Mom." The bard sighed.

"Oh, all right. Here." Cyrene removed another cookie, and handed it to Gabrielle. "You don't think I know where she gets it from?"

"Hm." Gabrielle sniffed the pastry appreciatively, then took a bite. The sweet normality of the taste triggered a wistful ache in her chest, and she was surprised to realize she was looking forward to reaching the valley, part of her very glad she was out of the battle.

Thoughtfully, she finished the pastry. Was that cowardly? She thought about that for a while, as Dori crawled over her, searching for more goodies. If she hadn't gotten hurt, she definitely would have stayed at Xena's side, there was no doubt in her mind about that. But the fact was, she was hurt.

She just thought she should be feeling worse about that than she was. "What did you find, Dori?" The baby was tugging at one of her pockets with childish absorbetion. "Hmm?" Gabrielle unhooked the flap and let Dori dig inside, laughing when she came up with a somewhat dusty, slightly battered honey drop. "How did you know that was in there?"

"Mm." Dori stuffed the treasured sweet into her mouth.

"You know who put that in there, don't you?" Gabrielle ruffled her hair. "I'll give you two guesses."

"Grpfh?"

"Xena put that in there."

"Boo!" Dori looked around eagerly. "Go Boo!"

"No, sweetie." Gabrielle sighed. "Not right now."

The wagon slowed, and the bard looked up, watching the driver stiffen, and raise himself off the seat slightly. His head turned, and he looked directly at her. "Ma'am?"

They never did quite know what to call her, did they? "Just Gabrielle." The bard lifted herself up slightly. "What is it?"

The man lowered his voice. "Looks like we've got company." He told her. "Been a lot of travel through here."

"What?" Gabrielle gently eased Dori down into the straw, then carefully pulled herself up onto her knees so she could see over the backs of the horses. The road was empty, as was the swale on either side, but even she could see the flattened grass stalks, and the broken branches leading into the foliage that bespoke the passage of many bodies. "Hm."

"Not enough of us to make that."

"No." Gabrielle leaned her arms on the seat, taking the painful weight off her knees. "Go a little closer."

The horses moved towards the forest, easing over onto the left side of the road to allow the bard a better look. She shifted over and leaned against the side wall, absorbing the disarray, and seeing the now visible marks of many horses hooves in the earth.

"Bo." Dori had clambered to her feet, and pulled herself up next to her mother, tiny green eyes peeking up just over the wood. She pointed up at a bird. "Zom!" A hop. "Go!"

"Shh." Gabrielle released one hand and curled it around her child. "No flying now… quiet, Dori."

Dori leaned her face against the wood, mouthing a sturdy peg that held the boards on.

Gabrielle chewed her lip. "Keep moving down the road." She decided. "Let's see what we find."

The driver glanced at her. "Ma'am… we've got injured here, and we don't know what's down that path.. could be trouble."

"Could be." Gabrielle agreed. "But we can't go back, and if it's that much trouble, they've probably spotted us already." She turned her head. "Everyone get down as much as you can… Elaini.."

"Make like a rug, I know." The forest dweller put her kit down and started helping the wounded get under cover.

"Start going." Gabrielle ordered. "Keep it nice and slow, and steady." The wagon lurched forward, and she caught the board, closing her eyes against the jolt of pain that seized her, stopping her breathing for a long, agonizing moment. "Whoa." She let her muscles slowly unclench, and released a breath.

"Mama?" Dori tugged on her cloak. "Go Boo."

"Not right now, honey." Gabrielle pushed her gently down. "Sit down now…so you don't get hurt."

Stubbornly, the baby resisted the motion, grabbing onto the seat back and squirming under her mother's hand to remain standing, peering about the cart with interest.

Gabrielle sighed, and tucked the edge of her cloak around Dori's body, and turned her attention to the area as well.

It was quiet, and wild here, far past even the furthest fields of Amphipolis, where old growth forest crept up to the edges of the road and winter sparse branches rustled and clicked to themselves in the wind. A gust of the same breeze stirred Gabrielle's hair, and she turned her face into it, listening and sniffing the air as Xena had taught her to do.

Not like she could detect one tenth of what her partner could, of course, but over the years, she'd begun to get a sense of the world around her, of what belonged, and what didn't. Though her recent sojourn in Amphipolis had dulled her edge a bit, still, the wind brought to her a scent she knew had no place in the quiet forests to either side.

Horses.

Lots of them.

"Bck." Dori wrinkled her nose up. "Horsie."

Gabrielle tilted her head and blinked at her daughter, then looked up at the driver. "She's right." The bard muttered. "There's a big herd around here."

"Could it be wild? Was a lot of them beasts left to run up past the valley." Cyrene had now eased up next to them. "Something Xena could use, I know."

"Well.. they're close enough so that if they have riders, the riders know we're here." Gabrielle stated seriously. "Let's keep going, and see what happens. If they're wild, we can send a note back as soon as we get to the valley."

The wagon creaked on, and the entered a deeper patch of trees, which blocked the wind and brought a little silence around them, and the sound of their horses hooves and the jingle of their tack suddenly amplified. They kept moving, watching the sides of the road with cautious eyes, but the wheels turned uneventfully for long minutes, which became a half candlemark, then a whole one, and finally they started to relax. Gabrielle lowered herself into the straw with a gasp of relief, half curling onto her side as the pain she'd held at bay clenched her muscles.

"Gabrielle." Cyrene put a concerned hand on her shoulder.

"I'll be all right." The bard held a slightly shaking hand up. "Dori, sit down, honey." She felt the creak and shift as the wagon started around a curve in the road, which would take them between granite outcroppings as they headed up towards the valley.

"Gabrielle." The driver suddenly said, his voice urgent. "We've got visitors."

With a muttered curse under her breath, Gabrielle straightened, and looked over the edge of the wagon. Her heart fluttered, then bounded, as she saw a cluster of cloaked riders ahead, squarely in their path, spreading out across the road and blocking it entirely.

"Ah." Gabrielle murmured.

"What do we do?" The driver hissed.

"Keep moving." The bard replied. "Straight for them."

Everyone looked at her uneasily. "Gabrielle…" Cyrene objected.

"Just do it." The bard fixed her eyes on the group ahead, ignoring the silence beating her skin.

*****************

The wagon rolled closer, and the cloaked figures waited for them, sevaral of the mounted riders spreading out to surround them as they came even with the small rise in the road they were perched on. The wagon driver pulled the horses to a halt uncertainly, and glanced at Gabrielle.

The bard inhaled. "Are you blocking the road for a reason?" She met the eyes of the closest rider coolly.

"We are waiting for Gabrielle the bard." The man answered promptly. "Would that be you?"

A momentary silence rippled over the road.

"That's me." The bard admitted. "What do you want?" She was aware of everyone's looking at her, and unconsciously she straightened her shoulders, and let a hand drop around Dori.

"Come with us." The lead rider urged his horse forward a few paces, and swept his hood down, revealing a handsome, chisled profile with a close cropped auburn beard and rusty brown hair.

"Like Hades." Cyrene barked. "Take your friends and move along, mister."

Gabrielle cleared her throat. "It's okay, mom." Slowly, she stood up and eased a leg over the edge of the wagon, using her arms to support her weight as she slid down to the ground.

"Gabrielle, you just hold on." The innkeeper scrambled across the straw and grabbed her hands. "You're not going anywhere."

"I have to." Gabrielle uttered.

"You do not.. Gabrielle, if you go… don't you understand how important your safety is?" The innkeeper hissed, furiously.

"Take care of Dori, okay?" The bard gently removed her fingers. "I'll be all right."

"Gabrielle!" Cyrene's eyes bored through her.

"Mama?" Dori toddled anxiously over and reached for her. "Mama?"

"Shh.. it's okay honey." Gabrielle leaned forward and kissed her on the head. "Stay here with grandma." She backed off stiffly, and limped around the horses, heading towards the mounted riders. "Let them go." She ordered firmly, watching as the lead rider made a signal, and his men clustered off the road, clearing the way. "Head to the valley." She told the driver. "Go on."

Clearly upset, the man hesitated, then urged the horses forward, his eyes on Gabrielle as the wagon creaked by. Cyrene looked halfway between outraged and horrifed and the bard could see the protests rising to her lips.

Only to die there when the bard gave her head a tiny shake.

Dori scrambled to the other side of the wagon, stumbling in the hay and thumping against the wood. She gripped the edge of the wood and peered over. "Mama!"

Gabrielle felt her heartrate double, and she closed her eyes for a brief moment, before reopening them. "Be a good girl, honey."

The tiny forehead crinkled, and Dori let out a wail. "Mamamamammmmaaa!" She started to scramble over the boards, intent on her mother, who was slowly falling to the wayside.

"Dori!" Cyrene lunged for her, but she just wasn't fast enough. Dori went over the side, and would have crashed to ground if Gabrielle hadn't jumped forward and caught her, grabbing onto the side of the cart in agony as she scooped the baby up with her other hand. "Augh."

"Mama." Dori squirmed up her body, clinging to her desperately. "No go. NO go."

"Shh." Gabrielle released the cart and battled the pain, standing upright and cradling her daughter. "Shh.. it's okay, honey. It's okay."

"Ungh." Dori got her arms around Gabrielle's neck and held on.

Oh boy. The bard exhaled, then lifted her eyes, to see Cyrene's accusing ones looking back at her. "Dori, you can't stay with me." She untangled the small arms. "Stay here with grandma."

"No."

"Dori.."

"No."

The lead rider chuckled dryly behind her, and she paused, taking a deep breath before she took firm hold of her daughter. "Doriana, now you stop."

Dori sucked on a finger, turning big, green, pathetically wistful eyes on her.

Gabrielle bit the inside of her lip, recognizing the look, having seen it in the mirror on more than one occasion. "Honey, you can't come with me, I'm sorry."

A tiny lip poked out.

Resolutely, Gabrielle closed her eyes and lifted Dori's body over the edge of the wagon, setting her down in the straw and releasing her. Then she turned, and walked away, keeping her back to them as the driver slapped the reins and the wheels creaked across the rocky ground. She didn't even turn at Dori's wail.

Which hurt more? She wondered dully, as the sound faded behind her. That cry, or the pain her injury was causing her? Finally, the wagon was gone, and she looked up at the horseman.

"That's a beautiful child." The man remarked.

"Thanks." Gabrielle answered softly. "She's a little stubborn."

A smile creased the bearded face. "Like both her mothers, I hear."

The bard studied him, then inclined her head briefly.

"We've got places to go, Bard Gabrielle. Shall we?" The man briskly went on.

Gabrielle stiffly moved over to him, laying a hand on the smooth shoulder of his horse. "I'm ready." She confirmed. "Let's get started."

********************

Xena stood on the ramparts, the thickly mudded surface soft beneath her boots. Across the plain, she could now see the advancing line of troops, and the black line that marked the burned grass before them. The wind brushed the hair from her eyes, and she sniffed it, catching the scent of fire, and battle, and damned all the gods, no rain.

She glanced to her right, and then to her left, checking the ramparts full of soldiers busy fletching arrows, and sharpening weapons, counting the positions for the hundredth time. She'd donned her full armor, and felt it's solid weight around her as she breathed in deeply.

Almost time.

Xena turned and leaped off the top of the walls, tucking her body into a lazy tumble before landing on her feet, knees half bent to absorb her weight. Striding across the puddle ridden ground, she considered options, which weren't many, and her resources, which were also not infinite. She entered her command tent, and went to the worktable, leaning over it and reviewing the lists of supplies, and the troops she had left.

A soft tap came at the door flap, and she looked up. "Come."

Bennu entered, giving her a reflex salute as he strode over. "Genr'l.. they've got them balls you asked for over by t'tent.. you want to check them out? "

"Yes." The warrior straightened. "Did they spread the mixture I gave them over the nail spikes?"

"Y'smam.. they were damn careful too, not to touch the stuff."

Xena nodded. "Good." Something she really hadn't wanted Gabrielle to see, those missiles with their coating of poison, calculated to blow apart on impact and send metal shards into the soldiers opposing them. "Are the pits covered?"

"They are."

"All right." Xena's eyes roamed over the inside of the tent. "I figure they'll hold outside crossbow range… then give us an ultimatum." She folded her arms. "Then they'll bombard us with whatever they've got.. I figure firebombs, but this place isn't burning, so the next thing they'll do is throw a force against the walls.. see how tough we are."

Bennu nodded, scratching his jaw. "You figuring to still foul the water down t'them?"

"Yes." Xena folded up her documents, and tucked them in a pouch she fastened around her waist. "C'mon, Ares." She patted her leg, and the wolf curled up on her pallet willingly jumped down to join her. "They want war." She flexed her hands. "They'll get it."

Another light tap at the flap. "Yes?"

A head poked itself in, making Xena's eyebrows lift slightly. "Hecuba." She acknowledged the woman. "Bennu, excuse us. I'll meet you by the slope in a few minutes."

The soldier left, giving Hecuba a brief nod, leaving the two women alone in the spartanly furnished tent. "Something I can do for you?"

Gabrielle's mother folded her hands before her. She was wearing a rough, linen apron stained with blood from the healer's area, and seemed older than Xena had remembered her. "You have sent Gabrielle away to safety, they tell me?"

Xena considered the question carefully. "I've sent her out towards the valley, yes." She replied. "You could have gone with them, Hecuba.. no one expects you to stay here."

"I know." Hecuba answered. "But I have such trouble understanding my daughter, Xena.. doing this, doing what I'm doing, makes me appreciate what she's gone through somewhat." She paused. "I'm glad she's not part of what's going to happen here, however."

Xena had no answer for that, so she gave none.

"I would guess that she herself, isn't happy about it, however."

The warrior thought about that for a bit. "I don't think she's happy about having left..here. Us." A pause. "Me." Xena stood in a tiny bubble of self revelation for a second. "But I don't think she regrets being out of the battles.. she fights because she has to, not because she wants to."

Hecuba nodded. "I used to resent how much of a fighter she has become. Then I realized that in the horrible world we live in, at least you've given her a chance to survive." The older woman exhaled. "That's more than most get."

Xena came around the side of her worktable, up to where Hecuba was standing. She gazed down at her soulmate's mother somberly. "Maybe if we're lucky, our children won't have to know how to fight."

Finally, Hecuba smiled, a wry, stiff expression that for the barest instant recalled her daughter. "Xena… one way or the other, your children will always be warriors."

Eh. Xena allowed a return smile to flit across her lips. "Time for you to get under cover. They have everything they need over at the healer's area?"

"I have no idea." Hecuba answered honestly. "I'm sure we'll do the best we can."

"I'm sure you will." Xena started to move past her, but paused when the older woman reached out and took a hold of her arm. Her eyebrows lifted.

There was plainly a struggle going on behind the almost colorlessly grayish hazel eyes across from her. "Good luck, Xena."

"Thanks." The warrior murmured.

"Please be careful. If anything were to happen to you, I know Gabrielle would be devastated." Hecuba went on, very seriously. "And I really think she's going to need your help with little Doriana. She's quite an active child." A breath. "So, please. Do take care." Very stiffly, Hecuba inched forward, and, girding her loins, bravely put her arms around her intimidating daughter in law, and hugged her.

Xena felt like laughing at the absurdity of it, but she restrained herself to a smile, as she returned the hug, careful not to press Hecuba's thin form too hard against her armor.

One of her very few, now, loose ends neatly tied up, and set to rest.

It felt nice.

Without speech, they parted, and walked side by side out of the tent, moving in different directions as they reached the lone, gnarled tree crouched in the mud of the camp.

*********************

"I only have horseback available." The soldier gave Gabrielle an apologetic look. "I can see you're hurting."

"Part of the job." Gabrielle gritted her teeth, and hauled herself up into the saddle. "Is it far? " She held her breath, watching shooting stars cross her vision as she settled into the saddle. "What's your name, anyway?"

He edged closer. "Justin." A cock of his head. "Currently captain of the guard of Cirron… you know, I've heard so much about you, Gabrielle.. it's amazing."

"Mm." The bard exhaled, and nodded. "Let's go.. you guys know you trampled everything to the west of here.. I though we were keeping this secret."

"You think it's easy keeping that many men.. and women.. and.. well, anyway." Justin started off through a slash cut path in the underbrush. "And those Amazons are picky!"

A flick of green eyes. "Really?"

"Yeah!" The young soldier sidled closer. "Gotta have their tents just so, water just so… you put too much salt in the stew, it gets tossed at ya… unbelievable." He shook his head. "Don't know why women want to be fighting all the time anyhow… ain't natural."

Both blond eyebrows lifted into Gabrielle's fair hairline. "How do you explain Xena, then?"

"Oh." The dark haired man smiled. "She's not a woman, she's a warrior."

"Ah." Gabrielle leaned her weight forward onto the saddlebow of her horse. "Have you met her? I don’t' remember you from the war."

"No.. I wasn't in the guard then." Justin confided. "My father ran a woolen merchant's shop on the edge of the city.. I enlisted after the war… but I"ve heard all the stories.. is it true you sat on the castle ramparts and wrote a poem during the worst of it?"

"No." Gabrielle ducked her head as winter dried branches brushed over her, catching strands of her pale hair and scraping over her shoulders. "I sat on the ramparts and worried myself sick." The horses headed down the narrow path, stepping carefully as the foliage became denser and denser. "Good grief."

"Shh.. we're trying to keep this secret." Justin placidly remarked, drawing his longsword and slicing at the branches, showering her with twigs and a desiccated birds nest. "Whoops.. sorry."

"Uck.. I don't.. " Gabrielle felt the horse lurch under her, and she grabbed for his neck as the path suddenly plunged down in a steep slope, passing near a thick granite wall that exuded a cold moisture. "I guess this is…. Oh."

She was standing on a plateau of granite, which overlooked a deeply carved chasm between the rock walls, mossy growth covering the sides and looming above the sedate trickle left on the very bottom.

Camped on either side of the water, stretching out as far as the ravine traveled, were troops. The bard eyes found clusters of Amazons, neat, orderly regiments of men, and on the other side of the water, a sea of fur in shades from sand to black.

"How many?" Gabrielle turned, as Justin guided his mount over to her.

"Little over fifteen hundred, all told." The man answered, waving as they were spotted, and pointing at Gabrielle

"Wahhooo!" A russet figure broke away from a small group near the water and bounded towards them.

Gabrielle found herself smiling in pure reaction, and she carefully slid off her horses back, getting to the ground just in time to greet the oncoming charge, and become enveloped in a wall of warm, furry, excited Jessan. "Careful.." She warned quietly, as the forest dweller hugged her. "I got knicked."

"Boy, I'm glad to see you." Jess was warbling. "You've got no ide… hm? What happened?" The forest dweller backed off, and studied her anxiously.

"What hasen't?" The bard sighed, feeling like it had been years since she'd last seen her friend, instead of the few months it was in reality. "I.. um.. .got cut across my back… it's more just painful than anything, but… " She forced a smile. "It was a good excuse for me to leave and come out here.. Xe and I were starting to think we were going to have to fake a fight with each other."

"Ugh."

"Yeah." Gabrielle grimaced. "I wasn't looking forward to that… but I'm not sure I like the alternative much either." She admitted. "Now I have to worry if Dori and Cyrene are going to forgive me for just going off with the first good looking soldier I found along the way."

"Aw." Jessan enfolded her in a hug again. "C'mon… we've got a nice, warm, secure, important people's tent over there, with hot tea and prickly humans. You'll be right at home."

Gabrielle laughed softly into his fur. "It's nice not to have to be one of only two people in an entire camp who knows the truth." She uttered. "Xena's taking such a chance, here."

"It's a good chance." Jessan circled her shoulders with a long, powerful arm, and led her down the path carefully. "We're still outnumbered two to one, but if this works…."
"I know." The bard nodded. "I didn't say I didn't agree.. just that I'm worried… I feel like we're betting everything on a quirk."

They passed between ranks of neatly encamped soldiers, who glanced up as she passed, and some lifted hands in obvious recognition. Gabrielle smiled at them. "Cirron sent a lot of troops.. is Hectator here?"

"Like he'd miss this." Jessan chuckled. "And.. don't think of it as betting on a quirk, Gabrielle… one of Xena's great strengths is her understanding of human nature." He cleared his throat. "Something my people are in wide eyed, unabashed, rocking awe of her for after this little caper, let me tell ya."

"Mm… that's true." The bard admitted. "She understand everyone except herself, sometimes."

Jessan scratched his jaw. "Interesting point… anyway, that mind stuff is the important part of war. Everyone thinks it's how strong you are, or how many arrows you got.. that's not true at all. To beat someone, you need to make their minds surrender.. once that happens, nothing else matters."

Gabrielle thought of that as she ducked her head to enter the command tent, which puffed a welcome warmth over her. There was a camp stove inside the large structure, built to accommodate the forest dweller's inches as well as their allies, and a sturdy table went along one wall covered in parchment maps much like the ones in Xena's camp. The floor had woven mat covers, though, and there were well built couches along the other walls to provide sitting space. It smelled of cinnamon and the brass tang of armor, and Gabrielle just wanted to curl up in the corner and sink down into it.

"Greetings, little sister." Lestan turned as she entered, his mahogany eyes glinting in the firelight. "It is good to see you… it means perhaps we will have things to do very shortly."

"Sit down." Jessan guided her to a bench. "She got hurt." He glanced over at his father. "Where's…ah."

The flap opened, and Hectator entered, stepping aside to allow Aslanta to come in behind him. "Ah!" The prince of Cirron smiled. "We have a welcome visitor, I see."

"Queen Gabrielle… it's good to see you." Aslanta's face creased into an ironic smile. "The waiting was getting kind of…"

"Long." Hectator supplied. "I just had to nix a boxing competition between us, the Amazons, and the forest dwellers."

"Aw." Jessan sat next to Gabrielle, and extended his long legs along the floor. He was dressed in a battlecoat, layered armor that protected his body, but left his arms and legs bare. He flexed his toes and watched the mud bits drop off his claws.

"Well, in one sense, I'm glad I'm here too." Gabrielle sighed. "Because it means this whole thing is starting to be over." She rested her weight on her hands, and ignored the shooting pains up and down her back. "Andreas' army is within view of the main camp.. Xena figures he'll start some testing attacks tonight, but won't really come at us until tomorrow dawn."

"Sounds about right." Lestan rumbled. "We can start moving forward shortly, then, and clear the gorge." He looked up at Hectator and Aslanta. "About time, eh?"

Both chuckled wryly. "They're just serving chow… we'll start packing after that." Aslanta commented. "Queen Gabrielle, join us for some lunch?"

Gabrielle's stomach didn't agree. She took a small breath, and swallowed hard. "No.. thanks." She managed to get out. "I think I'll just sit quietly here.. come and get me when we're ready to move, okay?" She felt Jessan's hands on her as she started to sway, the pain overcoming her defenses suddenly.

"Gab… easy." The forest dweller went to one knee, and helped her lie down. "Wow… I think you better get a healer, dad.. wish Elaini'd come with her." He tugged his cloak off and settled it over the bard's body as Aslanta hurried over, and Lestan strode to tent opening, and yelled an order outside. Gabrielle's eyes were blinking slowly, and her face was tense with pain as her fingers curled over the edge of the couch and tightened. "Gab? You're really warm."

Funny. She felt really cold. Gabrielle shivered a little, under the cloak. "Fever." She realized, whispering the word. "Xe worried about that…." Her eyes fluttered closed. "Think I better rest for a while."

Jessan chewed the fur on his lower lip, and gave the Amazon a worried look. "Oh boy… that's one thing we didn't count on… " He murmured. "She's the key to this whole thing."

"In more ways than one." Aslanta agreed seriously.

***************************

Continued in Part 24

These characters, and boy, are they ever characters, are mostly the property of Renaissance Pictures, Universal MCA, and whoever else owns stock and interest in Xena: Warrior Princess. This fiction was written for my amusement only, and not in any way, shape or form for profit - and it is not intended to infringe on the copyright holders of the characters.

Some of the characters are mine, and the story ideas.. well, who knows where they come from? Must be one weird place, that's for sure.

Specific Story Disclaimers:

Violence - this is a Xena: Warrior Princess story. This is not Teletubbies. Even though there are some rumors of similarities. Some of the violence is graphic, but we try not to dwell on it.

Subtext - Considering that the TV Series just aired an episode establishing Xena and Gabrielle as eternal soulmates, any disclaimer of subtext on my part is really kind of goofy in the extreme. The two characters are in love with each other, and have been for years. You can choose to see them as just friends, but then you might not want to read this fanfic, in case it changes your mind or anything like that.

Emotional Content - this is not one my more comedic efforts. There are moments of humor, however.

********************************************************************

Dark Comes the Morning - Part 24

By Melissa Good

The sunlight was fading slowly, slanting across the river grass and staining it crimson, before spilling up along the defensive ramparts and gently highlighting the tall, somber form standing atop them. The birds had quieted, the camp behind her rustled with the sounds of soft clanks from the mess hall, and Xena allowed herself a moment of reflection as she contemplated the violence to come.

She could see the line of troops clearly now, a black line spreading out across the golden blanket of grass, glints of steel, and flashes of color from banners visible to her sharp eyesight. If she took a deep breath, she could almost smell them, a combination of leather and steel, animals and musk common to just about all the armies she’d ever known.

Save the Amazons, perhaps. Xena’s lips quirked. Slightly different smell, there.

A scraping sound caught her attention, and she half turned, to see Toris climbing up onto the walls next to her. He was wearing a full set of scuffed, but well maintained armor, and now he tugged his helmet off, and wiped a muddy forearm across his forehead, smearing brown tinted sweat across it. "Well, I think we’re ready."

"I doubt it. No one ever really is ready for war." Xena told him, folding her arms. "But that’s all right." She caught a whiff of something nice smelling cooking below, and her stomach reminded her it’d been a very long time since lunch.

Or had it been breakfast? Xena shook her head, and wondered how Gabrielle was faring.. hoping her soulmate was snug and warm in the secondary camp. She was getting a fuzzy sense of apprehension from the bard, but that’d been true for a while now, and Xena suspected it would be until the war was over.

"Hey, Xena?" Toris hesitated, then perched on the edge of the wall.

"Yeah?"

"There’s… " Her brother looked uncomfortable. "Something I’ve been meaning to talk to you about but.. I…" He stopped, considering. "I know this is a weird time but, you know.. stuff could happen and.."

Xena sat down on the wall, and tucked one booted foot up over her knee, clasping it with both hands. "What’s up?" With any luck, this was her last loose end, and if she waited long enough, Toris would run the subject all out for her, and make it easy.

Long pause. "It’s about Dori."

Atta boy. "What about her?"

Toris studied his hands. "I’m not really sure how to start this… or even if I should." He drew a pensive breath. "But it’s been weighing on me."

"Spit it out then." His sister advised dryly. "But don’t’ take all night, Toris. I’m hungry, and we don’t have the time."

Blue eyes glanced up at her. "I know you and Gabrielle have had some rough times." He started, tentatively. "And I know Dori means a lot to you."

"Two true statements."

Toris nodded. "I was really… glad.. when Gabrielle asked me to..um… help out, you know, Xe? She’s a wonderful person, and I like her a lot."

"Uh huh."

"So.. .anyway, I was happy to… um… I was glad we got together, and I…" He fell silent again. "I was kinda surprised when you guys came back and she was..um… I mean I… it was great, but…"

"But you didn’t think it was that easy." Xena helped him out. "Right?"

"Well…" Toris scratched his ear, obviously very uncomfortable and embarrassed. "I mean.. I grew up here, Xe.. with cows and sheep and all, and I know it only takes one time, but I… always sort of thought you… um.. well, I thought… the man, at least has to… uh.. " He looked up at his sister pathetically.

Xena’s brows knit, then she realized what he was talking about. "And you didn’t?" She stated.

He blushed a dark red. "I guess I was nervous. I don’t know, or maybe… " His voice trailed off. "But.. I didn’t see how else.. I mean.. "

"You don’t think you’re Dori’s father." Xena supplied for him.

Toris peeked up at her. "You’re taking this a lot better than I thought you would."

Xena shifted a little. "Well… the fact is, Gabrielle and I talked about it."

Toris’ eyes widened in alarm. "She could tell?" His voice lifted into a squeak.

His sister gave him a look. "The night before we left, she was about to start her cycles." Xena told him. "The chances of you being the father were pretty slim anyway."

They were both quiet for a bit, the wind snapping the black and gold hawk’s banner overhead fitfully. "Oh." Toris finally said. "I’m sorry.. was there… " He eyed Xena’s calm features. "I guess that’s none of my business." He concluded softly.

Xena gazed out over the plain, acknowledging that he was right. It really was none of his business. However. "There was no other man, no." She stated.

"Oh." Toris said again, now looking deeply puzzled.

They stared at each other in silence. "Then…um…" He finally responded. "How… uh.. are you saying it was… " One finger pointed at her in question. "That’s kinda way out there, Xe."

Xena shrugged. "Tell me about it." She remarked wryly. "I basically had two choices. I could either believe that Gabrielle had lied to me, and coincidentally had relations with someone who just happened to produce a child who physically so closely resembles me, or…" The warrior sighed. "Come to grips with the fact that somehow… I was involved." She plucked at an armor buckle. "Given those two options, I chose the second… which I don’t think about too much, got me?"

"Wow." Toris scrubbed his face. "That’s.. pretty damn strange, sis." He paused. "But, if it’s any help, I think you picked the right option. She’s definitely made in your image."

Xena merely nodded.

"Maybe… " Toris tread warily. "Maybe it was.. a way, sorta, for the gods to give you back.. I mean.. " He broke off. "That was a damned stupid thing to say, I didn’t.. "

Surprisingly, his sister smiled. "It’s okay. The thought’s occurred to me on occasion." She admitted. "Though I usually consider her a gift to both of us."

"Oh." Toris said. "Yeah… I hadn’t thought of that." He produced a hesitant smile. "Congratulations?"

Xena chuckled. "Say that again when she goes through her changes." The warrior stood up, and nodded towards the mess tent. "C’mon. Let’s go get some dinner… I want to send out a few scouts as soon as it’s dark."

She started to climb down the wall, hopping from platform to platform, and carefully sidestepping the piles of arrows neatly stacked there. Toris clambered after her, and they both reached the ground at about the same time, squishing across the muddy ground with similarly long strides.

"She’s gonna be a handful, all right." Toris commented. "I remember you at that age." He rolled his eyes. "Poor Amphipolis."

Xena snorted. "Look who’s talking, Mr. ‘I didn’t know you shouldn’t feed the horses hot spices’."

Toris whistled innocently.

Something smelled like peas. Gabrielle slowly dragged herself up out of the darkness, and forced an eye open, blinking to clear her vision and wishing she hadn’t. Her back was on fire, again, and her whole body felt chilled, even under the heavy layer of furs that covered her as she rested mostly sprawled on her belly.

Ugh.

A medium height, sturdy form turned from the brazier in the tent and cocked it’s head at her. "Well, hello there."

Gabrielle didn’t recognize her, but that wasn’t surprising. "Hi."

The woman came over and crouched down. "My name is Setha. I’m from Cirron. They asked me to take care of you when you passed out."

Oh. Is that what happened? "Thank you." Gabrielle answered. "It’s been a tough couple of days." She had no desire to even lift her head. "What’s happening?" Outside, the bard could hear sounds of movement, and shouts as directions were given.

"Packing things up." Setha told her. "They’ve made a litter to carry you in." A pause as Gabrielle opened her mouth. "Please don’t argue… you really are both hurt, and sick, and trying to ride in your condition will just make it worse."

The bard closed her mouth, but managed a bit of a smile. "I know…" She admitted. "I feel pretty lousy. When do we have to leave?"

"One.. maybe two candlemarks." Setha replied. "I hope you feel a little better by then. I cleaned out and re-bandaged that cut on your back. My compliments to your last healer, though, they did a good job with it." She looked up as the tent flap moved, and nodded. "Hello."

Aslanta entered, and returned the nod. "Afternoon." She glanced at Gabrielle. "A word with you?"

"Sure." Gabrielle exhaled, as the other Amazon pulled up a small stool, and took a seat. "How have things been here?"

"Quiet." The tall blond woman answered. "We’ve been drilling, arguing with the guys, catching fish.. the usual. How are things up front?"

"Not good." The bard admitted. "We lost some good people." A pause. "Gillen’s gone."

Aslanta looked very surprised. "That old battle ax? I thought she’d survive anything. Fell in battle, huh?"

Gabrielle shook her head slowly. "No." She twitched the furs. "She was working for Andreas. She tried to assassinate someone in the camp, and got.. " Several heartbeats passed. "She died in the process."

Shock colored Aslanta’s tone. "Son of a Bacchae… I can’t believe it." She murmured. "I never pegged her for that… I swear it." Her eyes lifted to Gabrielle’s face. "She go after Xena?"

A shake of her head. "Me." Gabrielle indicated herself. "That’s how I got hurt."

Aslanta got up and paced around the tent, visibly agitated. "I don’t understand it… how could she do that? She was smarter than that, Gabrielle.. she knew that bastard would only use her… I don’t get it." She turned. "We talked about it…after that whole scent with the kid.. she said, even if he offered twice that, it wouldn’t be worth it. Why did she change her mind?"

"I wish I knew."

"Was the fighting that bad?"

Gabrielle thought about that. "Well… the initial battles were involving the outposts.. and we did lose some Amazons… maybe she thought Xena was deliberately sacrificing them… I sort of got that impression from her." Carefully, she pushed herself upright, and tucked the furs around her, running slightly shaking fingers through her pale hair. She leaned forward with her other hand braced on the pallet edge, to take some of the pressure off her back, and swallowed down a distinct urge to throw up. "Gillen, I mean. But if Xena’s going to sacrifice anyone, it’d.." Gabrielle went quiet for a moment. "She’s always the first into the fight, and the last to leave it."

The other Amazon studied her. "Must be tough for you to be here, instead of there."

Mist green eyes lifted. "Very."

Setha padded quietly over, and offered Gabrielle a bowl of soup, setting it down on the rude bench next to the pallet. The bard eyed the thick, green substance and quickly looked away, wondering if her skin tone was changing to reflect it.

"I think you better lie down." The healer’s eyes widened.

Guess it was. "Yeah." Gabrielle slid down and curled up on her side. Her eyes felt very heavy, and she let her head rest on the pillow, fighting her rebellious stomach as it struggled to revolt. "Maybe I’ll just rest until it’s time to go."

Aslanta came over, and put a brief hand on Gabrielle’s shoulder. "Rest easy, my sister… there’ll be time enough for action soon."

Yeah. Gabrielle let her eyes close in relief. Might as well take advantage of the quiet now. She let the soft crackle of the fire fade out, and left the pain behind, for a little while.

"Poor lass." Setha tensed her lips, as she straightened the furs about the limp form. "She took a bump to the head, as well…I hate to think of moving her all that way."

"No help for it." Aslanta remarked softly. "We’ll keep her safe, though, be sure of that." She gave the sleeping bard one last look, then left the tent, threading her way through the chaos towards a tall, furry form.

Jessan was standing next to his father, and two of Cirron’s soldiers as they faced a newly arrived messenger on horseback. Aslanta joined them just as the man was finishing his statement.

"So, as we said, we’ve got half the valley searching between here, and there, and no sign of her."

"No sign of who?" Aslanta asked, curiously. "Gabrielle? She’s here."

"Nah, lady." The man shook his head.

"Ye gods and tasty little squirrels." Lestan covered his eyes with one large hand. "We’re about to go to war, man… we don’t’ have time for this. How can you lose something that small?"

"Huh?" Aslanta tugged on Jessan’s fur. "Hey, fuzzbutt… who’s missing?"

Jessan sighed unhappily. "Dori."

"Dori?" Blond brows knit in puzzlement. "Isn’t that.. "

"Gabrielle and Xena’s daughter, yes." Jessan chewed the fur on his lower lip. "We have to find her."

"This is an army!" Lestan protested. "We don’t have time for babies!"

"We have time for this one." Jessan snapped back. "I’ll go." He strode off, dodging several moving wagons. Lestan sighed, and propped his one good fist against his hip.

"Should we tell Gabrielle?" Aslanta wondered. "She’s pretty sick as it is."

The mahogany eyes went very distant for a long moment. "No." Lestan decided. "Let my son handle this."

*******************************

The first firebomb hit the ramparts just before moonrise. Xena heard the yell of alarm, and tucked the small book she'd been reading into her armor, before she bolted out of her tent and ran towards the wall. Torches were fluttering wildly in the breeze, and she could smell the scent of pitch on the wind as the darkness of the camp split open as fire spewed over the edge of the wall, trailing down the wall's interior surface.

"Be careful!" Xena yelled, her eyes widening. "That's Greek fire!"

Too late, one man found himself doused in it, and he rolled in agony as the substance burned through his skin and armor. The warrior reached him, yanking her cloak off and tossing it over his squirming form. "Wrap him up." She ordered a villager, who had been moving arrows up to the wall. "Don't try to put it ou with water! Dump mud on it!"

Grabbing a shovel, she demonstrated, scooping up a pile of dirt and tossing it on the burning spot, which smothered the flames. "Got it?"

"Got it!" Several of the men set to work putting out the fire and she leaped upward, pulling herself up onto the first platform to peer out the arrow slits.

It was dark outside, and even her excellent night vision, scanning from side to side, didn't detect even the slightest motion. She gave up on that, closing her eyes and cocking her head to one side, listening intently. Behind her she could clearly hear the river, and the sounds of her camp, but she cupped her hand around one ear and concentrated her attention outward, allowing the sounds around her to fade out of her consciousness.

Rustling. That was the grass, Xena knew. Soft sounds of nature she discarded, focusing in on the few noises remaining.

Creaking. Wood? Wheels? Leather? Rope. Xena nodded, as she recognized a catapult being cocked. She spread her nostrils and drew in a breath, catching the acrid scent of the fire, along with horses, and men, and the crushed green smell of the battered river grass they'd trampled. "They've got a siege engine out there." She yelled. "Watch out for more firebombs!"

"What is this stuff?" Toris gasped, thumping against the wall next to her.

"Keep it off the tents, and out of the hay." His sister replied tersely. "It's something that burns and burns.. you can't put it out." She heard the rising sound of the rope far off on the wind. "Get ready!!!"

Men and women ran back and forth, keeping clear of the open space behind the wall. "Get up against the platforms!" Xena instructed, standing up and motioning them close. "Hurry!"

Silence. Then a solid sound of wood hitting wood as the chocks were released, and the rumble and whoosh as the catapult released. "Here it comes!"

The firebomb hit the outside of the wall close by Xena's platform, and rolled back, setting the river grass alight outside the ramparts. With a satisifed hiss and crackle, the flames exploded upward, reaching eagerly for the thick foliage "Open the gate." Xena turned, and bolted for a small wagon set to one side, which had mud packed inside it to aid the bolstering of the walls. "Move it!"

Soldiers scrambled for the ropes, and worked the pulleys, moving the wall sections outward as their leader tossed a set of cart harness over one of the horses tethered nearby, and urged the animal over to the wagon. "Get some shovels… I need six people to come outside with me, and cover that damn grass!"

Six became a half legion, Xena swore, as she managed to get the horse attached to the cart and started leading him between the opening gates.

They'd just cleared the edges of them when her senses tingled, and she dropped the animals bridle, just in time to yank her sword from her sheath as two shadowy figures rose up directly in front of her, hands reaching for her in quicksilver motion.

********************************

"Any sign of Jessan?" Setha glanced up, replacing a cold cloth on Gabrielle's warm forehead. "We're going to have to move soon, and.. "

"I know." Aslanta glanced outside into the darkness, where the camp was already moving out, soldiers and supply people packed and ready. "How is she?"

Setha gazed down at the woman on the pallet. Gabrielle was resting on her side, her skin pale, save a flush around her cheeks. The pale hair appeared dull and her breathing was slightly labored, audible to the worried healer kneeling nearby. "Not good." She'd cleaned out the bard's wound again, and though the wicked slice appeared to be closing well, there was a dull red ring around the wound that had Setha very concerned indeed. "She's a tough kid, huh?"

Aslanta snorted softly. "Yeah." She exhaled. "I'll have them bring the wagon up here.. we'll carry her in that." She left, and Setha went back to her work, wiping off the bard's forehead gently.

What an odd mix, she mused silently, her eyes studying the bard's youthful face, with it's pale lashes, and cheeks still touched with a hint of childhood softness. She appeared barely an adult, but the hands resting on the bed were strong, and the body covered in warm furs showed evidence of hard, physical usage including a small scattering of thin, white scars.

She wondered if even half the stories she'd heard were true, about Gabrielle and her redoubtable partner Xena. "Hey." She gave the bard an encouraging smile, as the mist green eyes struggled open, to peer at her fuzzily. "How are you doing?"

The lashes closed, then flickered upward again. "Ow." Gabrielle murmured. "Wow, that hurts."

"I know." Setha agreed. "I have some herbs you can take now, since we have to move you soon. That'll help the pain."

"What is it?" The bard asked. "What kind of herbs?"

Setha named them promptly, surprised when Gabrielle nodded twice, then shook her head. "The first two are okay, I can't take the last one." She slowly pushed herself up onto an elbow. "I get sick from it." She pushed the pale hair back from her eyes. "Do you have any water?"

Setha handed it over, and watched as the bard sucked down fully three quarters of it's contents in slow, deliberate gulps. "You know the drill, I see."

Weary green eyes flicked to hers. "Oh yeah." Gabrielle let her hand drop with the waterskin to the pallet surface, and exhaled. "One of the first lessons I learned about healing… water counts." She smiled grimly. "On the inside, and on the outside."

The healer nodded. "You know your herbs too… where did you learn the craft?"

"From Xena."

Setha looked very surprised. "Really?"

A nod. "She's a wonderful healer…. I've seen her save people you wouldn't think had a ghost of a chance." Gabrielle shifted a little, to get more comfortable, glad of a chance to speak about her partner's gentler side. "When I'm hurt, I know I'm all right as long as she's there."

"Did she take care of that wound of yours?"

Gabrielle nodded. "That really hurt.. but she said she wanted to make sure she cleaned it out really well." She winced, and touched the area. "Ow."

"It's pretty swollen." Setha murmured. "But she did a very good job.. I was really impressed. I had no idea it was Xena that did it.. I assumed…" She paused awkwardly. "I mean.."

"Most people do." The bard admitted. "I remember how surprised I was the first time…"

*********************

It had been barely a month after she'd started traveling with Xena. They'd made their way to the north, and were traveling through a sparsely wooded area with a lot of hills.

