Champion

By Melissa Good

Tall, white capped mountains rose skyward, their craggy slopes stark and forbidding. The air was cool and crisp, a brisk wind coming down off the ridges brushing through the stands of pine and rustling their branches.

Nestled in a fold of the hills, a patch of bright green grass stood out, it’s surface speckled with fall flowers as it slanted towards a pool of water fed by a small waterfall gushing over the granite surface and plunging down the rocks with a cheerfully loud roar.

It was a beautiful, wild scene, nature at peace with itself.

“Aaaaiiiieeee!!!!!”  Three naked bodies shot over the edge of the falls and plummeted down towards the pool, entering the pristine waters with a thunderous splash.

For a moment, peace returned. Then the surface erupted again.  A tall, dark haired figure broke into the cool air first, it’s broad shoulders flinging the water off in a spray as a smaller dark head, and a pale one popped up next to her.

“Whoo!!!” Xena emerged from the water, her arms full of her family.  She had one arm curled around Dori’s squirming body, and her other wrapped around Gabrielle’s waist. “Yeah!”

“Whhheee!!!!” Dori squealed in delight. “Mama! We flyed!”

“You can say that again.” Gabrielle gasped. “But not in my ear, honey.”  She wiped wet, pale hair out of her eyes. “Wow.. that was a nice one!”  She turned to look back up at the top of the falls. “Yikes.. looks a lot higher from here, doesn’t it?”  Her eyes lifted to Xena’s face and brightened, sparkling like the water around them. “I liked it!”

Xena chuckled, cradling Dori in her arms. “You ready to go again, munchkin?”

“Yes!”  Dori shook her head vigorously. “Boo, dat was good! We flyed, and went go down, like dis!” A small finger pointed at the water’s surface. “Liked that!”

“Uh huh. You and mama liked that. Gotcha.” Xena ruffled the child’s dark hair. “Me too.” She lead the way towards the sloping ground that entered the pool unexpectedly, grass strands poking up through its surface. The freshly crumbled rocks around them and the drowned turf indicated just how unexpected, a landslide not long before creating both waterfall and pool before it continued on down the mountainside.

“Brr.” Gabrielle rubbed her arms as they moved to shallower water and her body was exposed to the cool air. “Tell you what, kids. Why don’t we do this again tomorrow morning, when the sun comes back, okay?”  It was later than she’d realized. They’d spent time up at the top of the falls exploring the newly sunken rocks after they’d stopped their traveling for the day, letting Dori clutch at passing fish and picking up handfuls of elderberries growing wild there.

“Noo!!! Go now!” Dori protested.

Xena glanced at the sky, already darkening to twilight. “Mama’s right.” She sloshed out of the pool with a disappointed Dori tucked under her arm. “You don’t want to catch cold,  Dori.”  She put her free arm around Gabrielle’s shoulders. “Or see your mama get sick, right?”

Gabrielle looked up and gave Xena a wry look. “Or have Boo get the sniffles, either.” She poked Xena in the ribs.

“Bbbbbooo…” The toddler wriggled a little. “Guff! C’mere!”  She called to the black wolf curled up in the grass.  With a long suffering look, the wolf got up and shook himself, then trotted over as his family approached.  “Good!”

Gabrielle exhaled, glad of the warm body pressed next to hers. “We’re going to need to pick up some warmer gear the next place we go through, Xe.” She commented as they approached their campsite. A fire in the center of it was crackling strongly, putting the scent of wood smoke in the air along with a whiff off the bubbling stew pot she’d left cooking.

“Shouldn’t be a problem.” Xena answered, stopping at her pack and pulling out a stretch of linen which she wrapped around her daughter, drying her body off. “We should be in Cirron by sundown tomorrow if the weather holds.”

Gabrielle knelt next to her own pack, removing a set of clothing from it. “Ooo… Cirron. I’m looking forward to going back there.”  She looked up at her partner with a smile. “I have very, very fond memories of that place.”

Xena walked over and deposited Dori into her mother’s arms. She took the linen from around her shoulders and dried Gabrielle’s sun tanned body off. “So do I.” A brief, wistful smile crossed her face, unseen by the smaller woman.

“You’ll like it too, Dori.” Gabrielle fastened the laces on the thick, sturdy shirt she’d put over the child’s head. “There’s lots of things to see, and if you ask Boo real nice, she’ll show you where she won the war and saved the city.”

“Sissy?” Dori put her arms around her mother’s neck. “Boo, you show me sissy?”

“Sure.” Xena agreed solemnly.  She finished donning her clothes and took Dori from Gabrielle, while the younger woman put on her shirt and leggings.  “Let’s go over there, and you show me what you learned today.”

Gabrielle tousled her hair dry as she watched Xena carry their daughter over to the fire, sitting down with her on the thick furs as Ares ambled after them. She flexed her bare toes against the grass, taking in a deep breath of the fragrant air as she paused to reflect on the last few months.