She'd been exhausted, and it had been late. She'd followed Argo's tall form with more guts than reason, forcing one foot ahead of the other until the footfalls had stopped and she'd almost crashed right into the now halted mare.

Xena had gotten down and started leading them off the trail, towards a spot she'd apparently picked, in utter silence.

As usual.

Gabrielle had been far too tired to even care, it was a relief just to know that the warrior would stop moving soon, and that would give her an opportunity to sink down on the rock strewn ground and rest, while the evening's fire was being built.

Then she'd see what they had for dinner, but she always had those few minutes while Xena was collecting wood to recover her strength, and she'd learned to treasure the short times, wishing she could hoard them up for the long days traveling.

Tonight she'd been so grateful to see Xena dropping Argo's reins and starting off that she simply let her knees unlock, and thumped to the ground bonelessly.

Not realizing a broken limb was half hidden under the grass, with a sharp, hardened edge that rammed right through her thigh in a shock of pain that wrenched a scream from her, jerking her body violently.

She'd rolled half onto her side and grabbed the spot, her fingers encountering gnarled wood protruding from her flesh, the motion wringing another yelp.

Then a hand touched her shoulder. "What is it?" Xena's voice, low and impatient, as usual. "What did you do now?"

"I..I… " The pain was too much for her. Gabrielle found herself starting to cry, embarassed and ashamed, aware of the light sigh coming form her brusque companion. "My… leg, I .. "

"Hold still." Xena had gotten up and circled her, then knelt and moved aside the long, travel stained fabric of her skirt. Both dark eyebrows had lifted slightly at what she saw. "Damn….all right. Don't move."

Xena had gotten up, and walked away, leaving Gabrielle to wonder what she was going to do. She heard the scrape of metal on leather, and her heart had lurched, frightened that her unpredictable companion might use her big sword to do something drastic.

Like cut her leg off.

It had been getting dark, and Gabrielle had found herself shaking when she looked up to see Xena's tall, shadowy form moving towards her with menacing speed. "W… wh what are you going to d..do?"

The crunching footsteps stopped, and the warrior had dropped down to one knee, holding a leather bag in one hand, and her dagger in the other. She'd given Gabrielle a level stare. "Take that out of your leg… unless you'd rather I left it in."

"Oh." Gabrielle had murmured. "Is it going to hurt?"

Cold blue eyes regarded her. "Yes."

"Oh." Gabrielle had repeated, very softly, as her companion had opened up the bag, and dumped it's contents out. "What's that?"

"Never mind. Just roll over."

She had, but only partly, so she could watch Xena as she selected things, and fixed other things mysterious to the watching girls eyes. Then she'd felt a warmth along the back of her thigh, and had realized it was Xena's hand.

Her eyes had closed in reflex, a little surprised at the odd fluttering in her belly.

"Hold still."

She'd felt a sharp jab, then her leg went numb.

"Don’t' look."

She kept her eyes firmly closed, feeling only a sense of pressure, then a pulling. Xena had exhaled and shifted, leaning closer, and Gabrielle had cracked her lids open, to watch the sharp profile above her, the small muscles of her face moving as she concentrated. "What are you doing?"

Xena glared at her. "I thought I told you not to look."

"You said not to look at my leg.. you never said not to look at you."

Her lips had twitched, just a little. "I'm stitching up your leg."

"Really? I ddin't know you could do that." Beyond curiiosity, Gabrielle had craned her head to look, blinking when she'd seen the unbelieveable amount of blood covering her leg, her skirt, and Xena's long, powerful hands. "Oh… " She'd watched in fascination as Xena neatly sewed up the gash, feeling only tiny pricks as the slim bone needle pierced her flesh.

Then the warrior had put something on top of the spot, and covered it with a bandage. "Hold onto something."

"Why?" Gabrielle had asked.

Two jabs had been her answer, then her body had curled up in an agonized circle as the pain returned, wringing a helpless cry from her throat.

"Watch where you're sitting, next time." Xena told her roughly. "Here.. hold on to this and squeeze..it'll ease off in a minute."

She had, gripping tight as the jolts of pain slowly subsided to an aching burn, as she let her head rest against the leaves, her lungs full of the smell of blood, and rich earth. "Wow." She'd finally breathed. "That really hurt."

"I bet it did." Xena had remarked, dryly.

"Good thing you knew what to do… I didn't know you were a healer." Gabrielle had kept her eyes closed, aware of Xena's presence just behind her.

There had been a long silence. "When you've spent your whole life fighting… it pays to know how to sew yourself up." The warrior had finally said. "Don't do that again."

"Okay." Gabrielle had answered, chastened. "I'm sorry.. I know that must have seemed pretty stupid to you."

Xena grunted.

"Thanks for taking care of it." Gabrielle wondered briefly why Xena was still there. Normally the fidgety warrior wouldn't sit still for more than a few moments at a time. "I'll… crawl over and get some stuff out for dinner, if you want to go get the wood, I know you've got a lot of stuff to do."

"Gabrielle."

"No, really… go on, Xena. I know I'm messing up your schedule."

"Gabrielle."

Reluctantly, she'd looked up, over her shoulder to see shadowed, amused blue eyes looking back. "Yeah?"

A quirk. "You have to let go of my hand first."

Oh. Gabrielle had looked down where her fingers were still curled around the object she'd squeezed so hard, tucked against her breast, just over her heart. Embarassed, she unwound her grip hastily. "Sorry."

The hand slowly withdrew, pausing just for an instant to pat her shoulder, then Xena was gone, leaving a cold spot behind her.

****

Gabrielle smiled at the memory, then shook her head slightly. "Is it time to go?"

"They're bringing the wagon over, yes." Shalta nodded. "Do you think you can walk to it? If not, we'll get you carried."

The bard slowly swung her legs over the edge of the pallet and got up, reaching for her staff purely by reflex. The worn wood felt solid under her fingertips, and she leaned against the staff's support as she straightened her body a little at a time, finally standing upright. "I can make it." She told the healer. "Let's go." They moved out of the tent, Shalta holding onto Gabrielle's elbow lightly as they paused to let several large supply wagons move past them.

A shout rang through the motion, and Gabrielle's head snapped up, spotting the noises origin. "Aslanta!"

The Amazon Queen changed direction, and came loping over. "Gabrielle! It's good you're up. We've got some trouble.. that horse herder from Andreas' city finally showed her damn colors.. I knew she was no good. She took off with a string of the best horses… if she gets past the river.."

Gabrielle cursed, one of Xena's favorites that shocked both Healer and Amazon. "How long?"

Aslanta called over one of her warriors. "When did you discover the horsewoman gone?"

"Candlemark, maybe.. not longer." The woman replied, tersely. "Can't have gotten far, My Queen."

"We hope." Gabrielle ran a hand through her pale hair, shifting the strands into some order. " Take a hand of warriors, and find her, Eilion. Our best hope right now is surprise, and she has that in the palm of her hand."

"Which way do you think she went?" Aslanta wondered. "She'll make for the river, that's for sure. Alenas told me he overheard her bitching about how she wasn't getting her proper reward for those horses she brought."

Gabrielle thought hard, running over the local landscape she knew as well as the back of her hand. "The only place to ford the river on this side is Ares' Pass. " She pointed. "Otherwise it's ravines all the way down to Amphipolis. Send someone there.. and put out an alert to everyone to watch out for her."

"Yes, Queen Gabrielle." The Amazon saluted, then dashed off, calling over several of her mates.

Aslanta and Gabrielle exchanged glances. "Where's Jessan?" The bard asked suddenly, feeling a prickle of unease.

Aslanta didn't answer.

**********************

The leaves closed over the momentary opening, and Dani pulled her head back, laying a hand over the nostrils of the stallion standing restlessly at her shoulder. She backed carefully, and started down a long path hidden from the road with the big horse at her side.

The mares followed him with out fuss, the sounds of their passing covered, and more than covered by the army's motion.

Dani chuckled softly. "C'mon, bucko… you and me are gonna make some money…all we gotta do is get over that damn river." She carefully lead the way downward, pausing from time to time to listen for followers, as she watched her horses' ears as they twitched from side to side.

"Stupid bastards… look what I did, hmm? I bring em five hundred horses.. do I even get a dinar? No.. all I get is being told what to do by a bunch of horny assed woman, and walking hairballs."

She shook her head in disgust.

Then she paused, and listened. A soft rustling was off to her right, and she froze, trying to figure out what it was.

Leaves, yes. A small animal, perhaps? It didn't sound large, and she relaxed, then patted her stallion's shoulder. "Wait here, bucko." She stepped silently off the path onto a pile of rocks, moving quickly over the surface on leather booted feet as she made her way between the trunks.

The sounds moved closer, now punctuated by small thuds, and the sharp crack of rock hitting rock, and her eyebrows creased, as she tried to figure out what animal could be making them. She got closer, and closer, moving among the leaves carefully, until she was outside a small cluster of bushes.

She put a hand out and moved the branches aside silently, poking her head into the clearing and glancing around.

The last thing she expected to see was a baby.

A very muddy baby, sitting in a pile of stripped leaves and having a wonderful time pulling apart a birds nest, scattering it's twigs over the ground and herself. "Bck."

"Hey." Dani snorted.

The baby's head turned, and pale green eyes peered curiously at her. A tiny finger pointed. "Guff!"

Dani smiled coldly. "Never mind horses… I just got me a lifetime meal ticket." She thrust her way through the leaves and approached the child. "C'mere, little rat… you and me are gonna be great friends."

**********************

The men were masked, and Xena could barely see the whites of their eyes behind the hoods as they came at her. She got her sword out and got the first blow blocked, shoving the man back. "Move the wagon behind me.!" She called out. "I'll hold em!" She heard the creak and felt the passage of the wooden vehicle at her back, as she swung her weapon in a wide arc, driving the shadowy figures before her. An ambush, of course, but she figured they didn't count on her to be the one leading the group out of the gate.

Six of them jumped on her, and she felt hands scrabbling over her armor, and the sharp jab as a dagger tried to find it's way under the thick leather plates. She slammed an elbow back and the pricking vanished. Another hand pulled at her chest armor, and she head butted in that direction, hearing a curse in response that brought a smile to her face.

Her legs shoved against the ground, and she powered upward, throwing off two more, then she got a hand on the persistent one, clinging to her back and trying…

Trying…

She felt the cold metal touch her skin, with a ripple of dark desire that drove her, defenseless to her knees for a long moment. It reached out and took hold of her senses, letting loose the animal within her so quickly, she didn't have a chance to even try to prevent it. A roar burst from her chest, and she ripped around on one knee, the sword becoming an extention of her anger, cutting her assailant in half as a torrent of blood covered her upper torso.

And a curtain of the same red decended over her eyes, the scent of blood entering her lungs and ripping past the barriers of humanity that held her violence in check.

All she knew was the killing, and the smell of fear as her motions sped up, and her sword became a mere blur in the moonlight, decimating everything within her reach. Two shadowy figures tried to run, and she caught them with one hand, yanking them back and spitting them, then ripping their heads clean off their bodies and tossing them from her with a laugh.

It felt so wonderful. It was like being free, at last. Xena leaped forward, and searched for a new victim, finding it in three more figures who were heading towards the wagon. She pounced on them with glee, sheathing her sword and pulling her dagger instead, swiping her left hand in a vicious arc and letting the blade cleave it's way through flesh and bone. The man in her hands screamed, as she slashed across his face, then the noise ebbed into a gurgle as she used powerful fingers to yank the front of his throat, tearing his windbox out.

Another man tried to come to his rescue, stabbing at Xena with a long sword, but she merely batted it aside, and leaped for him, bearing him to the ground and landing atop his body, growling hidiously. He dropped his weapon and averted his face, as Xena's hands found his chest and tore his armor back, exposing flesh. She lifted her hands, and plunged the dagger downward, past his fluttering hands into a defenseless form, sending a spray of blood upward to spatter her liberally.

Mm. Xena licked her lips and laughed, then jerked the knife free and slashed his throat, just for the fun of it.

Yells interrupted her pleasure, and she looked up, annoyed, as the wagon crossed her vision, heading back to the gates. "It's out!" A voice called to her. "C'mon!"

Go back? Xena stood, her cloak swirling about her legs and let the wind drive against her face. No. It was a beautfiul night.. and there were lots of people out there yet left to kill.

She could smell them, just beyond the horizon.

She felt a weight around her neck, and knew it was Andreas gift, and the very thought stirred a deep, wordless pull that enticed her away from the river. Towards him.

Towards conquest. With Andreas and his army, she could take anything she wanted.

Yes.

Xena took a step forward, away from the fort. Away from her home, and reached up to touch the gift.

Her fingers touched something else instead.

Smoothly faceted. Cool.

"Xena!" Toris yelled, from the gates. "C'mon!!!! Before they come back!!!"

Xena released the crystal, and put her hands on the necklace, feeling the gold links cold, and vibrant under her touch. Then she bent her head, and removed it, staring at it a long moment before opening her belt pouch, and putting it inside.

Her whole body was shaking.

Her whole world had just changed.

She closed her eyes, and took a deep breath, before she reopened them, the red haze fading, and leaving her vision in a wash of silver and black, stark shadows under a round, wide eyed moon. She turned with great effort, strength leaving her like water shedding off her shoulders, and walked back towards the gates, passing between them and hearing the solid sound as they closed behind her.

"Xe!" Toris ran up and put a hand on her shoulder. "You all right? Thought they had you there for a minute… everything okay?"

Xena lifted her eyes and looked at her brother, his face and voice seemingly very far away. "I'm fine." She murmured. "I'll be right back." She edged away from him and somehow made it to her tent, letting the flap close behind her and leaving her in a barely candlelit darkness. Slowly, she went to her knees, and grabbed one of the basins she used for healing, and emptied her guts into it convulsively, only stopping when she was curled on her side in the dirt, her throat raw, and her hands white and trembling from gripping the basin.

She let it go, and slumped to the ground, staring dully ahead of her at the legs of the pallet, and the tiny grass tufts underneath it protected from the boots that flattened the rest of the tent's ground. "Gods." Wearily, she hauled herself to her feet and sat down on a small stool, resting her blood covered arms on her knees, and cradling her head in her hands.

****************************************

"Get back here, you little…" Dani hissed, ducking under a branch and stumbling through a pile of loose rocks. "Hey!"

Dori ambled agilely through the underbrush, easily outpacing her larger follower due to the heavily overgrown foliage they were moving through. She turned and peeked through the leaves, giggling when she saw her new friend still chasing. "Goof!" She pointed, then toddled on, climbing over a rock, and sitting on it, then thumping to the ground and heading off towards the sound of water.

"Gods be damned to Hades and beyond." Dani cursed, as she loosened her overtunic from a thorn. "Little creep… get back here!" She was beginning to regret her decision to try and capture the tot, who had an almost unbelievable talent of escape. She'd left the horses on the path, and chased after her, sure she could grab the little monster in a few minutes.

That had turned into half a damn candlemark. Now, Dani wiped her brow with one arm, and peered through the leaves. She saw a flash of dusky skin, and groaned, then hurdled a low bush and headed for it.

Ah. Dori squirmed under a log, and investigated what she found there. Her fingers closed on a nice, fat worm, and she picked it up, peering at it with great interest. "Bck." She cocked her head, watching the worm curl up around her fingers. "Uggy." A tiny tongue poked out and she tossed the animal from her, then dug around in the leaf litter for a more appealing toy.

A rock. Dori considered this, then tossed it. A stick. She put that down quickly, since it had green things on it, and they smelled bad. "Uck." The leaves rustled nearby, and she looked up alertly, her eyes widening as a fuzzy object hopped closer to her. "Guff!"

The bunny, running from noises behind him, stopped short, and debated whether or not to approach the naked little noisy thing. The wind brought his twitching nostrils an acrid scent, though, and he decided to chance it. He hopped closer.

Dori waited, having learned the virtue of patience.

Another hop, and now the furry body was within her reach, and she made a grab for it, getting two handfuls of soft skin and fur and pulling hard. Ares usually lost handfuls of body hair at this point, but the bunny was far smaller than Dori, and found himself wrapped in a pair of strong, though small arms hearing weird, delighted gurgles in one cupped ear.

"Guff!" Dori squealed in delight, thrilled with her new toy. She scrambled unsteadily to her feet and looked around, spotting a tall body moving towards her, and ambled off in the other direction.

**********************************

"I think you should go in the wagon." Shesta told Gabrielle, who was leaning on her staff, watching the last bit of packing. "You can't really help here."

"I think I"d better make sure Dani doesn’t get across the river." Gabrielle disagreed. "At this point, it could really mess things up… I can't take that chance." She held a hand up, and two soldiers trotted over. "Do you guys have a spare horse? I'd like to go out with the group hunting for Dani."

"Yes, ma'am." The younger of the two saluted respectfully. "I'll bring er up here for you."

"Gabrielle, you shouldn't be riding." The healer urged, insistently. "You're going to make that wound worse."

Green eyes pinned her. "If word gets across the river, my wound isn't going to matter." Gabrielle said, firmly, as she glanced up at the sky. The sun was setting, sending red tendrils of light through the leaves, which painted lurid spots on her own chest and the healer's shoulders. Most of the army had started down the valley, only a tiny guard were left, and her among them.

Gabrielle shifted, putting a little more weight on her staff as a jolt of pain wound it's way up her back to a spot between her shoulderblades, making her exhale in weary disgust. She pulled her hood up against the sharp, cold wind that had started blowing, and watched as the soldier returned, leading a gray mare, walking out of the mist left by the extinguished fires. He led a second horse on the other side, apparently his own by the tack.

The wagon looked so much more inviting. She cast an eye at it, then gathered her strength and started walking towards the horse, trying gingerly to stretch her sore back muscles out a little. It didn't do much good. "Thanks." She handed over her staff as she took the reins. "Hold this for a second, will you?"

"Sure." The soldier took the staff, with an almost reverent air, and studied it, his hands running up and down it's length as Gabrielle pulled herself up into the saddle, stifling a groan as her back touched the leather. With a tiny shake of her head, she settled her feet into the stirrups and gripped with her knees, taking some of the pressure off her tailbone. "Thank you." She reached a hand out for the staff, tucking it against her body in a comfortable, and familiar position.

"Glad to do it, ma'am.." The boy whispered, softly.

The bard leaned on her saddlebow. "Just Gabrielle, please?" She murmured. "What's your name?"

"Josh." He had dark, straight hair like Xena's, and even darker eyes. "Rest of the patrol's mounting up, ma…uh.. Gabrielle."

She gave him a smile, and his eyes dropped bashfully. "Thank you, Josh. Are you going with us?"

He nodded.

"Are you from Cirron?"

He shook his head.

"Y'know, I spent two whole years getting Xena to talk to me… I hope it doesn't take that long with you."

His head lifted, and he blinked at her, glancing around, then smiling. "Sorry… I'm a sheepherder.. we don’t' talk much." Josh explained, as he mounted his horse, a dun mare with an interesting white patch over one eye. "My parents were merchants.. they moved into Potadeia a year back."

Gabrielle's mood shifted. "Oh." She gazed at her saddlehorn. "I'm sorry."

"Me too." He agreed. "I was out with the sheep when the raiders came.. I ran back, but by the time I got into the town, things were over." His hands moved on the reins. "I'm real sorry about your pa… I know he was real fond of you."

Gabrielle was stunned into silence for a stretch of heartbeats. "Ah… thank you.. " Her tongue felt numb. "What makes you say he was, though?"

Josh nudged his horse closer. "He was talking with my folks… two.. three moons back, just after harvest started. They was asking him about Lila.. your sister?"

"Mm."

"You da was saying how she was a good sort, you know, nice and all, but that she didn't hold a patch on you." Josh spoke softly, casting a glance over his shoulder at the patrol that was closing in on them. "He said.. not many men had got to father heroes… and he was proud he'd been one that done that."

Gabrielle slowly let out a breath, aware of the harsh sting of tears in her eyes. "In his own way." She stated softly, after a few swallows. "He was a hero, too." A pause. "And in the end, I was proud of him."

"Gabrielle.. are you coming with us?" Aslanta queried, riding up next to her. "I thought you were heading out with the troops."

"I know the area the best." The bard cleared her throat, wiping at her eyes with the back of a gauntletted hand. "C'mon… I can take us through a shortcut to the river pass."

"You sure?" The Amazon Queen nudged closer. "Riding must hurt."

Gabrielle lifted her head, catching the last rays of the sun on her face. "I'll live… let's get moving." She paused, and peered around. "Aslanta, I've been trying to find Jessan.. did he go ahead with the troops?"

Silence.

The bard's nape hairs lifted in pure response to the sudden tension around her. "Aslanta?" Her voice dropped an unconscious half octave, gaining a vibrance she'd learned to emulate from her soulmate.

"Um… let's get going.. I… " The Amazon glanced around, caught between not wanting to lie, and not wanting to tell the truth. "I think he's out scouting, or… something."

Gabrielle immediately straightened, and turned, shading her eyes. She sat up straight and took a deep breath, tensing her diaphram before yelling. "Lestan!"

"Gabrielle…"

"Lestan!" The bard repeated, her voice echoing powerfully. The tall forest dweller, already on the path down towards the river, pulled up and half turned, then spotted her. He called a command to the rider in front of him, then turned his mount and trotted back.

"Good to see you up and about, little sister." Lestan rumbled, handling his reins one handed, his crippled arm tucked neatly against his body. "Is there something amiss?"

"Where's Jess?" Gabrielle asked him directly, with a firm tone.

Lestan and Aslanta exchanged glances, and the Amazon lifted both hands in a helpless gesture. The forest dweller dropped his gaze, then exhaled. "He's out searching for Dori. She's missing." He replied crisply. "We got word that the wagon was attacked on the way to the valley.. they defeated the raiders, and killed.. or captured them, but when they… Gabrielle?"

The bard was staring straight ahead. "Oh gods."

"Gabrielle, he'll find her. He can sense her. You know that." Lestan told her gently.

"She wanted to come with me." Gabrielle whispered.

"Well then." Lestan rubbed his fanged jaw. "Perhaps she'll find you before he finds her."

"Gabrielle, why don't you stay here… and let us go after Dani?" Aslanta suggested. "I'm sure Jess will find her, and he'll bring her here.. back to you."

Xena had a habit. When she had no idea what to do, or if she had a hard decision to make, she'd turn her head and look out, away from whoever else was there, as though that gave her the space she needed to think in.

Gabrielle averted her gaze, and studied the dying sun, as the rocks nearby turned from crimson to purple with the twilight. Her mind knew finding and stopping Dani was the most important thing to do. Her heart was already out searching for her daughter.

Pity her head and her chest couldn’t belong to separate people. She looked back at Aslanta. "Let's get going. We find Dani, then I'm going to find my child." Her eyes shifted to Lestan. "If Jess comes back before I do, please have him wait here with Dori, okay?"

"All right, little sister." Lestan gave her a gentle look. "Take care… you are not well."

Gabrielle consciously set aside her darkest thoughts and, as she'd seen Xena do so many times before, ignored how she felt as she guided the patrol down a thickly overgrown path, ducking under the stiff branches, and pulling her cloak close about her body against the chill she could feel invading her bones.

**********************

"All right. You just hold still now." Dani panted, her hands wrapped around a squiggling, squirming, muddy, leaf covered body . "C'mon now."

"Bck!" Dori objected to the grip, and to the strange smell of the person who held her so roughly. She kicked out, and struggled, her brow contracting in anger. "Bad!"

"Shut up!" Dani shook her.

That made Dori really mad. She reached out tiny fists and struck at the horsewoman, twisting her body in Dani's grip and letting out a mad yell.

"Shh!" Dani let go with one hand and clapped her fingers over Dori's mouth, pulling them away a second later when the baby bit her. "Son of a Bacchae!" She drew her hand back and slapped Dori hard.

There was a moment of shocked silence, as big green eye blinked at her, then the tiny lungs inflated and Dori screamed at the top of her voice, producing a volume of sound incredible in such a small child.

Dani jumped, and dropped her in pure reflex, and the child tumbled to the ground, slamming against a branch and landing on the earth, briefly cutting off the sound and producing a harsh cough.

Dori lay there stunned for a moment, then started to cry in earnest, with tiny hiccups, obviously in pain.

"Stupid kid.. it's your own fault.." Dani glanced around then reached down, her fingers touching the child just as she heard a crack behind her.

Then a low, throaty, vicious growl.

She froze, then slowly turned her head, to see yellow eyes behind her, and the flash of very white teeth set in a solid black background. "Whoa…"

Ares lowered his head and growled again, moving forward stiff legged towards her. His lips writhed back from sharp fangs, and his ruff elevated, standing out from his skin like a porcupine's quills.

Dani lifted her hands and backed away. "Okay… okay.. look.. I'm not touching the little bastard…."

"Gworrll." Ares crouched, the volume of his snarls increasing along with Dori's crying.

"Will you two shut up!" Dani hissed, but she kept backing up. "You're gonna get us killed!"

Ares rushed her, and she turned, flailing her way through the trees and jumping over logs to escape. She kept running, sure she could hear the pounding of paws just behind her, until she turned a corner and paused to look back. "Damn." No wolf was there.

Relieved, she gave up her idea of kidnapping, and ran on, intending on circling back to where she'd left the horses and continuing on her way.

She never saw the hand that thrust itself from behind a tree, slamming into her throat and taking her down in a swirl of blackness, shot through with red.

************************************

"Your Majesty?"

Gabrielle heard the words, but it took long seconds for her brain to process them, and cause her to lift her head. "Yes?" She focused her eyes on Aslanta's face, and tried to feel alert. They'd been riding for over a candlemark, and it was now full dark as they approached the high river pass. "We're almost there."

"Do you think we'll find her here?"

Gabrielle leaned on her arms, her shoulders aching from bearing her weight during the ride. "I don't know… but if she's headed back the other way, I don't care… since she won't reach the lower road for at least a week… this will be over by then." She glanced over her shoulder. "And I know she can't be making for the Amphipolis ford… not unless she's scattered her marbles all over the Parthenon."

The Amazon nodded. "All right… we'll check the pass for traces.. then work our…. Gabrielle?" She shifted closer, squinting in the darkness. "Queen Gabrielle?"

The bard was sitting stock still, with a frozen expression on her face.

"Hold up!" Aslanta yelled, crowding her mare closer to their stricken leader. "Gabrielle!"

It was like having a wild animal crawl into her skull. Gabrielle clenched her fists on her saddle, bowing her head as a rush of dark energy swept through her. Helplessly, her body convulsed, and she toppled from the saddle, landing with a barely felt thump on the ground. She curled up into a ball and gasped, her fingers clutching at the ground with erratic twitches.

Josh and Aslanta threw themselves off their horses and dove for the fallen bard, grabbing hold of her and keeping her from thrashing around. "Good gods.. what's wrong with her!" Aslanta muttered. "She was just fine!"

Blood. Gabrielle could almost taste it. Her lungs filled with the stench, and she felt a deep, almost sexual pleasure rip through her as her hands closed around an invisible hilt, and her body twitched as she felt the hunger inside her rise up, demanding a kill.

She panicked, crying out and tucking her hands into her chest, wrapping her fingers into the cloak that covered her and grabbing at a sudden, heated weight in the hollow of her throat.

Her fingers touched crystal, and she knew where the darkness was coming from.

"Xena." Her throat shaped the word as though she were swallowing pebbles around it. She started to slide into hysteria, then hauled herself back into focus by an effort of pure will.

She needs me. Gabrielle went very still, and tightened her grip on the necklace, blocking out the fiery bloodlust . "Mine." Her mind whispered, between the thundering sounds of her own heartbeat. A breath.

A second.

Then, as though she'd snuffed a candle with her breath, it stopped.

The craving subsided. The need disspated, leaving her feeling sick, and empty, and shocked, a tendril of absolute horror stretching through the link she had with Xena, coming from the warrior, she realized numbly.

Her body relaxed, slumping to the ground as her rigid muscles loosened and left her shaking and weak in the dirt, trembling hands fluttering the leaves as her anxious companions crouched at her side.

"Gods." She breathed.

"Gabrielle… are you all right?" Aslanta's voice was sharp, and to the bard's sensitive ears, frightened.

She lifted her head very slowly, propping it up on one arm. "I think so."

"What happened?" Josh asked, wide eyed.

Gabrielle closed her eyes again, and timidly, sent a feeling of warmth in her partner's direction. She got back an echo of stark despair, that almost brought her to tears. "It's okay." The words leaked out. "Hold on… it's okay."

She wanted so badly to touch Xena. If she closed her eyes, she could form the image of her soulmate inside her mind, with it's dark hair, and haunted eyes. Instead of a touch, though, she sent what she could, given the painfully limited contact their link allowed.

************************

The tent was dark and still.

Xena found herself unable to move, as she sat with her head in her hands, trying to absorb what had just happened to her.

Even sitting here, even with the necklace away from her, she could feel the pull.

Taste the blood on her tongue.

"No." She gasped softly, as a sob worked it's way up her throat. "No.. I'm not like that."

But the tears fell, because she knew it was a lie.

There had been no change. No atonement.

She felt the fires of Tartarus licking at her shoulders, and knew, in the depths of her soul, the truth of what she was.

She sat for a heartbeat, in perfect darkness. Outside, she heard the sounds of the catapult, starting up again, and dully she wondered why she should even care. Nothing she'd do would make a difference.. not for her, not for….

Xena's lips trembled. Her fingers shook as she reached up and curled them around the blood stained, dirt encrusted crystal still hanging from around her neck. She closed her eyes, though the darkness inside the tent made that superfluous, and through the stench of war a breath of clean air drifted.

A fingertip's brush against her cheek. The absolution of a kiss on her head, so real if she inhaled, she could taste Gabrielle's scent on the back of her tongue.

Her soul hung dangling.. suspended by the thinnest of white, glistening threads.

*************************

Ares snuffled at the noisy infant thrashing in the leaves. "Gwrof."

Dori ceased her screaming, her chest rising and falling rapidly as she caught her breath, Then she hiccuped, and started sobbing again, her whole body jerking with the sounds..

The wolf licked her face, cleaning the tears off, and making her splutter .

"Guff!" Dori clutched at the pink tongue and held it.

Ares whined. "Aoerf."

"Bad." Dori released her playmate's appendage and hiccuped. Ares resumed cleaning her off, licking her ears, then started down the chubby body.

"Mama." Dori warbled, forlornly. "Ow."

A loud noise made them look up. Ares whirled, and crouched over his charge, ruff bristling and fangs bared. "Ggrrrrrrwwwwww…."

"Grrwwrrrr." The tall, furry newcomer growled right back. "All right, fuzzy… just relax."

Dori blinked, and pointed. "Zusu!"

Jessan ambled forward cautiously, not wanting to get into a confrontation with the still bristling wolf. "Hey there, cute stuff…. You remember me, right?" The forest dweller eased to a sitting position, and extended a furry hand towards the baby. "Ares, don’t bite me, huh?"

"Growfl." The wolf reluctantly lowered his head, and sighed.

"Good boy." Jessan inched forward, and picked up Dori's battered and filthy form. "You know, you should have arranged for fur.. I think you hate clothes." He cradled the baby against one arm, and examined her anxiously. "Hey… what happened? Are you okay?"

Dori started crying softly.

"Oh." Jess's face tensed, his rounded, fur covered jaw shifting. "You're hurt." The baby had a large, mottled bruise spreading across her face, and an angry red mark along one arm. He touched the mark, and Dori howled, making Ares ruff stand straight on end. "Ooo… sorry." Jessan chewed his lower lip in consternation. "Okay… okay.. listen, I'm going to wrap you up, okay? Then I'm going to take you back to your mama."

The squeal cut off abruptly. "Mmm mama?" Dori hiccuped. "Go mama."

Jessan rocked her carefully in his huge arms. "Shh… yeah, we're gonna get you to mama… just take it easy, little one." Carefully, he removed the thick sack covering his crossbow's mechanism and gently eased it around Dori's body, moving her arm as little as possible. "You must be cold."

Dori seemed exhausted. Her cries had faded to fitful sobs, as she restlessly moved her head back and forth. "Mama."

"Soon." Jess tried to be soothing.

"Boo."

He smoothed the dark hair, and cradled Dori's head in one large palm as he let his eyes drift shut, and looked at her with Sight instead. Her silvery essesnce was muted, and he could just sense the pain the child was in, but stronger than that was the sadness that seemed to surround her. "C'mon, little one." He opened his golden eyes and stood, cradling her in the crook of one arm. "Time to go home."

The bushes across from them rustled, and he froze, then backed as three shadowy forms moved into the moonlight. Silver washed across the dark wood of raised crossbows, and the man closest to them casually thumbed the safety catch off the one he held pointed straight at Jessan's chest. "Put the child down."

The forest dweller let his lips part slightly, exposing his fangs. "No."

The crossbow fired, and he moved, not as fast as Xena would have, but fast enough to avoid the shaft that slid across the leather of his battlecoat and sunk itself into the tree behind him with an audible whack. His lips parted further, twitching up into a snarl. "One down."

"We don't want any argument with you, beast." The man told him softly. "Just put the child down, and you can go on your way…it's not much of a meal, after all."

Golden eyes shifted to Dori's face, then back to the man's. A tip of a crimson tongue appeared between Jess's teeth. "She's safer where she is….who are you?"

He moved further, and the moon revealed his surcoat. Jessan's eyes widened at the lion's head on his chest. Andreas men. He took a breath, and released it.

"That's not your affair… now, put the child down, or we'll take her, and you'll lose your life as well as your supper."

"All you see is an animal.. " Jessan breathed. "All right." Kneeling, he gently laid Dori on top of the leaves, and touched her head. "Be still, little one… and forgive me."

Then he turned, and lunged to his feet, spreading his arms wide and drawing in a rush of air, expelling it in a loud roar that shook the clearing The men jerked, raising their weapons, but he didn't give them a moments chance to use them. A leap, and his extended claws were sweeping across their bodies, the sharp edges catching in flesh and bone and ripping it apart as though they were well cooked rabbit.

He roared again, and his head darted sideways, to catch the leader's wrist in his teeth as the man tried to grab him. He closed his jaws and clamped them, feeling the bones crumple under the force. A wrench of his head pulled the hand from the arm, sending a spray of blood over his face.

The last of them screamed, and dropped his crossbow, bolting for the trees. Jessan pounced on him from behind and rode him to the earth, then grabbed his head and simply pulled backwards, snapping his neck and cutting off his yell in mid utterance.

Then it was quiet, save Dori's gurgles, and coughs.

Jessan stood up, flexing his hands and shaking them to get the shreds of flesh out from under his claws. "Ugh." Making a face, he spat a mouthful of bodyparts onto the ground and stuck his tongue out. "Hades.. I hate the taste of human." He sighed. "But this means Andreas has people over the river… and Xena has to know that." He wiped his hands on his dark blue trousers before he picked Dori up, gazing at her in concern. "You okay?"

"Bck." Dori poked her tongue out unhappily.

"Yeah." Jessan agreed. "I feel the same way." He tucked her safely between his elbow and ribs, and started off through the trees. Ares trotted after him, wrinkling his dark nose as he passed the three dead soldiers, stiffening in the moonlight.

*****************************

Shesta eased a folded cloak under Gabrielle's head, as the bard was laid gently in the bed of the wagon. "Easy." She murmured to the soldier who had carried her over from the horse she'd been slung over. "What happened?"

"Damned if I know." Aslanta wiped her hands on her tunic. "No sign of that horsehandler, but as we got to the pass, the Queen had some kind of fit."

"A fit?" The healer looked up at her, sharply.

"Or something. She fell down off her horse and started convulsing… then she went out like a light." Aslanta gave the bard a worried look. "Is it that cut? I thought it was healing."

Shesta crawled up into the wagon. "Can you help me with this armor? I'm not sure how it comes off." The two women worked at the weathered buckles and eased the overlapping scales off Gabrielle's back, then the healer removed the bloodstained bandage underneath. "Hm."

The cut bisected Gabrielle's spine, neat, precise stitches holding it closed, allowing just a slight seepage to relieve the pressure inside. "Not as bad as it was." Shesta murmured, touching the skin with a finger. "That red ring is going down, also…no.. I don't think it was this."

Gabrielle stirred, perhaps feeling the touch, and her hands flexed weakly. "Umg."

"It's all right, Gabrielle." Aslanta put a hand on her shoulder. "You're safe here."

Her head felt like the inside of a burnt cooking pot. Gabrielle swallowed painfully, then raised herself a trifle and looked up. "Water?" A skin was handed to her, and she brought it to her lips with a shaky hand, sucking the moisture gratefully. Memories of what she'd felt such a short time ago lifted into her conscious mind, and she had to stop drinking, and swallow a few times to keep from throwing up. "How… long was I out?"

"Candlemark." Aslanta studied her. "Do you know what happened?"

Did she? Gabrielle rubbed her eyes. "I'm not sure." From Xena… she could only feel a dull quiet, as though the sheer intensity of their exchange had overloaded that sometimes fragile link they had between them. "Did we find Dani?"

"No." Aslanta shook her head. "I left a guard at the pass.. we wanted to get you back here. We didn't see any evidence of other traffic either." A shrug. "Maybe she headed out the back way… figured just to stay clear of trouble."

Gabrielle exhaled. "It's possible." She conceded, peering over the edge of the wagon. "Anyone hear from Jess?"

They were very quiet, and no one looked directly at her. The torches nearby fluttered fitfully, sending a wash of oil soot against her face. Gabrielle half turned and clutched the wagon side, her eyes searching the darkness around them with pained intensity.

"Gabrielle." Aslanta hesitated. "We need to get moving… the attack will have started on the river camp."

The bard rested her chin on the wood, feeling the rough texture against her skin, and smelling it's earthy scent. She knew Aslanta was right.

The greater good demanded that. She closed her eyes and wished she were someone else, in some other time, with nothing more critical to think about than where to find berries for dinner's dessert. "You go ahead." She spoke looking. "I'm going to wait here until Jess comes back."

"Gabri.."

"Just do it." Now the green eyes snapped open, visible in glints of ocher from the torchlight. "I'll catch up."

"You can't stay here by yourself." The Amazon Queen argued.

"I can't leave not knowing what happened to my daughter." Gabrielle answered back inflexibly, even though another impulse entirely was pulling her in the other direction, wanting so badly to find Xena.

Find out what happened, and make sure she was… Gabrielle inhaled. Safe. She sent a mental hug that way, then returned her eyes to the shadows, willing Jessan to walk out of them.

And so he did.

Between two trees, the darkness rippled and parted, torches sending flecks of light off golden toned fur spattered with something much more crimson.

"Jess!"

The forest dweller came towards her, his eyes vibrant as they met hers, then shifted down to a small bundle carried in the crook of one arm. A tiny cry sounded. "Shh.." He crooned, as he came up next to them, Aslanta moving back to make room for him near the cart. "Here's your mama, little one."

Gabrielle forgot her back, and took the fitfully moving bundle. "Thank you, Jess."

"She's hurt." He told her. "Must have fallen, or something.. I can't tell. Her arm.. and.."

The bard had shifted, and one fo the soldiers brought a torch closer. "Oh…. " Her heart sank as she saw the ugly bruise covering one side of Dori's face. "Sweetie… what happened?"

"Mama." Dori blinked at her, through one swollen eye. "Mama…. " She started crying. "Mama…ow."

Gabrielle fell back into the straw, cradling Dori against her, curling up on her side and stroking her matted, and filthy hair gently. "It's okay…. "

Aslanta exhaled. "Let's get moving." She mounted her horse, and watched as Jessan climbed into the driver's seat of the wagon. "You fall into a mud pit?"

Wild, golden eyes flicked over her. "It's not mud." Jessan picked up the reins and slapped them over the cart horses backs, and the wagon moved out with a protesting creak as it followed the dimly seen ruts left in the army's path.

****************************

The wind blew over the river grass, bringing an acrid stench over the camp. A stretch before the ramparts was a smoking mass of mud, and for the time being, the catapult attacks had paused. Xena sat on the wall, staring out, her face expressionless and cold as she watched the most minute of shadows move in and out of the tiny slices of moonlight that peeked through gathering clouds.

She could hear the creak of harnesses, though. The soft footfalls of hoof muffled horses moving into position, preparing a cavalry charge against her forces.

She found it very hard to care.

"Xena."

"Yes." She kept looking out, her hands resting on the thick surface of the wall. Toris climbed up next to her, but she felt very remote even from him. "What do you want?"

Her brother rested his elbows on the wall. "You seem kinda quiet."

"Do I?" Xena murmured.

"Well, yeah." Toris straightened. "You okay?"

Xena turned her head and met his eyes, seeing him flinch as she did so. "They're going to attack. Probably in less than a quarter candlemark. See that everyone's ready."

"A… all right." Toris answered. "What kind of attack?"

"Horses." Xena told him shortly. "Probably flaming arrows. Keep everything wet. Keep mud ready."

He shifted, and started to turn, then paused, and put a hand on Xena's shoulder, on the thick armor plates with their ornate metalwork. "Be careful, sis."

Xena didn't respond. She merely stared at him until he removed his hand and started climbing down the wall. The moon came peeking out, splashing him with silver light, and he looked up, to see his sister's cloaked form standing menacingly over him.

He shivered.

Xena resumed her scan of the horizon. After a moment, her hackles pricked, and she stiffened, sensing a familiar presence behind her. "Hello, Ares." She felt him move closer.
"Well well." The low, lilting voice caressed her senses, touching chords in her that had been muted for years. "Now this is more likeit." A fingertip stroked the worked metal of her armor. "You look more like the Xena I remember."

I feel that way. Xena turned, and leaned against the wall, regarding him coolly. "What do you want?"

"You." The bearded lips tensed, then twitched into an appreciative smile. Their eyes met, then he indulged himself in a long, lingering exploration of her armor clad form. "Glad to see you got in touch with your inner animal, Xena."

"What do you want from me, Ares?" Her voice was low, and held a slight burr. She let herself return his lingering stare. "Getting bored with your little friend out there?" A hint of a smile. "Come to find the real thing?"

His eyes lit up from within, and he took a step closer, lifting a hand and brushing it's knuckles over her cheek. "I wonder if he has any idea what he's up against." Now it was Ares turn to smile. "He wants to own you, Xena… " The God of War tipped his head back and laughed. Xena joined him. Their tones matched as they shifted, and moved closer to each other.

"So." Xena let her chuckles peter out. "What's your game?"

Ares circled her, twitching her cloak straight, with an almost proprietary air. "He's not bad, Xena. Not in your league… but he's not bad."

"And?"

"He wants to take Athens… I want him to take Athens.. he was doing a nice job of getting there.. until you stepped into the picture."