They’d been traveling north for almost two moons now. First along the coast, then moving steadily inland but keeping to the wilder, emptier places.  That meant they were mostly on their own, relying on their own hunting and gathering skills to provide food and provisions and seeking shelter where they found it along the way.

Two women, alone in the wilds, with a small child. It should have been a nightmare. Most anyone Gabrielle would have spoken to would have thought them insane. But she had found the journey surpassing her wildest dreams in terms of the wonder and joy she’d discovered in it, and though they’d been challenged by weather, by the trail, and by each other – she knew there were very few times in her life she’d ever been happier than she was right now.

She leaned against the tree their packs were stacked against and watched her partner and child. Dori was busy showing Xena the rocks and bits of debris she’d found at the top of the waterfall and explaining their importance.  Xena had her chin propped on her fist, a grin spreading across her face as she listened.

Gabrielle studied her partner’s lean, relaxed figure, the muscles in her arms and shoulders casting faint shadows as she shifted to accept a rock from Dori’s hand.  The trip had given her soulmate time to heal, and save a thin, red scar across the front of her knee there was little to indicate the trials she’d faced in Athens.

Having Dori with them had made things inarguably tough, Gabrielle acknowledged, both because of the danger and because of the child’s almost insatiable curiosity. However, both she and Xena had gotten quickly used to the changes in their traveling routine needed to accommodate the presence of their offspring and Xena’s sharp senses had been put to good use more than once to prevent near disaster.

The effort had been more than worth it. Gabrielle smiled, folding the linen over a branch of the tree to dry. She walked over and gave the stew pot a stir, then joined Dori and Xena on the furs.  She had a pile of new adventures to turn into stories, and the utter satisfaction of having spent the time gathering them in the company of the two people she held most dear in her life.

“Mm.” Gabrielle grunted contentedly. Life was good.

Xena glanced down as Gabrielle curled up on the furs and put her head down on the warrior’s thigh. She draped her free arm over the bard’s body and their fingers twined together as Gabrielle reached up to clasp her hand. “Comfortable?”

Gabrielle bounced her head once or twice. “Mmmm…” She wriggled closer.  “Could be a little softer, but you’ll do.”

Xena leaned over and kissed her on the crown of her head, giving her a one armed squeeze at the same time. Gabrielle uttered a soft sound of pleasure and returned the squeeze, settling herself and turning her attention to their daughter.

“Dis is good rock.” Dori held up a shiny stone for inspection.

“Why?” Xena inquired.

“Big.” Her daughter explained. She put the stone down, and picked up a second. “Bad rock.”

“Why?” The warrior asked again.

“Owie.” Dori touched the point on the sharp bit of granite. “Dis rock bites.”

Gabrielle chuckled softly. “Did you step on that one, Dori? Is that how you know it bites?” She extended a hand and turned Dori’s bare foot towards her, examining the sole.  A tiny red mark confirmed her suspicions. “Oh, you poor baby.”

“Bck.” Dori pulled her foot from her mother’s fingers. “Dis rock no good. Throw back.” She lifted her hand and looked around for a likely target.

“Wait.” Xena took the sharp stone from her hand. “Watch me.”  She picked up a small piece of flat slate from Dori’s collection and pressed the point of the granite against it, drawing her hand down and leaving a white mark. “See?”

Dori studied the result. “No.”

Gabrielle chuckled soundlessly.

Xena made another mark, drawing a stick picture of an animal. “Now see?”

“Oo..Boo that’s so pretty.” The bard teased. “Is that a dog or a horse?”

Xena scratched a curly tail. “It’s a pig.” She handed the rocks back to Dori. “Now you try.”

The child gazed at both stones with a serious expression. Then she brought both hands together and smacked the two into each other with an impressive clack. “Good!” Dori repeated the sound, making Xena wince slightly. “Like that!”  She banged them again and again.

“Wasn’t quite what you had in mind, was it?” Gabrielle felt Xena exhale.  “Try it with chalk and parchment next time, honey. It’s quieter.” Xena’s arm tightened around her and she closed her eyes in a brief moment of utter content. “Mmmmmm.”

Xena glanced down at Gabrielle’s face, outlined in both twilight and the firelight.  Its tanned, lean planes attested to their long days of walking; yet the hardships seemed to have brought her nothing but happiness.  A smile crossed Xena’s face, as she acknowledged her own sense of pleasure in their current lifestyle and realized though living wild had its downside, it suited them.

“Hey. You know something?” Xena played put and take with Dori with her free hand.

“Hm?” Gabrielle was occupied placing tiny kisses on the inside of her partner’s muscular leg. “What?”

“I think we’re just a couple of natural wanderers.”

Gabrielle rolled onto her back and looked up through lazily half lidded eyes. “Are you saying we like to shirk responsibility and live a vagabond lifestyle?”

Xena nodded, watching her face intently.