A dark brow cocked. "Sorry." Xena drawled softly.

"Oh.. that's all right." Ares caressed her cheek. "I was mad at first, but you know, Xena.. it's been so… " He waggled his fingers. "So satisfying for me to watching you tie him up in knots.. I"d forgotten just how good.. you really are.. when you put your mind to it."

"Mm." Xena reached out and played with a bit of his leather vest, watching him from under half lowered eyelids. "I had a good teacher."

Ares nostrils flared, and his eyes took on a flash of excitement. "You were my star pupil." He smiled.

Xena smiled back. "What do you want me to do?"

"Not that much." The tall god edged closer. "Just don't resist his army, Xena… let them win."

A brow lifted.

"Then.. once I kill him… we can meld his army, and yours… and head for Athens."

"Mm.. just you and me?" Xena asked, lightly. "Like the old days?"

Ares looked like he'd just won the keys to Zeus' private throne room on Mount Olympus. "That's it, Xena… c'mon. I felt it when you let go before… you want it. You know you do."

She did. Xena accepted that truth. With Andreas army, nothing could stop her. She could take it all, and as she breathed in that reality, it filled her with a buzzing pleasure. "That would work."

White teeth shone as Ares smiled. "So you'll do it?"

Xena smiled back, so close to him they could almost taste each other. "No." She puffed a breath at his chest, and stirred the dark, curling hairs.

"Great.. gre… what?" Ares frowned. "NO?"

A long finger poked him in the chest. "I don't roll over for anyone, Ares." Xena informed him. "Not even you."

Ares stepped back, and paced in a small circle, all he could on the tiny platform. "Don't be stupid, Xena… you can't win this war, you and I both know that." He told her.

"We'll see." Xena turned, and rested her hands on the wall, dismissing him.

"You'll die."

The dark head nodded, just a little. "Good." Xena murmured. "It's about time."

He didn't know what to make of that. "You want to die?" He snorted. "And say goodbye forever to you little blond bimbo?"

Xena turned her head, and gazed levelly at him. "I'll take my chances."

Disgusted, he lifted his hands, and let them fall. "I don't get it, Xena. Why?"

The faintest smile crossed the ex warlord's face. "Because it's pissing you off." She turned, and her face took on a sad seriousness. "And because it's the right thing to do."

The God of War glared at her. "You're going to die by inches, Xena… no quick sword thrust for you. " He pointed at her. "And I'm going to make sure, before you die.. that you watch your precious bedmate skinned before your eyes." His hands moved in a blur, and she barely had time to dodge a fireball that flew over her right shoulder, licking against the mud malevolently. Then he sneered, and vanished with a popping sound, leaving behind the scent of crushed leaves and rusting armor.

Xena stared at the spot for a long time, before she allowed her body to lean back and relax, her hands shaking slightly as she reached up and tugged a small volume out from under her armor plates, finding a place in it, and turning the tan parchment page to the meager moonlight.

****************************

The moon moved in and out of the clouds, sending the wagon alternately into pools of light and shadow as they progressed steadily through the sparse trees. Jessan still drove the cart, his golden eyes roaming the path ahead, and his rounded ears swiveling back and forth. Aslanta and three other soldiers rode two and two on either side of the wagon, cloaks pulled around them to keep out the cold wind.

Gabrielle lay curled on her side, her head pillowed against a folded sack and one arm curled around Dori's body. She watched her daughter with half open eyes, glad the baby had finally fallen asleep. "Poor thing." The bard murmured, pushing a bit of dark hair out of the closed eyes. She'd carefully cleaned as much of the mud and dirt off Dori's body as she could, with Shesta's help, then the healer had examined the baby's injured arm and wrapped it in a neat bandage to hold it still.

It wasn't broken, she didn't think, but she wasn't sure. Gabrielle gazed at the visible bruising unhappily. "You think she fell?" She asked the healer softly.

Shesta had been unpacking something in her bags, and now she handed over a bit of waybread and cheese. "Here.. " She waited for Gabrielle to take the offering. "It's hard to say, your Majesty."

"Just Gabrielle, please." The bard interrupted her.

"Why?" Shesta asked.

"Hm?"

The healer extended her body in the straw, and chewed on her own bread. "Why do you reject your rank like that?"

Gabrielle was silent for several heartbeats, a furrow appearing in the otherwise unlined skin of her forehead. "I don't know." She finally answered thoughtfully. "I just don't think of myself that way, I guess." She nibbled on the edge of the cheese. "I've never been comfortable with that kind of authority.. I leave that to Xena."

"Does she resent that? You're being the Queen?"

The bard paused, then shook her head back and forth a few times. "No." She took a sip of water, and wished the ride was over. "We don't compete with each other."

"Hm." The healer absorbed the answer, then changed the subject. "I'd say perhaps she hit herself against a rock.. or a tree, Gabrielle, to answer your question. I don't think falling would cause that bruise, especially.." Shesta put a careful fingertip against one of Dori's cheek. "See here? Almost looks like a handprint."

Gabrielle leaned over and studied the mark. "Handpr…" She started to say, puzzled, then her face tensed in anger. "Do you mean someone hit her?" She caught Aslanta moving closer out of the corner of her eye, the Amazon's head cocked in interest. "Jess?"

The forest dweller turned his head. "Hm?"

"Was she alone when you found her?" Gabrielle felt a sense of reluctant alertness stirring the dull fatigue that had settled over her.

"Ares was with her.. .but.. " Jess chewed his lower lip fur. "There were footsteps around… we've been tramping around through there, so I really didn't think about it." He continued. "I ran into three of Andreas soldiers just then. I was kinda busy."

Gabrielle sat up abruptly. "Andreas men? Here?"

"Not any more." Jess rasped quietly. "They looked like scouts… like they'd been living rough for a while." He made a face, his jaw shifting a little. "Hadn't had a bath recently."

The bard exhaled. "How many more are there?" She glanced out into the darkness, wishing the night were over. "Do you think they found the army?"

Jessan remained silent for a bit, then sighed. "They seemed more interested in the little one." He indicated Dori's sleeping form. "That's sort of cowardly, you know? What is it with you humans? My people would never target a child."

Dori stirred and her face scrunched up in discomfort. "Bck."

"Shh." Gabrielle tucked the soft cloth covering her in more snugly. "Go back to sleep, honey… it's okay." She really had no answer for Jessan, other than what she had learned of human nature over the years, of how taking advantage of weaknesses was a trait her race seemed to have developed, almost to an art form. After all, wasn't that what Xena herself was doing?

Would Xena target a child?

"Mama." Dori peered up at her unhappily. One hand lifted and pawed at her swollen face. "Ow."

Gabrielle caught the hand and held it. "No, honey… that'll just make it worse." She picked Dori up and cradled her as she started crying. "Shh… shh…. " The noise was loud in the darkness around them. "Here… you want a treat? Mommy has a honey ball for you."

She popped the sweet into Dori's mouth, and slid a hand under the rough fabric covering her, rubbing her belly gently.

"Gurk." Dori settled, seemingly comforted.

"Atta girl." The bard sighed, and leaned back, wincing herself as she straightened her cramped body. "How much longer?"

Aslanta stood in her stirrups, and grunted. "Candlemark and a half… that'll put our folks up just under the last ridge before the river valley." She sat back down. "Wonder how they're doing down there?"

I wonder too. Gabrielle continued her light rubbing, and watched her daughter's eyes droop. She'd discovered Dori's weak spot one night when the baby was more restless than usual, and in frustration, she'd tried the one thing that always worked on her much larger, often cranky and equally restless Boo.

Darned if it hadn't worked. Gabrielle stared moodily up at the clouds, which obscured the moon and threw her into darkness. Wish Xena were here now. Bet she could use a good belly rub.

****************

"Get the archers on the ramparts!" Xena yelled, catching a flaming arrow and flinging it back in the other direction. She leaped from one platform to the next, dodging a thrown spear as she swung into position and grabbed a bow. She nocked an arrow and waited, seeing only flashes of fire in the night as the cavalry pounded by, sending fiery bolts their way. "Watch… "

The two soldiers next to her came close, their heavily armored bodies pressed against hers. "They've got a rhythm." Xena nodded her head in time with the running horse, barely seen in the fitful moonlight. "Baddabum…baddabum.. baddabum.. " She released the shaft, and it struck, a thwack they could hear, so close was the rider, and so powerful her draw. "Wait until they half stand to release the arrow - you can see the fire rise up."

"I get it." The taller of her two students nodded. "I see what you mean, genr'l."

"Good." Xena handed him the bow. "G'wan… stop those bastards."

"Yes, ma'am." The man agreed, moving to the edge of the wall. Xena leaped to the next platform, where two archers were already picking off attackers. She studied them, then turned and jumped off the wooden surface, flipping lazily before she landed on the muddy ground and strode through the rushing bodies crossing the area behind the wall. They were busy, yes.. but she sensed no panic, and no fear.

Good.

"Xena!"

She turned, spotting the running figure coming for her. "What?"

"Toris says he thinks they've got a bunch trying to dig out near the west end… he can hear chopping." The man was one of Bennu's sergeants, a stolid, thickset man with grizzled red hair.

"Oh yeah?" Xena smiled. "All right." She circled him and broke into a run towards the spot, her cloak billowing out behind her. As the wall approached, she lengthened her stride and leaped, gaining a handhold on the squared end, where there was no platform to stand on. She scaled the inner wall and gained the top, then pulled herself up over the top and paused, peering into the murky darkness.

Ah. She could hear the sounds of chopping, and the mulchy scrape of a digging shovel. A dark shiver ran thorugh her, and she lifted herself up, vaulting over the wall and letting herself drop down to the ground in front of it.

No yells. No sound at all, save the whisper of steel against leather as she drew her sword and found her victims by instinct, a brush of hair against her hands giving her a neck to cleave being the first. The body slid out from under her and she took a short step forward, finding a second man there, unaware of her presence. Her dagger found his throat, releasing hot blood over her hands, and she stepped over his body as she found the main group of attackers, working steadily on the wall's surface. "Hi there, boys." Xena drawled, loud enough to carry over their furtive digging.

They jumped, and whirled, seeing only a menacing, caped shadow between them and safety. Xena lifted her blade, and the moonlight cooperated, flashing off it as she leaped forward and carved the closest one in half, sending an arm one way, and the head a second.

One man screamed.

The rest started running, trying to get away from her as she reached out and hauled them down, hacking and slashing her way through the confused group that stumbled into each other in pure, animal fear. "I don't like people messing up my walls…. " She lifted the last of them, and put his body up against the damp surface, glaring at him with feral intensity. "You got me?"

He messed himself, making her nose wrinkle. "You go back and tell them… anyone else tries this.. I'll rip their hearts out." With a grunt, Xena whirled and tossed him from her, over the bodies of his companions, and watched without compassion as he scrambled to his feet and ran blindly away.

Xena chuckled softly, then turned to examine the damage, touching the cuts in the wooden understructure. Satisified, she sheathed her sword and crouched, then leaped upwards and caught a scant handhold, just enough to allow her to swing a leg up and over the wall top, and lever herself over.

She dropped lightly to the ground on the other side, and brushed her hands off. "We need an archer platform there. "One hand grabbed a nearby soldier. "Get the supports up. I don't want that to happen again."

Toris appeared. "Did you get my message?"

"Alredy took care of it." Xena snapped back. "Get a revolving set of archers on the walls. They're doing this to wear us out… the frontal attack will come at dawn."

Her brother nodded and ran off.

Xena reviewed the defenses, as she wiped the drying blood off her hands and onto her cloak. She turned as her name was called again, this time from a different direction. Two of Bennu's men were coming her way, with a tall figure twisting between them, trying to get away. The warrior's eyebrows lifted as the torchlight neared, and she recognized the captive.

"What's going on?" She asked the closer of the two soldiers.

"We had word from the valley… this 'un'd decided to make tracks, with a couple of them horses." The man told her. "Found her trying to sneak out past the walls."

"I've had enough." Dani rasped. "I'm just trying to get outta here before I get killed." Her face was half covered with dried blood, and her eyes refused to meet Xena's colder ones. "That a crime?"

Xena studied her, analyzing the twitching hands, and the tic just to one side of her left eye. "Decided you don't like us, Dani?" The warrior asked, with deceptive mildness. A cheer went up from the walls, and she turned her head, to see a number of the archers pumping their fists in the air. She sent up a yell in answer, and they whistled back. She returned her attention to Dani and her captors. "Bring her inside." She motioned to the strategy tent nearby, it's flap hanging loosely and moving with the air.

Xena set the torch she'd picked up outside into it's sconce, and rounded the map table, now cleared of it's contents and presenting a nice flat surface. A wineskin hung on the support pole and she took it, uncapping the spout and taking a long swallow as the soldiers brought Dani inside, then braced to attention on either side of her.

"Leave us."

The men obeyed without question, and Xena indulged herself in the sweetness of remembering how much she enjoyed that. She sucked another mouthful of the sweet wine, it's warmth hitting her empty stomach and starting a tingling fire almost immediately. "So."

Dani's eyes darted around the room.

"How much did you think he'd give you?"

"I don’t' know what you're talking about." Dani muttered.

"Sure you do." Xena perched on one corner of her table, letting an armored leg swing casually. "You figured to get over the river, and spill your guts to Andreas."

The horsewoman gave her a resentful look. "Not me. I just wanted out. I figured on getting rewarded by you for those horses, but all I got was a bunch of crap."

"You would have." Xena replied. "After the war."

Dani snorted. "Not good enough."

The warrior shrugged. "That's not my problem. " She got up and walked over, circling the other woman. "But you are a problem, aren't you? See, if you'd wanted to just get out.. you'd have run the other way, Dani… not towards the war.. away from it." Xena turned her back and went to a wooden press near the tent wall, working the puzzle lock in it's front and lifting the well made lid. She removed a bag from it, then let the top down again. "So, lemme ask you again. How much did you think you'd get?"

Dani folded her arms. "I dunno." Her eyes watched the armored form still turned away from her. "I didn't figure you'd be so relaxed about it." She went on, a curious note in her voice.

Xena tucked the bag under her armor and wandered back over to the table, perching on it's edge again and letting her hands rest on her thigh. "I'm a realist." A shrug. "I prefer not to buy my allegiences, but I'm not stupid enough to think I don't have to, sometimes." She let her eyes lift, and meet Dani's, releasing the reins on her personality a little. "He'd have killed you."

The tall, straw haired woman shifted. "Maybe." She managed a shrug.

"No maybe." Xena stood, and padded over to her. "He's not as… " White teeth flashed briefly. "Easygoing as I am." She tapped Dani's chest, and the woman jerked. "He'd remember who took those horses from him in the first place… and have you skinned alive."

Dani remained silent.

"So.. if all he lost was horses.. and I stood to lose the lives of a lot of people who mean a lot to me.. what should I do with you?" Xena asked softly. "To someone who'd sell out my soldiers for a few dinars."

With a flickering motion, the warrior caught her captive by the throat, and squeezed, smiling as Dani grabbed her wrist and tugged, to no avail. "Hmm?"

"Grrr." The tall woman wrenched her body back and forth, but it was like pulling on a tree, for all the effect it had on Xena's sturdy form. "Let me go!"

"No." Xena stepped forward, shoving her back and yanking her to one side, making her half stumble. "Why should I?"

"I can tell you stuff."

"You cant' tell me anything." Xena growled fiercely. "You've got nothing to buy your lousy life with."

Dani struggled frantically, but her throat was held in a grip of steel her fingers couldn't even budge. "Yeah? What bout your damned kid?"

Xena's demeanor went from fire to ice in a heartbeat. Her free hand flicked up and slammed a block in place, dropping Dani like a stone to the ground. She crouched next to her, and watched the woman struggle to breath, unable to move a muscle. "What about my kid?"

"L…let me go."

"Talk, or die." The warrior stated flatly. "You have thirty seconds."

Dani panted, and stared up at her, face writhing in fear. "Found her in the woods." She choked out.

"And?" Very soft words.

"Let me go!"

Cold blue eyes merely watched her.

"Stupid kid screamed so loud I left her."

A motion, and the block was released. Xena stood and walked to her table, leaning her fingers on it as her body started shaking in reaction. She listened to the gasps behind her and took several deep breaths, finding her newly black and white world suddenly full of slate grays. "Why was she screaming?" Xena turned, and pounced, lifting Dani up and throwing her across the tent. "What did you do to her?" Her voice dropped to a rough snarl, as she leaped on the woman, and pinned her to the ground.

"Nothing!" Dani screamed, her eyes bulging with fear.

"Liar." Xena leaned closer. "Tell me!"

Rapid panting breaths broke the silence for a moment. "I just slapped her around a little.. to get her to SHUT UP!" Dani howled. "Stupid little bitch!"

The blue eyes narrowed. "You hit my child?" She rasped.

"I'm sure it wasn't the first time." Dani spat, beyond caring. "She and that Amazon whore of yours must be used to it."

Xena slowly got to her feet, lifting the horse trainer with her. As though in a dream, she reached down and pulled her dagger from her boot, keeping her eyes on Dani's face, as the words filtered down through her conscious mind and spread their ugly understanding over her. "Did you kill her?"

"Wish I had." Dani laughed. "Smacked her against a tree, though… wanted to get her to shut up so I could take her over the river and get a good, good price."

Xena's arm slid forward, the dagger's blade penetrating her victim's stomach, and she jerked her hand right and left, cutting a gash in her body.

Dani screamed.

Then the warrior dropped the knife, and shifted her body violently, shoving her hand inside the cut. "Stupid." She wrenched upward with all her strength, breaking bones as her fingers severed veins and punctured the spongy tissue of Dani's lungs. The woman gasped, and choked, starting to shake as Xena's hand found her target.

And closed on it.

And squeezed, getting a grip and pulling back with a savage yank.

Dani collapsed with a grunt, her lifeless body falling at Xena's feet.

For a long moment the warrior stared dispassionately at her right hand, covered in crimson, that held a lump of flesh in it's palm.

The heart quivered, jerking slightly.

Xena let it fall soggily to rest on the body.

"Xena… " Toris brushed the flap aside and walked in, then froze in utter shock, staring at his sister with wide eyes. "Wh…" He took in Dani's bloody form, and Xena's equally bloody hands, and took a step back. "Dear gods… what in Hades is happening to you?"

Without a sound, Xena stepped over the dead body and walked past him, out of the tent and into the darkness beyond.

***********************

Gabrielle leaned on her staff, watching anxiously as Shesta changed the bandage on Dori's arm. They had reached the army's new position, and were now in the center of the camp, surrounded by tiny, smokeless fires over which troops hunkered, keeping voices low, and sharing rough travel rations.

"How is she?"

Shesta rewrapped the arm, and gave Dori's worried mother a smile. "She's going to be fine, Gabrielle… go get something hot to drink.. you look pretty wiped out."

"Mm." The bard eyed her sleepy daughter. "Okay… hey, sweetie..I'm going to get some dinner, you hungry?"

Dori sucked on a finger, and shifted restlessly.

Gabrielle sighed. "I'll be back." She turned and limped away from the hastily erected shelter the healers were clustered in, preparing herbs and bandages for the coming battle. She left the rich, spicy scent of their mixtures behind and moved through the flickering darkness, sensing the hundreds of forest dwellers, and Amazons, Centaurs, and soldiers around her.

She really had no intention of eating. Her stomach was balled up in a knot of such tension, even drinking water had been difficult, and her body ached with the strain of dealing with her injury, and the people around her, and the overwhelming worry gnawing at her guts regarding her soulmate.

Her name, called softly, caught her attention and she turned her head, to see Lestan approaching. She paused, and leaned on her staff as he came closer. "Hi."

The tall forest dweller put a hand on her shoulder. "I am glad that you are here, my friend. I was worried about you." He glanced over her shoulder. "And my son as well… I hear he fulfilled his task."

"Yes, he did." Gabrielle managed a smile. "We owe him a lot… I can't tell you how much."

The mahogany eyes twinkled gravely. "He will never think it's enough, no matter what." Lestan rumbled. "How are you feeling?"

Gabrielle gazed up at him tiredly. "Lousy." She admitted. "I'm really worried."

"About Xena?"

The bard nodded, her eyes heartsick. She put her free hand over her chest, and exhaled, trying to relieve some of the awful tension clamping down on her bones. "She's hurting."

Lestan pulled her into a hug. "I know." He murmured. "We all know." He could feel the strength under his hands, and wondered anew at this sometimes gentle, always courageous key to the fiery force leading them all. "Stay strong, little one… you hold the pieces in your hands."

Gabrielle exhaled, glad of his supporting arms. "Thanks." She gathered her strength and straightened up, pushing her hair back out of her eyes and stifling a yawn. "I was headed for some tea… would you like some?"

"Certainly." Lestan replied, padding along side her as they made their way towards the largest fire, where some of the support crew were ladling out mulled cider. "How is Dori?"

"She seems better." Gabrielle replied. "Though I… " Her head turned, and lifted, as a quiet sense of a familiar presence nudged her. She stopped walking, and searched the surrounding area, at last focusing her eyes on two large trees not very far away. "Ah… "

Lestan smiled, and patted her shoulder. "I did not expect this, but it is perhaps, a good thing." He turned and discretely left, leaving her to face that moonlight opening with a sense of pensive excitement.

Gabrielle moved towards the trees, and was halfway there before the light fractured, reflecting off a tall, cloaked form that paused on seeing her, and stopped, it's very body language showing a hesitance very uncharacteristic of her partner. "Xena?"

She saw the shoulders move, as though the warrior had taken a deep breath, then her soulmate walked to meet her. The bard knew something was very wrong, knew the waves of dark energy coming from Xena were dangerous, but she dropped her staff, and opened her arms, finding her way home regardless.

"Gabr…"

"Shh." Gabrielle followed her instincts. "Don't talk… don't think. Just let me hold onto you."

The heart under her ear was beating so fast, she couldn't distinguish the individual thumps. But after a moment, after Xena's arms had closed hesitantly over her and she'd leaned her weight against the warrior's sturdy form, the pounding started to slow a little. The armor moved under her cheek as Xena took a deep breath, then released it, warming the top of Gabrielle's head.

They stood like that while the moon slid back behind the clouds. "Thank you for coming." Gabrielle finally whispered. "I wanted to see you badly."

"Something's happened." The low voice murmured back. "Something horrible."

Gabrielle finally lifted her head and gazed up at the dimly seen features above her. She didn't know what she expected, feeling the darkness so close, and so pungent around her, but the planes and angles were familiar, and she winced a bit, to see the shadows under her soulmate's eyes. "To you?"

Xena's brows creased, then relaxed. "No.. it's Dori.. she never made it to the valley."

"I know." Gabrielle very gently pushed her soulmate towards a nearby boulder, in a small corner of the camp that was quiet, and almost private. "Sit down." Xena did, and she slid between the warrior's knees, lacing her fingers behind Xena's neck and allowing her thumbs to caress the soft skin of her cheek. "Jess found her."

Xena's eyes watched her intently. "Is…" The lips twitched.

"She's okay." Gabrielle told her, seeing the eyelids flutter closed, and feeling the sudden relaxation in the tense muscles under her wrists. "She's hurt.. we're not really sure what happened. She fell, or.."

"She was hit." Xena whispered. "And thrown against a tree."

Gabrielle sucked a breath in. "How do you know that, honey?"

Xena twitched at the endearment. "It was Dani. She told me."

The bard's nostrils flared, and her body stiffened. "Is she in your camp? Xena, I want to go there. I want.."

"She's dead." Xena's voice was flat. "I killed her."

They were both quiet after that. Gabrielle edged forward, and circled Xena's shoulders with both arms, feeling the warrior stiffen, then give in, and lean against her. She rubbed Xena's scalp, damp with the water she realized her partner had washed in before coming. Washing the blood off, the bard reasoned wanly, though she could still smell the scent of it on her cloak, and her leather armor. Oh Xena. Gabrielle felt warm fingers close on her knee, circling it and pulling her a tiny bit closer. "Well.. after I saw what Dori looked like,.. I might have too." She admitted. "The healer said she's all right.. but I'm really glad you're here, so you can make sure."

Xena exhaled shakily. "I don't think that's a good idea."

Gabrielle moved her touch down, starting a careful massage of the trembling neck muscles she felt under her fingertips. Xena was, she knew, on a razor's sharp edge. "They got to you, didn't they?" The faintest of nods answered her. "But you beat them."

The warrior shook her head. "You did." She spoke the words carefully.

Gabrielle accepted the statement, and bent her head, kissing the top of Xena's. "I always will." She said confidently. "Good is stronger than evil, Xena. Love is more powerful than hate…. I know it, you know it… they'll never defeat us."

Xena lifted her head, and their eyes met, searching each other intently. The warrior lifted a hand and pulled a small package out from under her armor, holding it out shakily. "Hold this."

Gabrielle accepted it, feeling the cold weight inside the soft fabric. "I felt them put this on you." She murmured. "Xena, let me come back there with you. There must be some other way to do this."

For a moment, she thought Xena was going to agree. The warrior let her head drop back against Gabrielle's chest and remained silent for a long time. Finally, she stirred. "The timing has to be perfect." Her hoarse voice hurt Gabrielle's ears. "And you're the only one I trust."

Gabrielle hugged her. "Come see Dori." She urged, seeing the start of a refusal. "You'd make me feel a lot better if you did… please?" She tipped Xena's chin up and wiped a bit of dust off the bridge of her nose. "We need you."

It seemed to be the right thing to say. Xena's expression softened, and a tiny glimmer of light appeared in the pale eyes.

But a profound sadness was there, as well. Gabrielle took her hand, and pulled, then wrapped an arm firmly around Xena's waist as the warrior stood up. She lead the way back to the healer's shelter, pushing the fabric aside as she slipped under, hearing Dori's fitful crying as she did so.

"Ah.. Gabrielle..I'm glad you came back." Shesta glanced at her, worriedly. "She's been very restless, I…." The healer's words trailed off as her eyes lifted past the bard's shoulder and she spotted the dark, menacing figure behind her. "Oh."

"Mama." Dori had spotted her, and reached out with her injured arm, her voice rising into a squeal as the pain increased. The torchlight made the bruises covering her face starkly evident, and Gabrielle felt a sudden surge of rage behind her, that almost perfectly matched her own feelings.

"Shh… honey, I'm here." She captured the baby's hands, and held them. "Don't move around, okay??" She felt a warmth behind her, then fingers clasped her shoulders as Xena peered over one of them. "Poor thing."

Dori hiccuped, then her eyes wandered up and spotted the newcomer. "Bbbbooo."

Gabrielle felt Xena's chest jerk and heard the slight click as her jaw muscles clamped down. She moved aside to let her partner closer. "See who's here to see you? Did you miss your Boo, huh?"

"Bbbbooo." Dori sniffled, then wriggled around on the linen, pulling a hand loose from her mother and reaching out for the warrior. "Gaboo."

Xena caught the small hand in hers, and held it. "Hey." She took a breath, then knelt, examining the baby's battered form Dori's left eye was almost swollen shut, and that side of her face was a dark purple. Xena could see the faint trail of rust from a tiny ear, and her heart sank as she touched the bandage on the baby's arm.

"Booo… " Dori plucked at Xena'a hand fitfully, and started to cry again. Gabrielle lifted her up, and deposited her in Xena's arms before the warrior could protest. "Xena, sit down over here for a few minutes.. maybe you can get her to go to sleep. I'll get you some meatrolls… go on."

"B…" Xena found herself being very gently, but persistently shoved backwards, and she managed to get her cloak out from under her feet before she felt a box hit her behind the knees, and sat down on it, Dori's warm body cradled in her grasp. "G…"

"Shh." Surprisingly, Gabrielle leaned over and kissed her on the lips. "I know you have to go. I'll be right back, I promise." She picked up her staff and limped out, motioning Shesta to follow her, and leaving Xena and the baby behind.

"Bck." Dori stopped crying, and nestled closer, grasping the hanging hood closure from Xena's cloak and putting it into her mouth. Her good eye watched the somber face above her, and she seemed to settle down, her restless kicking easing off as the warrior tickled her lightly. "Want Boo."

Xena felt the darkness fade a little. Her life had become a waking nightmare, but here, for a few minutes, she caught a glimmer of the recent past, which pushed aside the horrible knowledge she now had of what she was.

It didn't change the knowledge.

But her exhausted body craved a moment of peace, and the temptation to allow the present to slip a little was just too great. She focused her attention on Dori, and made a face at her, receiving a tiny smile in return.

***********************

"Is that safe?" Shesta asked, hesitatntly, as she kept pace with Gabrielle through the camp.

"Is what safe?" The bard was distracted, shocked at the condition her soulmate was in, and riffling through any possible ideas on what to do about it. "Walking in camp?"

"Leaving Dori with her."

Gabrielle stopped short, causing the healer to crash into her back. She turned and pinned Shesta with an angry look. "What exactly do you mean by that?"

Shesta took a step back. "No offense intended, Gabrielle. But that's a very small child, and she can get hurt very easily."

Pale green eyes stared at her. "Not in those hands, she can't."

"Gabrielle, forgive me, but is your judgement not clouded by your feelings?"

The bard straightened. "No." She turned, and limped on, her guts in turmoil.

Shesta watched the stiff back retreat, hesitating, then she turned and headed back the way she came, aiming her steps for the tent where her small patient was. As she reached the tent, she paused, hearing a sound within she wasn't expecting in the middle of an armed camp.

Singing.

A low, very melodic voice shaped the words of an old herding song, accompanied by contented little gurgles. Curiously, Shesta eased her head inside the shelter, blinking in the torchlight before her eyes adjusted, and she could see the interior.

Xena was seated on the crate of supplies, armored legs pulled up cross-legged under her, with Dori cradled in her lap, both tiny hands clutched around the warrior's much larger one, little feet kicking out in idle contentment as she listened to the song. Her eyes were rivited on Xena's face, and the attention seemed to be reciprocated, since the warrior didn't as much as twitch on her entrance.

Stunned, she withdrew, settling on a rock outside the shelter to ponder, staying there until Gabrielle returned, with a skin slung over her shoulder and a packet tucked under one arm. By that time, the singing had faded, and she could only hear the soft flutter of the torch inside the shelter. "Gabrielle."

The younger woman stopped and eyed her.

"I'm sorry."

Gabrielle studied her briefly. "No problem." She eased her sore body inside the shelter, and stopped, a smile crossing her face as she absorbed the scene before her. Xena was leaning back against the tree the tent shelter was tied to, with Dori cradled against her chest. The warrior's eyes were closed, and so were the infant's, both of them at peace, which Gabrielle was loath to disturb.

But Xena sensed her presence, and opened her eyes, blinking a dazed fogginess from them as they focused on the bard's face. "Hm. Didn't mean to do that."

"It's okay." Gabrielle rested both hands on her partner's knee. "You feeling a little better?"

Better? Xena considered the question. Certainly, she felt more… normal. "Yeah." She glanced down at Dori's slumbering form. "I"d better get back… I think we put them off for tonight, but… "

"Here." Gabrielle handed her a very large, still warm pocket of bread filled with sliced venison. "I've got some mulled cider in here, too." She handed over the skin, it's heated contents gurgling softly.

Xena accepted the sandwich, managing it with one hand while her other remained cradled around her daughter. She took a bite and chewed, then turned her attention to the woman standing next to her. "How's your back?"

"Eh." Gabrielle shrugged. "Hurts." She leaned on her staff. "Sitting hurts worse than standing, though."

"Mm." Xena took a sip of the hot cider, and washed her mouthful of venison down. Then she offered a bite of the sandwich to the bard. Neat, white teeth closed over the edge and severed it, as Gabrielle leaned against her shoulder. They shared the meal in silent companionship, only glancing up as Shesta reentered the shelter. Gabrielle fished in her pocket and produced a honey ball, which she popped into her partner's mouth, then drained the cider skin, putting it down and accepting Dori's sleeping body as Xena stood and flicked her cloak into place.

"Be careful." The warrior bent and kissed Dori's head, then lifted up a little and caught the bard's lips.

"You too." Gabrielle responded, giving her a smile as the warrior nodded in Shesta's direction, then ducked out the canvas flap and disappeared into the darkness.

Shesta watched the bard gently arrange the blanket around Dori, and noted the far more peaceful look about her, as she settled the baby into a small box they'd rigged up as a temporary cradle. "There's a pile of linens in the corner there, Gabrielle.. if you'd like to get a bit of sleep yourself."

Mm. Sleep. Gabrielle didn't argue. She picked up Dori's box and took it over to the spot, letting her tired body down into the thick linen and curling up on on side with her arm draped over Dori's bed. She put her head down, and tried to relax her body as much as she could.

Her thoughts followed Xena, though. Through the dark woods, and over the river, with half closed eyes she traveled at her soulmate's side, breathing the cold air and hearing the soft shift of Xena's armor as she rode. She could almost feel the warmth of the body ahead of her in the saddle, and the flutter of the heartbeat felt under the skin of her cheek.

**********************

Xena reentered the camp to find the activity muted, though the sentries were pacing nervously across the ramparts as they watched the long stretch of land before them. Soldiers were taking advantage of the quiet to snare what sleep they could, curled up under the platforms with weapons at hand, cloaks tucked over fully armored forms.

The sentries saluted her, stiffening into attention as she swept by, and she spared them a nod in return, and a wave of her hand. She made her way through the clusters of men to the her own tent, and ducked inside, stopping when she became aware of an occupant inside. "Toris."

Her brother was seated in front of the brazier, his drawn face tense in the meager light it provided. Xena took the other seat and wrapped her arms around her knees, returning his level stare. "Problem?"

"You tell me." Toris replied. "You're scaring the crap out of all of us, Xena."

"Am I?" A dark brow lifted. "This is a war, Toris. Not the harvest festival. What did you expect me to do, bake cookies for Andreas?"

Her brother scowled. "No,I don't expect that, but I do expect you to act like…" He hesitated.

"A human being?" Xena answered, very calmly.

Toris looked at the ground.

"You listen to me." Xena leaned forward. "I'm gonna do whatever I have to do to win this. If that means I act like a wild animal if it serves that purpose, then I will."

Blue eyes rose, and studied her intently. "Where were you?"

Xena blinked. "What?"

"Where were you? I looked for you for over two candlemarks… and I couldn't find you. Where did you go?"

The warrior rose, and removed her cloak, draping it over the pallet and fiddling with a bracer. "I went to check the valley forces."

Toris shifted, and audibly exhaled. "How's Gabrielle?"

"She's fine." Xena replied quietly.

Toris got up, then settled down on the pallet next to his sister. "You seem different now, since you came back."

"Do I?'

"Yeah."

For how long, Xena wondered. Until the next attack, when her instincts flared again, and the lure of her bloodlust took her over? The visit with her family had restored some of her balance, but she could feel the tiger padding about the edges of her senses, waiting. Her fingers twitched in reaction, curling their fingertips in search of a weapon. She settled her head in her hands, and scrubbed her temples. "Any sign of advance scouts?"

Toris accepted the change of subject. "No. We thought we saw a small force creeping up on the left hand side about a candlemark ago, but it turned out to be something else."

Xena rested her chin on her hands. "What?"

"Sheep."

"Ah."

"We brought them inside the camp." Her brother advised. "No sense in letting lambchops run around on the battlefield for Andreas."

That got a brief smile from Xena. "Go get some rest, Toris."

He was silent for a beat. "Anything you need first?"

Xena shook her head.

Toris stood, and went to the tent opening, turning to look back at his sister. He opened his mouth to say something, then quietly closed it, and left.

For a few minutes, Xena just sat there. Then she straightened, and slid her boots out along the mud packed floor, gazing down at her leg armor with pensive eyes. Slowly, her hands lowered, and undid the straps under her knees, pulling the armor plates off and putting them to one side. She stripped of the rest of her armor and set it down, then stood up and removed her battle stained leathers, draping them over the edge of the pallet as she trudged over to the basin of cold water.

She flexed her hands, before she undid the buckles on her padded undershift, and removed it, letting the barely warmed air of the tent blow across her tired body. A piece of sea sponge rested next to the basin, which Xena lifted, and dunked in the cold water, then removed and started scrubbing the mud and worse off her skin. She added a bit of the spicy herbal soap and watched the water turn slowly from clear, to cloudy, to rust as she rinsed the sponge off repeatedly.

She stood for a moment before the brazier, letting the water dry against her skin before she pulled on her other undergarment, relishing the clean scent before she buckled the catches and slipped into her black leathers.

The heavy armor shifted into place, and she twitched at it, before she buckled down the straps that held it to her body, careful to position the back pad she'd added to cover the base of her spine.

One nightmare involving an injury rendering her helpless, and motionless had been more than enough. Xena fixed her shoulder strap, then sat down with her cleaning kit and pulled the first armor plate over, cleaning it meticulously and straightening an edge before she set it down and went on to the next. After the armor, she cleaned and sharpened her sword, putting a razor's edge on the double sided blade, then checking her scabbard, before going on to a careful polishing of the chakram, and the five daggers she wore into battle.

Then she packed up her kit, and tucked it into her saddlebag, and donned the armor.

Seated the weapons.

The cold metal warmed slowly against her body, and at last, all there was left to do was to sit, and wait. Xena settled in the chair closest to the brazier and stretched her legs out, smoothing the leather plates over her thighs absently. She let her hands rest in her lap, studying them in the low firelight. Tiny knicks and scrapes showed as dark lines against her skin and she turned the palms upward, examining the thick muscles covered with calluses. One fingertip traced a thin, almost invisible line across the opposite surface, stopping where the line stopped and pausing.

Xena curled both hands into fists, then pushed herself up out of the chair and stood, pacing around the interior of the small tent.

It was too quiet. She looked around. Too empty. Xena walked to the tent flap and edged out into the cold air. She didn't want to be alone. So she walked out across the churned, beaten ground, past curled figures whose eyes slitted open and followed her, to the defensive wall. She climbed up to the highest point, her profile breaking the skyline as she seated herself by the archer guard, who watched her with wide eyes.

Xena tucked her cloak around her and gave them a nod, before she leaned back and turned her face outward, waiting for the dawn.

**************************

Continued in Part 25

These characters, and boy, are they ever characters, are mostly the property of Renaissance Pictures, Universal MCA, and whoever else owns stock and interest in Xena: Warrior Princess. This fiction was written for my amusement only, and not in any way, shape or form for profit - and it is not intended to infringe on the copyright holders of the characters.

Some of the characters are mine, and the story ideas.. well, who knows where they come from? Must be one weird place, that's for sure.

Specific Story Disclaimers:

Violence - this is a Xena: Warrior Princess story. This is not Teletubbies. Even though there are some rumors of similarities. Some of the violence is graphic, but we try not to dwell on it.

Subtext - Considering that the TV Series just aired an episode establishing Xena and Gabrielle as eternal soulmates, any disclaimer of subtext on my part is really kind of goofy in the extreme. The two characters are in love with each other, and have been for years. You can choose to see them as just friends, but then you might not want to read this fanfic, in case it changes your mind or anything like that.

Emotional Content - this is not one my more comedic efforts. There are moments of humor, however.

********************************************************************

Dark Comes the Morning - Part 25

By Melissa Good

The drumming came out of the fog, preceding the sunrise in a rush of wild yells.

"Steady." Xena boomed, from her position on the center platform of the defenses. The archers fidgeted, raising bows and peering into the mist, unable to see anything concrete enough to shoot at.

"They coming right for us?" Toris hissed, kneeling next to her.

It was eerie, and frightening, all that sound coming at them. Xena lifted her body up a little and cocked her head to one side. "All right! They'll be coming in a sweep!" She circled her sword arm in an arc. "Past the walls. Let em come, let em throw what they got, then fire… hear me!?"

"Yeah!"

"How do you know that?" Toris rasped.

Xena looked at him.

"Well?"

"The same way I know if you don't shut up I'm going to toss you over the wall."

Toris blinked.

Xena turned and concentrated, as the horses grew louder and louder, and she detected the faint hiss of arrows falling short of their target. "Here they come!" She tapped Toris' shoulder "I need six archers, to aim at the trenches."

"Okay." Her brother jumped to the next platform, and grabbed two shoulders. "With arrows?" He yelled back across to Xena.

"Flaming ones." The warrior replied, leaning over the wall and peering down through the fog at the dimly seen trenchworks dug in neat rows before the walls, to deny Andreas men footing, and provide a few surprises of their own. She shifted, and her hand flicked up, capturing an arrow in it's grasp. Curiously, she sniffed the tip. "Keep your heads down… they've got poison on the tips." She called out, nodding as she heard the warning passed down the ranks.

"Shoot now?" Toris asked.

"Not yet." Xena remained impassive, listening to the oncoming attack. Arrows bounced off the walls near her, sending pocks of mud to skip off her skin.

"Xena!" Toris ducked, as two arrows nearly spit him.

"Steady." The warrior lifted her hand, as the gray fog lightened with the coming sunrise. A large rock smacked into the wall next to her, and bounced off her leg. She ignored it. The missles came fast and furious now, pouring out of the mist in a frightening wave that bounded over the edge of the wall, and started doing real damage.

Xena rose up, and lifted her sword, eyes alight and watching, body moving with short, instictive motions to evade the hail of arrows and shot that pinpointed her. The thunder of hooves was deafening now, and suddenly, a fireball broke through, hitting the top of the wall and bouncing over, it's flame undimmed as it traveled it's way down the platforms, setting anything it touched ablaze.

One of the soldiers caught it, and screamed as his shirt caught fire, dropping the fireball. His nearest neighbor shoved him off the platform, into the muddy ground below, and yelled at him to roll in the stuff.

Xena waited. Parts of the wall started to crumble under the onslaught, but she remained still, now able to see the black forms of the horsemen rushing towards them.

Then a soft breeze puffed at her back, lifting her dark hair and brushing it across her eyes. "Now!" She swept her arm down, then sheathed her sword, picking up her bow and nocking an arrow. She held the tip in the torch nearby, then aimed at the nearest of the trenches, and fired.

Six others followed her lead, sending flaming arrows into the dirt, all down the walls. The trench ignited, and as they watched, a soft yellow haze began to rise up, mingling with the fog as the leading edge of the enemy riders reached them, and started their sweep across the front of the battlements.

The yellow smoke lifted, making the horses sneeze, then rear, and in the space of a moment, the orderly charge was thrown into disarray, as men threw their arms up, arrows going astray as they found their eyes filled with tears, and their lungs filled with something worse.

"Now." Xena yelled, picking her first target, and efficently placing an arrow in the center of his neck. She smiled, then pulled a second shaft from metal stand jammed near her right boot, and shot again. The twang of strings traveled down the walls, as the roughly three hundred archers shot through the misty air, aiming for the dark confusion barreling down on them.