Gabrielle bit the inside of her lip and studied the slowly darkening sky overhead. She wiggled her bare toes as a slow, sweet smile spread across her face. “Yeah.” She admitted. “I think you’re right.”  With a slight grunt, she sat up and pushed herself to her feet. “Isn’t that terrible?”

Xena kept an eye on Dori as she abandoned her rocks and climbed into her lap, reaching up to play with one of the laces in Xena’s shirt.  “Awful.” She agreed dryly.  “Whatcha doin, Dori?”

“Got Boo.” Dori tugged at the string, drawing the neck of Xena’s shirt closed. “Go show you my bugs now?”

“You got bugs?”

Gabrielle listened to the chatter as she filled their bowls full of rabbit stew.  She set the bowls on a wooden platter and poked a slab of her newest experiment, travel bread. It seemed ready. She broke off a corner and nibbled it, pleased with the result.

Xena’s remark had hit home, she readily acknowledged. She liked being able to do what she wanted when she wanted, without anyone else giving her advice.  Xena felt the same way, apparently.  Was it fair to Dori, though? Having her away from her little friends, and their extended family – growing up out in the wilderness?

Her eyes lifted, to see her partner flying Dori through the air over her head, her hands fastened firmly around the toddlers body.  Dori was squealing in delight, her arms and legs spread out and a big smile on her face.

Hm. Gabrielle suspected Dori didn’t have a problem with it. She picked up the platter and walked back over to the furs, settling cross legged next to Xena as the warrior brought Dori in for a landing.  “You ready for dinner, Dori?”

“Yes.” Dori copied her seating posture, watching intently as Gabrielle handed over her small bowl and spoon, and a chunk of the bread. “Mama, mmm.” Ignoring the spoon, she pulled a bit of root out of the bowl and ate it. “Good good good.”

“Thank you, honey.” Gabrielle gave Xena her portion, then joined her partner in eating.

“She’s right.” Xena leaned an elbow on the bard’s knee, and pointed to the dish with her spoon.  “You put something different in this time?”

Gabrielle bit into a carrot, a pleased smile crossing her face. “You mean all this practice is paying off?” She teased. “Yes, something’s new. I picked up some dried herbs from that traveling caravan we passed two days ago.”

“Mm.” Xena wiggled her eyebrows in appreciation. “I like when you experiment. Used to make things interesting on the road.” She commented. “Mom’s stuff is fine, but it never changes.”

“Hm.” Gabrielle sucked on her spoon. She’d never considered how much the effect of the many daily challenges of the road affected their day to day life. Traveling, she realized, forced you to constantly adapt, constantly solve problems to just handle the basics of survival.

Her eyes slipped to Xena’s profile, watching the blue eyes sparkle in the firelight. An unconscious smile was pulling at her partner’s lips, giving the watching bard a good indication of the internal happiness riding just below Xena’s often stoic surface.

Vagabonds, eh? Gabrielle leaned her head against Xena’s convenient shoulder, and dug in to her bowl, tasting the spices of an interesting revelation.

**

The stars spread over them in a dark blanket.  Dori was asleep in her crib, a wooden folding item made by Xena’s clever hands. The fire had burned low, and was now shedding just enough light for Gabrielle to see by as she sat behind her partner, brushing out her hair.

Long and thick, it curled around her fingers, releasing the scent of the herbal soap they both used. “Want me to braid this?” Gabrielle offered. “It’s a little breezy out.”

“Mm.” Xena nodded. She had her forearms resting on her upraised knees, as she gazed into the fire. “You can use those ties we got in that little town.”

“Alfrif got fm.” Gabrielle had the ties between her teeth. She removed them and started braiding the leather into the dark hair. “It was so cute of that crafter to give them to you after you rescued his bull.” She said.  “He was blushing so badly, the poor little guy.”

“That’s because I grabbed him by the genitals.” Xena murmured.

Gabrielle paused, and leaned forward, resting her chin on Xena’s shoulder and giving her a wide eyed look. “Excuse me?”

Xena turned her head slightly, brushing Gabrielle’s cheek with her own. “The bull.” She uttered in a low rasp.

“Oh.” Gabrielle leaned forward a little more and they kissed. “Well, then.” She rested her head against Xena’s darker one briefly, then went back to completing her task.

“See any grays yet?”

“Sweetheart, in this light you could have a stripe like a skunk right across the top of your head and I’d never see it.” Gabrielle remarked. “Do you really want me to look? What if I find one?”  She finished her neat braid and put her hands on her partner’s shoulders. “Most people don’t really go hunting for signs of getting older.”

Xena half turned and snaked an arm around her, then pulled Gabrielle into her lap, cradling her easily as the bard put her arms around Xena’s neck. “I don’t need to hunt for that.” She said, with a wry smile. “I feel it every time I wake up in the morning out here.”

“Well.” Gabrielle’s eyes searched the planed features. “You know, I bet you could make a folding bed for us like the one you did for Dori.” She brushed her fingers against Xena’s cheek. “Why didn’t you tell me it was bothering you so much?”

The warrior shrugged very slightly. “It’s not that bad.” She said. “I just figure if I mentioned it you’d offer to give me a backrub.”

“Ahh.” The bard grinned. “I see. So this is a strategic request.”

Xena nodded gravely.

“I would love to give you a backrub.” Gabrielle pulled herself up and kissed Xena gently, with a loving intensity that pulsed through the link that bound their souls together.  “Why don’t you lie down and I promise you I will make absolutely sure that you get rubbed from head to foot, as a matter of fact.”

Blue eyes twinkled gently. “Why, Gabrielle.” Xena rumbled in a sexy purr. “Are you propositioning me?” She leaned backwards, pulling them both down onto the furs, returning the kiss with definite passion. She drew the top furs over Gabrielle’s back and slid her hands under the bard’s shirt. Her fingers traced over the lean, defined waistline and over her ribs, feeling them expand against her touch as Gabrielle inhaled.

“Me?” Gabrielle reveled in the knowledge of the powerful body under hers. She grabbed the tie Dori had been playing with earlier and tugged it free, exposing Xena’s collarbone. “Hm… you know? Maybe I am.”

Xena chuckled, a low, rich sound that tickled Gabrielle’s skin.  “I think I like that.”

“Do you?” Gabrielle dipped her head and nipped at her partner’s pulse point. “Let me go get the salve.”

“Don’t bother.” Xena eased the shirt over Gabrielle’s head and pulled her down. “I feel much better already.” She slid her hands over the bard’s back, exploring her body with a delicate touch.  Warm hands caressed her in return, teasingly seductive and yet always with a hint of gentle innocence that Xena found so endearing.

“Besides…” Gabrielle eased upward and murmured into Xena’s ear. “You’re not allowed to get a day older until I catch up to you.”  She planted a kiss on her partner’s lips.  “So there.”

Xena looked up at her. An affectionate smile appeared. “I don’t think that’s how that works.” She drew Gabrielle’s head back down and returned the kiss. “But it’s a nice thought.”

The bard finished untying her partner’s shirt and pressed her body against Xena’s, their bellies warming each other. “You and I having Dori together isn’t how it’s supposed to work either, now is it?” She had to stop speaking at that point, as Xena’s lips dropped lower and breathing became a little tough. Her thoughts dissolved as she surrendered to the demands of her body, responding powerfully to Xena’s insistent touch.

Thought I was supposed to be propositioning you…  was the last thing she mused on, before she let a wave of passion simply take her.

Glad of the privacy, and the wildness around them. Glad she was free to follow only the whims of her own soul.

**

An owl hooted overhead. Xena eyed it through half lowered lids, enjoying the peaceful crackle of the fire and the sensually sated pleasure of her body. Gabrielle was curled up tightly with her back against Xena’s chest, and the warrior had one long arm draped over her in a snug hold.

“Hey, Xe?” Gabrielle’s voice burred sleepily.

Xena leaned closer to the neatly shaped ear closest to her. “Yesss?” She rumbled, in a low, sexy tone.

“Still want your back rubbed?”

The warrior chuckled. “Nah.” She pressed against Gabrielle. “Feels great.”

“Mmokay.” Gabrielle yawned. “Wanna rub mine? I’m still a little stiff.”

Xena bumped her over onto her stomach, and slid her hands down the tan, well muscled back presented to her. She felt carefully along her partner’s spine, feeling the round bones click into place until she reached the spot just above Gabrielle’s tailbone, where her hands encountered a twisted knot. “Ah.”

“Mm.” Gabrielle inhaled, pressing her belly against the warmth of the furs. “Same spot?”

“Yeah.” Xena probed cautiously, then relaxed. “Just a cramp this time.” She gently eased it with a practiced touch, and felt the knot dissolve under her fingers. “Did you pick something up the wrong way?”

“Yeah.” Gabrielle turned her head. “Dori. She’s getting bigger.” Her face twitched into a reluctant grin. “I don’t think she…. Xe?” The body next to hers had gone still, and she looked up to see a familiar intent expression on the warrior’s face. “What is it?”

“Not sure.” Xena murmured, sorting through the varied signals her senses detected, searching for the one that had set off the warning bells. The wind brushed lightly through the trees around them and she listened to it, hearing the placid rhythm of the branches. She lifted her head, catching the scents in the air and discarding the nearer ones, concentrating on the faintest hint of something at the far corners of the wind.

Animal? Xena closed her eyes and focused, drawing in a deep breath from her gut and mouthing the air. “Something big.” She said, getting to her feet and letting the furs drop from her bare body. One hand reached for her sword, fingers curling around the hilt and tightening as she drew it from its worn scabbard.