Screams, of humans and horses sounded, then the front row barreled into the second set of trenches, and the screaming began in earnest.

Pointed sticks would have been too easy. Xena aimed and fired, and jerked her body to one side as a crossbowman returned the compliment. But long, twined ropes of dried river thorns, three inches long and tough and bone with barbs to rip open flesh worked well.

A horn sounded.

The fog roiled, dark forms emerging and disaapearing in a whirl of confusion as Xena's archers kept firing.

Then the drumming started again, this time in reverse, as the pounding hooves turned, and retreated, sending gusts of white and yellow air to mix in the wan, barely penetrating dawn light.

"Stand down!" Xena ordered, turning her head aside as a snatch of sulpherous air drifted past her. The cries faded, and she stood quietly, her hand wrapped around the solid, warm wood of her longbow as the sun gently nudged the thick fog aside, it's golden tinged white fading to reveal the now silent field before the wall.

What appeared at first like hummocks of mud resolved into the slumped bodies of men and horses, some struggling faintly, most lying still and outflung in death. Xena mentally counted, then turned, and leaped off her platform, landing in the mud and striding over to the gates. She motioined over a squad of waiting warriors. "Get two hitched sets of horses, and the reeving hooks, and follow me."

They obeyed in puzzled silence, as she led them to the gates, and signaled the two burly militia to open them. "We're gonna drag the bodies to the river… I don't want them stinking up the place." She ordered. "Wrap your shirts around your mouths.. don't breath the yellow stuff."

The gates opened, and Xena pointed at a second squad of warriors. "Come with me.. we'll stay on guard."

Backs stiffened in reflex. "Yes, ma'am." The fighters clustered around her eagerly, drawing their weapons as she strode out of the gates and moved cautiously onto the field of battle. They set to work dragging off the dead soldiers and their horses, while Xena examined the trenches. "Hold it." She hopped out of a trench, a longsword held gripped in one hand. "Take their weapons, and those damn surcoats."

Xena collected the cloth and steel from them. "All right… g'wan." She let them continue, then strode over to the wall, and took the first bloodstained surcoat, nailing it into the packed mud and wood with a salvaged dagger. It fluttered there forlornly, and she smiled at it before she moved onto the next one. When she was done, over a hundred surcoats decorated the wall, and she glanced alertly out across the grass, hearing the far off sound of motion. "Everyone inside!"

"Xena!" Toris was kneeling on the ground. "What about the wounded?"

Cold blue eyes regarded him. "They're not my wounded. Kill them."

"Xena… " Her brother stared.

"It's a kinder death than leaving them out here, Toris. Think about it." Xena replied, drawing her boot dagger. "Go inside."

Toris glanced down at the feebly moving man near his knee, and visibly drew a breath. Then he jerked his knife out and stabbed down quickly, and brutally, as the body seized in his grip, and shuddered, then relaxed.

He stood, and wiped his knife off, then turned and walked away, refusing to look at her.

*****************************

"The battle started." Jessan was hunkered down near the soggy leaves, only his round ears swiveling to catch the slightest sound. All around him, the rest of the forest dwellers were doing the same, in an attitude of patient waiting.

"I know." Gabrielle was seated on a woven fletch, jammed between two closely grown trees that formed a protected shelter for her from the light mist. She could feel the dark excitement through her link with Xena, and the jolts of almost sexual thrill were making her slightly sick to her stomach. "I wish I could see what's happening."

"Well, that would kinda defeat the purpose." Jess reminded her, squeezing her foot gently. "How's Dori?"

The bard checked the basket resting at her side, liberated from some storeroom and lined with bits of scrounged cloth. Dori was tucked inside, sucking drowsily on her thumb. "Quieter, today… I gave her some of the stuff Xena gave me when I cracked my ribs.. I think it's helping her owie."

A russet eyebrow lifted. "Her what?"

Gabrielle rubbed her jaw. "Her arm…sorry. I get stuck in baby speak sometimes." She turned the baby's head to one side, and winced at the darkly visible bruising across Dori's face. "How could someone… " Then her voice fell away.

"How could any hit a bitty boo like that?" Jess murmured. "You humans… I don't understand you sometimes." A pause. "Okay, lots of times."

"I don't know." Gabrielle sighed. "There are so many times I wanted to ask my father that." She admitted. "Why." She played with Dori's toes, peeking out from under the blanket. "Xena told me once that when someone strong hurts someone so much weaker than they are, it's because they hate themselves, and this is their way of making themselves feel better."

Jessan thought about that. "Ew." He scrunched his face up. "But what does that have to do with your father?"

The bard rested her head against the nearby tree, and gazed down at her daughter. "At least the person who hit her, was a stranger." She smiled sadly at Dori, who blinked at her, and blew a bubble. "Not someone she trusted."

Jessan's golden eyes widened as he regarded his friend. "Oh."

Oh. Gabrielle felt the disquiet in her guts settle, and she spared quiet moment to remember a day months back.

"Dori!" She'd yelled, for the nth time as the toddler lived up to her title and toddled right into the low table she was trying to sort scrolls on. The rolled packages spilled off the surface, and Dori sat happily among them, shoving them around like toy horse carts. "Gods… Dori, stop that."

The door had opened, and Xena had slipped in, hanging her cape up and shaking her head to rid it of the thick, fragrant rain drops from the storm outside. "Hey you two."

"Ugh." Gabrielle had crawled across the floor, gathering in scrolls. "She's being very rambunctious this morning."

"Oh yeah?" Xena had dropped to the floor of the cabin, and stretched her legs out, holding her hands towards Dori. "C'mere, tiny terror tot."

"Boo!" Dori had immediately abandoned her scroll trucks and made a beeline for her favorite toy, ambling over and thumping into Xena, then starting to climb up her tunic with determined grunts. "Good!"

Xena had laughed, and leaned back, making the task easier, her arms wrapping around Dori protectively as the baby climbed. "Where're you going?"

"Bck." Dori had achieved her goal, and loosened one hand, whapping at Xena with it with gusto.

"Hey." The warrior caught the hand. "No hitting. That's bad."

Dori had scowled, and tried to tug her hand free. "Go!"

"Dori." Xena's voice had dropped in warning. "I said, no. That's bad."

"Bck."

"Bad."

Gabrielle had watched the two, Xena's intense eyes locked with her daughter no less vivid ones. "Xena, she's only a baby.. she doesn't understand."

"Sure she does." Xena had replied. "If someone had told me hitting was bad at her age, maybe I wouldn't have turned out the way I did." And then she'd looked up at Gabrielle. ""I want her to know there's always a better way." A slight pause. "Your way."

My way. Gabrielle sighed. I wish I had as clear an idea of what that is as you seem to, Xena. She looked up as footsteps approached, and recognized Aslanta's tall form approaching. The Amazon queen looked very grim, and her hands were flexing into fists as she ducked around Jessan's kneeling form and faced Gabrielle.

"Queen Gabrielle."

Uh oh. "What is it?" The bard felt her senses come alert, at the very visible tension.

"The guard we left at the pass… one of them just came crawling into camp. They are all dead." Aslanta took a breath. "Save the one. Slaughtered by a fierce warrior, dressed in black."

Gabrielle hauled herself to her feet. "We've got to get word to Xena." She decided, crisply. "I'll need a fast runner."

"Gabrielle.." The tall blond woman hesitated.

"Aslanta, she's got to know if someone's gotten back to Andreas."

"The survivor says the warrior came over the pass from Andreas army." Aslanta told her. "Heading this way." She lifted her hands. "But we don't know why."

Jessan slowly rose, and moved closer to Gabrielle and Dori. "I can guess why." The forest dweller rumbled. "I'll warn the guards.. Gabrielle, please stay here. I'll be right back." Ducking under a branch, he disappeared, leaving the two women facing each other.

Aslanta took a breath to speak.

And an arrow stopped it, sending a spurt of blood out over the grass and causing the Amazon to crumple to the ground in shock, her hands fluttering towards her throat as she died.

Gabrielle whirled, one hand going to her staff, the other to her belt dagger, as she put herself between the unseen attacker, and Dori. Her eyes searched the trees, and suddenly she froze, as two cool, gray spots met her gaze. With a ripple of motion, a lithe body dropped out of the trees, and padded towards her with an animal intentness, a faint smile playing over a pair of very handsome lips framed in a neat black beard.

Gabrielle moved her staff to a guard position, and decided on the better part of valor. She opened her mouth, sucked in a lungful of air and yelled at the top of her lungs.

The man lunged for her. He caught her staff and jerked it from her hands, tossing it to one side then reaching for her in a quick, angry motion.

*****************************************

"How many did we lose?" Andreas sat on a boulder, his hands folded in his lap. The lieutenant facing him licked his lips nervously, and shifted a little, moving back a step before he answered.

"I… I would think a.. a hundred, m'lord." The man got the words out in a rush. "It started out well, we got almost up to the walls in the fog, but…"

"But?" Andreas asked, gently.

"They set something afire, it got in our eyes." The soldier admitted. "It was so painful, we lost our bearings."

"Hm." Andreas stood up and dusted his fingers off. "Was it bluish?" He selected a dagger, and cleaned a fingernail.

"N..no. .Yellow." The man answered. "It stank."

"Like rotten hen's eggs?"

"Yes, yes, m'lord, Exactly." The soldier nodded. "Many of the men who came back, are sick from it."

"Interesting." Andreas mused. "How could she be sure it would not kill her men, as well, I wonder? Hmm?" He stuck his index finger in his mouth and held it up. "Ah… the wind has shifted.. it was calm earlier." He nodded slowly. "She must have waited for the dawn, and the air to move… chancing it would move in her favor."

The soldier blinked, clearly out of his league. "Yes, m'lord." He answered simply. Around them, orderly action bustled as the legions regrouped, and prepared for another assault. Two teams were guiding oxen, pulling large siege engines, and several mounted and armored squads were preparing to ride out.

"M'lord." A taller, older man approached, and saluted respectfully. "You asked to see me?"

"Devon." Andreas exhaled. "Tell me again what you saw?"

Devon braced, placing his hands carefully behind his armored back. "With the necklace, m'lord?"

"Yes."

A breath. "I saw Eldritch put it in her, sir."

"You're sure?"

"Aye, m'lord. Very sure." Devon nodded solemnly. "Because then, it was as though… " He hesitated. "She is formidible warrior, m'lord, but at that time, whole legions would have fallen to her."

"Hm." Andreas stroked his beard. "Why then is she still fighting me? It should have brought her out to us like a child unable to resist candy, so bad is the craving, and I know she feels it." His pale eyes narrowed. "I feel her."

Devon's heavy brow creased. "M'lord… perhaps it is the storyteller? Remember what the Amazon told us?"

"The storyteller." Andreas growled softly. "Why is it I am plagued with storytellers? I should have cut the tongue out of all I found." He stretched. "Perhaps. I have sent my Hound to remove that particular possibility, since we know now where their reserve force is."

"Tis but a small one."

"Mm… villagers and Amazons, yes." Andreas nodded. "No matter." He turned and gestured. "Let loose the catapults. I want those walls down before noon." Briskly, he walked over to the mounted troops. "Ride out to the pass, and secure it. Kill anyone you find."

"Yes, m'lord." The lead rider saluted briskly, and motioned his forces to get underway.

A creak caused Andreas to turn his head, observing as the catapult was slowly wound back. The foot soldiers shifted impatiently, eager to join the battle as they straightened neatly made armor, and honed well kept weapons.

******************************************

Gabrielle twisted to one side, and ducked his grasp, then got her bearings and dodged, getting around behind him and giving him a shove. "Hey!"

The warrior turned with her, ignoring the push and closing the distance between them, pushing past her hands and grabbing her body. He slammed her against the nearest tree, then shoved her down and knelt over her, drawing a long knife.

Gabrielle blinked the stars from her eyes and tried to get up, but he was far too heavy for her to throw off. His knees shifted and pinned her arms down, and for a few heartbeats, they stared at each other, breathing puffs of vapor in the cold air.

Oh gods. Gabrielle could read her death in his eyes, as the knife lifted. She heard Dori cry out fitfully, and realized she'd never hear that sound again. It made her angry, and her instincts flared, bringing back flickering memories of her first years with Xena.

My way? Gabrielle sucked in a breath. "What are you doing?" She asked firmly, meeting his eyes with quiet courage.

The knife quivered, but paused. "Killing you." The man answered, his voice low and melodic, with a faint accent Gabrielle couldn't quite place.

"Why?"

He laughed. "Because my master wishes it." The knife moved downward. "I will be quick."

"Your master is Andreas?" Gabrielle felt her heartbeat start racing.

Another pause. "Of course." The knife touched her throat, cutting into it lightly. "Be still now."

The pain lanced through her. "Funny." The bard's voice went a little hoarse. "You don't look like the kind of man who bends his knee to a coward." She heard a faint sound behind her, and edged her eyes just past her attacker's shoulder, where furious gold ones glared back at her. She lifted a finger in warning, as the knife point sank deeper, thirsting after her jugular pumping hard against her skin.

The gray eyes glinted, but the blade slowed it's progress. "You mock him."

"I do." Gabrielle replied. "I despise anyone who sends dirty assasins to kill women and children." She kept her voice clear and firm, and refused to loose her eye lock on his. "Don't you?"

He shifted his hand on his weapon, watching the rich, red blood pool in the hollow of Gabrielle's throat. "You are no innocent."

"That's true." Came the ready admission. "But I didn't start this war." Gabrielle went on. "And all I want out of it is to watch my daughter grow up."

Dori let out a cry, and the basket she was in rocked a bit. A tiny fist waved over the edge of the woven side in visible protest.

"Andreas does not wish to kill children and mothers." The man told her softly. "He only wants to protect them." His grip on her cloak loosened slightly, and he tilted his head.

"Then what are you doing here, slitting my throat?" Gabrielle said.

"You are not…"

A fair brow tilted. "A woman?" Gabrielle glanced down at herself, then up at him, allowing the tiniest of smiles to pull her lips up. "If you pull off enough layers, I am." She watched his face shift. "Now, the way I see it, you've got two choices. You can either finish what you started, and butcher me in cold blood in front of my baby, or you can get off me, and we can talk."

"You do not understand what you ask." The warrior said.

"I understand that we all have to live with our choices." Gabrielle replied firmly. "And that no one can make them for us." She captured his eyes again. "So choose."

The knife point touched her skin again. "You tempt your fate."

"No. I just accept it." The bard said. "Your master thinks by killing me, he'll take out Xena. He's wrong. If you kill me, there's nothing in this world that will keep her from making him die in the slowest, most painful way imaginable." She saw the sudden look of wary alertness in his eyes. "So if you want to condemn Andreas to death, go ahead. Kill me."

And slowly, the knife backed off, ending up with it's cold hilt resting on her stomach, as her attacker studied her in silence. "Perhaps you are right."

They regarded each other for a few heartbeats. "Well." Gabrielle cleared her throat. "I think that was a good choice."

He laughed faintly. "I'm sure that you do, for your sake."

The still pinned bard shook her head. "No. For yours." She lifted her gaze past his shoulder, then made a motion with her finger, aware of the movement behind her and to both sides as forest dwellers lifted up off the leafy ground, crossbows aimed firmly at her attacker's chest. "If you woudn't mind getting off.. my back's killing me."

The man's eyes widened in shock and horror as he faced the tall, furred, fanged and angry creatures now growling fiercely at him and closing in a smaller and smaller circle. With a jerk, he scrambled off Gabrielle's body and stumbled backwards, holding the knife up in pitiful defense.

"Let him alone." Gabrielle commanded. "Don't hurt him. Just make sure he doesn't hurt anyone else."

"If I rip his arms off, that would do it." Lestan growled.

Gabrielle gave him a look.

Lestan sighed. "You two, take his toothpick there, and tie him up."

Two of the forest dwellers closed in on the assassin. He backed away from them nervously. "What in the name of the gods are you?"

"Well fed badgers." Lestan replied, with a snap of his fangs. "In a really bad mood."

Jessan knelt at the bard's side, and gently helped her to sit up. "Good grief, Gabrielle… what'dja tell us to lay off for?He could have cut your throat open!" Anxiously, he touched his friend's skin, where blood was welling up. "Uck."

The crisis over, Gabrielle winced as the pain swept over her, making her gasp as she struggled erect. Jessan awkwardly got his arms around her and stood, lifting her up as her hands clenched in his fur. "Hey… take it easy…" He glanced down. "Your back's bleeding."

The bard took in several breaths, then lifted her head. "I bet… he slammed me into a tree." She admitted. "Gods, I wish I could just go home." She glanced down to where Dori was, the baby's eyes wide as she watched her mother swinging up over her head. "You okay, sweetie?"

"Mama." Dori held her good hand up, reaching for her. "Go bad!"

"I'm not going anywhere, honey." Gabrielle reassured her. "I promise." She reached down and caught the baby's fingers, squeezing them, then lifted her head to see her attacker being prodded over to her, his hands bound behind him, and rope shackles on his feet. She regarded him seriously. "What's your name?"

The gray eyes seemed much less frightening now. "You could have stopped me at any time."

"Mmhm." Gabrielle nodded. "But I'm glad I didn't have to." She wiggled a foot. "I'm sorry, I didn't catch your name?"

"I have no name." The warrior replied, straightening a little. "I am simply Andreas' Hound."

Jessan snorted.

Gabrielle considered that thoughtfully. The man was tall, taller than Xena, and very well built, with a solder's strong shoulders and tapered, muscular body. He had a chiseled, handsome face, with dark hair and beard, and vaguely reminded her of Ares.

Just a little.

The God, of course, not her pet wolf, though the name certainly was suggestive. "Okay." Gabrielle sighed. "Put him in one of the supply wagons. "

"Should I give him some biscuits too?" The russet furred forest dweller who had hold of him inquired, with an amused wrinkle of his muzzle. "C'mon, poochie."

Gabrielle watched the man stumble off, his eyes on her until his captors took him behind some trees. She sighed. "Jess, you can put me down."

"Why? You got a problem with fur?" Jessan inquired. "Its not like you weigh anything. Just hang out until the healer gets here. Pop went for her." His head tilted. "You coulda just let us take that guy down, y'know."

"I know." Gabrielle felt a curious satisfaction settle in her guts. "But with all the killing going on, it feels good to know there's always another way."

Jessan regarded her quizzically, not really understanding the smile.

*************************

A thunderous crash made Xena flinch, as she yelled instructions in one soldier's ear. She glanced up to see the top of the wall shudder faintly, and heard the sound of a huge missile falling to earth on the other side. "Damn.. what in Hades are they pitching at us?"

A yell alerted her, and she threw herself against the inner wall as a second shot came over the top, and crashed to earth, exploding in a shower of sharp granite missiles, which pierced flesh and caught one man right in the throat, spilling his blood over the ground as he gurgled his last breath.

Xena threw her arm up and deflected several that bounced her way, then caught one on the rebound and examined it. "Don't touch them!" She yelled suddenly, urgency punching the volume on her voice. "They've got something on em!"

Soldiers hurriedly brushed flakes off their skin, and backed away from the piles, which glinted with a softly oiled glow, and smelled faintly acrid. Xena let her chip drop in disgust, and wiped her hand on her cloak, just as another bomb skimmed the wall top and thundered into a supply tent, collapsing it and falling to the ground unburst.

"Bastards." The warrior shook her head. "You there, on the platforms… get ready." She motioned a wagon forward, two soldiers tugging on the crosspiece. "Get those balls ready, and give some back to them!"

"Will they reach, genr'l? I think they're a bit far for us yet." One of the wall captains yelled back.

Xena scaled the wall and pulled her body up to the top, peering over, visible from her forehead up. She studied the troops facing them, then judged the wind. "Aim high." She dropped back down, and watched as the wall troops loaded the solidly lashed catapults up with bombs of their own. "Here." She walked over and picked up the one that had landed, then bounded up the platforms, handing it to two of the catapult operators. "Send this one back."

Another barrage crashed against the wall, and she almost toppled off the platform, catching her balance at just the last moment.

"Lost a section there, genr'l!" A scout hollered.

Another crash. Xena went to the wall, and looked over, eyeing the crumbled gap in the wall's surface.

"Look out."

The warning made her duck, and the entire battlement shivered as the catapults threw an even heavier load against the mud and wood surface. Xena let out a breath, peeking over the top to see Andreas troops starting to move forward, sensing a weakness. Part of the wall toppled, and now the movement became a definite thrust forward.

"All right… " Xena turned and projected her voice. "Here they come… mount up!"

"Xena.. what's the plan?" Toris was at her elbow. "We're not going to meet that charge… you can't be serious! They outnumber us. .. ooof!"

Xena batted him in the mouth, and sent him sprawling across the platform. Her eyes pinned him with an angry, feral glare. "If you're running out of guts now, then get going, Toris. The hills are thataway." She pointed over her shoulder with a thumb. "Remember the way?"

Toris stared at her, shame and anger written clearly across his face. "Haven't changed a bit, have you." He spat back at her, in clipped tones. "Same old Xena."

"Get out of here." Xena turned and dismissed him, leaning against the wall with both hands. "Fire!" She ordered her own catapults, feeling the jerk as the war engines cut loose, sending a hail of smaller bombs outward.

A fiery missle hit the wall near her, and stayed alight, and she focused on it, then suddenly grabbed a longbow from a nearby soldier, standing idle because the oncoming troops were still out of range. Xena quickly tore a piece of cloth off her cloak, then wrapped it around an arrow shaft, just back of the head. She dipped the cloth in the fire, and watched it burst alight with a crackle, then leaped to the top of the wall.

Arrows immediately headed her way, but she ignored them, even when one slammed into her leg armor and stuck. She drew the bow back to it's full extention, arm muscles holding steady and firm as she aimed carefully, then waited ..

For just…

The right….

A strong puff of air buffeted her back, and she released the shaft, as Andreas catapult traded her arrow for boulder, the machine's load slamming into the wall's surface almost at her feet. Xena leaped into the air as it struck, then landed lightly as the shudders stopped, letting a laugh ring out over the battlefield.

Ah.

Her arrow had struck, and as she watched, men started running around reaching for sacks as the catapult itself caught fire, the almost translucent green flames licking eagerly up the edge of the wooden siege engine.

A wild yell went up from the wall, and the soldiers cheered, chanting Xena's name, despite the continued advance of Andreas men. Xena grinned, then hopped back down onto the platform, and plucked the arrow from her leather armor, tossing it down to the ground with a negligent flick.

It was captured as a prize, she noted, and stuffed into someone's surcoat. "Everyone on the walls… pour all the artillery we've got into them while they're coming." She ordered, setting herself against one of the uneven patches torn from the surface by the rocks.

Andreas troops were advancing now in earnest, shields up, weapons ready, moving in a determined line across the ground. Xena's archers began to find their range, and the twang of bowstrings rippled the air followed by the hiss and thump of shafts. Xena joined them, selecting her targets carefully, and putting shots into helmets she could barely make out.

Still, they came.

They'd abandoned their catapult, but slung between large, feathery legged horses was slung a well padded battering ram, and the lead legions carried huge battle axes, no doubt intended for use in attacking the wall's surface.

"Keep firing!" Xena signaled her catapult, and the machine slammed forward, releasing a cargo of missles. They impacted the front line of troops, and it wavered, but the soldiers locked arms and kept moving, now starting a low chant that rumbled through the sound of their passage.

***************************

"Mama…go owie." Dori warbled softly, from her warm cradle inside Gabrielle's arms. "Bck."

The bard opened her eyes wearily, and gazed down at her daughter. "I know, honey.. I'm sorry." She shifted a little on the roughly woven seat jammed between two branches, and rested her head against the rough bark. "Would you like to hear a story?"

Dori's good eye widened a little. "Boo."

"No, sweetie… Boo's not here. I wish she was, but she's really busy… right now." Gabrielle's jaw suddenly clamped down, and she paused, until the lump in her throat subsided. "Want me to tell you a story? How about the cow?"

"No."

Gabrielle blinked. "You're a little early for that, aren't you?" She smiled tiredly. "What about the one with gramma and the duckie?"

"Boo."

The bard sighed. "Dori."

"Boo." Dori repeated, stubbornly.

Gabrielle studied her thoughtfully. "How about if I tell you a story about Boo, hmm?"

Dori gurgled, and blew a bubble. "Guff."

"Okay." The bard ran through her admittedly extensive catalog of tales about her soulmate, and discarded most of them as unsuitable for Dori's tender ears. "How about if I tell you a story about Boo, and Ares?"

Curled at her feet, the wolf looked up puzzledly, hearing his name. "Gruff."

"That's right.. I'll tell you how Boo found Ares, and how he came to live with us, okay?" Gabrielle informed her. "Would you like to hear that?"

"Sure."

Gabrielle almost sneezed half a lung out of her ear, as she jerked her head down to blink at her suddenly loquacious daughter. "Uh…"

Then she heard a chuckle, and glanced up to see a cluster of forest dwellers tucked neatly around her feet, round, furry ears cocked alertly in her direction. "Oh.. that was you." She scrubbed her temples with one hand. "Gods… for a minute there…"

The forest dweller who'd spoken, voice softened and lifted in a childish imitation, smiled toothily at her. "I know… your eyeballs almost rolled out."

Gabrielle smiled back, a little less fang oriented. "Anyway… " She took a breath to start the story, then paused, as her senses picked up a dark rush traveling down the link she had with Xena. "Uh… think this'll have to wait." She told them, with a grim look. "We need to move out… and get into position."

Lestan appeared at her elbow, with Hectator at his side. "Did I hear that right, little sister? Is it time?"

The bard inhaled, unable to avoid the chill of fear that ran down her back. "It's time." She got to her feet, and put Dori down on the woven chair, then picked up her armor and slid it over her head, settling it and buckling the belt. Her back hurt, but there was no time for that now.

She was tired.

She was cold, and hungry, and sick to death of the fighting.

None of it mattered. Around her, she felt the troops stirring, rustles and motion in the thick underbrush. She ran her fingers through her muddy and sweaty hair, freeing it from her collar, then settled her cloak around her.

"Mama." Dori gazed up at her unhappily. "No go."

"It's okay." Gabrielle picked her up and, with gentle hands, slid her bruised and battered body inside a padded sack, carefully made from a half an old set of furs Jessan had with him. She made sure the baby's hands were nestled in the sack, then fastened the edges, allowing only her round face to show. She gave the tiny nose a kiss, then she put her arms through the straps on the sack and fastened it around her own body. "You're coming with me this time, Dori. How's that?"

Dori gurgled in surprised pleasure. "Go!"

Gabrielle smiled sadly, as she picked up her saddlebag and fastened it on Iolaus' back. "I can't fly, Dori. You have to wait for your Boo for that."

"Go Boo?"

The bard laid her hands on the worn, but well cared for leather of her saddle, and studied the rich, warm surface between her outspread fingers. "Yes, honey. We're going to go find Boo."

"Good."

"Glad you approve." Gabrielle murmured softly, as she hauled herself up into the saddle, wincing at the soreness along the inside of her legs as she moved them into place, her hands finding the reins automatically. "Everyone ready?"

Lestan raised a fist. Hectator fell into step next to him, along with the remaining leaders of Aslanta's people. They all turned to watch Gabrielle, tacitly acknowledging her leadership.

Gabrielle straightened her shoulders, and lifted her chin. "Let's move." She started Iolaus out, threading through the trees as quietly as she could, guiding her army towards the far off wisps of smoke, and the faintest of battle sounds past the horizon.

******************

"They're still coming!"

The yell reached Xena's ears, as she steadily poured her arrows downward, and she glanced behind her, to where the rest of the troops were arming and mounting. Andreas men were closing on the walls, and she turned, leaping down to join the force they were going to send out against the first wave.

It wasn't as suicidal as it appeared. Xena had carefully constructed her walls at a bend in the river, where the natural topography of the land funneled any attack in towards the center of the gates, not allowing Andreas troops to spread out. She intended on pouring her mounted force out against his foot soldiers, knowing they couldn't stand before the horsemen, and hoping she could drive him back at little and make him regroup. "Ready?"

Five hundred voices rose in response, as the soldiers pulled out their weapons and raised them in her honor. Xena grinned, and headed for Argo, then paused, stiffening as a familiar presence made itself known at her back. She took a breath, and slowly turned only her head, regarding Ares with cool, remote eyes. "Yes?"

The soldiers had frozen, seeing the blue flash as the God of War appeared, and now there was an uneasy, frightened silence in the compound.

Ares came closer, then sauntered around Xena until they were face to face. "One last chance, Xena."

"I'll see you in Hades, Ares." The warrior replied simply. "Now, get out of my way." She deliberately avoided the leather clad form and continued towards Argo.

"Xena, would you please stop being so damned stubborn?" Ares yelled at her back in exasperation. "It's senseless!"

The warrior turned and put her hands on her hips. "No." She shook her head, very aware of the awestruck looks focused on her. "What's senseless is you supporting him, Ares. What's your percentage in that? He's out to remove the gods from Greece."

"I'm working on that with him." Ares flicked his fingers impatiently. "It's an.. annoying… detail, nothing more." The God of War folded his arms across his burly chest. "He's a fool, but he'll learn."

"You're the fool" Xena shot back. "You think he'll come to worship you, Ares? He's not the type. If you let him win, let him run over Greece, he'll make himself a god, and destroy any hope for you and the rest of them."

"Xena." Ares let his voice drop warningly.

"It's true, Ares." A long finger pointed at him. "And you know it." Xena turned, and mounted Argo, removing her cloak and tossing it aside, then shaking her hair loose, as she gathered reins in one hand. "Excuse me. I've got a battle to fight."

"To lose." He taunted.

"What do you care? It's not like you've ever gotten your hands bloody." Xena taunted right back. "If I die, I'll die a warrior… more than you can say, isn't it, Ares?"

The god's pale eyes darkened in anger. "Watch your mouth, Xena."

"Or?" Xena drew her sword, and glanced up along it's length, silver flashes dancing across her face in eager anticipation. "No wonder no one believes in you anymore… why should they?"

His dark beard bristled with electric power. Outside the walls, the rising sound of the attacking troops reverberated. Xena gave a signal, and settled her feet firmly in her stirrups. "Get ready! Start those gates opening!"

"Hold it!" Ares yelled.

Xena looked at him. "What?" She snapped, irritatedly.

For a moment, they gazed at each other.

"You want to help the gods, Ares?" Xena finally said, as the gates started to creak open. "You want to restablish your cult?"

He glared at her.

The tall warrior sidestepped her anxious mare over a few steps, and let loose with the full force of her personality, focusing intently on the glowering God of War. "Ride with me."

"What?"

"Xena! The gate's moving!" A captain yelled.

"Ride with me." The warrior repeated, urgently. "Be on my side, Ares. Your sword, and mine… we've never fought together."

"Xena!" Toris' frantic yell.

"C'mon." Xena held a hand out invitingly.

The narrow nostrils flared, and a subtle, almost familiar glint entered Ares eyes. "Sorry. I don't seem to have a horse. Too bad."

Xena flashed him a wicked grin, and whistled shrilly. Out of the cluster of anxious horses behind them a dark figure appeared, snorting and bucking as he answered Xena's call, throwing his head up nervously as he stopped beside them. "Sure you do."

For a moment, the world simply stood still, and went very silent. Xena was aware of a sound of rushing water, but even the air had gone still, as Ares extended his powers, and gave himself space to think. Very slowly, his head lifted, and their eyes met.

"You and me, huh?" The corner of Ares mouth lifted.

Xena nodded. "Yeah."

"I've already given my support to Andreas, Xena."

"And?" The warrior drawled. "You always back the best warrior, Ares.. you saying he's better than I am?"

Ares regarded her in silence for a long set of heartbeats, then a grudging, knowing smile twisted his lips. "No."

Without another word, he mounted the black stallion's back, gentling the horse with automatic, supple motions. He snapped his fingers, and the world returned, the sound almost bowling Xena over as she heard the horns of attack just outside the gates.

The troops parted, as she and Ares paced to the front, waiting, as the teams strained on the ropes, and the wall opened before them, a flash of green, and blue, and army waiting for them as the foot soldiers charged forward.

"Heeyaahh!!" Xena set her heels to Argo's side, and lead the way, aware suddenly of Ares drawing the Sword of War at her side, making her arm hairs stand up on end. "Forward!!!!"

The men yelled behind them, and the sound of pounding hooves filled the space, as they launched out into the battlefield.

*****************************

They stopped just short of the last rise before the land sloped down towards the river. Smoke rose over the horizon before them, and if Gabrielle concentrated, she could just hear the clash of steel. She leaned forward against Iolaus' neck and closed her eyes, then opened them, almost awash in the dark energy now pulsing unrestrained down her link with her partner.

Between them, and the battlefield was the river, of course, and to her eyes they were well on the wrong side of it. But Xena had been sure of her plan, and now that Gabrielle considered it, she wondered if the entire thing wasn't some grand scheme of her partner's to keep her relatively out of harms way.

No. Surely , Xena hadn't considered that.

"Mama." Dori tugged at her hair. "Hmm…"

Gabrielle retrieved a bit of sweet bread from a pocket and handed it to her daughter absently. "There you go, honey."

Jessan brought his mount up next to her, standing a little to get a view of the river, and it's beleagured fort. He sat back down with a sigh. "Sitting here while they're fighting really sucks."

"Mm." Gabrielle closed her eyes again, trying to fight off the unnerving craving in her guts. The closer they got to where Xena was battling, the worse the feeling was getting, and she found herself almost resenting it's seductive hunger.

"Gabrielle." Jessan put a hand on her arm, his voice tensing. "Look."

The bard's eyes snapped open, and she turned her head, focusing on what her friend had seen. "Son of a Bacchae." She felt her heart start to pound as she spotted the lines of soldiers, snaking down the valley, heading towards Amphipolis. "They're trying to sneak up from behind."

"Yeah." Jessan motioned behind him. Lestan and Hectator hurried up, and reviewed the newcomers. "We have company."

"Damn." Hectator growled. "Now what?"

Gabrielle sat very still, only her mist green eyes moving under pale lashes as she stared through the foliage. "Now we have to stop them." She murmured remotely. "Get the troops ready."

"We'll blow our cover." Lestan reminded her.

"I can't let them get across the river." Gabrielle responded. "C'mon." She carefully unslung Dori's bag, and kissed her head, then handed her down to the healer, who had come up to check the baby's injuries. "Hold onto her for a few minutes?"

Then she turned Iolaus' head, and released her staff from it's holders, letting it drop into her hand with a familiar feel of wood against flesh. Her discomfort vanished, and she urged her horse forward, between two close growing trees and down the barely seen path. A file of warriors followed her with careful steps, until the thick forest thinned out, and she could urge Iolaus forward, trying to pretend the bolt of excitement that rattled her body from sole to neckhairs wasn't for the oncoming battle.

Her heart started to thunder as she leaned forward, and Iolaus caught her tension, moving from a walk to a canter, then to a rolling gallop as she lead a mixed force of forest dwellers and human cavalry towards the cautiously moving enemy.

The enemy bound on attacking her soulmate.

She couldn't have that.

A yell bubbled up from her throat, as they cleared the trees and fanned out, barreling down the slope at full speed towards the enemy. Her hand flexed on her staff, and for a brief, chilling moment, her mind imagined those fingers closing on a very different surface, one of metal and wood, a weighted hilt that fit her hand.

The one she'd rejected, and left in the valley.

The enemy soldiers heard them now, and were turning, wheeling to meet them with evident surprise, not expecting to see a force the size of hers attacking them.

Then their eyes fell on the forest dwellers, and she was close enough to see shock and fear take them over. "Heeyyaah!" Gabrielle let out the yell that had been building, and was answered by a roar from her troops as she lead them into the fight, bracing her body for the impact just before she took the closest soldier off his horse with the end of her staff with a sound like a melon splitting.

*********************************

"Xena!"

The warrior twisted in her saddle, slashing downward to remove an arm drifting her way, Argo's body shifting in anxious circles in the surrounding melee of fighters, her forces holding a shaky line against Andreas far greater force by sheer brute skill.

Parts of the walls had been shattered by catapult shot, and her archers were taking cover where they could, while still peppering the enemy with long shafts.

"What?" Xena yelled back, ducking a thrown spear.

"They're starting to break through on the left!" Toris pointed with his sword.

"I know." Xena reviewed the lines, then stood in her stirrups and let out a yell. "Fall back!" She tapped several fighters ensconced stubbornly around her. "Hold that point!" She nudged Argo forward, taking a position forward as her fighters started a slow retreat.

"What's the matter, Xena? Giving up!??" Ares appeared at her side, his sword bloody. "C'mon… I just started to have fun!"

"Good. You can help me cover the retreat, then." Xena snapped back, freeing a boot and kicking a determined foot soldier back. "Or get out of my way, Ares."

"What the Hades are you doing, Xena? You're winning!" The God of War stared at her. "You can't retreat!"

"Help, or get out of the way." Xena pushed past him, swinging her sword under Argo's neck to halt an attack on the man next to her. "Pull back! Pull back! Across the river!!!"

"Sorry Xena. I don't hang round in a losing cause." Ares gave her a disgusted look, then snapped his fingers and disappeared.

Xena ignored him. She directed her small group into a wedge, and was briefly glad the close fighting was keeping Andreas archers from getting decent aims as an arrow thunked home in her shoulder armor. "Move it!" She could see Andreas' cadre moving closer, and she paused, half standing in her stirrups, then reaching for her chakram.

No. He was too far away yet.

Her forces were now backing through the shattered walls, and the enemy surged forward, sensing their weakness. A roar went up, and Andreas men went on the attack.

**********************

They barely had time to turn as the bard set her knees, and settled her staff against her hips, slamming into the hastily organizing cavalry with gut wrenching force. One man was swept right off his animal, the other, on her right hand side, caught the staff and tried to pull it from her hands, but she twisted with him, and yanked it free.

"Roaaar!" Jessan's bass voice erupted next to her, making two of the enemy's horses rear and scream in terror. His claws glinted in the sun, and he alternated powerful sword slashes

Gabrielle clamped her jaw grimly and fought on, ignoring the pain in her back, determined only to stop this threat to her soulmate. The enemy force had almost gotten to the back sections of Amphipolis, and by the torches they carried, she guessed the town would have been their first target on the way to ambushing Xena's army from behind.

Their forces were numerically equal, but Andreas men had to deal with the frightening appearance of the forest dwellers, and even Gabrielle couldn't find it in herself to pity them, as they scrambled away from the roaring, snarling fighters who were gleefully ripping them to pieces.

And that shocked her.

So much so, that she backed off, the roar of the battle rolling over her like thunder as she turned aside and brought her staff down, confused, and scared.

"Gabrielle!" Jessan barked, seeing her retreat. "What's wrong?"

"Everything." Gabrielle found herself whispering. She took in a breath to tell her troops to stop, give the enemy a chance to surrender, but as her chest expanded, the shout died on her lips.

Too late.

A dying horses scream echoed.

Injured soldiers were staggering away, some crawling in fright across blood spattered leaves that filled the clearing, as forest dwellers and soldiers chased them down, making sure there were none left living.

Gabrielle closed her eyes. All right, Gabrielle. Get hold of yourself. You can't just lose it right here in the middle of a battle.

"Gabrielle?" Jessan's voice was much closer.

Slowly, she let her eyes open, and tried not to throw up. The smell of blood rose around her, and she was aware of her body shivering violently, her hands clenching so hard on her staff she could feel the grain in the wood imprinting itself on her skin.

"Are you okay?" Her friend asked, hesitantly. "We.. um… it's over here, let's get back to the main army, okay? I feel sorta exposed.. I don't know if these guys have any….um… Gabrielle?"

Her shoulders dropped, and she let her weapon lie across her thighs as she willed her heart to stop pounding and her mind to settle. "I… I'm all right, Jess."

"Are you?" The golden eyes gazed at her in concern.

Sheer determination let her regain control over her shattered composure. She straightened her back and lifted her chin, regarding the now quiet clearing with almost impassive eyes. "I'm fine… you're right. We'd better get back… I want to be ready when Xena calls. "

*************************

"Get moving!" Xena shoved the last of the troops through the hole in the wall, then turned, and watched the wall of enemy soldiers coming towards her. She lifted her sword and let her battle yell ring out over the ground, guarding the jagged opening as the first of them reached her. "Get back you bastards!" She disemboweled the man, then braced her legs out wide, and swung her weapon in a large circle, as the troops surged to either side and started to break their way through the walls.

"Genr'l!"

"I said move it!" Xena yelled back furiously, as she ducked an arm, and drew her dagger, savagely slicing the man trying to hack at her with a half broken sword. A wave of enemy surged over her, and she went down under the weight of them, hands grasping for her weapons, her body, fists pounded into her flesh as she rolled and twisted, aware of a sharp, stabbing jolt near her ribs, beneath her metal armor.

Then her hands hit the ground, and she found some leverage, shoving against the ground and tossing two of her opponents off balance just enough to get her boots under her, and add her leg strength to the effort.

With a growl, she powered upward through the bodies, tossing them from her in a motion so powerful her feet left the earth, and she was able to get her sword free.

Instinct closed her hands in a double fist around the hilt as she chopped in short, savage arcs before her, carving flesh and bone and armor with equal efficiency. She took a step forward, driving back the line of soldiers shoving against her in the small space, stepping up on the fallen bodies and taking advantage of the added height to bring her arc up to head level.

"Xena! We're clear!" Toris hollered at the top of his voice.

And I was just getting warmed up. The warrior's eyes glinted, and she took a step back, throwing her enemies off balance as she locked her elbows and swiveled her body, bringing her sword around in a deadly circle that ripped through the closest five or six and sent them sprawling in a pile before her feet.

Then she launched herself backwards, through the opening and bounded forward, throwing her shoulder against the tilting surface and sending it over to close the gap, as she turned and broke into a run towards the river's edge.

*************************

The excitement was nerve wracking. Gabrielle stood quietly, her arms draped over Iolaus' neck with her back towards the army as she waited, feeling mostly numb inside and slightly sick to her stomach. Her guts were twisting in anxiety, and she'd moved past wondering what was going on with Xena into wishing with all her heart that the whole damn thing was just..

Over.

She was so tired of the hate, and the blood, and the fighting.

So tired of knowing that every minute of it, every battle took Xena further and further from her, driving the warrior deeper into her dark side and erasing all the peace she'd gained in the last year.

Even in victory, the'yd both lose so much.