Gabrielle stayed where she was, not moving until Xena had stepped over her and off the furs, the sword catching the low firelight as it twirled in Xena’s grip, coming to rest with it’s point facing backward, a typical carry of hers.

Xena’s body had taken on a tawny hue, her skin taut over the muscles that shifted as she moved. She stalked out into the darkness, the shadows swallowing her quickly as she headed towards the trees.

Gabrielle slid out from under the furs and shrugged her shift on, wrapping a strip of cloth around her waist to keep the loose fabric from billowing around her. She picked up her staff and crouched over Dori’s crib, protecting it with her body.  She flexed her hands around the new wood, still a bit green and untested, and kept her eyes on the tiny blur of paleness she knew was her soulmate.

Be careful. She silently told Xena. Don’t forget I’m not there to watch your back.

A soft crackle came to her ears, then a cough, and Xena’s battle yell.

Gabrielle gritted her teeth and held herself in place, every instinct in her howling in protest. She heard the sound of something big moving, then a crash, then silence. “Xena!” The name erupted from her in a surprisingly deep bellow.

It woke Dori, who blinked up at her in alarm. “Mama!”

Gabrielle stared into the dark, blinking suddenly as a blur resolved into her partner’s lithe form as Xena stalked back into the firelight, flashes of golden light catching in the restlessly swinging sword in her hand.  “What was it?”

Xena’s face tensed into a scowl, as she flipped the sword over and over in her hands. “I don’t know.” She admitted. “It saw me and ran.”

Gabrielle studied the wild figure, naked and windblown, exuding a fierce, edgy energy in every motion. “I can’t imagine why.” She exhaled, dropping onto a knee. “Whatever it was, I’m glad it’s gone. Right Dori?” She caught the toddler’s curious hand, and held it. “Bear, you think?”

“Maybe.” Xena turned and gazed out into the forest. “Maybe not.”  She let her sword rest on her shoulder. “Dawn will show its tracks. We’ll know then.”

Gabrielle put her staff down and relaxed, a gently mischievous smile appearing. She picked up Xena’s shift and cleared her throat. “Xe?”

The warrior turned. “Yes?”

Gabrielle held up the shift. “You.. um.. need to put this on, or else.”

A dark eyebrow lifted visibly. “I do?” She put one hand on her hip. “Or else what?”

The bard’s grin widened. “Or else get yourself back under those furs with me.”

“Tch.” Xena walked past her, swatting her lightly on the backside with the flat of her sword before she sheathed it. “C’mere, Bard.” She sprawled on the furs, and crooked a finger at her. “And lose the nightgown.”

Gabrielle grinned, tucking Dori back into her covers before she stood and complied, shedding her shift as she joined her partner, the momentary fright all but forgotten.

Besides, she reasoned, as her body slid against Xena’s. The bear was probably still running. She ducked her head and nibbled at Xena’s throat. Nothing to worry about.

Right?

**

Dawn had barely turned the sky pink before Xena was up and about, stirring up the fire and taking their water bucket into one hand. She knelt beside Dori’s crib, holding an arm out to the toddler who was already reaching for her to climb out. “Hey, munchkin.” She kept her voice down, darting a glance at the still sleeping Gabrielle. “Keep hush, don’t wake your mama, okay?”

“Otay.” Dori clutched her shoulder as she stood up, giggling softly. “Go Boo!”

“Yeah, we’ll go.” Xena headed for the water. “We’ll go get you cleaned up, and ready for breakfast, right?”

“Boo, c’n I get fishes?” Dori peered into the gloom, spotting their goal. “Go to water, good!”

Xena smiled, reaching the pond and setting the bucket down. She seated herself on a flat rock on the water’s edge, and set about the grave task of getting Dori’s diapers changed.  The sun started to spread soft pink rays through the trees, bathing both of them as she gave the toddler a quick bath.

“Boobooboo….” Dori squiggled in her hands, attempting to swim off. “Gots to go get fishes, Boo.”

“No fishes.” Xena grinned, pulling her out of the water and getting a clean diaper on her. “Mama doesn’t like fish for breakfast, Dori. You know that.”

Dori spotted something in the water and it absorbed her attention. She got her nose almost down to the surface as Xena watched in amusement.  “Ga….. Boo!” The toddler slapped at the water and plunged her hand down into it to her shoulder. “Gots!”

“Gots what?” Xena laughed.

Dori pulled her hand back out. In it was a small minnow. She held it up in triumph. “Gots fishes!”

Xena’s jaw dropped. She stared at the struggling fish in her daughter’s hand in a moment of total shock, not really sure what her reaction should be. “Son of a Bacchae.”

Dori gazed at her quizzically. “Good?” She looked at her fish. “Gots fishes?” The fish squiggled and she frowned at it, then decided it would be better off inside Xena’s tunic. Accordingly, she threw it at her beloved playmate’s chest. “Guck.”

Xena snatched the fish out of mid air and held it in her hand. “Thanks.”

A soft crackle behind them alerted her, but the warm wash of emotion that bathed her back identified the intruder, and Xena leaned back as Gabrielle draped her arms over her shoulders and rested her chin on one. “You’re not gonna believe this.”

“Hey sweetie.” Gabrielle’s voice was still husky from sleep as she greeted Dori. “Believe what?”

Xena held up the fish.

The bard scratched her jaw. “Um, hon, I love you, but you know I hate fish for breakfast, and that one’s a little… small.” She reached around and tickled Dori’s belly. “Why’d you catch it?”

“I didn’t.” Xena said, simply.

“Huh?” Gabrielle looked at her.

“I didn’t.” Xena repeated. “She did.” She pointed at the now giggling Dori with the fish.

“She did?” The bard’s voice rose. “Her, our baby? Caught that fish?”

“Mama! Got fishes!” Dori seemed to catch on to the conversation.

“C”mon, Xena. You’re not serious.” Gabrielle laughed.

“Yes, I am.” The warrior told her. “She just reached in, and grabbed it.”

The bard’s laugh eased into a bemused sigh. “Just like you do.”  She took the fish from Xena’s fingers and cupped it in her palm, then lowered her hand into the water and let the minnow swim off.

“Mama! My fishie!” Dori objected vocally. “No good!” She flipped over and scrambled for the edge of the rock. “Gots fishes.. gots fishes… “

Xena grabbed her by the diaper. “Whoa!” She hauled the toddler back. “You can get more fishes tonight, Dori. No swimming now.”

Dori gave her a grumpy look, and scowled.  Xena scowled right back, an expression so similar it sent Gabrielle into a fit of laughter.  “It’s not funny.” The warrior growled.  “Here, you hang on to her since you’re up, and I’ll go check whatever was out there last night.”

Gabrielle took possession of her daughter as her partner got up and headed for the trees. She bounced Dori on her lap and cuddled her, still amazed at her new found skill. “Did you get that fishie, Dori?” She asked.

“Got fishie.” Dori agreed happily. “Mama, that good!”

“It’s very good.” Gabrielle hugged her. “You know who does that too?”

“Boo.”

“You bet. You’re just like Boo, Dori. You know that?”

“Bbbbbbboooo.” Dori seemed to like the idea. “Love Boo, Mama. Get Boo fishes.” She was now content to rock in her mother’s arms.

“How did you catch the fishie, Dori?” Gabrielle asked her, admiring the small button nose and the long, dark lashes. “Tell mama.”

“Fishies go hisssss… “ Dori told her. “Go hiss.. hiss… den you go bam!” She closed her hand in the air. “Gotcha.”

Gabrielle had to laugh. Even the little narrowing of Dori’s eyes when she said the word was just so Xena’s image. “Gotcha.” She repeated, hugging Dori to her. “That’s my girl.” She squeezed her. “Are you hungry?”

“Yes.” Dori tugged at her mother’s shirt. “Mama, c’n you gets grapes?”

Gabrielle stood up, cradling Dori with one arm as she dipped the bucket into the pool with the other. “Can I get grapes.” She said, as she walked back towards the fire. “I think we can do that when we get to where we’re going, honey. Not here.”

“We go?”

“We’re going to Cirron.” Gabrielle watched Ares trot after Xena, the two of them disappearing into the brush. “We’re going to see our friend the prince, and walk around his nice big city.”

“Grapes?” Dori kept her attention on the important details.

“I bet ther’ll be grapes there, sure.” Gabrielle set the pot on the fire and sat down with Dori on their furs, pulling her bag over to get them some breakfast.  “How about a cookie bar.”

“Cookies.” Dori approved. “Good.”

Gabrielle removed a trail bar and broke it into two halves. She gave one to Dori, and stuck the other in her mouth. “Mm. Good.”

“Mm.” Dori snacked happily on the bar.

It was too quiet, the bard suddenly realized. She lifted her head, and gazed towards the trees, searching for a sign of her partner. “Xena??”

For far too long a moment, there was no response. Then Xena’s figure appeared between the trees, a frown on her face. The warrior crossed back over to her and knelt by the fire, setting out their cups.  Ares trotted after her, sneezing repeatedly.

“Well?” Gabrielle asked.  “Was it a bear?”

Xena came over and sat down cross legged on the furs. “I don’t think so.” She opened her fist and dropped a piece of woven, blue cloth. “They don’t usually dress for the occasion.”

Gabrielle picked up the cloth and studied it. It rang a faint bell. She let Dori crawl off her lap and head for Xena’s. “You want a trail bar?” She murmured, her brow creasing as she tried to stir her memory. “Xena, I’ve seen this before.”

“Yes, you have.” Xena replied quietly. She took the proffered bar and met Gabrielle’s eyes. “In Jessan’s village.”

The bard released a breath. “Ah.” She watched her partner’s angular face as Xena bit into the trail bar. Dori had seated herself in the warrior’s lap, and was pulling at the lower end of the bar. “What does that mean? One of his people was there last night, watching us?”