Gabrielle let her cheek rest against the soft, prickly hairs on her stallion's neck and felt the warmth as a few tears escaped and ran down her face to dissapear into the golden coat. "It's not fair, Io." She whispered. "All she wanted was to.. just live a quiet life, and watch Dori grow up. Was that too much to ask?"

"For her? You bet, sweetheart." Ares dark voice battered her from behind.

"What do you want?" Gabrielle refused to turn around to look at him.

"It's almost over, blondie." The God of War circled Io, and leaned on his back, peering at her with a dark smile. "Are you the reserves? You'd better get moving, before theres nothing left."

"Not yet." Gabrielle told him softly.

"C'mon, bardiepoo." Ares snickered. "Or are you finally showing your true colors?"

Cold green eyes were leveled at him. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Don't you?" Ares leaned closer. "I know what she'd do for you, Gaaabriellle." He pointed a finger at her nose. "But you never really do come through for her, do ya?"

Gabrielle slowly took in a breath, and released it, refusing to allow him the pleasure of getting her upset. "All that I am." She murmured. "All I could ever be, forever, is hers." Now she leaned closer to him, over the stallion's golden back. "And that's the reason she'll never, ever go back to you, Ares." Gabrielle smiled, right into his glare. "You've lost." She touched his nose with a fingertip. "I've won."

He jerked his head back and narrowed his eyes. "Do you really believe that?"

"Yes." Gabrielle replied immediately. "And so do you, or you wouldn’t be here. What do you want, Ares?"

The cold blue ice chips watching her went hooded. "She's got something up her sleeve." He replied, surprisingly. "I want to know what it is." He held a finger up at her started response. "Don’t' be so hasty… wait till you hear what I'm ready to pay for it."

"No price of yours would be enough." Gabrielle told him.

"Xena's life enough?" Ares inquired, arching an eyebrow. "You tell me what I want to know, I'll make sure she survives the fight. Plain and simple, Gabrielle." He waited through the silence. "Otherwise, she's going to die before sundown."

Gabrielle felt as though she were standing in the cold wind, naked. "You'll make sure Andreas wins, then?"

"You bet." Ares agreed. "That's my plan, chickaboo. C'mon. I know you're a sucker for the baby blues.. you two can take off, and go find some other hole in the wall to raise your little snookums in."

His victim turned, and gazed off into the distance, past the shadowy forms bunkered down in the foliage, past the trees, and the arch of the mountains reaching for the sky. "You offered me her life the last time, too." Gabrielle murmured. "But it was at a different price." The image formed just behind her eyelids, of a desperate lunge, her arms wrapping around Hope, her weight taking both of them beyond the startled, outstretched grasp of Xena's fingers.

She remembered Xena's eyes, the silent pleading in them.

"Yeah… I'd have thought you'd jump at this one.. " Ares laughed. "You don’t' even need to get fireproof undies." He circled Iolaus and came up next to her, tugging a bit of her hair with wry impudence. "C'mon, Gabrielle…you don't want to watch her pyre tonight, do you?"

The mist green eyes clouded, then brightened with unshed tears. "No."

Sure of her now, he took her chin in one hand, and regarded her with almost gentleness. "Spill it."

The bard took a deep, deep breath,, and released it, her armor rustling softly as it settled against her skin. "She's going to let Andreas chase her across the river and towards the valley. We're just a diversion.. the main force is there." Her voice was very soft, and hoarse.

Ares leaned forward and kissed her on the forehead, then lightly patted her cheek. "Good girl."

A snap, and a blue flash, and he was gone. Gabrielle slumped against Iolaus' side, and her eyelashes flickered, spilling large, heavy tears that darkened her leather armor. She sniffled, and rubbed her face, turning her body as she felt Jessan's presence at her side.

They regarded each other soberly.

"You lied to him." Jessan finally stated.

Gabrielle nodded in silence.

"He'll know that."

Another, tiny nod. "I know." Gabrielle let her eyes find the leafy floor, allowing herself a moment to understand the reality of knowing the consequences of her choice. It was the right one, she knew it, she felt it in her heart and soul, knowing the price Ares had asked was one her soulmate would never, ever have paid.

But the pain was like breathing fire. "Just once." She whispered to herself. "Just once I wish I was part of the greater good instead of the one sacrificing for it." She felt Jess's hand on her shoulder, the rough texture of his skin contrasting with the warmth. "How many times must I travel this road, Jessan?"

The touch turned into a hug, as her friend comforted her in wordless silence.

A gentleness brushed her senses then, cool and distant, and she straightened up, wiping her gauntlet across her eyes and taking a shaky breath. "Get the troops mounted up. It's almost time."

Overhead, the sun slanted through the trees, painting stripes beginning to take on a dusky gold, the shadows lengthening towards the inevitable day's ending.

******************************

"The walls are down!"

Xena heard the warning as she hit the bridge, turning her head to see part of the battlements collapse, spilling a crowd of yelling soldiers through the gaps. She bolted across the bridges surface, unhooking her chakram as she neared the end of it, then twisting her body to her right and letting it fly just as the first of the attackers reached the far side.

She felt the bridge give way under her boots, and she dove for the shore, grabbing hold of the support pylons and flipping herself over, lifting a hand to snatch the chakram as it returned from it's destructive journey. She turned, to see the end of the bridge collapsing in the river, and smiled at the cursing soldiers.

But only for a moment, as they headed for the ford, pouring down the embankment and launching themselves through the river's low, almost turbid waters.

A hail of arrows sped across the opening, and Xena ducked behind the end posts, surveying the opposing force. "Get back behind the culverts!" Xena yelled, watching her troops hastily dismount, and send their horses running, as they dove behind the sturdy defensive positions Xena had dug into this side of the river as well. Archers began to return fire, and she took the opportunity to rest for a few heartbeats, reviewing the field.

They'd done well. Xena's experienced eyes swept over Andreas forces, and she nodded, seeing a fifth of them gone, injured or killed by her force of a scant eight hundred fighters.

Not that they'd gone unscathed. Xena tried not to see the slumped figures dressed in her colors, or count the missing faces in the warriors around her.

Suddenly, the mass of Andreas men spilled over into the river, and his artillery pieces commenced firing loads of small shot over the river, driving her men back from the shore. So fierce was the attack, that fully a quarter of Andreas remaining men had traversed the ford before Xena's forces could return fire. The warrior bolted from her vantage point, and dove behind the nearest hillock. "Keep firing!"

"We've not enough arrows to get em all, Genr'l." The archer nearest her responded, taking careful aim and releasing. "Too many of the buggers."

Xena put a hand on his back, and nodded. "I know…. Get as many of the bastards as you can." She watched as Andreas forces poured through the ford, fighting their way through the water and up the near bank, keeping shields high as they came under her troops fire. The catapults flung loads across the river, though, keeping her people pinned firmly down.

Xena smiled. "That’s it… come to me, you bastard."

"Xena… if they come up that way, we're trapped." Toris hissed at her elbow, a gash on his forehead dripping thick, red blood. "We won't be able to retreat back towards the valley!"

'That's all right." Xena put her hands on the top of the barrel they were crouching behind, and vaulted over it, bolting for the middle of their line and diving over the edge of a sideways tipped wagon, tumbling over two men and stirring up a puff of dust as her boots hit the ground. "Sorry."

The first of them, an older man called Eldon, grinned at her. "No problem, Genr'l." He rested his crossbow on the wheel spoke, and his fingers surreptitiously brushed her leg armor, as though touching a talisman. "Tough buggers, aren't they?"

"Oh yeah." Xena peered over the wagon, and saw the first wave start to inch their way up over the embankment. "Hit em hard!" She lifted her voice. "Push them back into the river!"

A wild yell rang out over the bloody ground, and the air was suddenly thick with arrows, and the thunder of their own, smaller catapult answering back.

A small group of Andreas men formed a block, and rushed forward, and she could see the flicker of fire behind their shields. Xena took a breath, then drew her sword and put her free hand on the top of the wagon. "Keep your heads down." She vaulted back over the wagon, and broke into a run towards the advancing soldiers, hearing the sudden shout of her name rise up behind her.

Her troops, chanting. She picked up speed and used her sword to flick the arrows headed towards her neatly outo f the way, hearing the yells now of the enemy as they recognized her. One long stride, then she was airborne, tucking her knees up then lashing her boots out as she hit the first shield, her body weight stopping the advance in it's tracks and sending the men sprawling.

The Greek fire spilled out, and the ground ignited, singing her hair as she tumbled through the soldiers, and flipped upright, locking her hands on her hilts and whipping her sword around in a vicious figure eight that killed three of them before they could struggle up off their knees.

An arrow skimmed her shoulder, and she dove back through the flames, her blade slashing through a leg and sending a spurt of blood arcing out to spill on the ground. She crouched, and a blast of shale from the catapult thumped over her, several pieces smacking into her armor and bouncing off with a sodden rattle. She killed the remaining two soldiers, then lifted her sword as she stood in the eyes of the enemy, surrounded by flames, unharmed.

Then through the smoke, she found her eyes drawn across the lines, to the rise just on the other side of the river, where a man sat on horseback, watching.

Andreas.

Xena smiled, showing neat, white teeth as she met his gaze, through the blurring of the flames, and her sword's flickering as she turned back the wave of arrows speeding towards her. "You want me?" She chuckled. "Come and get me." She turned, and took two long strides, then launched herself up ward and over the embattlements, landing behind them and whirling as hands grabbed her, and patted her back, excitement running down the lines despite how long they'd been fighting, and the odds against them.

C'mon. Blue eyes emerged over the edge of the wood. Andreas forces were now pouring up over the river side and spreading outward, blocking the path leading out towards the valley, and swarming close to the outer walls of Amphipolis itself.

"Xena." Toris grabbed her arm. "What in the name of Hades are you doing?" He ignored her flashing eyes, and pulled harder. "You've boxed us in a corner, and they're coming right at us!"

Xena yanked him against the boxes, and moved her head close to his. "That's right."

"We can't hold them off!" Her brother hissed.

"I know." Xena replied. "I'm telling you now, Toris. If you're worried about dying, leave."

His face was sadly confused. "Why?" He asked softly.

"Just go." Xena heard the rush of troops behind her, as Andreas forces massed to charge. "G'wan.. you can get out the back there… go, Toris."

A moment's pause, then he shook his head, and shrugged her grip off. "Not this time." He cranked his crossbow, and turned, settling himself next to her and watching as the enemy advanced. "For Ly's sake."

Xena glance down for a beat, then lifted her sword up. "Now! Nail em with all you got!"

A blizzard of arrows answered her, thunking against the armor and shields of the enemy troops. Xena lifted a longbow and stood up behind the wagon, putting shaft after shaft into the steadily advancing soldiers. A wild yell emerged from her lips, and from sheer volume, the defense slowed them, then stopped them, as the lead soldiers dropped in their tracks and the ones behind stumbled over them.

Ares words of warning echoed in her memory.

A horn sounded.

The remaining troops and Andreas himself charged across the ford.

The assault moved forward again.

Xena closed her eyes, permitting herself a single moment of inner reflection, focusing on Gabrielle, and making a sad acknowledgement of the warmth that filled her, for just that one, small instant.

I love you.

Forgive me.

Then the troops were rushing forward, and she was drawing her sword

**************************

A quiet, very somber profile lifted towards the westering sun. "Now." Gabrielle spoke the word steadily. She gathered her reins, and waited, as Jessan bowed his head, his lips moving slightly before he looked back up, turning Eris and lifting one huge, furred arm.

He tipped his head back, and roared, shaking the leaves above them, and making Iolaus jump between Gabrielle's knees.

The army moved, slipping through the trees until they emerged from the forest, and onto the slope that lead up to the slight ridge above Amphipolis. Gabrielle settled her knees, then urged Iolaus into a canter. The line of warriors spread out to either side of her, and soon the sounds of the valley were drowned out by the rumbling thunder of twelve hundred mounted troops that barreled up the slope, and crested the ridge, filling the horizon.

Gabrielle gazed down the opposite slope, her blood running cold as she saw the tiny, beleaguered band of her friends standing against the onrushing troops. Her voice rose in a yell before she could stop herself, and she saw heads turn her way, as Andreas captains tried vainly to turn their troops towards this new threat. Andreas himself had just come onto the near bank, and now he yelled and pointed, directing the legions still crossing towards them.

And then a rumble, low and dangerous, overrode the clash and clamor of war. It was a deep, angry sound that got louder, and louder, and slowly the fighters paused, and looked around…

Wondering.

Everyone stopped.

A man pointed, and screamed.

The roar reached them, as a wall of water, and rocks, trees and debris surged down the banks of the river, it's leading edge appearing more as a huge congomerate creature, overrunning the sides of the river and smashing down across Andreas forces, blasting away the men still crossing the ford, and batting aside those closest to the banks as though they were dolls.

"Hold!" Gabrielle held a hand up, as they lined up on the ridge, safe from the water. Her troops shifted restlessly, growls running up and down the ranks, the forest dwellers eager for battle, smelling the advantage shifting.

*****************************

Xena watched her troops line the ridge, watched the enemy scramble and die in the river, watched her own troops realize what had happened, and start to cheer. Andreas men frantically tried to recover their weapons in the rushing water, but as they neared the river, death came from another direction as arrows sped from the direction they came, from well hidden archers now using the defeated embattlements as cover from the other direction.

An Amazon yell echoed over the waters, and Ephiny raised a fist towards Xena, waving it back and forth.

They were trapped.

Xena whistled, standing and turning as Argo trotted up, and leaping aboard the mare, feeling a rush of dark energy, as her body realized what her mind had already acknowledged.

It had worked. She turned Argo in a tight circle, and lifted her sword, then turned and faced Andreas troops, who were suddenly disorganized, and afraid. Her battle yell echoed over the field. All that remained now, was the killing. She'd lead her troops down on Andreas, and trapped as they were between her forces, and the forest dwellers, and the river… he didn't have a chance, despite the fact that his numbers still slightly outsized hers.

A sense of exultation filled her, as she absorbed the sense of victory greedily, it's triumph filling a dark cavern in her gut in a way she'd tried her best to forget, over the last few years. But she never really had, and now she lifted her sword, welcoming the violence she knew was coming, eagerly wanting the rush as her troops responded to her signal and prepared to charge.

Nothing could stop her.

Just like the last time. Xena laughed. She'd take the world.

The smell of blood came to her, and she opened her mouth to give the order, feeling the surge as her army sensed it coming.

On the ridge above, in the very fore of the battle, a tousled, fair head dropped, unable to watch.

This was what she'd lived for, wasn't it? Dreamed about, all those years, all those battles ago. She'd taken a rag tag force, and through solid strategy and her own martial skills, she'd won the field. Now her body was craving the slaughter to come, her fingers twitching on her sword hilt as her darkest side rose up, stretching it's claws and enjoying the sunlight after far, far too long.

Yes. She let out a yell, and her army answered, wanting it as much as she did, the blood lust shaded only a trifle by a single, very thin grain, that just for an instant, made her pause. Surely there was nothing wrong with the Destroyer of Nations to live up to her reputation? Here, Andreas had brought his aggressive nation..she was just doing her job in destroying it, right?

The warrior exhaled. Except that she wasn't the Destroyer of Nations anymore. She wasn't fifteen anymore. Outraged, her dark side struggled hard, but a quiet, hard won strength held it down firmly. Xena's voice rang out over the field. "Lay down your arms."

Gabrielle looked up at her in wonder.

Everyone was still, as Argo galloped out to the clear space between the armies, sidestepping around the patches of still burning ground. The dark head lifted. "You've got one chance. " She told them. "Lay down your arms, and surrender, or I'll slaughter you all like sheep."

"Never!" Andreas started towards her.

"What guarantee do we have?" A closer voice asked, a mounted mercenary, watching her warily.

"My word." Xena replied, sitting still, and quiet on Argo's back.

"It doesn’t' end like this, Xena!" Andreas shoved men out of the way.

A thud, then several more. Swords hitting the earth, Shields dropping. Andreas army put down their arms, and surrendered, most of them looking relieved as Xena's troops circled them cautiously.

Andreas drew his sword. "You're not going to just take everything, Xena… no.. no, you're not." A mad glint filled his pale eyes. Archers raised their bows, and glanced at her in question. Xena lifted a hand, and waited.

"Hold it. Let him come." She didn't feel threatened by the sword in the least. "Better put that down before I make it part of your backbone."

They were a horse length apart now. Behind him, his troops were slowly sinking to the ground, exhausted. Above on the ridge, the line of warriors started moving, lead by a gleaming gold stallion which quickly outpaced the rest.

Xena folded her hands on her saddlebow. "You've lost, Andreas."

"No, no.. I can't have." The foxy beard bristled. "You don't understand." He drew even with her. "I was promised."

"Not my problem." Cold, blue eyes regarded him.

"You were supposed to turn.. to be with me." His hand reached out to her, touched her armor. "You must join with me, Xena… we can rule the world. Don’t you understand? " His hand gripped her wrist. "You can't have defeated me."

She felt the fire steal out and capture her, as his eyes bored into hers, and the darkness surrounding him expanded to suck her in, touching all her dark points, and stirring the bloodlust running so close now to the surface in her.

"That's it." His voice seemed deeper. "See? You didn't beat me, Xena, now did you?"

It was a wonderful swirl of feeling, very sexy and interesting. "No." The warrior replied softly.

Andreas smiled. "I knew all it would take was a few words."

Xena gazed at him dreamily. "I didn't defeat you."

"No… that's a good girl. You didn't." He moved a step closer.

"She did."

Andreas' head tilted slightly. "What was that? Who is…"

A dull thud sounded over the battlefield, and Andreas slid slowly out of his saddle to the ground, his grip loosening on Xena's wrist as he slumped into the mud.

Iolaus skidded to a halt, bearing a hard breathing, sweating bard who glared at her partner with snapping, anxious green eyes, as the golden light of sunset bathed them both. "What in Hades were you doing?"

Xena shifted, and stretched in her saddle. "Waiting for you. Took you long enough to get down here."

A cheer rose, making speech impossible. The troops closed around them, swirling around the two mounted forms facing each other in the midst of chaos. "Tie him up." Xena tapped a battle captain on the shoulder. "I'll decide what to do with him later."

A chant started. Her name, a sound that vibrated against her skin as her army surrounded her, and reached out eagerly, carefully, just wanting to touch her armor, gazing up at her with an air of total adoration.

Gabrielle glanced at the sun, watching it's slow fade pensively.

**************************************

"Xena!" Gabrielle dodged several running soldiers, and determinedly plowed through the cheering troops towards the tall figure tucked into their midst. After a very brief, though heartfelt hug, her partner had dismounted and started the process of settling the camp, accepting the claps on the back and congratulations eagerly.

She deserved it, Gabrielle acknowledged, but there were too many people with too many weapons around her, and the bard didn't trust most of them, despite the happy cheers. She looked over her shoulder, then ducked under an arm outstretched to hug her and latched on to the back of her partner's leathers, digging her heels in firmly and knowing, if nothing else, it would get Xena's attention.

"That's right.. bivouac everyone just past the… " Xena turned, as she felt Gabrielle's touch. "Hey."

"I need to talk to you." Gabrielle said, firmly.

"Okay." The warrior nodded. "Let me just.."

"No." The bard overrode her.

Xena glanced around, then down at her. "Gabrielle… wh.. c'mon, I've got.."

The bard stepped closer. "Xena!" She barked, sharply, getting a wary, defensive look in return. "Please."

The blood spattered chest lifted, and fell. "All right." Xena eyed the chaos they were standing in. "Where do you want to go?"

"Home." Gabrielle gave her a gentle nudge towards the cabin, the edge of which she could just barely see between the trees.

"Gabrielle.."

Another step closer. "Please?" The anxiety was building, and Gabrielle only wanted to get under cover, in safety, away from the hectic confusion in the midst of the army. She took another step towards the gates of Amphipolis, and felt Xena's body grudgingly give way, as the warrior turned to join her.

Every step was nerve wracking. Every suddenly moving body made her jump, and turn, until she felt a hand settle on her shoulder. She pushed the gates open and lead the way across the busy courtyard, filled with soldiers and the wounded. No villagers yet - it would take time for word to filter back to the valley, and even though Andreas army had meekly disarmed, the area still had a distinct scent of danger oozing through it.

Gabrielle held her breath until she entered their home, and waited as Xena passed in after her, then closed the door firmly behind them, and leaned against it.

Xena had paced into the room, and now she turned, and eyed Gabrielle uncertainly. "W… what's wrong?" The warrior finally asked. "We did great, Gabrielle…. " Her voice dropped a bit. "Didn't we? I mean.. I thought… ."

Gabrielle allowed herself the utter luxury of simply walking over, and laying her hands on Xena's chest, taking a deep breath as she leaned forward. Xena slowly lifted her arms and circled Gabrielle's shoulders, leaning her cheek against the bard's head as they just stood together in silence.

"Are you all right?" Xena finally murmured.

"I'm all right." Gabrielle exhaled. "Cmon… let's sit down here for a few minutes."

They sat next to each other on the low couch, in a somewhat awkward, slightly prickly quiet. Xena felt confused, unsure of what was going on with her soulmate, starkly aware of the intense strain that made her partner's face years older than her actual age. "Gab?"

A breath. "You must think I've lost it." The bard whispered. "I'm sorry… I.. um.." Gabrielle paused. "Could you just stay here with me for a little while, please?" Just a little while, she repeated silently, watching the golden light dripping through the window go a little more crimson.

Xena settled back against the cushions, stretching her legs out slowly as her battle high wore off, and the abuse she'd forced on her body started to surface. She didn't understand what Gabrielle was doing, but just sitting quietly wasn't a bad idea.

One hand plucked at a bent piece of armor plate on her knee. She thought she might be bleeding somewhere, under all the mud and gore, but she wasn't sure. "It worked, Gab."

A faint smile. "Yes, it did." The bard leaned against her, watching a ruddy line creep across the floor. The shadows within the cabin were lengthening, and she found herself searching for the first hints of the blue of twilight in the air.

Xena drew in a breath, and released it. "We won." She felt the bard's head nod against her arm. "Damn, I'm tired."

"Me too." She watched a bloody stripe inch across the floor, and an errant breeze brought her the scent of torches, along with the ring of axes and the yelled orders.

"How's your back?"

"Hurts." Gabrielle admitted softly. "Everything does."

Xena shifted, and put an arm around her. "Jess said the rest of your forces are coming up… so's Dori."

Another faint nod. Gabrielle patiently willed the creeping line to move faster. Every muscle in her body was twisted into a knot, and if she could, by force of will, get the planet to turn faster and bring on the dusk, she surely would have.

"Let me get you s.." Xena started to stand. "Wh.. " She found herself pulled back into place, and she dropped back into the cushions with a thump. "Gabrielle!"

"Please just sit still."

Dark brows knit in patent confusion. "Are you sure you're okay? Did you get hit in the head?" Now Xena started checking her partner's skull out carefully, sliding fingers through the sweat stiffened locks. "Sit back there… "

Gabrielle refused to turn her head, keeping her eyes focused on the fading sheen on the window ledge, staring fixedly at it until it's wood slowly went from burnished mahogany, to a rich purple, to a darkness shrouded in shadow.

The very last bit of the sun loosed it's grip on her life, and slipped away to slumber, freeing her to the future. Gabrielle felt the tension ebb out of her, and she slumped bonelessly against Xena's armored form, a few tired tears escaping from her eyes. After a moment of shocked stillness, a faintly shaking hand touched her face, removing the moisture and tracing her cheek in wordless anguish. The bard let her eyes open, meeting the worried ones looking back at her. Xena's face was outlined in twilight shadows, faint glints of light reflecting off her pupils. "It's over." Gabrielle whispered.

Xena stroked her face in hesitant comfort.

"Ares told me.. if I didn't tell him what our plan was, he'd let you die before sundown." Gabrielle whispered. "And I lied to him."

Xena's lips tensed, as she watched Gabrielle's eyes fill with tears again. "That's why you wanted to come here."

A nod. Gabrielle took a shaky breath, and pointed to the window. "It's after sundown, Xena." Now, finally, she touched her partner, running her hands over the battered form "And you're here."

So I am. Xena mused. Despite what Ares predicted.

Despite what I believed myself. She admitted in silence. I never expected to survive this. Xena exhaled, remembering her vivid nightmare, herself dying at the gates of Amphipolis, staring into the bloody eye of the setting sun.

But here she was, in darkness, at peace.

Why?

With a faint shrug, Xena pushed the matter off for later study. "Can I get up and get some tea now?" She asked her exhausted soulmate. "And take off this damned armor?"

"Yeah." Gabrielle slowly pushed herself to her feet, and fumbled with the belt that held her scale armor snug to her body, her hands almost too tired to release it. After a few heartbeats, her shaking fingers were warmed by a familiar touch and she felt the pressure around her stomach release, then a weight she'd hardly acknowledged lifted off her shoulders as the cool draft from the window blew against her sweaty undertunic, chilling her aching body. "Ugh."

Xena tossed the armor over the back of a chair, then knelt and unbuckled the protective belt wrapped around her partner's waist. Gabrielle kept her eyes closed and simply stood there, her arms slack at her sides as the armor was removed. She felt the laces loosen on her boots and stepped out of them, flexing her toes against the wood floor with a sense of relief.

"C'mon." Xena rose and took her hand, guiding her into the wash room and lighting the several bowl candles perched inside. She quickly stripped off her own armor, then carefully pulled off the bard's bloodstained undertunic, and turned her, to see her injury. "Damn." The word escaped her, as she saw the angry, swollen wound that now spread halfway across the small of the smaller woman's back. "Gabrielle."

Gabrielle curled her hands around the edge of the wooden tub and leaned against it. "You know… I used to sit up at night and wonder how you stood all the pain you've been in. I never really understood what you meant when you said, 'you just get used to it' .. I really didn't, Xena." She exhaled. "Now I do… you really do just get used to it."

"Hold still." Xena locked the part of her that was hurting for both of them away, and focused on the practical. She pulled the stopper from the end of the aqueduct and let the water fill the tub, then helped Gabrielle get into it. "Kneel… it wont' take long."

Gabrielle started to shiver in the cool water, and she gripped the edge of the wood and rested her head on it, as gentle hands scrubbed her skin with a spicy scented soap that held an unnerving note of home to a mind slowly sliding into shock.

She was barely concious of being lifted out of the water, even less so of being dried off, though the fabric of the linen struck odd chords of warmth against the chill she felt from the inside out. Softness settled over her shoulders, then she felt the surface of the bed's mattress under her hands as Xena set her down, and rolled her onto her side. She closed her eyes and let her fingers clench on the slightly nubbly surface of the pillow, then sensed Xena leaving. "No!"

"Shh." A hand on her shoulder, feeling incredibly warm. "I'm just going to start a fire in the fireplace, Gabrielle…and get my kit."

"Don’t leave me." The bard begged softly.

""I'm not. I'll be right here, okay? Just relax for a minute." The wooden floorboards creaked under the warrior's weight as she moved away, and Gabrielle waited in numb fear for what seemed an eternity until her footsteps returned, bringing a touch and a coldness on her back as her shirt was raised.

More pain. Gabrielle was too tired to even cry. All she could do was lie there until Xena was finished, and the covers were being drawn up around her shoulders bringing meager warmth to her fever chilled body. Xena put a hand on her arm and squeezed it a bit. "I'm going to clean up. I'll be right over there, okay?"

Gabrielle gathered her strength and turned her head, opening her eyes to gaze up at the candelit face above her. "Thank you." She blinked slowly. "I don't think I'm very coherent right now."

"Your cut's giving you a fever." Xena told her. "Not to mention every thing else that's going on.. but just take it easy, okay? It's over, Gabrielle… we won. We did it." She brushed a bit of pale hair out of the bard's glazed eyes. "We stopped him."

"We?" Gabrielle breathed in response.

"Very much we." Xena knelt at her side, resting her elbows on the bed and folding her hands together. "Let me go wash off, and we can talk about it."

"Okay." The bard painfully rolled onto her other side, so she could keep her eyes on her partner, and watched her walk back to the tub, and pull off her padded underlayer. The warm candlelight did nothing to disguise the bruises and cuts that covered the warrior's tall form, and Gabrielle was shocked to see how thin her soulmate had gotten, the long, curved ribs were very visible, and her collarbone stood out under her skin.

Xena pulled on a rough, dun colored overshirt and a pair of thick leggings and returned to the bedside, kneeling down again and regarding her silent patient. "You gonna be okay if I go get some things?"

"No." Gabrielle answered helplessly. "I'll go with you." She started to get up, and found herself pinned to the bed. "Xena, please… "

"Sh. Okay." Hands rearranged her covers. "Sit tight." Xena stood and walked to the door, easing it open and poking only her head outside. The town was packed with soldiers, and it didn't take her long to catch one of their eyes. "Bennu!"

The tall captain slogged over, leaning tiredly on his general's porch. "Genr'l… the gods were with us all t'day, I'll be telling you that." His face creased into a smile. "Ye were brilliant."

Xena's lips tensed into a bit of a wistful smile, part of her wanting to be out among the troops, absorbing the wondering admiration, knowing in her heart that it was due her, and feeling quite proud of herself because of it. "Thanks… it was a hard road, but damned if we didn't make it all the way through."

Bennu nodded. "Aye… and d'ye know, his men talk sweeter on ye than even we do?"

As planned. "Yeah, well." But she couldn't help but grin. "Listen, can you send someone with a double of whatever rations we're getting out over here? And ask Ephiny and Jessan to c'mon over."

"Aye, genr'l." Bennu saluted easily, a bloodstained fist touching his chest, before he turned and headed off with proud purpose. The rest of the troops were setting up camp, having moved Andreas' soldiers into the empty fields just north of the town. Xena looked up, as a motion caught her eyes and saw her banner being raised over the gates of Amphipolis, a bit of gold and shadows caught in the firelight as the last bit of twilight faded.

It looked… very much like it belonged.

Xena ducked back into the cabin and shut the door. Then she crossed to her armor, tossed in a pile with Gabrielle's and straightened it out, hanging it carefully on the hooks she'd set in the wooden walls for it. The plates were sadly battered, and bent, but she patted them affectionately as she set her sword on the table, and put the chakram down next to it. She peered at Gabrielle, whose eyes were now closed, and her brows creased in worry.

The wound in her back was bad, yes, but that wasn't enough to explain Gabrielle's mental state. Xena crossed to the bed and dropped to a knee again, watching the green eyes flutter open in frightened alarm. "Hey." She crooned soothingly, reaching under the covers for Gabrielle's hand. "It's okay."

The bard gazed back at her from across a forlorn gulf.

A knock came at the door, and Xena sighed. "C'mon in."

The wooden panel creaked open, and Ephiny poked her head in. "Hey you two." The Amazon regent padded over, and knelt at Xena's side, giving her injured friend a big smile. "Boy, am I glad to see you."

This brought a smile to Gabrielle's face, and she reached out to tangle her fingers with Ephiny's. "Likewise." She murmured. "Thanks for sending that note through that you guys were okay.. I had a couple of sleepless nights there."

Ephiny snorted. "We had it easy.. once we let his army pass, we hassled the rear flanks by night until I thouht they were gonna go nuts. I never knew Pony was that creative… but we were really worried about you." Her eyes shifted to her left. "You too."

Xena nodded shortly. "You did a great job."

"No no.. you, my friend, did the great job." Ephiny disagreed, putting a hand on Xena's shoulder. "We crept up close to listen to their camp at night, and let me tell you - there were a lot of men in that army who were convinced they were on the wrong side."

"They were." Gabrielle rasped softly.

"After all that happened, we were a little surprised you offered them terms, though." Ephiny commented casually. "Given the circumstances, they really didn't have the right to expect it."

Xena felt both sets of eyes on her, and she realized Gabrielle hadn't expected her to do that either.

It stung.

"I outgrew being a homicidal maniac, I guess." She enunciated the words carefully. "Sorry to dissapoint everyone."

Ephiny blinked. Gabrielle's hand wrapped itself around her partner's wrist, and tightened it's hold. "Xena, that's not what Eph meant… I mean, this was war, and these guys did some horrible things… remember that little boy?"

"So I should have killed them all?" Xena stood, breaking her hold and crossed to the window, staring out it and turning her back very deliberately on them. "Nice to know."

Ephiny gave Gabrielle a stricken look, her hazel eyes widening in helpless anguish.

Curiously, Gabrielle felt her swaying world stabliize, and she made a small gesture towards the door, and patted her friend's hand comforting. She watched Ephiny slip out, then she eased herself upright in bed and got to her feet unsteadily, making her way over to the still, angry form at the window and resting her hand on Xena's back.

Eyes wet with tears looked back at her, profoundly hurt.

"I'm sorry." Gabrielle said, quietly and sincerely. "Watching those men surrender to you was one of the proudest moments of my life."

"You didn't expect it." Xena accused softly.

"No." Came the honest reply. "I'd given up on hoping for the best. I was just hoping for not to be the worst." She put her other hand on Xena's stomach. "I was so knotted up with thoughts of losing you, it never occurred to me to even care about what you did to Andreas and his men."

Xena closed her eyes, spilling round, bright tears down her face. "Funny. All I could think of when I did that was how much I've learned from you, and how much you've changed me."

Gabrielle stared at her in silence, unsure of what to say. Finally she sighed. "Xena… as much as it's a profound honor for me to think I… anyway, I honestly believe what you did today was because that's just who you are… and because it was the very right thing to do."

They gazed at each other as the quiet lengthened, absorbed in each other's eyes as the sounds outside faded to inconsequence. Only a light knock on the door broke it, and Xena pulled Gabrielle into a hug as she turned her head towards the sound. "Come in."

Jessan poked his head in, golden eyes finding them. "Got someone who wants to see you real bad." He slipped into the room and held up a squirming bundle. "We got word there's a group coming up from the valley, too."

"Mama." Dori had spotted her mother and wailed.

"Oof." Gabrielle turned and released her soulmate, taking her daughter in her arms and wincing as the motion jarred her back. "Hello, sweetheart… " Impulsively, she hugged Dori, and kissed her on the head. "It's okay… you're home now." She looked up. "Thanks, Jess… is Elani okay?"

"Right as rain… and really smug about her part in releasing the dam." Jessan told her. "Listen, you guys must be tired. Everything's going great, so just relax, okay?" He glanced from one friend to the other, sensing the tension, and sighing. "I'll be back later."

Then he was gone. Gabrielle turned back towards Xena, who had resumed staring out the window. "Xena?"

The shoulders shifted, but the warrior didn't turn.

Dori, however, stretched her uninjured hand out imperiously. "Boo!"

Blue eyes peeked sullenly through disordered bangs. Xena turned and walked over, offering a finger to her daughter, who grabbed it and tugged. "Good! Boo come." Dori warbled.

"Xena, can… " Gabrielle sucked in a breath as a jolt of pain arced up her back. "You take her I.. "

One arm curled around Dori, and the other slipped around her shoulders and held her upright. "Back to bed." Xena murmured, helping her over and easing her down onto the mattresses soft surface. She pulled the quilt up around Gabrielle's body and tucked her in.

The bard was shivering, and her fever seemed to have overcome her again. She held onto Xena's hand and brought it up to her lips, pressing them against the knuckles. "I love you." She uttered, feeling the bones and muscles shift under her grip and the edge of Xena's thumb brush gently across her mouth. She heard the door open, and Xena give quiet orders, then it shut again. The warrior left her side, then returned, and she could hear Dori's contented gurglings as Xena seated herself on the floor next to the bed with the baby in her lap.

"Gab?"

Mist green eyes opened halfway, to see a biscuit spread with butter and honey being offered. She shook her head and let her eyes close again.

Xena pulled her hand back, and regarded the injured woman pensively. Her mind was still in turmoil. The pain and disillusionment she'd felt at Gabrielle's and Ephiny's words had cut deep, hurting her in places she scarcely knew existed before.

But.

Right now, Gabrielle was injured, and she needed an emotional support Xena wasn't sure she was capable of at the moment. The darkness was still so close.

The bards hand slipped out from under the covers and curled around her biceps. The warrior exhaled, and nodded just a little, as she set aside her feelings. She stood, and walked around the other side of the bed, slipping into it and sliding over to where Gabrielle was curled on her side. Then she slid an arm around her partner as Dori snuggled up against her other side.

Gabrielle eased over onto her other side and reached out, wrapping her body around her partner's and craving the warmth to combat the chills racking her. Her painfully tense muscles very slowly started to relax as Xena's touch eased them and she buried her face into the rough fabric covering Xena's chest, finding at last the sweet comfort she sought as the warrior kissed her head, and hugged her closer.

She surrendered to it utterly.

Xena regarded the ceiling soberly, watching the flickering light of the fire paint shadows across the wooden beams.

They'd won.

Her eyes drifted to the strained, exhausted pair cuddled against her, and felt the fracturing inside her own soul. But at what cost?

A sigh. Well, Xena… you're here. They're here.

Work with what you've got.

***********************************

These characters, and boy, are they ever characters, are mostly the property of Renaissance Pictures, Universal MCA, and whoever else owns stock and interest in Xena: Warrior Princess. This fiction was written for my amusement only, and not in any way, shape or form for profit - and it is not intended to infringe on the copyright holders of the characters.

Some of the characters are mine, and the story ideas.. well, who knows where they come from? Must be one weird place, that's for sure.

Specific Story Disclaimers:

Violence - this is a Xena: Warrior Princess story. This is not Teletubbies. Even though there are some rumors of similarities. Some of the violence is graphic, but we try not to dwell on it.

Subtext - Considering that the TV Series just aired an episode establishing Xena and Gabrielle as eternal soulmates, any disclaimer of subtext on my part is really kind of goofy in the extreme. The two characters are in love with each other, and have been for years. You can choose to see them as just friends, but then you might not want to read this fanfic, in case it changes your mind or anything like that.

Emotional Content - this is not one my more comedic efforts. There are moments of humor, however.

********************************************************************

Dark Comes the Morning - Part 26

By Melissa Good

The cheering outside woke Gabrielle up, and she let her eyes drift open, confused by the sound for a long moment. Then she realized where she was, and relaxed, her eyes flicking to the window where the darkness outside was broken by firelight.

It was quiet in the cabin, though, and the candles had burned low, releasing their scent of herbed oil into the air as the breeze make them flicker, and stirred the pale hair resting on the bard's forehead.

Well. Gabrielle took internal stock of things. Her fever seemed to have broken, and her back, though painful, didn't have that hot, swollen throbbing thing going as it had been earlier. She felt a little calmer, too, faintly abashed by the almost unreasoning fear that must have half driven Xena crazy. Speaking of. Gabrielle tilted her head up to study her soulmate, surprised to find blue eyes watching her. "Oh."

Xena's head tilted a little too. "Feeling any better?"

Gabrielle nodded. "Yeah." Her lips tensed. "I think I owe you an apology." She watched a dark eyebrow twitch upward. "In fact, I think I owe you several." The brow lifted higher. The bard lifted her hand off her partner's stomach and pointed at the window. "There's a whole army out there toasting you, and you get stuck in here being a pillow. That was incredibly selfish of me, Xena. I'm sorry."

Xena looked positively charmed by that. A little twinkle entered her eyes, and her face relaxed into a smile. "That's all right. I needed a break." She allowed, shifting the still dozing Dori with her other arm. "It gave me a chance to..um.. sort things out a little." She paused, then continued. "I think I owe you, and Eph an apology."

Gabrielle shook her head. "We owe you one." She rested her chin on the warrior's breastbone. "I'd reconciled myself to accepting whatever path you chose, Xena.. as long as that path ended with Andreas defeated. I did.. I.. " She sighed. "I said to myself, no matter how dark, no matter what violence we had to use, it would be worth it."

Blue eyes watched her intently.

'It was sort of like you always say.. prepare for the worst." Gabrielle admitted. "I did."

Xena cleared her throat gently. "So did I." The warrior confessed. "And then I found myself in the position of having it all in the palm of my hand." She held one up, and examined it. "Everything worked, everything went the way I wanted it to, I was in control and that army would have done anything I asked of it." She turned her head. "Everyone expected me to decimate his army. Everyone expected me to execute him. They would have welcomed it." A touch of wonder entered her voice. "But you know what I realized, Gabrielle?"

"What?"

"As much as part of me wanted to give into that, and it did." A sigh. "Another part of me just couldn’t do it." She shifted. "Weird."

Weird. Gabrielle reflected. "Does that bother you?"

A head shake. "No.. I think it's just…maybe it's that I've lived through enough to have learned… " Xena fell silent. "I don't know." Her eyes lifted, to study the thatch. "I've been listening to you tell me I've changed for five years. Maybe I…"

"Know now you really have?" The bard completed the statement in utter confidence.

"Mm." Xena tucked Dori a little closer, then put her arm behind her head and exhaled. "Yeah."

Gabrielle rolled over onto her belly, and sprawled a bit more over her soulmate's body. "Xena." The blue eyes tipped to meet hers. "You're proud of yourself, aren't you?"

A dazzling smile was her answer. "You know, I am." Xena laughed, then caught her lower lip in her teeth, and shook her head in wonder. "Gabrielle, I was in a place where my darkest instincts were right out there, in a situation where I could have just gone nuts with them, and no one would have blamed me. Not even you." A sigh. "And I didn't."

Maybe that's why Ares was wrong. Gabrielle considered, enjoying the smile on Xena's face. She changed her own fate.. and mine, against all the odds. Wow. "Hey, Xena?"

"Hmm?"

"Sounds like a great party outside… and I'm kinda hungry. You interested?" Gabrielle suddenly found herself wanting to be out there, watching Xena absorb all that justified adulation and sharing her partner's success. "I bet Dori'll be hungry too, when she wakes up."

"Mama!" A tiny dark head appeared over the curve of Xena's left breast, eyes searching for her with interest. "Mama!"

Xena laughed. "Right on time." She ruffled Dori's hair, then for good measure, ruffled Gabrielle's as well. "I think we can find us some dinner, and mom's ale… how's your back feeling?"

"Better." The bard quietly replied. "I think I was just over… tired… stressed… just everything before." She flexed her back gingerly. "C'mon… hey, Dori… climb over here, willya?"

"Gback." Dori clamped an incautious hand on a sensitive part of her beloved playmates anatomy and pulled herself up, getting a strangled yelp from Xena. "Boo?"

"Hey. That's not a handle." The warrior warned her, removing the tiny fingers. "I'll have to start wearing my armor to bed at this rate." She lifted Dori and helped Gabrielle slide off the mattress, holding on to the bard as she caught her balance then following her.

"You going to change?" Gabrielle asked, as Xena moved past her and went to take care of Dori's diaper. "I know you like that one, Xe.. but it's kinda ratty."