“That’s what the tracks look like.” Xena admitted, looking highly annoyed with herself. “I should have checked it out better.. maybe followed him.” She took a savage bite of her breakfast. “I don’t know why the Hades I didn’t.”

“Oh.” Gabrielle reached over and poured the now boiling water over their tea leaves. She stirred the cups, drizzling in honey liberally. “Probably because you didn’t want to hare off into the night and leave me and our daughter behind. Something like that.”

“You can take care of yourself.” Xena muttered.

“Thank you.” Gabrielle handed her a cup. “But you know what I mean.”

“Mmph.”

“Boo.” Dori tugged on the bar, breaking off a piece which she stuffed into her mouth. “Gimme.”

“No.” Xena held the cup out of her reach. “Too hot, Dori. Owie.”  She gave the toddler their waterskin instead. “Guess we need to pay a visit after Cirron.” Her voice lowered. “Find out what’s going on.. ah ah, Dori, I said no.”

Gabrielle reached over and gathered her daughter in, pulling her into her own lap. “Let Boo have breakfast. C’mere.”  She tucked an arm around Dori. “You think it’s something serious?”

“Can you think of a frivolous reason to be tracking us?”

“Mm.”  Gabrielle felt a familiar prickle of warning travel down her spine. “Not really, no.”

Xena leaned back, propping up one knee and resting her elbow against it. “Guess we’ll find out.” She remarked. “Looks like it could be trouble.”

Dori squirmed out of Gabrielle’s grasp and headed for the fire. Warrior and bard both made a dive for her, colliding in mid air and ending up in a tangle. Only Xena’s long arm, snaking out to grab Dori’s foot prevented a potential disaster.

They looked at each other. “Trouble.” Gabrielle repeated. “For us, or them?”

Xena’s eyebrow quirked.

**

The wind took on a fresh chill as they made their way down a short slope to a barely visible path. Gabrielle was glad for her warm leggings and thick tunic as she shrugged Dori’s pack a little higher on her shoulders, stretching her arms out as she joined Xena on the dirt track.

They were walking, as usual. Gabrielle knew Xena preferred riding, but since they’d left Athens the warrior had given up her place in the saddle to walk alongside her partner, and they’d used the two horses simply for carrying their gear.  She held a place a step or two behind Xena, amusing herself by watching the rhythmic swagger of her partner’s walk.

Xena had chosen to wear her heavier, blue leathers and a pair of the closely knit black leggings they’d found in a small seaside village along the way. Tucked into her boots, with her leg armor buckled over them, they outlined her muscular thighs and really looked rather..

“Dinar for your thoughts?” Xena glanced back over her shoulder.

Sexy. Gabrielle took a few longer steps and caught up with her. “Oh, I was just making up a poem.” She brushed her shoulder against Xena’s.

“You warm enough?”

“Just fine.” Gabrielle’s face creased into a grin. “How are you doing, Dori?”

Dori’s head was poking out of her sack, the child’s bright eyes watching their surroundings with interest. “Mama?” She wrapped her arms around Gabrielle’s neck and gave her a hug.

Xena reached around to check the pack, making sure the lined holes at the bottom were not bothering Dori’s lengthening legs. “That works.” She commented. “But you know, I think we’re gonna have to get her a pony one of these moons.”

Gabrielle shifted her shoulders, feeling the growing weight on them.  “It’s okay for now.” She said. “Maybe on the way home.”

“Wouldja like that, Dor?” Xena tweaked a bootie covered foot. “You want a pony?”

“Hossie?” Dori’s ears perked up.

Gabrielle gave her partner a wry look. “You’re just a troublemaker, you know that?”

Xena grinned, reaching out with her other hand to scratch Argo’s jaw. “She likes horses.”

“What a surprise.” Gabrielle carefully skirted around a ditch in the road, Iolaus’ reins trailing idly from her hand.

They walked in companionable silence for a while, listening to Dori’s burbling and childish commentary on the passing forest.  Xena trained her senses around them, probing the nearby trees for any sign of their mysterious tracker. The bird noises were normal, though, unconcerned and indicating to her that no hidden predators were lurking in shadows.  Ahead of them, a rabbit hopped quickly across the track, getting out of their way.

Xena’s hand flicked, and a dagger appeared. She glanced at Gabrielle and lifted a brow in question.

“Nah.” Gabrielle put a hand on her arm. “You know Dori hates when you do that.”  She said. “She loves those little suckers.”

“What a surprise.” Xena amiably sheathed her dagger. “She loves them in your stew, too.”

“I don’t think she makes the connection yet, hon.”

“Mama, der go Guff!” Dori pointed at her furry buddy, who had darted off the track in pursuit of the rabbit.

“Yeah, it took you a while.” The warrior mused.