"It is not." Xena replied, shifting her shoulders. "It's comfortable."

"There's a hole in it."

Xena looked over at her, then down at herself doubtfully. "I don't see one."

Gabrielle craned her neck, and observed the neatly placed bit of tan flesh showing. "Oh.. on second thought.. nah, don’t worry about it." She walked slowly over to the water basin and splashed a double handful of the cold liquid on her face, then dried it off. When she turned, Xena had replaced her tan rags with something in crimson, and had tucked Dori into one of the spare sacks they'd kept in the cabin. "She barely fits in that."

"Mm." Xena had to leave the baby's arms out, and she checked the injured one carefully. The bruises were fading to a lurid yellow on Dori's face, and the baby didn't seem much worse for wear. "I think this is just sprained." She tickled the baby's nose. "You feeling better too, cute stuff?"

Dori clutched the offending hand and stuck it's finger into her mouth, sucking on it vigorously. "Mm… cookie!"

Gabrielle let a chuckle escape, the sound of laughter a little strange to her ears. She glanced up at Xena's face, relieved to see a familiar smile playing around her lips, and the lines of strain eased around her eyes. "C'mon, genr'l. Let's go see the troops."

Xena fastened the carrysack to her back and held an arm out invitingly, which Gabrielle took as they eased through the doorway and onto the porch.

They were spotted immediately, almost as if the crowd were watching for them, and a wild cheer went up, almost shaking the wooden boards. They went to the railing and Xena lifted her free hand up, acknowledging the greeting, which changed from wordless noise to a solid, recognizable chant.

"Xena! Xena! Xena!"

They walked down the three steps and across the courtyard, Xena keeping her pace slow to accommodate Gabrielle's injury. There was a huge bonfire in the center of the square, and troops billeted everywhere, between the outbuildings, and around the inn, spilling out of the gates and into the fields beyond. The air brought them the scent of meat roasting, and the tang of ale, and on the faces they approached, there was honest joy, and relief.

Xena breathed it all in. She spotted a familiar face approaching, and turned, to meet her mother, as Cyrene threw her arms around her and hugged her fiercely.

"Thank the gods… thank all the gods you're all right." The innkeeper choked out, before she pulled back and turned to the very quiet Gabrielle. "You little scamp… " A scolding tone entered her voice, as she gently enfolded the bard in her arms. "I should spank you for not letting me know what was going on."

"Sorry." Gabrielle soaked in the affection greedily. "I couldn’t… I promised Xena I wouldn't tell anyone anything… and let me tell you mom.. it's been a bitch and a half." She leaned back and gazed into the older woman's eyes. "I got word to you as fast as I could when we found Dori."

"Gramma." Dori tugged at Xena's shirt, pulling herself up to see over her parents shoulder. "Cookie?"

"Oh.. look at her.. " Cyrene gasped.

Xena unclasped the sack and handed her over. "Say hi to grandma, Dori." She watched a moment, then turned to return the eager greetings of her captains, who were now clustering around them. Hands timidly patted her shoulder, and her back, and even her usually edgy need for personal space relaxed for the occasion, as she returned the arm clasps of these people she'd led.

These people who had offered up their lives into her hands, and trusted her, and fought their hearts out for her, who'd believed in her leadership even when it looked like things were headed down a dark, death filled road.

"Xena… take some ale then, will ya?" Bennu handed her a big mug, then lifted his own, and bellowed. "T'the Genr'l!!!"

The roar shook the ground. Xena lifted her mug, and accepted the accolade with an easy smile. She waited for the cheering to die down, then sucked in a deep breath. "We did it!" Louder cheers answered her, lead, she realized, by the group of Amphipolitians ringed closely around the fire. She felt Gabrielle's warmth at her elbow, and the bard's hand curled around her forearm. "Yeah!" She took a sip of the ale, then offered the mug to Gabrielle, who obligingly stuck her nose in it for a brief moment, slurping up a bit of the cool, heady brew.

"Got a seat over here, Xena." Johan called out, and they made their way through the crowd, stepping over sprawled legs and taking their place by the fire, watching a huge spitted set of roasts turning slowly in the flames.

Gabrielle was content to sit quietly, and just watch the crowd, and watch her soulmate, who at last found herself in a place she'd been trying to achieve since her short cut childhood. She'd left home, conquered nations, traveled the world…. All so she could end up, sitting around a fire not fifty paces from where she was born, becoming at last the hero she'd started out to become all those years ago.

Wow. The bard exhaled, finding her thoughts moving off into the patterns that would, she recognized, end in a story someday. One she could picture herself telling to a crowd of enthralled children clustered at her feet.

Maybe Dori would be one of them. Gabrielle tilted her head back and gazed up at the blanket of stars, finding the Warrior among them with ease. Then an arm wound it's way around her, and she turned her head, as Xena leaned back against a log and offered her a backrest.

Of course, the trouble wasn't over. There was tomorrow, and what to do about the enemy army, not to mention Andreas, and the rebuilding of the destruction they'd caused. But right now… Gabrielle leaned back against her partner and accepted another sip of ale. Right now, it was time to party.

*********************************

It was very late, by the time the fire burned low and they headed back towards the cabin arm in arm. A mist had risen, floating lightly through the town, and Xena booted it playfully as she walked, kicking up puffs of ghostly white fog then blowing them out f the way.

Behind them, the troops were sprawling out to get some sleep, full of roasted meat and ale, and even Andreas men had been sent food, and drink, probably the first hot meal for them in a while. Xena made a mental note to visit them in the morning, to feel out their attitude before she had to decide what to do with them.

Next to her, Gabrielle hummed happily, more than a trifle tipsy from the strong ale, one hand wrapped firmly around her partner's waist to keep her balance. "Hey, Xe?"

"Yeah?"

"Do you know all the words to that last song we did? I want to get them down for my story."

Xena scratched her jaw thoughtfully. "You sure? They're a little.. um.. "

"Um?"

"Kinda spicy."

"Spicy?" Gabrielle eyed her in amiable curiosity. "I didn't think so."

"Hm.. what about the part with the tart?"

"What about it?"

"You didn't think that tart part was a little too raunchy?"

Gabrielle kept walking, her brow creased in serious thought. "Oh." She mused. "I thought they meant a pastry." She glanced up as her precious soulmate nearly snorted her tonsils out of her ears, muffling a laugh with one hand. "Well, all those cherries and everything.. what was I supposed to think?"

"Bck." Dori replied sleepily, tugging her hair. "Mm."

"Oh, you heard a word you like, huh." Xena smiled at her daughter. "You like cherries?"

"Mm."

"Well, you can't have your mama's." The warrior informed her.

"Xena, I don’t' have any cherries." Gabrielle gave her a puzzled look.

"I know." The warrior smirked quietly, as they mounted the steps to the cabin. "Have to send a wagon train out to the valley tomorrow… start bringing stuff back." She closed the door behind them. "Get this place looking like home again."

Gabrielle leaned against her. "Looks pretty homey from my viewpoint here." She nuzzled Xena's chest. "Would you take her off me? Twisting around like that hurts my back."

"Sure." Xena unhooked Dori's carrysack, and lifted the baby up over her mother's head. "You ready for bedtime, short stuff?"

"Boo!" Dori waved her unsplinted arm as she was swung aloft. "Go go!"

"Oh no." Xena removed the carrysack and took the baby into the bathing room. "We can go flying tomorrow… okay?"

A pout.

"Cmon, Dori." Xena scolded her. "It's late… I promise, we'll go flying tomorrow."

"Go."

"We can go every morning now, if you want."

"Bck."

"For as long as I can carry you." Xena leaned over, and rubbed noses with the baby, who giggled. She rested both elbows on either side of the child, gazing down at her with a wistful smile. Dori promptly reached up and grabbed her nose and pulled it. "Ow."

Dori giggled again. "Boo… happy go."

Xena's eyebrows rose, and she glanced to one side, where Gabrielle had taken up a place leaning in the doorway. "You hear that?"

"I hear that." Gabrielle limped forward, and leaned over, giving her daughter a kiss on the head. "She's so smart, Xena…. " A worried look crossed the bard's face, as one finger traced the ugly marks on Dori's face. "Do you think she'll remember this?"

Xena watched Dori clutch at Gabrielle's finger in apparent unconcern. "I don't know." She replied softly. "They say children this young don't.. but one of my earliest memories is of a.. it's more just images, really. Going fast, and a lot of bumps, and falling…it was scary, and I ended up with a few knocks from it." Her eyes lifted to Gabrielle's. "My mother told me, years later, that she and I, and Tor were riding in a wagon and the horses spooked. We ended up going off the road and almost turning over into the river."

"Hm." Gabrielle tickled Dori's bare belly, and the baby wriggled, enjoying her parents undivided attention. "Well, I hope she doesn't remember." She smiled. "I'm glad we're home with you, sweetie." One hand traced a snub nose. "I was kinda worried about that for a while."

Xena looked at her soberly.

"I didn't want all you have l.. " Gabrielle stopped, and swallowed. "Have left to be memories." She finished in a whisper, a wave of horror making her throat close as she rubbed her eyes with a shaking hand. An arm slipped around her shoulders, and she rested her head against Xena's shoulder, waiting for the unexpected surge of emotion to fade. "Gods. Where did that come from?"

Xena patted her back gently. "It happens sometimes.. this kind of fighting.. it just gets to you."

Gabrielle let out a long breath. "You always tell me not to think about what might have happened… just deal with what has. That's why, isn't it?" She looked up at the somber face in half shadow. "You can go crazy thinking about what if's."

Xena pursed her lips, and gave a tiny nod.

Gabrielle studied Dori's tiny form for several long moments. "Xena?"

"Hm?"

"The next time I complain my life's not exciting enough, toss me in the lake, will you?"

The warrior smiled wryly, and gave her a one armed hug. "Sometimes you don’t' appreciate what you have until you lose it." A pause, and a quieter tone. "I've learned that lesson."

"Bck." Dori scowled, realizing she wasn't monopolizing the scene.

Gabrielle smiled, and tucked the ends of her diaper in, then picked her up. "Sorry, honey… " She crooned. "It's so unfair that she got hurt, though, Xena." The bard murmured. "All she wanted to do is be with me, and look what happened."

There was a stillness next to her, making Gabrielle look up in question to see a sad understanding pair of blue eyes looking back at her, filled with shared memories of their life together.

All I wanted to do was be with her. Gabrielle acknowledged soberly. And looked what happened. She thought about that for a bit,, then smiled. "I guess when you want to be with someone that badly, all the pain just doesn’t' matter." Her eyes slid upward, and met Xena's honestly. "Because it's nothing compared to the joy."

"Gaboo!" Dori had about enough of the mushy stuff. She grabbed a bit of Xena's shirt and pulled. "Cookie!"

Xena laughed softly. "A few cookies go a long way too." She guided the bard's steps back into the main part of the cabin, and took Dori from her, settling the baby into a small box she'd padded with an extra set of furs. "Here ya go." She handed Dori a bit of honey cake, which the baby stuffed into her mouth immediately.

"Tch. That's so bad for her before she goes to bed." Gabrielle knelt carefully next to her, putting a hand on Xena's shoulder for balance.

"Never did you any harm." Xena objected mildly, offering her a bit of the cake as well, and smiling when the bard's lips claimed both cake and her fingers. "In fact, I can recall a lot of pouty bards in bedrolls who hadn't gotten their bedtime snack."

Gabrielle snorted. "Me?" She pointed at her own chest. "Me? I am not the one with those pretty baby blues that get all grumpy when there's no honey balls to be had."

Round, wide blue eyes peered back at her. "Honey balls?"

"Mm." Dori piped up, with much the same expression.

Gabrielle shook her head in mock despair. "The two of you.. like peas in a pod, I swear."

Xena chuckled, as she stood up, and offered her partner her hand. "C'mon…damned if I'm not tired." She stifled a yawn as they both removed their clothes and stood for a moment, holding hands and simply being together, breathing in each other's scent. "Lemme see your back."

Gabrielle obligingly leaned against her, sighing as she found herself enclosed in welcome warmth. She kept her eyes closed as her partner peered over her shoulder, careful fingers probing the wound in her back. It seemed to hurt less, though sitting all night at the fire had been somewhat uncomfortable. Her fever had come back a little as well, and the slight chill was an odd contrast to the heat she was absorbing from Xena's body. She sighed. "I'm tired too." Gabrielle mumbled. "Can we sleep late tomorrow, please?"

"Sure." Xena answered absently, worried about the swelling extending up her soulmate's spine. "All day if you want."

One pale brow quirked. "Really?"

"Uh huh."

"Can I paint you with honey, too?"

"Okay." Xena spread some of the her healing salve on the knife wound, and carefully covered it. Then she paused. "Um." Her face twisted into a puzzled frown. "What did I just agree to again?"

"Nothing you wouldn't enjoy." Gabrielle assured her, kissing her lightly on the collarbone, then laying her head back down. "Or me either, for that matter.. I've missed you."

Xena eased them both down into the bed, and pulled the furs up, their quilts having been sent to the valley. She blew the bedside candle out with a quick breath, and stretched, exhaling as Gabrielle curled up against her. "I missed you too." Xena murmured absently.

She was tired, but so many things were running around in circles in her head, it was hard to fall asleep. The army, of course. Gabrielle's injury. Andreas' leftover troops. Andreas himself, locked securely in the root cellar, with three large forest dwellers to guard him.

Ares.

He'd been so sure she was going to die. Was it just a game he'd been playing with her, or could he have been wrong this time? Had he realized Gabrielle had tricked him? What deal had he made with Andreas? Xena sighed. For that matter, what was she, Xena, going to do with the bastard? Kill him?

And what about the necklace? The warrior shivered a little, remembering the dark power that had almost taken her over. "Gabrielle?"

"Hm?"

"What did you do with that packet I gave you?" Xena could feel the motion as Gabrielle yawned, her jaw moving against the warrior's breastbone.

"It's in my bag." The bard said. "Why?"

"Just asking." Xena replied. "I'd like to study it to see if I could.."

"No." Gabrielle cut her off very firmly.

There was a moments silence. "What?"

"No." The bard repeated. "I'm going to find the deepest, nastiest place in Greece, and toss it down there, because let me tell you, Xena, when you touch that thing, it hurts me a whole lot."

Xena scowled. "Gabrielle, are you saying you don't think I can handle it? I thought I proved that already."

"No." Gabrielle shook her head. "I'm not saying you can't handle it, Xena. I'm saying I can't." She looked up, seeing faint glints of ,moonlight reflecting off Xena's eyes as the warrior thought in silence. "I don't want to spend another couple candlemarks out cold… and I had a stomachache candlemarks even after I woke up."

"Oh." Xena answered, in a very small voice. "I'm sorry, Gabrielle. I didn't…." She let the words trail off, lapsing into pensive silence. "I didn't know… that."

Gabrielle heard the heartbeat under her ear go irregular. "Well, we were sorta busy." She stroked Xena's skin with careful fingertips. "I guess I should have mentioned it." The bard heard an audible swallow. "I was pretty scared… for you."

Xena leaned her head back on the pillow, and gazed upward unseeingly.

Gabrielle hitched herself up and leaned on an elbow. "Xena?"

"Yeah."

The bard hesitated, then put a hand against her soulmate's stomach. "Can we table this until tomorrow? I think we both need some sleep." Her fingers contracted, giving Xena a little, friendly scratch. "I know I do… how about it?"

Xena considered, then exhaled, nodding a little in agreement. "Yeah, you're right." She admitted, lifting a hand to rub her eyes. "I can't change any of that stuff now anyway."

Gabrielle put her head back down and snuggled closer again. She listened to the erratic beat slow and steady, and she focused on the sound, letting it lull her into sleep.

Let tomorrow come when it did, she reasoned. Time enough then to worry about the future.

*****************

"Where are we going?" Paladia asked, for the sixth time, as she followed Cait through an annoyingly thick patch of underbrush. "Yo, hey you!"

"Sh." Cait pulled a branch aside, and pointed. "There you go."

"There I don't go nowhere." Paladia stopped and wished she were elsewhere, like under a bit of fur asleep, for instance. "Look. It's halfway to dawn, you kook."

Cait rolled her eyes and reached a hand out, grabbing her friend's leathers and pulling hard. "Get over here. Don’t' you want to see where I used to live?"

Paladia glanced at the spot, then at Cait, then at the spot. "Yo, dimwit.. that's a bush."

"Yes." Cait patted a leaf. "Lovely, isn't it? Nice big leaves. I had quite a nice spot all dug out underneath it." She sat down on the ground crosslegged, and peered under the leaves. "Not much left, I'm afraid."

The taller woman scrubbed her cheek. "You lived in a bush?" She felt like slapping the side of her head to see if that would improve the mental picture she was getting, but decided not to. "That explains a lot."

Cait exhaled, fingering a twig. "Yes I did… after my parents died, and before Cyrene found me out here… she kept trying to get me to come stay by her, but you know, I quite liked it under there."

Paladia considered, then settled to the earth next to her, sorting amongst the leaves in the scattered moonlight and arranging them in patterns with idle, automatic movements. "You stayed out here by yourself?"

Cait remained silent for a moment, the night breeze stirring her pale hair. "I didn't want to be by anyone else. No one understood." She enunciated carefully. "Not a single one of them, you see?"

Paladia sorted a few leaves. "Naw." She shrugged. "I don't get half of what the Hades you're talking about."

Cait sighed. "Look, it's not that difficult." She cleared her throat. "When you kill someone, it makes you all different. Rather like you join a club, you know."

"A club? You are nuts."

"I am not." Cait replied sharply. "I just didn't understand that, not until I met someone else who knew."

"Let me guess." Paladia placed a finger on her head, and mimed thought. "It wasn't…oh, like, Xena, was it?"

"Quite." Cait ignored the mocking. "I went by the inn one day, just to see if Cyrene wanted to trade for a lovely pair of rabbits I'd snared, and there she was."

Pale eyes rolled derisively.

"I came quite round the corner and she was sitting there, on the porch, sharpening that lovely sword of hers." Cait remembered. "And she looked up at me, and I knew, right then, someone else did understand."

"Oh yeah. Love at first sight." Paladia snorted.

"No." Cait gazed seriously at her knees. "Relief, actually." She looked up. "It's quite a lovely thing to know you're not alone in the world."

Paladia blinked.

"You always get on me about Xena… but you don't understand at all." Cait told her soberly. "She makes it all right, you see. " A pause. "That I'm not crazy, or whatnot."

A grunt answered her.

There was a little quiet. "Do you think I'm crazy?"

Stupid questions. Paladia peeked furtively up, finding serious eyes looking back at her, colorless in the moonlight. Was Cait crazy? Sure. Like a frigging loon. "Naw. You're not crazy. You're just goofier than three week old cider."

Cait smiled at her, and reached out, patting her knee. "Thanks.. that's awfully sweet of you." She pulled aside a branch. "Would you like to see inside? C'mon."

"It's a .." Paladia found herself being tugged along like a bull being pulled by a relentless terrier. "Ow… hey… damn it.. Cait!!!!" The ground sloped under her and she found herself rolling downwards, tumbling over the leaves and through the scratchy branches in an awkward tumble. "Yeahow!!!"

The smell of rich, fertile earth filled her lungs, and she threw out both hands to stop both of them, landing up with her back against a neatly curving hillock, under a thick overhang of leaves, with a faintly laughing Cait rolled up in her arms. "Nutball."

Cait turned her head, and they were almost nose to nose. "Well then."

Paladia could just about feel her heart start trying to crawl out of her chest. She hated that feeling. "You did that on purpose."

A feral smile. "Quite right."

The big Amazon's nostrils flared, and she took a hesitant breath. "You're gonna get goopy, aren't you?"

Cait leaned closer, studying her with sudden seriousness. "You know, for the longest time, I would really have liked to have killed you."

For once, Paladia remained as serious as her sometimes bizarre friend. "I know that."

"I promised Xena, though, that I wouldn't." Cait advised. "And I think that turned out all right."

"You do?"

"Yes, I do." Cait leaned forward and kissed her unexpectedly. "Do you?"

Pale eyes flicked right, then left, then up at her. "Nah. I'd rather be feeding worms." Paladia stated, with a straight face.

Cait drew back, a furrow making it's way into her brow. "Really?"

"That was a joke."

"Oh."
Paladia rolled her eyes. "You're so weird."

Cait rolled onto her back, and stared upward through the leaves. "I suppose I am." She remarked. "I was quite upset at Xena, you know. I have no idea how she arranged to have everyone but her out of the lovely fighting, but it wasn't fair at all."

Huh. "Yeah, you're right." Paladia agreed, in a surprised tone. "Damned if she didn't…even Queeniepoo got shuffled off halfway to Athens… you think she did it on purpose?"

Cait considered the question. "I think so, yes." She nodded a few times. "I mean, it wasn't like we didn't have any fun, you know, but she wanted to bring all the baddest bits down on her, I think." Ephiny's group had guarded Xena's retreat, then regrouped and settled into a round of lovely surprise attacks, harrying Andreas forces until they made their final attack on the river defenses. "Rats."

"Cool." Paladia grunted approvingly. "Guess she didn't want to have to be batting the lot of you kooks out of the way every time she got some arrow aimed at her."

A slim, blond eyebrow lifted. "What, exactly, do you mean by that?"

Paladia rolled onto her side, and propped her head up on one large hand. "Aw, c'mon…all of you are batty as loons about her…woudn't you just love to save her butt? Get a pat on the head? Gimme a break."

"Of course we would." Cait shot back, indignantly. "I"d gladly give my life for her.. that's not anything to be ashamed of!"

"Yeah well." The larger woman shrugged. "I figure she figured she didn't want nobody sacrificing their butts for her, so she just cleared you all out."

Her companion folded her arms over her chest. "You really think so?"

"Bet your butt I do." Paladia replied. "Damn good thing."

Cait scowled at her. "Why?"

"Cause you'd have been the first one to stick their dumb head in front of a catapult.." Paladia hesitated. "And I'm glad you didn't." She watched Cait turned her head and stare. "Don't give me that look. You're the only friend I got, and it would have sucked for you to croak, all right?"

Touched, Cait reached over and patted her cheek affectionately. "Thank you." Her lips twisted into a wry smile. "It's nice when someone cares if you live or die." Her fingers remained, and stroked the strong angles curiously as Paladia remained very still, just watching her. She rolled over, and up onto one elbow, and they kissed again, this time for a longer period of time.

"Mm." Cait found her breathing getting quite strange. "D'you like this?"

"Sure." Paladia responded softly.

"I think it's quite time we went a bit further, don't you?"

Faint apprehension showed in the pale eyes that watched her. "All right." They kissed again, then Cait lifted her head a bit.

"We've got just one problem."

Paladia lifted an eyebrow. "Yeah?"

Cait's elfin face twitched. "I have absolutely no earthly idea of what to do." She admitted frankly.

"What?" Her companion blurted. "You sure have had a clue up till now!"

"Luck."

Paladia covered her face with one hand and groaned.

Cait laughed. "You'll just have to show me, that's all."

Gray eyes peeked between Paladia's fingers. "Show you?"

"That's right. Like I showed you how to shoot arrows, you know. First you put your hand on the bow here, then you grasp the arrow there, that sort of thing."

Paladia stared at her, open mouthed. "You've got to be kidding me." She finally blurted. "I ain't no teacher! It's not like archery, you goofball…it's…it's…" She waved her fingers round. "You just do it!"

"Well, all right then." Cait laid back down, and folded her hands across her stomach. "You'll just have to go ahead and do it to me, then I can see how it goes."

Her friend's jaw dropped again. "Do it to you?"

"Yes… you can manage that, can't you?" Cait inquired reasonably. "I did try asking Gabrielle, but she does go off into those descriptions of sunsets and waterfalls and what not, and it's not very helpful when what one really needs is where to put one's hands when, you know?"

"Gurk." Paladia nearly swallowed her tongue.

"And then I tried asking Xena, but she just gave me one of those delightful smirks of hers, and did that eyebrow thing, and that wasn't very helpful either. So it's up to you." Cait concluded. "Where do we start?"

Paladia waited until the distinct sensation of exploding brains faded and she could attempt speech. Then she decided talking wasn't a good idea, and took several breaths instead. She looked at Cait, who was lying there waiting, and considered her options.

Crap.

But part of her was excited, too.

"All right." She muttered, watching a grin creep across the thin face next to her. "But you listen, okay? I'm going to be, like, touching you and stuff, and I don’t' want no furking daggers in my arm or nothing, understand?"

"I'm not even wearing one." Cait replied, virtuously.

"Okay." Paladia took a breath in. Would it work with Cait? There weren't any drugs or nothing. Maybe she woudn't like it.

Worse. Maybe she would, and turn all gooey on her.

Crap.

"First, you lie down."

"We've got that part done." Cait replied, indicated her prone figure. "What about taking your clothes off?"

"Uh." Her companion squirmed a little closer. "Well, sometimes it's kinda cool if that's part of it."

Cait blinked. "Really?"

"Yeah." Paladia licked her lips, brows contracting in concentration. She focused her attention on the neatly laced leather strips holding Cait's halter on, and reached for one, twirling it in her fingers before she gave it a gentle tug. "Like this." The hide resisted for a second, then relented, pulling free of it's knot, allowing the leather it held closed to open slightly and expose a bit of cream colored skin.

"Oh." Cait sounded very thoughtful.

Paladia pulled another lace free, watching the sudden rise of Cait's chest separate the hide even more. Fascinated, she finished her unlacing, then slid a cautious hand under the leathers, interested in how warm Cait felt under there.

Her thumb brushed across a sensitive point, and seconds later her wind was cut off as a powerful hand griped her throat. "Urk." She felt her eyes start to bug out, then just as quickly as it came, the pressure vanished.

"Sorry." Cait muttered, a trifle hoarsely. "Surprised me a bit there."

Great. Paladia collected her wits. I live through the biggest furking war in Greece, only to die doing this. "Did it hurt?"

Silence. "No."

"All right. I'm going to do that again, so don't choke me, okay?"

"Right."

She wondered briefly if old Gabrielle had to go through this. One wrong move with the leather terror and you could lose a bodypart, huh? "Hey." She paused in removing Cait's halter. "Queeniepoo got all her fingers and stuff?"

Cait lifted her head up and stared, both eyebrows completely disappearing into her hairline. "Good gosh, whatever are you asking that for? Of course she does."

"Good." Paladia girded her loins, and ducked her head, capturing one of Cait's nipples in her teeth and nibbling it.

The world caved in as two hands slammed into either side of her head, boxing her ears and dimming her vision as she collapsed over the smaller woman's body with a yelp.

For a moment, silence. Then a sigh. "Sorry."

"Ungh." Paladia moved her jaw, hearing a distinct crack as a joint moved back into place. "The gods are up there laughing their asses off, I bet."

Cait exhaled. "Maybe I better sit on my hands."

"Great idea." Paladia rubbed an ear. "Where was I?"

A hand guided her, then disappeared. She resumed her nibbling, wincing in anticipation for the blow that never came. Instead, a tentative touch threaded through her hair and traced over her ear, and she relaxed a trifle. The surface under her lips rose and fell a little faster, and she slid a hand lower, encouraged by the reaction.

That was better. At least she wasn't getting the crap beat out of her.

This might be all right.

The touch on her head slipped lower, around the curve of her shoulder and beneath the straps of her leathers, exploring curiously.

Neat. Fast learner.

Teeth closed on her ear, and she froze, as a soft, wicked chuckle trickled into her hearing.

Oh boy. Maybe too fast.

***********************************

It was raining the next morning. Cyrene leaned on the windowsill of the inn and gazed out, as the dark sheets of water turned everything in sight into a gray mass of mud and dampness. Pockets of soldiers huddled under makeshift tents, and the attitude was very quiet and almost peaceful.

Maybe they needed a day just to sit back, and be reminded that humans weren't the masters of everything, Cyrene mused, as she watched the runoff course through the center of the town heading down towards the river. A day to let bodies heal, and minds loose their hold on the violence so recently past.

The emptiness of the room around her settled against her shoulders, and she turned, reviewing the spare, almost painfully clean space as she counted out all the things she had to do now. "What a mess." Cyrene rubbed her temples. Most of the town's populace was still out of the valley, though wagons would probably be leaving shortly for there to bring back supplies, and those people who were anxious to return to their homes and lives.

Most of the inn's stock was out there, of course, nothing much left here save some odds and ends, and what supplies the troops had. She'd scrounged a potfull of odds and ends together for a soupy breakfast, but that and leftover meat, along with hard biscuits were all they'd have until the wagons got back, or the hunters went out.

Not much chance of that in this weather though.

Still, Cyrene turned again, and leaned on the sill, watching the steam from her morning tea rise next to her. It sure could have been a lot worse.

A lot worse. She could have lost her home, her husband. Her children. Grandchildren. She'd bet them all on her trust in Xena, and oh, how that child had come through for her, and all the rest of them.

"I am so proud of her." Cyrene whispered to the old wood of the inn. "After all this time, she finally made it back." Oh, people had died, certainly. There had been damage, both physical and mental to so many people, not the least of which was Xena herself, but still.

Still. The mature mercy, and compassion her daughter had shown in allowing her enemies to surrender in peace, and the heartfelt respect all these soldiers displayed for her went a long way towards overwriting the older, harsher memories of a much younger time.

And Gabrielle.

"I'm going to spank her, I swear." Cyrene shook her head. "That little scamp…"

"Spank who?" Johan ambled up next to her, and leaned on the wood as well.

"Gabrielle." The innkeeper replied, sharing her tea. "Letting me think who knows what when she went off with that rogue on horseback."

Johan grunted. "She's a brave woman."

More then most knew. "Yes, she is." Cyrene agreed softly. "They're all praising Xena, but so much of this depended on Gabrielle. She really came through… and you know, I was just thinking of the first time I saw her. How much she's grown."

Heavy footsteps outside made them both look up, as the door opened to reveal a large, soggy bog monster, who very carefully scraped his boots off before entering, then stood, dripping vigorously just inside the entrance. "Mornin."

"Hello, Bennu." Cyrene smiled at him. "How's everything going?"

The tall captain licked a drop off his nose, then grunted. "Good weather for t'crops." He allowed. "Was wondering if you'd have something I could take over to the genr'l. Shouldn't have to be out in this messl."

Cyrene raised an eyebrow. "I can see you don't know her very well." The innkeeper remarked dryly. "But I appreciate the offer. I was hoping they'd get a little rest today.. that injury of Gabrielle's has me a little worried."

"Me too." Xena's voice made them all jump, and they turned to see the warrior filling the doorway, her angular face framed in her dark, heavy cloak hood. She eased past Bennu and clapped him on the shoulder. "We've got a lot to get done today." She pushed her hood back and shook her dark hair free. "I want to make sure we clean up the battlefield.. last thing we need is everyone getting sick."

"Aye." Bennu murmured. "Think we'll be needing some healer's supplies too." He added. "I'll get a group up on moving the bodies out."

"Thanks." Xena gave him a smile, then watched him squish out the door before she turned and faced her mother. "Morning."

Cyrene exhaled. "I was hoping not to see you for a few candlemarks yet.. how's Gabrielle and Dori doing?"

"Dori's fine." Xena replied in a clipped tone. "You have anything hot around?" She'd woken up to find Gabrielle clinging to her, tears rolling down her face, her body tense with pain and fever. "I need to give Gabrielle something pretty strong, but I want her to eat something first."

"I have some soup." Cyrene decided now was not the time for her to debate anything. She could see the backlash of the past few weeks hitting Xena, and she knew arguing with the already edgy woman wouldn't help matters a bit. "C'mon in the back.. I'll get you some."

Xena silently followed her through the swinging door, and into the almost bare kitchen, where she took a seat on the wheat supply bin and simply waited as Cyrene puttered about the open fire. She'd woken up more tired than when she'd fallen asleep, and only sheer will had forced her up and out of the cabin, to shoulder her responsibilities regardless of how she felt.

"Xena?"

"Mm?" The warrior lifted her head, and blinked, as Cyrene handed over a packet she hadn't seen her mother pack. "Oh.. thanks."

Cyrene bit back several overly motherly comments. "Would you like some tea? I've got some fresh here."

Tea. Hm. "Yeah.. that'd be nice." Xena allowed, accepting a mug of the stuff and taking a sip. Thunder rattled the inn's roof, and they both looked up. "Nice." Xena commented dryly.

Cyrene exhaled silently. "Would you like me to hold on to Dori for a while?"

Xena shook her head. "No.. thanks, but she's fine. She's happier just snoozing with Gabrielle.. and I think it's better for both of them."

What about you? Cyrene thought the words, but didn't utter them. "All right… I have to head off to check on the dry storage we cached.. can I walk you back home?"

Xena hauled herself upright and off her seat. "Don't be ridiculous, mother. I can get someone to go over there for you… no sense in everyone getting sick in all this." She walked to the kitchen door and opened it, the cold, wet breeze brushing her dark hair back. "Temon!"

A soldier trotted over immediately, and saluted. "Yes, genr'l?"

Xena pulled him inside. "That's my mother. Do whatever she tells you to do." She gave the man a shove, and pulled her hood up. "I'll be back."

The door closed behind her, leaving the dripping soldier and the innkeeper to study each other. "Well." Cyrene reached behind her and picked up another mug. "Suppose we start with some soup for you.. how's that?"

***********************

Gabrielle shivered as another blast of thunder shook the cabin. Dori was crawling industriously around the bed, apparently unhampered by her injured arm, oblivous to the sounds around them. "Hey, sweetie." She crooned at the baby, who looked up, green eyes wide open. "What a great day to be inside, huh?"

"Bck." Dori crawled over and sat down next to where her mother was curled up, half on her side with one arm wrapped around a pillow. "Mama."

"Mm… mama's not doing so hot, honey." The bard winced, as a bolt of pain traveled up her back. "Mama's hoping Boo finds something really, really nice to give me."

"Boo." Dori nodded. "Good." She put a bit of the blanket in her mouth. "No go."

"No." Gabrielle removed the fabric from it's dousing and tucked an arm around the child, pulling her closer. "Believe me, we're not going anywhere, Dori. Not for a long time, anyway." She gazed at her daughter speculatively. "The owie's going away, huh? Are you like your Boo that way, sweetie?" A smile found it's way onto the bard's face, despite the pain. "Boy, I'm glad about that if you are… I hate seeing you hurt."

Dori snuggled against her body and sucked her thumb peacefully. "Mama." She seemed blissfully happy just to be with her mother. "Cow?"

Ah. "You want to hear about the cow… well, I.. " Gabrielle considered. "Okay… it'll take my mind off things too, I guess." She reached over and took a sip of the warmed cider Xena had left her. "Once upon a time there was an inn."

"Bck."

"And at the inn, there lived an innkeeper." Gabrielle smiled, as Dori stuck her hand inside her cup and removed it, then stuck it into her mouth. "You could have just asked for some, you know." She chided. "Anyway.. one day, the innkeeper… that's Grandma, right?"

"Gramma." Dori repeated obediently. "Mm. Cookie!"

"Right." Gabrielle laughed. "One day, grandma was outside feeding the chickens, and along came a big storm, a really big storm, that was so big, and so fierce, it picked up everything and whirled it around just like this." The bard circled her fingers.

"Go! Boo!" Dori tucked her fists under her chin.

"Mm… yeah.. sometimes Boo's like a tornado." Gabrielle agreed. "But don't tell her I said so,okay?"

"Otay."

"So the storm was so big, it picked up the pig, and it picked up the chickens, and it picked up the hay.. and then, it got so big it picked up the cow!"

"Oogie!" Dori bounced, naming a favorite toy.

"That's right.. good girl." The bard praised her. "And it picked up Oogie, and dropped Oogie right on the roof!"

"Go go go.. "Dori chanted.

"And you know what?" Gabrielle leaned her head closer and lowered her voice. "Nobody knew how to get Oogie down!"

"Oh." Dori squealed. "Bad!"

"So the people thought, and thought, and grandma thought, and thought, and what do you think they decided to do?"

"Get Boo!" The child warbled. "Get Boo boo boo boo boo!"

"That's my girl… " Gabrielle chuckled. "Yep, that's exactly right. Grandma had to go get the best person she knew who could figure out how to get Oogie off the roof. And that was your Boo."

The door eased open, and a familiar figure entered, dripping a huge quantity of water off cloaked shoulders. "What did I do now?"Xena asked plaintively. "I"ve only been gone a half candlemark."

"Boo!" Dori scrambled up and toddled across the bed, making for the edge without slowing down as if she was convinced she'd just keep going in mid air. "Get Oogie!"

"Dori!" Xena bolted across the floor and caught the child as she raced off the edge of the bed. "Whoa!" Slow down there!" She grabbed Dori and swung her up with one arm, setting the basket down deftly with the other. "Dori!"

The baby climbed up her, slipping agaisnt her wet clothing. "Gush!"

"D.. " Xena managed to get both arms around her daughter, stilling the squirming body with some difficulty. "Good grief." She glanced over Dori's shoulder to see Gabrielle watching quietly, the bard's drawn, pale face making her partner wince. "Still bad, eh?"

Gabrielle managed a thin smile. "I was telling her stories to keep my mind off it. We'd just gotten to the good part."

"Where I fall off a roof into a manure bin?" Xena inquired dryly. "Oh yeah.. I always love that bit." She set Dori down, and went over to the desk, unhooking the soup Cyrene had provided. "I've got some soup for you.. then I'll give you the painkiller, how's that?"

A knock came at the door. Xena turned. "Yes?"

Ephiny poked a very damp, curly head in. "Hi." Her eyes went to the bed. "Came to see how my Queen is doing.. and ask if there's anything you need done." She looked at Xena, very straightforwardly. "Bennu's here too. He wants to know if there's anything he can do, and Palimon's behind him, and a few others. So, Genr'l, start spouting orders, so we can get out of your hair, and leave you to your family in peace."

One of Xena's dark brows lifted sharply.

Ephiny didn't even flinch. "C'mon..c'mon… we havent' got all day, and it's raining out here."

The warrior folded her arms. "Look.. "

"You look." The Amazon regent shot back. "Xena, you carried us through this whole thing on your shoulders. It's our turn to take the load. So cough up what you want done, and sit your butt down before I have to get rough with you."

It would have been very impressive, Xena realized, if Gabirelle hadn't giggled. But she sighed, and felt her shoulders slump, her body giving in before her mind could get the words of the decision out. "Okay, fine." She took a breath. "All of the bodies need to be burned, or sent down the river."

"Sent down the river. Nothing's burning in this weather." Ephiny stated.

"The wounded have to be taken under shelter, we'll need to build extra space for that."

"Done."

Xena blinked. "Andreas men need to be fully disarmed… find out where they're from. We need to get them dispersed, but not together, and not at the same time. I want them to go back to where they came from."

"Right."

"Supplies need to come up from the valley. We're about tapped here."

"Done."

"Riders need to go out, and get trade started back this way. "

"I'll send some out when it stops raining." Ephiny stated quietly. "Anything else for this morning?"

Xena considered. "No.. that'll do for a start."

"Okay." Ephiny nodded. "You guys just relax. We'll take care of everything."

"You know, I really should.." Xena thought of a half dozen things that needed additional doing.

"You really should not make me get maternal on you, Xena. This could get ugly." Ephiny narrowed her eyes. "Please? Get some rest… eat something.. I can practically see through you."

There was a moment's silence, then Ephiny glanced at the highly entertained bard resting quietly on the bed. "How am I doing?"

"Spectacular." Gabrielle assured her. "I'm really proud of you."

"Fine. Leave." Xena gave up, and turned back to the soup. She waited for the door to close, then glanced sideways at her watching soulmate. "That wasn't funny."

"No, it wasn't." Gabrielle agreed, keeping an eye on Dori as she rambled around the room. "Thank you for going along with them."

The warrior trudged over, shedding her cloak and dropping down on the bed, cradling a mug of soup in one hand as she sprawled next to the bard. "Here." She held the cup as Gabrielle sipped from it. "After I give you the stuff, I want to open that cut up, and clean it out… the stuff will make you sleepy, okay?"

A stab of fear crossed the bard's face. "Do you have to?" She murmured. "Xena, it hurts so much when you do that.. please don't." Their eyes met for a long moment, then Gabrielle's dropped. "I know.. I know.. you have to." She laid her head down on the warrior's thigh and sighed. "I'm glad you're herewith me."

"Cmon… drink more of this." Xena urged, easing her up a little. "I'll be as gentle as I can.. then you can relax, okay?"

"With you?" Gabrielle was too tired to keep from begging like a child.

"Of course." Xena glanced down as Dori tugged on her cloak. "With both of us… we'll keep you company, right short stuff?"

"Boo."

:"Okay." Gabrielle took several swallows of the soup, and felt her stomach settle a little. "Mm." She gave Xena an apologetic look. "Sorry.. I must sound like a whiney two year old."

The warrior smiled, handing her the cup. "Here… I'm gonna get some too, and get those herbs ready." She glanced up as thunder cracked, then they both jumped as lightning hit something close by outside. "Everything's gonna be fine."

Thunder rolled violently, as the candles fluttered in the draft.

**************************

The rain had grown from a pattering to a thunder of it's own. Xena eyed the thick thatch roof with some trepidation, as she lay on their bed, propped up against the headboard with Gabrielle clasped in her arms, blissfully sleeping now that the dose of herbs Xena had given her had taken effect.

Dori had decided to take a nap as well, and she was curled up between Xena' knees, one small cheek pressed against the inside of the warrior's calf and a hand clutching the skin, much like her mother's was a little higher up.

It was an immensely satisfying sensation. Xena just wished she was at peace to enjoy it, instead of having her finely honed instincts nearly send her to the roof in question every time the weather shook the cabin. Lightning struck just outside, as if in taunting revenge, and Xena only just kept her body from jerking as a sharp crack, then the sound of something very heavy falling sounded right outside the cabin.

"Xe?" Gabrielle's eyes had half opened, and she peered dazedly upward. "Wh.. whazzat?"

"Storm." The warrior advised her. "It's… been pretty loud."

"Oh." Gabrielle's eyes closed, only to reopen a moment later. "Wow… what was that stuff you gave me?" She cleared her throat of a sleepy hoarseness. "I feel like a limp rag."

"That was the point." Xena rubbed her back, and watched her lashes flutter helplessly closed. "Your back muscles were pulling on that injured area.. rubbing stuff together. This'll help them heal."

"Ugh." Gabrielle turned a yawn into a very sleepy nibble of Xena's shirt. "It actually doesn't hurt anymore.. not really. I can't believe how wonderful that feels." Her fingers flexed. "But I guess you do, huh?"

"Mm." Xena agreed, then jumped, as a crack of thunder rattled the floorboards. "Damn."

Dori woke up and hiccuped. "Mama!"

"Easy, sweetie." Gabrielle reached down and tousled her hair. "It's just a storm."

Was it? Xena felt a wave of unease sweep over her. "Stay here." She gently eased Gabrielle onto the pillows, and untangled her leg from Dori's grip. "I'm going to go look outside.. something's not right." The floorboards felt clammy against her bare feet and she held back an involuntary shiver as she reached the window, and looked out.

Rain so thick was falling, she couldn't see past the porch of their cabin, no matter how hard she squinted. It was as though the cabin was isolated by gray walls, disturbed only by flashes of lightning. The wind outside was cold, and she jumped as not rain, but hail slammed against the wall near her head. Her danger sense almost exploded into the forefront, and a sense of ugly, haunting familarity tickled her uneasily. She searched her memories frantically to place it, sorting and discarding through a lifetime of dark experiences to figure out exactly which this evil sense belonged to.

Then a hand touched her back, and she turned, to see Gabrielle staring out into the rain, her face set into an expression of bleak understanding.

And she knew.

"He's here." The bard whispered. "It's Dahok."

A cold sense dropped over her, and Xena stepped back from the window, reaching out one hand in reflex for her leathers, and pulling her shirt off in a mechanical motion. "He's here for Andreas."

Wide, frightened eyes turned to her. "Don't go!"

"Gabrielle, I have to. I can't let him win after all." Xena fastened the straps on her armor, and pulled her metal breastplates on, her hand reaching for her sword as she felt a powerful sense of the inevitible settle onto her shoulders. "Not again."

"Xena, no." Gabrielle grabbed her arm in a painful grip. "Let him take that bastard… he's not worth you." Their eyes locked. "I mean it."

"And have everything we just did go for nothing?" Xena shot back. "Have those people have died, have suffered, for nothing, Gabrielle? Tell me if that's worth it."

A breath. "You can't stop him, Xena… you'll only die trying, and.." Gabrielle stopped suddenly and lifted a shaking hand to her eyes. "Please don't make that dream true." The words came out in a bare whisper. "Please." She gripped her partner's leathers with both hands, and just held on. "Don't go."

Xena blinked, caught offguard. "What happened to the greater good?" Her voice, though, had gentled.

Gabrielle stared at her. "To Hades with the greater good, Xena… I'm tired of sacrificing all that I have…all that I am to it. Just this once, I'd like to be the greater good." She lowered her gaze, and leaned tiredly against the wall.

Xena absorbed the slight form before her for a very long moment. Then without a word, she unclipped her sword sheath and set it down on the table, the iron lined leather making a light rasp on the worn wood surface. Then she let both forearms rest on Gabrielle's shoulders and waited.

Patiently.

The mist green eyes slowly rose and their souls acknowledged each other in an odd peace that excluded the weather, despite the dire situation.

"Gabrielle." Xena finally spoke. "You've always been my greater good." She hesitated. "Even when you didn't think so."

Gabrielle's jaw tightened, but she nodded. "Likewise." She muttered. A roll of thunder rattled the wood surface she was leaning on, the discord almost sounding like an evil chuckle. "I don't think he's here for Andreas." She finally stated softly.

"Gabrielle…" Xena exhaled. "Why else would he be here? "

Truth settled lines into the bard's face. "You."

"Me?" Xena laughed shortly. "He knows better."

"Does he?"

The warrior's breath caught in her throat. "What are you saying, Gabrielle?"

"I'm saying… why would he come for a loser?" Came the response. "Xena.. think about it. He waited for you to win." The bard took a deep breath, and held her hand out. "And now he's here, challenging you, because he knows you won't back down from him, for you, and most especially, for me."

Xena turned her head and watched the storm worsen, feeling it's pull on her. Feeling his pull. "True." She admitted softly.

"Don’t play into his hands." Gabrielle took the warm hand held out to her and curled her fingers around it. "He feeds on violence, Xena." Her voice dropped a little. "I should know."

Xena pulled her closer, until their bodies were touching, feeling the truth in her partner's words. Her eyes drifted over Gabrielle's shoulders, to where Dori was rocking on her back on the bed, her toes clutched in her fingers, blinking at the weather outside.

Was she insane?

Dahok couldn't be allowed to regain his general.. just to start all over again, could he?

Could she stop him? In her mind's eye, she saw a sudden vision of Gabrielle's helpless body, suspended over his flames, and she felt all over again, the rage and shame she'd experienced, knowing she'd failed the one person she'd sworn to herself to never let down.

To let him have his way burned her to her very core. Xena's lips twisted into a snarl, and she hesitated, her body tensing.

Or was this Dahok's aim the entire time?

Xena considered seriously. Their combined armies. Her charisma. The countryside already in tatters. It was a perfect recipe for a decent into darkness, and given how close she'd come already…

Damn. If she gave into that, she'd be easy pickings for him, wouldn't she? Gabrielle was right. Violence wasn't the answer.

But what was?

Gabrielle reached a hand up, and caressed her cheek, sensing the turmoil within her.

And stunningly, simply, provided an answer so obvious it almost made Xena laugh. Of course. They were the answer. She leaned into the hand brushing her skin and thought about what it was like to have someone love you as deeply as Gabrielle loved her.

A fury of hail responded, battering the roof in a fit of temper.

So, She could actually do him far more damage by sitting quietly here, couldn't she? Xena smiled. "C'mere." She pulled Gabrielle close and tipped her head back, claiming her lips with a sense of delicious irony. Take that, Dahok. She heard the faint, gutteral sound from within Gabrielle's throat and smiled again. And that.

The storm lashed against the cabin, bits of debris slamming against the walls. Gabrielle's hands slid up her sides, probing through thick leather and edging under the metal armor plates. Xena relaxed, and enjoyed the prolonged kiss, allowing herself to feel the growing intensity betweem them.

The wind roared, shoving against the door. Xena turned and leaned against it, bracing her shoulders against the wooden surface and feeling the anger behind the force battering it. She closed her eyes, and breathed in Gabrielle's scent. "I think we're pissing him off."

"Are we?" Gabrielle was simply glad Xena had stayed. Glad her words had penetrated the wild drive she'd seen in the warrior's eyes. Glad she hadn't had to resort to throwing herself in front of the door. She felt knuckles gently brush her skin and she willingly went with the motion, exploring Xena's thumb with her lips.

Boy, that felt good. Gabrielle circled Xena with both arms and nuzzled her, hugging the warm body gratefully. She felt Xena remove her leathers, and her senses were assaulted by the rich, spicy scent of the warrior's skin. Then the world tipped, and went sideways, as she was lifted and cradled, the rain from the window lashing lightly against her arm as they stood before the opening, the cold wind outside buffeting them hard.

She didn't even feel it. She tangled her fingers in Xena's hair and drew the warrior's head down, her slightly herb muddled mind accepting the warrior's sudden ardor with a sense of pleasant surprise. Xena's lips willingly met hers, and she felt both sets tense into a smile as they explored each other. A pause to breathe, and Xena's head shifted a little.

"I love you."

The hail rattled harder.

Gabrielle wrinkled her nose in a smile. "I love you too."

A huge hailstone, half the size of Xena's head, brushed by the warrior's shoulder and landed with a crunch. "Temper, temper." Xena burred, rubbing noses with her partner, before she turned and removed herself from any further targetting, laying Gabrielle back down on the bed and curling around her, as Dori crawled over to investigate.

Xena gathered her family around her, and closed her eyes, blocking out the storm, and the sound of limbs cracking, and the awful howl of the wind.

For a moment, she knew peace.

Then the roof blew off the cabin.

***************************

For a moment, they froze, then Xena's eyes popped open and she stared upward, over Gabrielle's shoulder, up into a nightmare her mind could hardly comprehend. Above them, a whirling, dense circle of clouds raced, as though a tornado had chosen their cabin as it's malevolent eye. "Don't look." She grabbed the bard's head and tucked it down against her shoulder.

"Xena." Gabrielle gently wrested her body free and half turned, looking up and freezing in place. "Oh gods…"

A long, spiral gray finger was forming, reaching down out of the storm towards them, crooking it's angular length as it rotated.

Gabrielle felt the breath go out of her lungs, as terror gripped her, and her hands encountered a completely unexpected sensation, shivers of fear rippling through her partner's still body. She turned, and stared, seeing the blue eyes wide open, peering up at the oncoming threat with a look of total shock.

Dori coughed, as she stared upward, mesmerized "Mama!"

Her voice seemed to break the paralysis gripping her parents. Xena's head jerked, and she half rolled up, pulling Gabrielle and Dori with her as the wind's howl rose again. ""Cmon!" They both felt a tug against them, as the cabin started to fill with an eerie gray mist, and they stumbled away from it, Gabrielle clutching Dori to her with frantic strength.

They made it to the washing room, before the powerful suction almost pulled Xena's legs out from under her, and she caught the doorframe, resisting the motion and leaning forward as the wind tugged her hair back.

In a sudden motion, she turned, catching the frame from the inside, and blinking as the mist reached out for her, and the long finger closed in, snaking it's first tendrils around her legs and tightening it's hold. She could feel the dark intent behind it, and as though a whisper brushed against her mind, the darkness called her.

And part of her did answer.

Come.

Be free.

Xena's hands shook as she felt the blood craving, so recently awakened in her, surge forward eagerly. "No."

Come.

A bloody finger stroked her cheek, and she heard war cries echo faintly, calling her on. Chanting her name.

Nothing can stop you.

Xena felt the truth of that.

But she also knew a different truth. "I can stop me." Her hands tightened on the wood, holding her body in place against the pull, which increased, fluttering the light shift against her body. Behind her, Gabrielle pressed against her back, and she felt a strong arm wrap itself around her waist in powerful comfort. "I can stop you." She told the storm.

It laughed.

Xena sucked in a breath, then wrenched her body around to face Gabrielle, turning her back on the darkness. The bard's face was white with fear, and her eyes were wide, as the gray tendrils circled them and wrapped their body in a slimy embrace. "Xena…"

"You know what I figured out about gods, Gabrielle?" The warrior whispered.

"Xena.. " A silver wisp brushed the bard's cheek with quiet familiarity. "No!" Gabrielle jerked her head back frantically.

"Gabrielle!" Xena barked her name, forcing her to look up, and make eye contact. "The only power a god has… is the power mortals give them."

"Wh… what?"

"It comes from us… " Xena felt the pull slowly dragging her backwards and she clung to the door tenaciously. Dori was clinging to her mother's neck, and started to cry. "If we don't believe in them, they're finished."

"B… " Gabrielle forced the words out past the terror. "How can you not believe this, Xena!"

The warrior closed her eyes, and took a breath, her brow crinkling in concentration. The gray mist now covered them, and she felt it start to close in, evoking a panic of another kind entirely. Her mind teetered on the edge of revolt, as she tried to force the knowledge of the horror behind her out.

It was just so hard. Especially since there was a part of her that wanted to follow that call, that was eagerly prodding her towards the whirling storm and away from her family. "Gabrielle… help me." She got out from between gritted teeth. "I need you not to believe as hard as you can."

Gabrielle was shivering, watching the gray mist curl around her arms, tightening on her skin and letting a soundless, knowing chuckle run through her. "I… I can't."

"You have to."

Not believe in him? The nightmare she'd suffered wrenched itself into her mind, making her relive again the ravaging flames that ripped through her body and soul. Gabrielle felt the forces move them closer to the vortex, as Xena's arms started to give out, unable to keep them both in place. I can't not believe in him, Xena… her mind screamed.

But.

The bard sucked in a breath, and let her head drop against Xena's chest, concentrating on a simple, single goal and focusing all the strength of her considerable will on it.

"Atta girl." Xena felt her equilibrium settle, and she gripped the wood of the doorway tenaciously. The howl rose, and Dori screamed, her tiny hands clutching both warrior and bard in desperation. Xena felt her feet start to leave the ground, and she slammed her boots against the frame, twisting her body and holding herself in place by sheer strength.

And inch by inch, her mind painted out the wind, and the noise, and the pulling, convincing herself that the only reality she needed to aknowledge was the warmth of Gabrielle's breath, and Dori's grip, and the fact that she was NOT going to MOVE a single INCH because she willed it that way.

Because Gabrielle was willing it that way, too, Xena exulted, as she painted out the sounds, imagining them fading and fading, imagining the wind dropping, and the pull relaxing into a weak drift.

Feeling the quiet.

Believing in it.

She felt the sun on her back, and a gentle breeze, and heard the sound of curious birds erupting into speech.

A leaf dropped on her shoulder.

Slowly, Xena opened her eyes, and turned her head, studying the brown and green slice of life resting quietly against the damp fabric of her shift. She looked up, to see blue sky and wisps of clouds through the ruined roof of the cabin. "Gabrielle."

The bard drew breath, and raised her head, taking in the silence. "Gone."

Xena nodded. "Yes." She turned back and hugged her partner. "We did it." A big smile crossed her face, and she rubbed noses with a still anxious Dori. "We did it, Dori… no more bad stuff, huh?"

"Boo." Dori looked around her with wide, worried eyes. "Go cow!"

Gabrielle let her head drop back against Xena's shoulder. "Wow."

"Good job, sweetheart." Xena rubbed her back. "I knew you could do it."

"I didn't." The bard whispered.

Xena's motion slowed, and she lifted a hand, tipping Gabrielle's head up. "What? Of course you did… I could feel it, Gabrielle."

"No." A slow shake of the head. "I couldn't not believe in him, Xena." Now the mist green eyes warmed, and took on a deep, internal light. "But what I could do, was believe with all my heart in you."

Xena gazed at her in stunned silence for several heartbeats.

'So that's what I did." Gabrielle told her, as she shifted Dori in her arms and leaned against the doorway. "It felt great."

"Yeah.. " The warrior turned and put an arm across her shoulders, peering at the devastation inside the cabin. The wind had ripped everything apart, and sent bits of wood and thatch everywhere. But the sunlight was pouring in, and it lit them in warmth as they started to hear yells, and activity outside, amidt a confusion of shouts and alarms. "Well." A sense of exhausted giddiness filled her. "You wanted to rearrange the furniture in here."

Gabrielle laughed weakly, then sighed. "You okay, Dori?"

Dori hiccuped, and stuck a finger in her mouth. "Mama…. Go cow?" She pointed at the roof. "Moo?"

Her mother's fair head tilted back. "No honey… no cow up there." She slid her free arm around her partner. "Boo scared the wind away, and saved the cow again." Her head rested against Xena's shoulder.

"Moo!" Dori approved of this. "Good Boo!"

Xena stared at the remains of her home, and felt a shiver go down her back. She conciously put aside what had just happened, and turned her mind to the practical. "Let's get outta here before something falls on our heads." She put an hand carefully against Gabrielle's back. "You okay?"

"Hmm?" Gabrielle shifted Dori to her other arm, and edged around a fallen pile of thatch. "I'm fine… why?" Then she remembered, and her free hand went to her back in a reflex motion. "Hey…." Her eyes went to Xena's face. "It doesn't hurt anymore."

Another thing not to think about. "C'mon." Xena directed her towards the door. "We'll talk about it later." Much later. She guided Gabrielle through the debris, and opened the crazily swinging cabin door, stepping out onto the porch as a crowd of people rushed towards it.

It was over. Xena exhaled, as Bennu arrived by her side. "Everyone all right?" She could see the devastation across the village, bits of building scattered everywhere, and large gaps showing in the walls of her mother's inn.

"Everybody cepting that Andreas bastard, genr'l… celler he was in was far blasted cross the earth in that storm. Parts of him scattered from hear and yonder there." The tall captain told her excitedly, then glanced at Dori. "Sorry, little one.. it was some storm, eh? Was a tornado, it was."

Dori poked her tongue out. "Guff."

Xena took a breath, absorbing the news. "All right." She quietly took charge. "Let's start cleaning up." She straightened. "Coulda been a lot worse."

**************************

Gabrielle exhaled, pausing to lean against the table in the inn after another candlemark in a series of countless ones moving debris, and helping the wounded. It was late, the sun had set long ago, and she was very, very tired. Her eyes roamed idly around the inn, taking in the salvaged supplies and the weary bodies settled around the perimiter.

"Gabrielle?" A hand fell on the bard's shoulder, and she glanced up, to see Cyrene standing next to her, the innkeeper's clothing covered in dust and soot, one stripe of mud almost obscuring an eye.

"Hi, mom."

"Join me for some tea?" Cyrene set a stoneware pot down, along with two cups, and let her bones fall into the nearby chair. "God's and Goddesses… I feel like I"ve been carrying this damn inn around on my shoulders."

Gabrielle gratefully sank down on a bench, and curled her fingers around the ceramic cup, it's slightly rough surface tickling the skin of her hands. It's cool stone warmed as Cyrene poured steaming, mint scented tea into it, and she drew the cup to her face, breathing in the familiar smell with a sense of weary pleasure. "Mm… that smells great." She took a sip, and swallowed, wincing at the faint soreness in her throat.

Was that from screaming? She thought she remembered screaming.

"Gabrielle?"

She lifted her head. "Mm? Sorry.. were you saying something?"

"That was a horrible storm." Cyrene repeated. "I've never seen anything like it. You're so lucky none of the three of you were hurt." She reached over and patted Gabrielle's hand. "I was so scared when I looked out, and saw the roof blow off your home."

"I was pretty scared too." The bard replied softly. She and Xena had decided, in a brief, tense conference, not to mention what they'd faced in the cabin. There was, Xena had reasoned, no sense in terrorizing the town, now that the threat was over, and they could begin to rebuild.

Gabrielle wasn't sure about that. Not that she didn't think Dahok was gone, for now at least, she did…but not tell them? Was that to spare the villagers, she wondered, or just Xena's natural reticince when it came to the more fantastic of her abilities? "I'm just glad no one was killed."

"Almost no one." Cyrene corrected her.

"Mm." Gabrielle acknowledged that. Part of her was grateful for that, because it meant Xena didn't have to make that decision, or carry that blood on her hands along with all the rest of it. Her partner was running on single focus mode right now - concentrating on getting things put back together, and shoving what they'd been through to the back of her mind, to think about later.

Or not, knowing Xena. Gabrielle exhaled. And for once, she almost agreed with her. All she wanted to do was get her life back to relative normal, and try to forget the last few months as best she could.

"Hey." Cyrene tapped her hand. "I think you need to go off to bed, m'dear… you're falling asleep right here at the table." She paused awkwardly. "How's your back feeling? You seem much better."

"It does feel better, thanks." Gabrielle scrubbed her face with one hand. "I was just going… gods know where Xena found a place for us to stay, though."

Cyrene snorted a tired burst of laughter. "Where else but my damned barn? "She retorted. "I swear, you'd think that girl'd been born in a horse stall the way she likes to sleep in there."

The door opened, and a dark head poked itself in. "What was that?"

Gabrielle propped her chin up on one fist, wryly examining her filthy, mud covered, scratched and bruised best friend. "We done for tonight?"

Xena leaned against the doorway, and nodded. "Yeah." A hand lifted. "C'mon." Her eyes met her mother's. "Everything all right here? Supply wagons should be back tomorrow noontime."

Cyrene nodded. "We'll be fine. Go to bed, both of you. Dori's already sleeping in the tot's room - let her stay there for now."

So they did. Xena and Gabrielle walked slowly over the muddy ground arm in arm, in the comfortable silence two people can have when they'd lived through what these two had. Xena pulled the barn door open and they walked in, greeted by the smell of fresh, clean hay and horses. Argo put her head over her stall and snorted, and below her, Ares dark head popped up from his comfortable nest.

"Roo?"

"Hey guys." Gabrielle lifted a hand and waved at them. "Thanks for putting us up for the night." She stood, wavering a little as Xena dragged off first her tunic, then her own. They looked at each other. "Ugh."

"Mm." Xena agreed, glancing down the length of her long body. "Guess we should clean up."

The bard leaned against her, and exhaled. "Xena. Right now, I would not care if we were both completely covered in pig manure left out in a three day sun." She drew a breath in. "I want to go to bed. Right now." A sigh. "I'm so tired."

"Not a good idea." Xena replied gently, giving her a neck scratch. "C'mon… the trough's back there. We'll make it really quick… we're both cut up, and I don't want any problems with that." She examined a long, wicked scrape on one forearm.

Gabrielle groaned, but knew her partner too well to protest. "Okay…" She trudged in that direction with determination, tugging Xena along behind her until they were at the water trough, where she simply leaned over and stuck her head in the cool, but not harshly cold water, holding her breath until she felt the wetness penetrate her hair. She pulled her head back out and shook it, scattering water everywhere.

"Thanks." Xena wiped her face. "Feel better now?"

A dripping bard smiled through the tiredness. "No.. got any soap?" She let a hand dangle in the water, and it's fingers flicked a handful of water at Xena.

"Hey." Xena growled, a grumpy look crossing her face. "Don’t you start that."

"Yeah?" Gabrielle was beyond tired, to the point where threats from intimidating warriors merely made her giggle. "Or what?" She flicked another handful of water. "C'mon, tough girl."

"Gabrielle!" The corner of Xena's mouth twitched. "Cut that out!"

"Ooo.. " Another handful, leaving glistening streaks across the dusty, tan skin. "Make me."

Xena put her hands on her hips, and got a faceful of water for her pains. "Hey!" She blinked, then moved, digging a cupped palm into the water and shoveling it towards the bard, catching her right in the chest with a wave. "All right.. you asked for it."

"Woo!" Gabrielle laughed, ducking, and getting a splash back. She circled the trough and used both hands, sending a minature wall of water across the open space and hitting her partner. "Nyahh nyahh…" She dodged as Xena came around the end of the tub and they chased each other for a minute, until she slipped on a patch of wet hay and almost ended up getting splinters in a very painful spot.

Xena caught her, and the next thing she knew, she was being lifted up and dumped in the trough. She spread her arms and flattened her body, though, displacing a huge amount of the water and dousing Xena very throughly from head to foot before she dissappeared beneath the surface, reemerging to shake the wet hair out of her face, and see Xena standing over her, hands resting on the wooden tub edge, her dark hair obscuring most of her features in dripping locks. "Cute look." Gabrielle smiled.

"I'll give you cute." Xena growled, lifting herself up and hauling her body over the edge of the trough, where she joined her partner in the small space in a tangle of wet limbs and the creak of protesting wood.

For a moment it was quiet.

"Xena." Gabrielle finally said, feeling a bit like a sardine. "This trough ain't big enough for both of us."

"Complaining?" The warrior rumbled into her ear, licking the lobe of it lightly.

Such a strange sensation. Gabrielle reveled in the strength of it, a shiver that drove the cold, and the exhaustion from her body like magic, replacing it with a warm energy. "No.. " A creak alerted her. "But I think we're…" With a splintering crack, the trough collapsed, sending them tumbling to the straw covered floor in a rush of now muddy water and chunks of wood. "Whoa!!"

"Son of a.." Xena yelped.

The horses snorted, and Ares hid.

Xena found herself flat on her back with a wet bard smack on top of her, in a helpless fit of giggles.

And, she realized, after all that had happened, it was really the only reaction possible. She started laughing herself, ignoring the spikey bits of straw poking her in odd places as they lay there chuckling together. "Oh, gods."

Gabrielle let her laugher trickle off to a rueful sigh. "I'm sorry.. but I needed that."

Xena spread her arms to both sides and gazed up at the thatch. "I think I did too." She admitted. "You wanna get off me now?"

"No." Gabrielle wriggled contentedly and put her chin down on Xena's breastbone. "I just got comfortable."

Blue eyes rolled.

"Just kidding." The bard gave her a kiss, then rolled off, getting to her hands and knees, then standing up and surveying the mess they'd made. "Ew."

"Hm." Xena used a nearby stall divider to pull herself to her feet and brushed muddy straw from various parts of her anatomy. "How come stuff like this never gets in those stories of yours, huh?"

Green eyes turned to peer at her in disbelief, with both attendant blond eyebrows lifting in question. "You must be kidding… this would never go with your heroic reputation, Xena." She reached over and plucked an errant oat from behind her soulmate's ear. "And no one'd believe it anyway." She ambled over and pulled a square of linen from the box they'd salvaged from the cabin and returned to where Xena was still standing, using the fabric to dry off the tall, lean body. "You know what?"

"What?" Xena let her arms rest on Gabrielle's shoulders as the bard continued her task.

"I love you." Gabrielle gave her a hug, as Xena removed the linen from her hands and returned the drying favor.

Xena let her touch run over the spot where the bard had been wounded, now just a thin line under her fingers. She pulled Gabrielle closer, and rested her chin against her damp head. "I love you too."

They stood, rocking gently in each other's arms for a few minutes, before parting to pull clean shifts over their heads in deference to the chill air still outside, a good draft of which was whistling through the breaks in the walls caused by the storm. It was a clean cold, though, crisp and dry, and the lack of heavy moisture almost felt good to Gabrielle, as she drew in a breath of air filled with the smells of hay and horses.

It reminded her suddenly of the long winter they'd spent here, the one she counted still as one of the happiest times of her life. "Mm." She hugged herself, as she watched Xena scatter hay over the floor to absorb the water they'd spilled. "Hey, Xe?"

The warrior paused, and hiked a brow. "Yes?"

"I know there's a ton of stuff we've got to do.. to get things back together… Josc was talking to me about sort of being his co reeve, and all that."

"Sure." Xena pushed her hair back out of her eyes, and dusted her hands off, then pointed to the loft. "Ready?"

"Would you care if I didn't?"

The dark head tilted. "Didn't become his co reeve? No.. but I thought you enjoyed that."

Gabrielle pushed a bit of hay around on the floor with an idle bare toe. "I think I'd like to really concentrate on my scrolls a lot more." She admitted. "Get more in touch with that side of myself again."

Xena held out her hands, and waited for the bard to walk between them, then let the rest on her waistline as she studied her face. "Everyone's used to coming to you for answers now - it's hard to back away from that."

"You should know." Gabrielle acknowledged. "But I'd like to try it."

A nod. "All right." Xena crouched slightly, then tightened her grip and straightened, turning slightly to toss her partner up into the loft where she landed in the springy hay with a tiny bounce. Then she leaped, and caught the crossbeam, pulling herself up into the small space alongside her. They both settled down side by side, and peered up at the wooden supports just overhead. In tandem, two hands lifted, and traced names engraved there, meeting where the names met, and tangling fingers together.

Gabrielle murmured softly, then rolled onto her side, and snuggled into her favorite spot, smiling a little as the familiar smell of her partner filled her nose. She closed her eyes and spent a moment simply being grateful. Grateful that they were both alive, and relatively undamaged, and together.

She felt Xena brush the top of her head with a kiss, and reflected that no Elysian Fields could hope to equal the sweetness of that simple emotion, and how it made her feel. Xena stretched her body out and relaxed, one hand rubbing Gabrielle's back in an absent, affectionate gesture, and Gabrielle felt sleep already taking her over.

"I think you owe me a late sleep in." The bard murmured. "Don't you?"

"That's gonna be a little tough here in the barn." Xena replied dryly.

Gabrielle groaned.

"I'll see what I can do." The warrior amended, with an amused chuckle. She felt Gabrielle's breathing slow, and even out, as the bard's body relaxed against hers. In the faint light from the lamp she'd hung carefully near the hay free spot close to the door, she could see the curve of Gabrielle's cheek, and the faint motion as her fingers tightened on Xena's shirt.

She closed her own eyes, feeling her body settle into the straw in weary content, as her mind relaxed into a similar state, satisfied with the long day's victories.

Her victories.

Xena felt her face crease into a smile, which remained there even after she'd joined her soulmate in their dreams.

**********************************

Gabrielle felt the warmth across the back of her head, and down one shoulder and hip that she knew was sunlight coming in the tiny window that was set into the loft, admitting air and light through it's waxed glass panes.

"Mm." She kept her eyes closed, but smiled, listening to the slow, steady heartbeat under her ear. "You kept your promise."

"Oh yeah." Xena agreed, wiggling a bare foot, and hefting a horseshoe in her free hand. She'd been nailing the barn door with the metal items since just after dawn, whenever it appeared someone was going to try and enter.

It had been a peaceful morning otherwise. Xena could hear a lot of noise surrounding the barn, but she'd had no real urge to get up and find out what it was, at least until she'd fufilled her part of the bargain, and let her partner have her well deserved attempt at laziness. "You thinking about waking up?"

Gabrielle considered the question, then let her eyes drift open as she heard a distinctive growl coming from the surface she was draped over. "Hungry?"

"Starving."

"I'm there."

They got dressed and emerged into the courtyard, which was full of workers, villagers and soldiers who had doffed their weapons, and donned the tools of what trades they'd had before they'd taken up arms. Amphipolis was being rebuilt at a rapid pace, and as they watched, a wagon rolled past covered with newly cut thatch.

"That for us?" Gabrielle asked curiously.

"Mm.. yes, I think so." Xena observed the load, then gave the driver a gracious nod. He touched his cap in respect, and maneuvered past. They walked on and entered the inn, which had started taking on a more normal appearance. The large room was mostly full, and the tables were covered in mugs and plates, curious eyes lifting as they entered and conversation falling awkwardly off.

Xena lifted a hand and waved it, then pushed the inner door open, and spotted her mother near the far wall, behind crates of what were obviously newly delivered supplies. "Wagons get here?"

Cyrene glanced up. "Well well." She tapped her shoulder with a wooden spoon. "Have you finished terrorizing the stockmen? I had three of them in here nearly in tears because they couldn't get to their precious horses." She shook her head at them. "And yes, Toris came in with the wagons about a candlemark ago, thank the gods"

"Good." Xena walked over and helped herself to a couple of loaves of thick, dark bread and a pot of nutty smelling cereal, which she lifted and carried towards the door.

"Xena?" The innkeeper called, quietly.

"Yes?" Her daughter turned at the door and gazed back.

"Have you spoken with Toris, since this all ended?"

Xena hesitated, then let out a breath. "No. Why?"

"Just something he said." Her mother replied. "I think he's got some things on his mind he wants to discuss with you."

Xena and Gabrielle exchanged glances. "He knows where to find me." Xena finally said, before she turned, and walked through the door, letting it swing shut behind her. Gabrielle and Cyrene looked at each other for minute, then both sighed.

"Some things never change." The innkeeper rubbed her temples. "The two of them have been tooth and nail since they got out of nappies." She paused. "Maybe even before… "

Gabrielle sighed. "I'll see what I can do." She turned, and followed Xena, hearing Cyrene's weary grunt behind her.

***********************"

"Xena."

The warrior halted her progress across the river road and turned, to see Joscyln hurrying to catch up with her. She waited for the reeve to come along side, then turned and continued walking. "What's up?"

"I've gotten word from the outer sentries… there's a small merchant train coming through from the Po… the downriver road."

Xena nodded. "Good to hear… it's been a fortnight, long enough for word to spread, I guess." She paused again, and put her hands on her hips, gazing down the road in question. "Not much between us and everything else though… long trip for them."

"Well, that's what I wanted to talk to you about." Josc scratched his grizzled head. "Gots some folks who were asking about settling further down… wanted to know what you thought about it."

The dark head cocked. "What I thought? If they can support the land, more power to them. What do I have to do with it?"

Josc stared at her pensively. "There's a lot of displaced people here, Xena. They want to settle nearby…. The gods know we've got the land around here, but the main reason's because of you. They figure if you're here, it's safer." He told her bluntly. "There's a group who teamed up with what's left of Potadeia… they agreed to go back and reform the town, but.. they want assurance if there's trouble..um… "

Xena's eyebrows lifted. "What do I look like, a corporal of the Athens guard?" She snorted. "Since when do you get guarantees of anything in this damn life, Josc? If they want protection, they can form a militia just like Amphipolis did."

He sighed. "So you won't help them? I mean, it's not that I blame you, Xena. You've done so much…"

The warrior's head dropped, and she studied the earth beneath their boots. "They want someone to direct their lives, Josc… I can't do that. If they get attacked.. if I'm here, of course I'll go help… but… " She rubbed her neck. "They need to learn to defend themselves…. Not depend on me to do that for them."

They glanced at each other in uncomfortable silence for a few beats. "I've heard a lot of the soldiers talk about settling here." Josc finally said. "I don’t think it's because of the nice fertile fields, either."

Xena remained quiet.

"Whether you want it or not, Xena.. those people want a piece of you." Josc turned, and looked back at the town. "We're going to add a lot of bodies to the land here…. Word'll get around about that, and that brings merchants, and trade.. and more growth…" He turned back and looked directly at her. "Already heard talk of maintaining the banks that flood cut back down the river…it made the channel deep enough for barges, I reckon."

Xena looked away, off towards the grassy plain still littered with bones and bits of armor. Life was a series of tradeoffs, she acknowledged bleakly, having heard the same stories, and knew what they meant.

Amphipolis, the one she'd known from childhood, the one she'd fallen in love with again after all the years of horror, would disappear forever, replaced with city she'd probably never feel at home in.

She could leave. She could take her family, and go elsewhere… removing the mystique and the reason for so many of her followers to stay around Amphipolis, allowing the town to keep it's backwoods sleepiness. But was that fair? After so many years of scratching at the earth to make ends meet, at last now her hometown might get a chance at growth, and change.

Could she.. should she deny them that just for her own comfort?

Xena sighed. "Tell them we'll work something out… maybe arrange for a regional defense or something." She told the reeve. "And anyone who wants to stick around, better make themselves useful. I don't want a thousand lazy hack fighters taking up space, got me? They got skills, they can stay. Otherwise, let em move on."

Joscylyn let a grin cross his lined face. "I've been telling em they've gotta be at least as useful as you are." He told her. "Never saw so many feckless farmboys scrabbling round to learn them a trade before."

That surprised a laugh out of Xena. "All right then." She folded her arms across her chest. "We'll just make the best of it."

Josc nodded, and paused a beat. "Xena.. may I ask a bit of a personal thing?"

A breath. "Sure."

The reeve hitched his thumbs inside his belt. "Gabrielle tells me she's stepping back from some of her responsibilities… is she all right? I know she was hurt in the fight, but she seemed better."

Xena exhaled. "She's fine… I think she just needs a break. She wants to concentrate on her scrolls for a while. Give her some time." The warrior's lips quirked into a smile. "With all this going on, she'll be poking around soon enough."

Relieved, he nodded. "Good to hear… you know, the council misses her."

The warrior clapped him on the shoulder, and turned to head towards the site of the bridge rebuilding. "Let her know."

Josc watched her walk off, with her distinctive swagger bringing a faint smirk to his face. "Aye. I'll do that, Xena."

***************************

Ephiny mounted the familiar steps and padded across the porch, reaching the door and knocking lightly on it. She worked the latch and opened it as she heard the response from within, and pushed the door open, entering and closing it behind her. "Good morning."

Gabrielle was seated at her desk, dressed in a warm, woolen gown with forearm length sleeves in a bright green color. She had scrolls covering the desk's surface, with two ink pots and a scattering of quills, one of which was currently between her teeth as she regarded something she'd just written. "Morning, yourself… c'mon in and sit down."

Ephiny neatly navigated around the stuffed toys on the floor and seated herself in one of the comfortable chairs near the fire. "Looks good in here." She tipped her head back and regarded the newly thatched ceiling.

"Mm." Gabrielle rested her weight on her elbows and nodded. "Nice to have our stuff all back… it looks a lot more like home again." She smiled, then grinned as she spotted Dori's crawling form. "There you are.. I was about to go look for you, Dori."

"Mama." Dori, covered in dust, got laborously to her feet and toddled over, her tiny boots scuffing against the wood. "Guff!" She turned and pointed under the bad. "Bad!"

Gabrielle wiped a bit of dirt from the baby's face. "Honey, Ares just doesn't like you pulling his tail all the time.. so he hides."

Dori wrapped both arms around her mother's sturdy leg and mouthed her kneecap. All traces of her ordeal were now gone, and she was back to her headlong rambunciousness, except for a tendency Gabrielle had noticed to want to touch both her and Xena more.

Now she ruffled the baby's hair. "Did you say hi to your aunt Ephiny?"

Pale green eyes peered up at the Amazon from between dark lashes. "Hi."

"Aw." Ephiny laughed in delight. "That's so cute."

"Mm.. and she knows it." Gabrielle gazed affectionately at her offspring. "Thank you, Dori."

Dori turned her head. "Cookie?"

Both women burst out laughing. "Oh gods.. I shouldn't laugh.. " Gabrielle muffled her snickers. "She is sooo bad."

A tiny lip poked out. "Mama?"

"She looks just like Xena when she does that." Ephiny chuckled. "I'm just waiting for one of those raised eyebrow looks."

"Here." Gabrielle broke off a bit of the honeycake she'd been nibbling on and handed it over. "You spoiled rotten baby, you."

Dori's face wrinkled into a grin that even Gabrielle recognized as being her image, and stuffed the cake into her mouth, dropping crumbs liberally. "Mmmm."

Ephiny watched mother and daughter, and felt a quiet pang in her heart. "How's it going here? Haven't seen much of you the past few days."

"Oh." Gabrielle twirled a quill, smiling easily. "I've been working on an outline.. I want to get the details down right before I start writing about the war." She leaned back in the comfortable chair and stretched her legs out, crossing them at the ankle. "How's it going out there? Did the upland Amazons decide to head back yet?"

"Hm." Ephiny leaned against her chair arm. "Flatteringly enough, a number of them want to come back with us… I talked to Pony and some of the others, and we've got enough space for them. Looks like we'll be gaining some valuable skills."

"Great." The bard smiled, then glanced down. "I don’t… I mean, I feel horrible, in a way, Eph… it was my fault really, that both of their nations lost their leaders."

"Gillen can rot in Hades. She tried to kill you, Gabrielle." Ephiny shot back. "I never trusted her.. she gave me the creeps from day one, and frankly… " Her hands flexed a bit. "I wish it'd been me who spilled her blood."

Patient, mist green eyes reviewed her. "Well, it wasn't." Gabrielle reminded her. "Those nations came and joined in battle with us, Eph. I want to make sure they don't lose because of it. Do they have everything they need?"

Ephiny face twitched. "Yes… " She conceded. "They've taken over the whole back section near the ravine.. the hunting's good back there, and frankly, I think they like it."

"Good." The bard nodded. "I heard we've got merchants headed this way finally… it should be a good trade market." Mostly, she acknowledged, because Andreas war coffers had been captured along with his command staff, and provided a large stock of coin and trade goods pilfered from the gods only knew how many wrecked villages between his home city and here.

"Mm." The regent picked up a quill, and examined it. "It's so hard to believe it's over, and we won." She glanced up at Gabrielle honestly. "I figured… we all did… that it would end a lot worse for us, Gab. Pony and I talked about it. We didn't expect we'd all survive." A thin smile tugged her lips. "Here we were, all ready to make the ultimate sacrifice."

Gabrielle nodded in silence, her fingers sorting through Dori's dark hair. "Yeah. Me too." She looked up. "Feels like a dream sometimes. I expected to lose everything." A breath. "Maybe all my luck finally caught up to me." She nudged a scroll. "I think that's why I want to go back and get all this down… finish up some other writing projects I was working on."

"Let someone else worry about running the world for a while?" Ephiny smile gently.

"Mm." A nod.

"Hey.. that reminds me." Ephiny discarded the discussion she'd meant to have and changed the subject. "This little kiddo's birthday's coming up." She held out a finger to Dori, and watched the baby tug it industriously. "I was just thinking…"

"Let me guess." Gabirelle burst into laughter, her momentary dark thoughts dismissed. "A party."

"Hey!" Ephiny shook a finger at her. "It's a legitimate reason. Her and Gran's two are darn good…um.."

"Excuse." The bard supplied helpfully. "Uh huh."

"Gabrielle." Ephiny glowered at her.

"Just kidding… I think it's a great idea." Gabrielle relented. "How about it, Dori… you want a party?"

Dori looked up inquisitively. "Bck."

"All right, a party it is." The bard lifted her up and set her in her lap, giving her a hug, and sighing contentedly. "I think we're due a party anyway, Eph. Invite everyone."

The Amazon's jaw dropped slightly. "Everyone?"

"Everyone." Gabrielle decided. "Amazons, Centaurs, forest people, whoever's still around from the soldiers… those merchants are headed this way.. let's do it right."

Hazel eyes shifted around the room, then fell on her again. "Gabrielle, that's not a party. That's an invitation to chaos."

"You." Gabirelle pointed. "Suggested it, and I'm sure the Amazons, being the party experts, can handle all the details." A smile. "Right?"

"Oh boy." Ephiny covered her eyes. "What did I just get myself into."

"Guff." Dori tossed a quill at her.

***********************

Xena kept her eyes closed, and concentrated on the sounds around her. She could hear water nearby, rippling over stone, and the dried leaves of winter rustling overhead. She could smell the spring, and the dusty earth she was lying on, and the rich pungent scent of the tree bark on the roots that cradled her head.

A bird chirped. She could hear the faint scratches of his claws against the tree branch as he moved down towards the end of the limb, and heard the soft fluttering as he twitched his wings into place, the quills making just the merest rasping sound.

The breeze blew over her, raising goosebumps in it's wake, and brought her a hint of something familiar. Xena cocked her head and concentrated, hearing at first nothing, then an almost inaudible percussion, a scuff of leather against earth, bearing a weight her instincts could measure with exactly precision.

But any two people could be the same weight. She conceded. She counted the footfalls, moving to an internal rhythm that spoke of strength and agility, and youth. Light enough to be female. Heavy enough to be those of a fighter. The length between them indicating someone shoulder height on Xena, with a compact, athletic body and a neat, rhythmic little swagger.

The warrior smiled again, stretching her body out and inhaling deeply, catching her partner's very distinctive smell on the wind.

Ooo. And she had lunch with her.

Xena let her eyes open, and rolled her head to one side, in time to see Gabrielle climbing the last small rise up to the spring, leaning forward and digging her steps into the soft earth, a neat basket slung over her shoulder by a leather strap. The sun backlit the bard, outlining her form in gold, and almost dazzling Xena's eyes as the rays peeked around her.

"Hi there." Gabrielle seated herself, seemingly oblivious of her partner's bemused regard. "Thought I'd find you up here."

"Whatcha got there?" Xena hiked herself up on her elbows and peered at the basket. "Thought I'd take a break for a few minutes… we've been moving bridge supports all morning."

"Just some sandwiches." Gabrielle set the basket down and stretched out on her side, crossing her booted feet at the ankles. "Dori's playing with her cousins… I just had a sudden urge to be with you."

"Did you?" Xena reached a lazy hand out and traced a line up Gabrielle's leg, encased in it's woolen covering. "Good." She leaned over and kissed the spot, then nibbled the inside of Gabrielle's knee for good measure.

"You know, Xe?" Gabrielle ran her fingers affectionately through the dark hair, smiling as Xena rested her chin on the bard's thigh and gazed up at her in question. "You really make my day sometimes."

Xena's head cocked curiously. "I do?"

"Mm." Gabrielle paused, and remembered a day very long ago, memories of a young girl she hardly connected herself to anymore.

***********

I know I can do it. Gabrielle had convinced herself, for the tenth time. She'd very carefully measured out the herbs, combining them with unsure fingers in a wooden cup whose dimensions stretched her still growing hands.

Across the fire, a dour, dark visiaged form was crouched, intent on the neverending task of sharpening the long, frightening sword that kept them safe.

They'd had a long day, no fighting, but struggling through a deserty wasteland, whose loose sands taxed even Xena's stamina, and actually had put Gabrielle at a rare advantage, being much lighter than her companion.

Xena had been very grumpy. She hadn't said a word all day, and now was hunkered over her weapon like a lion over a kill, her very posture rejecting any contact with Gabrielle or anyone else who happened to come along.

There. Gabrielle put the cup down, and carefully poured boiling water over the herbs, blinking a little as the steam rose up and filled her nostrils, heavy with spice. She got up to get a spoon to mix it with, picking up her little bag and bringing it back with her, then sitting down and pulling out her supplies.

A slip of her hand, and she grabbed at a small bottle that had popped out, it's cork working loose as she juggled it over the still steaming cup. To her horror, some of the contents spilled out and into the liquid before she could recover control of the jar and get the top back on.

Oh no! Gabrielle had been devastated. The herbs were in very short supply, and this had been her only real chance… now she'd have to tell Xena what had happened, and probably discard the hot drink she'd tried to make for her. Anxiously, she'd put the jar away and retrieved her spoon, stirring the mixture hesitantly.

Well. She'd sniffed at it. It smelled okay. She'd glanced furtively at Xena. Maybe she wouldn't notice. Gabrielle had girded her adolescent loins, and taken the wooden cup in both hands, then stood up and walked across their campsite, carefully skirting the neat pile of Argo's tack, until she was at Xena's side.

The scraping went on for a minute, then stopped. "Yeah?" Cold blue eyes had flicked to her face. "What is it?"

Bravely, Gabrielle had held out the cup. "I made you some tea."

One inky brow moved up. "Again?"

"I think I got it this time, Xena, really." She'd insisted earnestly. "I know the last time I messed up, and put those pepper leaves in, but…"

Xena had sighed, and taken the cup. "Okay. Great. Thanks."

With her own, silent sigh, Gabrielle had let her hands drop, and turned around, to walk the long, lonely trek over to the far side of the fire, where her borrowed blankets mutely waited. She'd gotten halfway there, when a low, growly voice stopped her.

"Gabrielle."

She'd turned, and held her breath. "Yes?"

"What… did you put in here?" Xena had asked, peering into the cup before pinning her with a direct stare.

Oh… piggy wonks. Gabrielle's shoulders had dropped, and she'd tangled her fingers together. "I… it was an accident, Xena.. really.. I was just getting a spoon out, and there was this jar.. and the top came off.. just a little got in there, honest.. I didn't.. think you'd even notice." A breath. "I'll… listen, tell me where to find the herbs.. I'll go find them.. and make you another one… okay?"

Xena had, with remarkable patience for her, waited through all the stammering. "What." She asked crisply. "Was it?"

Gabrielle had inhaled. "Um… honey." She'd mumbled. "Just… tell me where I can find.. that kind.. or maybe, hey.. wasn't that a town we passed just before we stopped for the night? I can go back there.. and I.."

"I like it." Xena had lifted her voice slightly. "It's good."

Gabrielle had just stared at her. "What?" She'd taken a hesitant step back towards the seated warrior. "You like it? Really?"

And Xena had looked up from the cup, right at her, plain as day in the firelight, and smiled.

At her. It had been one of the most beautiful things Gabrielle had ever seen. She'd felt an incredulous smile of her own answering it, as she watched Xena take a second sip, then amazingly, wink at her.

It had made her feel so good, she hardly knew what to do with herself.

**************

Gabrielle traced along one eyebrow with a fingertip. "Smile for me." She asked, watching Xena's face obediently crease into a sexy grin. "Sure is a lot easier now."

Puzzled, Xena's brow creased. "Easier than what?"

Her soulmate laughed, and shook her head. "Nevermind… I was just remembering old times. So" She pulled the basket over, and opened it. "Fish, or rabbit?"

"Yes." Xena rolled over and pillowed her head on her partner's leg. "Surprise me."

"Mmm.. .that could get dangerous.. I've got leeks here." Gabrielle warned her, taking one out and tickling the warrior's nose with the end of it. They both laughed, and she relented, removing a round, slightly wrinkled grape and popping it in Xena's mouth.

Xena offered to share, and she accepted, leaning over and retrieving her half in a delicious mix of fruit and lips.

**************************

Concluded (really) in Part 27

These characters, and boy, are they ever characters, are mostly the property of Renaissance Pictures, Universal MCA, and whoever else owns stock and interest in Xena: Warrior Princess. This fiction was written for my amusement only, and not in any way, shape or form for profit - and it is not intended to infringe on the copyright holders of the characters.

Some of the characters are mine, and the story ideas.. well, who knows where they come from? Must be one weird place, that's for sure.

Specific Story Disclaimers:

Violence - this is a Xena: Warrior Princess story. This is not Teletubbies. Even though there are some rumors of similarities. Some of the violence is graphic, but we try not to dwell on it.

Subtext - Considering that the TV Series just aired an episode establishing Xena and Gabrielle as eternal soulmates, any disclaimer of subtext on my part is really kind of goofy in the extreme. The two characters are in love with each other, and have been for years. You can choose to see them as just friends, but then you might not want to read this fanfic, in case it changes your mind or anything like that.

Emotional Content - this is not one my more comedic efforts. There are moments of humor, however.

********************************************************************

Dark Comes the Morning - Part 27

By Melissa Good

"Have you talked to Toris?" Gabrielle folded another clean tunic, and tucked it away in their garment press. She didn't get an answer, so she looked over to where Xena was fixing a table leg, the warrior's own limbs sprawled beneath the table's surface and providing an obstacle course for Dori. "Xena?"

A blue eye appeared. "I heard you."

Oh oh. Touchy touchy. "Okay… next subject." The bard gave her a tolerant grin. "I'm only asking because…"

"Because you're a natural meddler." Xena answered, with a wry smile that took the sting from the comment. "Toris and I have been fighting for thirty years now, Gabrielle… we'll survive. "

"Uh huh." Gabrielle rolled together two socks and put them away.

"We will." Xena repeated, stubbornly. "Listen, I did what I had to do.. if he can't deal with that, too damn bad. He needs to grow up, Gabrielle."

"Right."

"He'll forget about it. Yeah.. I was a little tough on him, but I'm sure after a few days he'll forget all about it." The warrior argued.

"Think so?"

"Of course." Xena replied. "He's my brother, isn't he?"

"Hm." They both reflected on that fact soberly.

"Gabrielle…" Xena peeked out from behind a chair leg. "Um…"

The bard leaned against the press, and regarded her. "Want me to talk to him?"

A sigh. "Yeah."

"No problem, honey." Gabrielle finished her task, and cracked her knuckles with an exaggerated gesture. "You fight, I talk. I think that's still true, even though you're a pretty good talker when you put your mind to it."

Xena leaned her cheek against the wood. "And you're a damn good fighter when you have to be."

"I learned from the very best." One slim finger pointed at Xena. They both smiled, then Gabrielle leaned on the table and chewed her lip. "It's going to be different around here, isn't it?"

Xena drew one knee up and circled it with an arm. "Yeah." She acknowledged shortly. "I'm not sure I like that. I heard talk of them establishing a permanent trading square across the river." She glanced at Gabrielle, who remained prudently quiet. "You should be happy." Now a wry smile edged over the warrior's lips. "Plenty of shopping."

"Ha hah." Gabrielle responded. "If I wanted shopping that bad, I'd talk you into a trip to Athens… I mean, yeah, it's sort of neat to watch all the growth, Xena, but I remember that city of Andreas." Her nose wrinkled. "I don’t' want to live like that.. I don’t' want to see my home become like that. It's too noisy. Too many people."

"Yeah."

They studied each other. "Grumpy old warrior." Gabrielle stuck her tongue out.

"Country bumpkin." Xena returned the compliment. They both laughed. "If it gets too bad, we can just move, I guess." She sighed. "Might be a good idea anyway. Amphipolis as damn backwater didn't get much attention, even with me here. As a major trading city…." She shook her head. "It's a lot more to interest people."

"Isn't that a better reason for us to stick around?" Gabrielle reasoned. "They might need us."

"Mm." Xena rested her chin on her knee. "Maybe." She watched Dori scale her thigh and clutch her shirt with determined fingers, pulling herself up the warrior's body. "Where do you think you're going, short stuff?"

"Nice, not to be the shortest one in the family for a change." Gabrielle observed dryly, as Dori got a foot up on her partner's leg, and ended up nose to nose with her. "At least for a few years."

Dori very seriously reached out and grasped Xena's nose with one hand, tugging on it. "Bck."

"Yef." Xena murmured, curling an arm around the baby. She wiggled her nose and Dori released it, giggling. "You're gonna have a birthday party soon, arentcha?"

"Go." Dori stated.

"C'mon Dori… we went flying for over a candlemark this morning." Xena protested.

A pout. "Go!" Dori started climbing again, trying to get up onto her playmate's shoulders, grabbing any bodypart within reach to help her get to her goal. She ended up sprawled half over Xena's neck, with one arm wrapped around it as far as she could go. "Boo!"

Xena sighed. "D'you think if I taught her to ride Argo, she'd gimme a break?" She patted the tiny butt and stood, keeping hold of Dori to keep her in place as the baby squealed in delight. "Hang on, now." She felt her daughter wriggle into place and thump her bare heels into the sides of her neck and suddenly, that simple sensation brought a lump to her throat.

She captured Dori's feet and just held them, letting the baby tug her hair and ears, and listening to the infant's giggling behind her, and faced the understanding of how much she'd almost lost.

"Xe?"

Xena heard the scrape of the chair moving as Gabrielle moved around the table, then felt the warmth as two hands pressed against her stomach. "Xena?"

A breath. "Yeah." The warrior slowly let her eyes drop, to meet the concerned green ones close by. "Sorry.. I um… " It was very unsettling, like an unexpected panic that turned her knees to water. "Here, take her." She handed Dori carefully to her mother and sat down on the edge of the bed, clasping her hands together and resting her forehead against them.

Gabrielle sat down next to her, putting a hesitant hand on her back. "Hey." She balanced Dori on her knee and moved a little closer, pressing her thigh against her partner's. "You okay?"

Xena's eyes were closed, and she kept them that way for a moment, then let them open as she stared across the floor. "Damn." They'd gotten most of their things put back together, and the cabin had taken on the familiar smells and sights of home to her.

A home she'd truly felt in her heart she'd left behind her forever. She felt out of place, out of time… so sure had she been that she wouldn't survive the war. Xena felt a shiver go through her body, and she had a flash of dark memory, turning her hands to blood red in her mind's eye.

Gabrielle set Dori down on the thick rug and turned her attention to her stricken friend, curling a hand around Xena's upper arm and wrapping her other arm around the warrior's back. "Easy." She felt the tremors and heard Xena swallow a few times. "It's okay."

After a long, uneasy moment, the dark head turned, and Xena looked at her bleakly. "Sorry.. just got a little strange there."

Gabrielle rested her head against Xena's shoulder. "I know… I woke up this morning while you were out on your run, and wanted to just hide under the bed….it just got too much all of a sudden." She thought about that. "Sometimes when stuff happened before I would feel like that, after it was all over." A pause. "For a while."

Xena nodded, letting her head lean against Gabrielle's. "Never used to bother me." She murmured. "Maybe it's because we stayed home for all that time before this…it's just hard to adjust going back to all that after.."

"It's okay."

"After becoming an.. an animal again." Xena got the words out from between gritted teeth. Her hands shook. "How can I just go.. go back to this.. " She indicated the room. "To playing with her.. .like nothing happened." She felt irrational tears sting her eyelids. "Gods."

Dori toddled over and thumped into her knee, grasping it and peering up in puzzlement. "Boo?"

Gabrielle reached over and smoothed her hair down. "Leave Boo be a minute, honey… she's resting." She told her daughter, as Xena rubbed her eyes with shaking hands. "She'll play with you soon, okay?" The bard pressed her body against her partner's in silent comfort, and rubbed her back. "Take it a day at a time, Xena… that's what you taught me, remember?"

The warrior drew in, and released a breath. "Yeah." She nodded faintly. "Yeah, I know… it just got away from me there for a minute." She peered down at Dori, who was watching her with open, innocent eyes. The warrior's brow creased a trifle. "Do you know what I just realized?"

"What?"Gabrielle asked softly.

"We… we were talking the other day.. about.. explaining to Dori, about us?" Xena felt her mind go off in a tangent, and she gratefully let it, getting away from the remembered horror. "How we'd talk to her.. remember?"

"Sure." The bard nodded.

Xena offfered a finger to the baby, who grabbed it immediately. "I don't think we're going to have to say anything to her, Gabrielle."

The bard's head cocked to one side. "No?"

A breath. "In Chin… I don't know if you got a chance… to be around any little kids."

Gabrielle was uneasily silent for a moment. "No."

Xena exhaled. "When they're very young.. Boo is what they call their father."

The bard's jaw dropped in shock. "Y… b… " She rubbed her face. "Really?"

A faint nod. "Really."

A tiny finger pointed Xena's face. "Boo!"

Xena and Gabrielle exchanged looks.

"Wow."

"Mm."

*******************************

"Doesn't it look festive in here." Cyrene leaned against the doorframe, and observed the brightly colored fabric draped over her weather worn rafters. It was nice, she admitted, to see people laughing and smiling though. A cleared area in the center had been prepared for the children, and now four human babies and three forest dweller ones were crawling around, creating havoc all out of proportion to their sizes.

Children were interesting to watch in a group, the innkeeper decided, observing Dori watching her playmates alertly, as Xena would have, but joining happily in their play as she knew her daughter never had as a child. She sat on the floor with her legs spraddled, tugging her stuffed dragon back and forth with little Butterbean on the other end. The two were almost the same size, Cyrene realized, though the forest dwellers were almost twice Dori's age, the same as Lila's Gabriel. Toris and Granella's boys were much smaller, though they gamely tried to keep up with their older and larger cousins and friends.

"Gramma!"

"Uh oh… I've been spotted." Cyrene chuckled, as Dori led a charge on her lower legs, and tiny hands tugged at her aprons. "Hey, you little monsters… hold on now. You'll spoil your appetites."

"Cookie!" Dori cheerfully provided leadership, causing a chorus to go up.

A soft laugh made Cyrene look up, to see Gabrielle leaning against one of the tables. "Would you look at that little pack of miniature pirates." The bard shook her head. "Good grief."

Dori's head turned at the familiar voice. "Mama!" She squealed in delight. "Come!"

The other children looked from Cyrene to Gabrielle, torn between treats and their favorite storyteller. Gabrielle made it easy on them by threading her way through the tables, and padding up next to where they were clustered, reaching down to greet the tiny hands that grasped at her tunic. "Hiya, cuties."

"Cow." Dori stated instantly. "Mama go cow, otay?"

Gabrielle sat down on the nearest bench, and the children clustered around her knees. "Again? How about another one, Dori.. how about a new story?" She glanced up at the chuckling Cyrene. "Xena's on her way over with a bagful of presents… good gods, what these kids aren't getting." Gabrielle pushed a bit of hair back behind one ear and tugged on Butterbean's chin fur. "You're a bunch of spoiled rotten kids, you know that?"

Butterbean's snub nose wrinkled up into a grin. Dori wrapped a chubby arm around her mother's leg and leaned against it, while Gabriel tried to sneak in an grab her toy. "Guff!" Dori snatched it back, giving her cousin a glare.

Gabrielle ruffled her daughter's hair. "Be nice, Dori." She eased herself down off the bench and into the circle of children. "Now, you guys let Grandma be, so she can finish making the cookies, okay? "

"Cookie." Dori agreed. "Now?"

Cyrene laughed. "She's something else." She advised Gabrielle. "Let me get out of here and get back to work… this thing's going to start in less than a candlemark."

Tiny eyes followed the innkeeper's retreat sadly.

"How about a story?" Gabrielle distracted them, getting squeals in response. "Okay…okay.. listen. I've got a new story, okay?"

The children crawled over her, and settled in a pile, bright eyes watching her face intently.

"This story is about Sparky the Rooster." Gabrielle began. "Once upon a time there was an inn…"

*******************************

Xena carefully put the last, linen wrapped bundle inside the burlap sack and tied a rough piece of hemp around the neck of the bag. She hefted it experimentally, and chuckled. Ares trotted over and hoisted himself up on his hind legs, peering at the bag curiously and sniffing at it.

"Gruff."

"Not for you." The warrior informed him. "Or you." She pointed at Argo, who flicked her tail. Xena smiled, and walked across the barn, hay crunching lightly beneath her boots to where the mare was stabled, running her hands over the soft, golden coat. "Hey girl."

Argo turned, and butted her in the chest, nibbling at her belt with friendly, ticklish lips. Xena scratched her ears, and leaned against the mare's side, enjoying the familiar warmth. One finger tangled itself in curls of pale mane, and the warrior sighed softly. "I'm sorry about Herc, Argo." She told the horse, in a low voice. Argo whickered.

Xena blinked. "Something else we have in common, you and I." She let her cheek rest against the soft hair for a short while. "But you don't really realize he's gone, do you?"

Argo shifted, and pulled a bit of hay from her net, chewing it thoughtfully.

The warrior exhaled, watching her breath move a few strands of creamy mane. "It's better to be a horse sometimes, Argo." Her eyes slowly drifted up, past the mare's back, to the loft. If she closed them, she could almost see that cool morning, smell the hay.

Hear her son's laughter, his wonder as the truth he'd been hoping for had come home to him.

But. Xena sighed, and straightened, raking her hair back off her forehead and circling the stalls, then climbing slowly into the loft and seating herslf on it's edge. One hand reached down and tugged a short knife from the top of her boot. She studied the wood over her head, then drew her knee up and rested her forearm on it, starting to whittle carefully in the hardened surface.

It didn't take long. There were only five letters, after all, just a touch longer than hers, and much shorter than Gabrielle's. When she was done, she blew softly on the fresh carving, the smell of cut wood tickling her nose as the curls drifted downwards to lodge in her shirt.

She lifted a finger, and touched Solon's name, now tucked under Lyceus' time darkened letters in the wood's scarred surface. Then she rested her forehead against the knife's cold hilt for a long, silent moment before she quietly resheathed it, letting her hands drop to her thighs to rest there limply.

Then the door creaked, and she raised her eyes to see her brother standing just inside, gazing at her with a wary, tense expression.

Oh Hades. Xena felt like turning her back and just curling up in the hay, to allow the painful memories to work their way out of her. She certainly wasn't in the mood to do a centaur hoof dance with Toris. Maybe that showed on her face, because her brother's stance relaxed, and he closed the door, leaning back against it as they soberly regarded each other.

Toris finally pushed off and walked over to the loft, climbing laborously up the side of the crib and seating himself next to Xena on the edge of wooden platform. His eyes lifted and gravely examined the timber over their heads, then he exhaled softly. "You know. I thought for a while there I kinda understood you."

Xena rested her head against the wall, and simply stared back.

"I don't." Toris continued. "I don't even know what the Hades to say to you anymore."

"So don't." Xena replied. "I don't have to explain myself to you, or to anyone else, Toris. I had a job to do, and I did it. How I did it is my business."

Blue eyes met. "You're a real bitch." Toris said.

"Sometimes." His sister agreed. "Slaughtering people for years does that to you." She tipped her head back and regarded the rafters. "Anything else you want to say?"

A disgusted sigh. "I should of just walked out on you in that damned camp." Toris started climbing down, moving away from the loft.

The faintest of smiles touched Xena's lips. "Did you ever consider the possibility that was exactly what I wanted you to do?" She asked mildly, not looking at him, one finger lifting to touch the carving overhead. She heard him stop climbing, the creak of the wood protesting his weight.

"No." Toris finally said, shortly. "What good would that have done, Xena? We were all in this, you know that… " He stopped, seeing the slowly shaking head. "What do you mean, no?"

"Everyone had a way out, Toris. Mom… Gabrielle… Eph…I made sure of that." His sister told him. "If it hadn't worked, they all could have run… gotten out."

Toris shifted his hold, staring at her. "Everyone except you." He realized.

"Yep."

The dark haired man slowly climbed back up and thumped down on the platform, clasping his hands between his knees and exhaling. "Damn you, Xena. You could have just said that."

The warrior rolled her head to one side and regarded him. "Would you have left?"

"No."

"Then the point of saying it would have been…?" Xena asked tiredly. "I should have just knocked you out and thrown you in a boat down the river."

Toris' face darkened in anger. "I had a choice, Xena. I'm not an idiot."

Xena shrugged. "Doesn't matter now, does it? Are we finished with this stupid conversation? We've got a party waiting on us over there." She slid off the platform and hung for a instant from the rafter, then released her hold and landed lightly in the hay, dusting her hands off.

Toris stared unhappily at her back, then glanced up at the new carving thoughtfully, before he climbed back down and joined her near the box holding the bag of toys. He watched Xena lift a worn box up and open it, removing a number of small wooden objects and setting them down.

"Forgot to wrap these." The warrior murmured.

Toris lifted one and examined it. A tiny bear looked back at him, it's wooden arms stretched wide. "You make these?' He glanced at his sister, who nodded mutely. Toris studied the floor pensively, then inhaled. "Thanks. The kids love those horses you gave them at Solstice."

"No problem." Xena replied, but her posture relaxed a little, as she accepted the tentative peace offering. She finished bundling the little toys and hoisted the bag to her shoulder. "Let's go." Her progress halted as a hand curled around her biceps, and she turned, to find Toris gazing at her.

Xena's eyes blinked, as she wondered when her brother had gotten the dusting of gray at his temples. "Yeah?"

He opened his mouth to speak, the slowly, let it shut again, and released her, pressing his lips together and producing a mere nod in response. "Kids are waiting." He agreed, edging past her and heading for the door. Xena eyed his back, then followed him out the door and into the teeth of a cold wind.

**************************

"That's right… the rooster chased little Xena all across the.." Gabrielle paused in mid word, her attention captured by a pair of pale blue eyes near the door, over folded arms and beneath a sharply raised single eyebrow. "Uh oh." Heh. "You were supposed to be wrapping presents."

"I finished." Xena remarked, fighting off a blush from the curious eyes fastened on her, as the audience noticed her presence.

"Boo!" Dori scrambled to her feet and toddled over, crashing into the warrior's knees and flinging her arms around one of them. "Codoodle doo!"

"More!" Butterbean tugged on Gabrielle's sleeve and begged, flapping furred arms in imitation of the rooster.

"Um.. " Gabrielle scratched her jaw, not sure she wanted to continue her somewhat embarrassing tale in front of it's now adult protagonist. "Honey, let me finish this later, okay?"

"Oh no." Xena put her bag down and took a seat, extending her long legs out and crossing them. "Don't let me stop you. G'wan." She gave her soulmate a smirk, and allowed Dori to climb up onto her lap and sit down.

"Xe." Gabrielle tilted her head, and spared a glance at her audience, comprised of villagers, soldiers and party planners, who had been listening avidly to her. They were all grinning now, enjoying her discomfiture as much as they had the story.

"All right." Cyrene suddenly threw the inner door open. "We ready to start? I've got lots of cookies here, and I need some help bringing them out."

The crowd laughed, and shifted, some of the getting up to help the innkeeper and circling the seated storyteller, and her mildly menacing companion.

"You.. got lucky." Xena pointed a finger at her, but smiled to remove any hint of sting from the words.

Gabrielle disengaged herself from the toddlers and crawled over, sitting down and letting her chin rest on Xena's knee. "It's a cute story." She told her. "And I didn't get to the good part.. you coming busting out of the barn to chase the little featherhead down with a draft horse."

"Uh huh." Xena let her fingers comb through Gabrielle's fair locks. "You looked pretty cute in that circle of kids." She told the bard, who had, indeed, presented an adorable picture as she'd entered, the children all clustered around her and the adults glued to her words. Gabrielle was dressed in the warm, embroidered forest green tunic she'd given her a winter or so past, the bright colors framing her paler than usual skin, and bringing out the tint in her eyes. "They love you."

"Wuv mama." Dori agreed, thumping her heels against her playmate's leg. "Wuv mama good."

"That's right." Xena watched her soulmate's eyes brighten with unshed tears. "I love your mama too.. even if she does tell silly stories about me." She put a fingertip on the bard's nose as Gabrielle's eyelashes fluttered closed, scattering a few crystal droplets over the rough wool of Xena's leggings. "You'll have to do a lot of funny things, Dori.. so we can listen to your mama tell stories about you to your kids, okay?"

The words weren't for Dori, and they both knew that. Gabrielle wrapped an arm around the long legs she was curled against and hugged them, as they floated for a brief moment in the golden warmth of the bond that linked them. "You spoil your kid." The bard drawled softly. "I can just imagine what you're going to be like with grandkids. We're in so much trouble."

"Nah.." Xena disagreed peacefully. "I'll just sit on the porch in my rocker and watch the world go by." She jiggled her knee, making Dori wobble and giggle. "Nobody'll even know who I am."

Gabrielle put her chin back down, and regarded her soulmate. "Do you really believe that?" She asked, running her fingertips idly across Xena's leg. Their eyes met, and she could see the warm sparkles of humor so long absent from her partner's eyes appearing, along with the tiny lines that etched themselves across her face as she smiled.

"Nope." The warrior chuckled. "Do you?"

Gabrielle snorted, then laughed. The door to the kitchen swung open, and bodies appeared, along with the pungent, delicious smell of baked goods. "Hmm… I smell a party."

"You got it." Ephiny appeared, licking her thumb. "You wanted a party? You got a party, your Majesty… complete with.. " She dodged past Gabrielle's defenses and daubed a bit of icing on the bard's nose. "Blue iceing."

"Uh oh." Gabrielle crossed her eyes to bring her nose into focus. "That's really blue." Movement startled her, and she almost jumped when her field of vision was suddenly blocked by a large object, which swooped down and engulfed her painted nose in a warm, wet sensation. "Urg."

Xena leaned back, and licked her lips. "Mm." She poked her tongue out, now a lurid purple blue color. "Nice."

The inn was filling now, villagers, Amazons, fighters, and forest dwellers all clustered inside, laughing and gathering around the tables filled with cakes and cookies, and bowls of spiced cider and punch. Gabrielle scrambled to her feet and motioned for her partner to stay put, then threaded her way through the crowd to the table, wiping the remaining icing off the tip of her nose. She captured two flakey honeycakes, and two mugs of cider, then returned, handing Xena one of each and settling in the chair at her side.

Dori immediately clambered up the warrior's body, intent on the cakes. "Mmm… " Her fingers grabbed for the pastry, which Xena elevated over her head. "Boo!"

"Ah ah.. that's mine." Xena teased, seeing the baby's misty green eyes grow round and indignant.

"No it's not." Gabrielle leaned over and took a big bite out of the cake, scattering flakes of pastry all over her partner's dark hair. "You snooze, you lose, tiger." Gabrielle grinned, as the crowd laughed, watching her attempt to keep her mouthful contained.

"Mama!" Dori stood up on Xena's thighs and reached for her mother.

"All right.. all right.. " The warrior broke off a corner of the remaining part of her cake and handed it to the baby, who crammed it into her mouth enthusiastically. "There… between the two of you, I'm in deep trouble."

"Hey Gabrielle.. how about finishing that story." Eponin perched on a corner of the nearest table. "I wanna hear about that bird pecking Xena in the..fmoff." The weapons master glared at the owner of the hand now covering her mouth.

Everyone laughed.

Ephiny removed her hand, and lifted her mug, clearing her throat a little. The crowd quieted, and eyes turned to the blond Amazon, who drew in a breath as she surveyed the packed room. "I know a kid's birthday party's not the time or place for toasts, but you know… you take the opportunities you get, so… Now she turned to face Xena and Gabrielle. "My friends."

A stillness settled over the inn.

"Here's to the greatest pair of leaders any army could have hoped to have." Ephiny raised her mug, and the crowd let out a roar, startling the children. All of the war leaders had crowded inside, taking yet another opportunity to share the lingering glory of their victory. "And when these children are grown, they'll tell their children about how their parents risked it all in the cause of the greater good."

Another cheer.

Xena lifted a hand and gave it a lazy wave. "Thanks.. you're not so bad yourself."

Now a round of laughter sounded.

"To the future." Ephiny lifted her mug again, turning in a half circle, and indicating the children. Mugs lifted to answer her, and everyone drank, then a buzz of noise rose as people clustered around the kids, and watched as Jessan started to unwrap the presents.

Gabrielle was content to simply watch, draping her arms over Xena's shoulders and resting her cheek against the warrior's sleek hair. She could feel Xena's collarbone under her wrists, and her thumb traced it idly as she listened to the squeals of delight as Toris' sons grappled over a large stuffed bear from their Amazon aunts. "That's cute." She murmured into a nearby warrior ear, which twitched slightly.

"Yeah." Xena had one arm around Dori, keeping the baby from wriggling free and leaping off her lap. "Got any more of those cakes around?"

Gabrielle clucked at her, but retrieved several of the treats from a nearby table, and handed them over, graciously accepting her portion as Xena divided the booty up. "Mm." After the long stresses of the battle, and the encampments, it felt almost decadent to taste the normality of Amphipolis, her body had become used to the privations of the road again and was pleasantly surprised to find itself being pampered with goodies.

She was, she acknowledged privately, a happier person for it. Gabrielle allowed herself a wry smile, as she watched Jessan hand over a present for Dori, a bundle of sturdy playsuits in bright colors that her daughter might actually fit in for a moon or two. "Thanks." She beamed at the giver, Amphipolis' venerable weaver. "Does she ever need them."

The woman laughed. "Grows out of them like a weed, I bet."

Gabrielle reached over and picked up one of Dori's arms, which sported a sleeve inched almost up to her elbow. "Oh yeah."

Xena chuckled. Gabrielle nudged her. "It's your fault." She measured out one of the warrior's long arms in pantomime, and raised her brows. Then she realized what she'd been inferring, and glanced around quickly, hoping no one was paying attention.

Which, of course, they were, but curiously, the expressions she found were indulgent, and unsurprised, and the laughter that greeted her comment gently knowing. She and Xena exchanged slightly startled looks, then the warrior shrugged one shoulder. Dori took the opportunity to snitch a handful of cake.

"Bck." The child scattered crumbs down Xena's shirt, and hunted for more booty. "Good."

"Good grief." Gabrielle wiped a bit of powdered sugar off Dori's cheeks. "You're insatiable."

"Hrm… wonder which side of the family she gets that from." Xena rumbled slyly. A round of chuckles, and low whistles went up, coinciding with the flush that darkened the bard's skin from head to toe.

"I can't believe you said that." Gabrielle got out through clenched teeth, the blood rush almost making her light headed.

"Why? Everyone knows you like sweets." Xena replied innocently. "What's so bad about that?" She reached up and tweaked her partner's nose, impudently ignoring the glaring mist green eyes.

A finger tapped her nose. "I'll get you for that later." Gabrielle allowed a grudging smile to creep across her face.

"Promise?" The warrior winked at her.

Gabrielle rolled her eyes, as the crowd laughed, and gave up. She slid an arm across Xena's shoulders and decided to just enjoy her daughter's first birthday, leaving the past behind her at least for the moment.

*******************************

Gabrielle leaned back on her hands, and turned her face to the sun, enjoying the spring air that blew across her. It was quiet up here, on a small bluff she'd selected with a good view of the river, not far at all from Xena's old tree house.

She turned, and looked at it, an affectionate smile crossing her face. Not far at all. In fact, she'd taken a walk over to it and climbed up, for old time's sake, and what do you know? She'd found herself an apple. It was resting by her side, it's red and yellow skin glistening in the sunlight just waiting for her to bite into it.

The sound of hammering drew her attention, and she looked down towards the river, her eyes tracing the new construction underway across from Amphipolis. It had been two months, and the changes were considerable.

New docks, for one thing. The channel had been deepened in the river enough to allow the big merchant barges sufficient draft, and there were two nestled in there now, tiny figures of men and oxen moving cartloads towards the rapidly expanding town on the banks.

That had been Xena's idea, to force the new construction onto that side of the river, leaving Amphipolis itself, on it's rise above the water, relatively untouched by the progress. The village had grown, of course. Doubled it's size with new settlers, who brought skills and hard work with them, producing a nice surplus for the merchants across the river.

Cyrene's inn was so busy, the innkeeper had to hire on a full time cook and a manager, allowing her to spend her time supervising, something Xena had been quietly nudging her to do at any rate. She wasn't getting any younger, the warrior had told her, almost getting chased from the kitchen with a wooden spoon for it.

Gabrielle chuckled, then laid down and put her hands behind her head, reviewing the march of the fluffy white clouds across the sky, allowing the sun to warm her pleasantly. She'd just finished working on one of her later stories and had sealed the scroll, getting it ready to send up to Athens for the library, and had decided to take a well earned break, allowing her body to relax after the hours of careful scribing just finished.

The Amazons had scattered to their homes, though Gabrielle's tribe had gained twice again it's numbers, and the forest dwellers had gone as well, but not far. Jessan's father had worked out a deal with Xena, to settle in the valley upriver, a quiet, remotely wild place that satisfied Lestan's need for seclusion, but allowed them to be close enough to trade, and visit.

She liked that. Having Jessan and his people close gave her a sense of community, that allowed her to go, and speak to people who understood a facet of her life that no one else in Amphipolis really did. She was glad the Amazons were making regular trips down here as well, though part of her was starting to nudge gently at her need to travel herself.

The wanderlust, Cyrene called it, which she was surprised to discover affected her more profoundly even than it did Xena. Maybe because Xena had been so many places, done so many things… that she'd pacified that need for a while.

Maybe Xena sensed that wasn't the case for her, though. The warrior had suggested, out of the blue last night, a trip to Athens.

Just the two of them.

Just because.

Gabrielle knew she'd grinned stupidly, before she could even think about how to react to the question, and she'd seen the answering smile. She wondered if all the hustle and bustle were getting to Xena or…

Or.

Or did the warrior crave the time alone, with just the two of them as much as she did?

Mm. Gabrielle closed her eyes, and sucked in a breath of spring air, full of flowers, and the intense green scent of new grass. It would be a fun trip. A good trip, up the river and across the highlands, and they had a enough dinars to make a trip to the big market something she was really looking forward to.

Maybe there would even be a problem or two, just little ones, that they could take care of on the way.

Gabrielle yawned. Yeah. She wiggled her feet, and flexed her toes inside the new boots she'd just gotten for spring, and spent a few minutes planning what they'd need to get for the trip. The weather was warming nicely, which meant they could get away with only their light cloaks.. hey.. Gabrielle grinned to herself She could wear her old traveling outfit, as a matter of fact…she'd packed it away in one of their drawers, and had come across it the other day when she was looking for some extra quills.

Yeah.

It had been, other than all the progress, a quiet time for them. Xena had been kept very busy organizing what had turned out to be a regional defense, and arranging for a watch to be kept all up and down the river territory. She'd also become the defacto authority in the area, whether she wanted to be or not, and everyone kept bringing her all sorts of situations requiring her judgement.

Gabrielle had found it very interesting to watch that. She'd known Xena for years now, and trusted her partner's judgement herself, but to see everyone else accepting it as a matter of course was intriguing. Xena's reaction was intriguing too, halfway between pleasure and skepticism.

It felt good to have someone else making the decisions, though. Gabrielle gazed lazily up at the blue sky. It felt good just to be responsible for herself, and her precocious daughter, and her warrior, and nothing else.

*********************

Xena leaned her forearm against the rough bark of a tall tree, and spent a moment just watching the lone figure relaxing in the sun. Gabrielle's sprawled body was half buried in the thick grass, and as she stood there, the bard stretched luxuriously, and settled back down with a contented sigh Xena could almost hear.

With a quiet smile, the warrior continued on her trek up the ridge, and as she walked closer, she saw Gabrielle's head lift and turn, and a welcoming grin spread across her face.

"Nice spot." The warrior greeted her, as she came along side and dropped down into the grass, chuckling when Gabrielle immediately threw her arms around her and gave her a big hug. "Well, hello to you too." They rolled over in the grass, and Xena took the opportunity to kiss her soulmate, tasting a hint of apple and walnuts on the bard's lips.

"Mm…. Thought you were supposed to be going to meet that group of merchants." Gabrielle slid a hand over the soft, silky fabric of Xena's short tunic. It was a deep purple color, and contrasted nicely with Xena's pale blue eyes.

"I told them I had something better to do." Xena replied, leaning into the touch and ducking her head for another kiss. "Finish your story?"

"Yes." Gabrielle dismissed her story, and concentrated on the warm, nice smelling body rubbing up against her. Her hands slid under the silk and found soft skin, as Xena's bare thigh touched hers, and moved teasingly upward, easing her legs apart. She welcomed the touch, rolling over and pulling the warrior down as their bodies brushed, then made solid contact. She explored Xena's lips for a sensual moment, then broke off to gaze up into the passion darkened eyes inches above her own. "You'd think we were a couple of kids, rolling around out here."

"You are a kid." Xena reminded her, moving down to capture an earlobe, rolling it between her lips and biting down lightly on it.

"I am not." Gabrielle heard her voice squeak on the last word, as a knowing touch eased across her sensitive breasts.

"See? Your voice is changing." Xena teased, then had to bite off a yelp herself as the bard put her knowledge of her partner's body to very good use. "Erf."

Gabrielle repeated the nibble. 'Sorry.. what was that again?" A lock of dark hair draped itself over her shoulders and she reveled in the scent of it. Her fingers flexed, and found themselves touching a round, smooth surface. "Ah… " She lifted the apple she'd found and took a bite, glancing impishly up through half lowered lashes. "Wanna risk it?' Her tongue fished out an apple seed, and offered it up.

Xena's eyes focused on the fruit, then slowly lifted to meet hers. Two souls studied each other intently, then the barest hint of a smile appeared on the warrior's face. Eyelashes fluttered closed as Xena ducked her head gracefully, and closed her teeth on the bit of apple, biting it off, then meeting Gabrielle's tongue and sucking the seed from it. "For you, I'll risk anything." She whispered, rolling the small seed around her mouth then swallowing it. Then she lowered her head and their lips touched.

And Xena could suddenly feel the sun pass right through her, enveloping Gabrielle in a blaze of golden light as she opened herself to their connection and it went beyond the physical, reaching for chords inside her that sounded low and sweet. Gabrielle had asked, and she answered, surrendering to her soulmate's touch as she had to no other. There was no defense, no hesitation, no regrets… for that moment Gabrielle owned all that she was. And with a gentle touch, and a fearless heart, the bard carried her soul safely home.

*******************

The sun was slanting low, spilling crimson across their tangled limbs, and Gabrielle watched it creep slowly towards the horizon as her fingers moved idly through the dark hair half covering her chest. Xena wasn't sleeping, she knew. The warrior's head was pillowed on Gabrielle's belly, and she could just see the curve of her eyelashes as they flickered. "Pretty sunset."

"Mm." Xena studied the outlines of Amphipolis intently. "You know what I feel like, Gabrielle?"

Several things popped to mind, but the bard twisted a few more dark strands together. "What?"

"What we just went through… " Xena shaped the words with care. "It's almost like I've come full circle..only this time, it ended the way I…" She halted.

"The way you dreamed it would." Gabrielle murmured.

"Mm." Xena rolled over and settled on her back. '"Im glad you were here to see it."

"Me too." Gabrielle agreed. "Wish I'd been here the first time."

Xena indulged herself in imagining what it would have been like growing up with Gabrielle around. "I don't know that there would have been a first time if you were." Their fingers tangled together. "Maybe we'd have all ended up Cortese's slaves."

"We'd have found a way out of that." Gabrielle stated confidently. "Piece of cake."

Xena smiled. "Speaking of… we'd better get back down there before they send a search party out for us." The warrior sat up, swiveling to sit cross legged next to her partner. "You ready?"

"Mm…" Gabrielle yawned, and wriggled into the grass. "I don’t' know… it's so nice out here… a gorgeous sunset, nice weather.."

"Mom made nutbread.."

A blond brow lifted sharply. "And you think this is going to make me jump right up and run home?"

Xena nodded confidently. "Mmhmm."

Gabrielle stuck her tongue out. "Wench." She hoisted herself to her feet and brushed her now throughly wrinkled clothes off. "Just for that, I won't save you any." She tugged a lock of Xena's disordered hair, then stepped back as the warrior rose smoothly, dusting off her own shirt.

They started back down the ridge, wrapping their arms around each other as they strode through the knee high grass. "Hey, Xe?"

"Huh?" Xena tilted her head in question.

"You think we can stay long enough in Athens to see the Summer Festival?" Gabrielle asked. "They've got a new ring thing that's supposed to go on for days."

Blue eyes widened in mild alarm. "Days?"

"Yeah.. can you imagine it? Spending days listening to a story!"

"Uh…"

"Aw, c'mon, Xena…you like stories, I know you do."

"I like your stories." The warrior admitted cautiously. "I can't vouch for anyone elses."

"Xeeeennaaa…."

"Will there be pillows there?"

"Pillows? For what?"

"Me to sleep on." Xena sighed. "And only on one condition."

Gabrielle smirked. "And that is?"

Xena smirked right back. "You sit through the gladiator rounds with me."

The bard was trapped, and she knew it. "Oh well." Gabrielle drank in the setting sun, turning her face to it as she sucked in a breath of sweet air. "Life's just full of compromises, isn't it?"

"Oh yeah." Xena reached down and scooped up a handful of rich, black dirt and neatly dumped it down the back of her partner's shirt. "You gotta put up with me, for a start." She endured the outraged squeal, then bolted, before Gabrielle could reciprocate.

"You…you.." The bard threw herself into motion, gaining speed rapidly as she chased after her soulmate. "You're TOAST Warrior Princess!!!"

*********************************

The End. (for now.)