“Oh, it did not.” Gabrielle snorted. “I knew where the food came from, Xena. I cooked it, remember?”

“Uh huh.”

“Mama!”

“I see him, honey. He’s playing a game.” The bard reassured her child.

“Me go play too?”

Xena craned her neck to watch their pet. “He lost him.” The warrior said. “No more game, Dori.”

Ares trotted back out of the log grass, his tongue lolling. He fell into step behind Xena. “Roo.”

“Guff!” Dori reached down towards him. “”Come!”

“Dori, be nice.” Gabrielle tweaked the child’s foot.

Xena drew in a lungful of the cool air tinged with pine and smiled. Her eyes roved over the trees, searching for a bough out of place, or some other sign. The rabbit had bolted to her left, so she studied that side briefly, then turned her attention seriously to the right hand side.

It was apparently peaceful. The wind was blowing the wrong direction, but Xena could see a good distance into the foliage, and the waving branches were in proper rhythm.

A flash of color caught her eye and she shifted her gaze, spotting a bird darting from tree to tree. It perched, chattered, then flew to another trunk, in a fitful pattern.

Xena cocked her ears. She could hear the bird, the wind, the branches, and… a crackle came to her that was out of place.  She glanced ahead, where the trees narrowed around the track and the branches extended over it. Casually, she dropped Argo’s reins and slowed a pace, falling behind Gabrielle and fussing with Dori’s straps.

“Boo, c’n you go see sissy?” Dori warbled. “C’n we gets cookies, and see Gramma?”

“Aw.” Gabrielle looked over her shoulder. “Do you miss Gramma, sweetie? I bet she misses you.”

Xena eased around to Gabrielle’s right hand side and continued walking. “I’m sure my mother could use the break.”

They approached the narrow point, and the horses fell in behind them single file. Xena kept her eyes on the track, turning her head casually but apparently relaxed. Her ears, though, were fixed on the underbrush. One crackle, two, then her eyes caught a shivering fern just slightly out of rhythm with the wind.

She draped a hand over Gabrielle’s shoulder, her fingers tensing on the bard’s skin just enough to cause a stiffening in her posture, and bring her hand up slightly on her staff to a more balanced position.

That’s my girl. Xena tapped her on the shoulder with her thumb, then let her arm drop to her side. “What do you suppose Hectator’s up to?” She asked casually. “Think he’s built out the city by now?”

“Oh, I doubt it.” Gabrielle replied. “He had a long way to go. Lot of land around there. I bet he’s got a lot more trading going on though.”

They came even with the trees. The pine branches brushed lightly over Xena’s shoulders, leaving a sweet scent behind.  This close, Xena could sense the presence of their tracker, and her nostrils flared as she caught a hint of musk on the air.

Argo snorted, and tossed her head. Ares pricked his ears and shouldered up Xena’s outside, nudging her away from the trees. Xena gave them both a dire look, and tried not to hear the carefully  muffled snicker from the blond woman next to her.

She felt the presence come closer, and now her senses pinpointed it, just behind a thick bush past the first row of trees.

A long branch extended over the path. As she passed under it, Xena reached up and took hold, then lifted her body up off the ground and pulled herself into the tree gracefully. She ran down the branch to the trunk, and leaped to the next tree, feeling her body respond with a strength and lightness that delighted her.

She was over the bushes in an instant, and saw the blur of motion below her. Without hesitation she launched herself towards it, angling in mid air to intercept it’s flight. Her hands caught the large figure around the neck and she let her weight do the rest, slamming into him and taking them both down in the underbrush.

They rolled together, both seeking a hold. Xena slammed an elbow into a furry jaw, and felt clawed hands gripping at her, scraping against her shoulders.

She knew it was a forest dweller. The strength was unmistakable.  She pulled herself up and around and landed on it’s chest, driving her knees into the leaf litter and drawing her dagger to press against the big, furry neck under her. “Hold it.”

Big, hazel eyes blinked up at her, set deep inside a fur covered face that featured a blunt muzzle and an outthrust jaw.

Xena’s dagger remained steady. She met her adversary’s eyes with an even chill.

For a moment, she thought he was going to struggle. Then he lifted his hands, and laid them back in an attitude of surrender, his lips parting to show a set of very impressive fangs. “Whatever you say, Chosen.”

The invocation of that particular title made Xena’s lips twitch. “I say start talking, and tell me why you’re following us.”  Ares thrust his way through the bushes at that moment, and growled, baring his teeth at the forest dweller.

The forest dweller growled back.

“Stop that.” Xena cuffed him.

Ares growled. Xena turned and cuffed him. “You stop that too.”

“I wasn’t really following you.” The supine man stated.

Xena lifted her eyebrows at him.

“Wanna let me up? Honest, I was just trying to find a way to approach you without getting my fur singed.”

Reluctantly, Xena eased herself up off the big man, stepping gracefully aside and out of his range as he got to his feet. Standing, he topped her by at least a hand, and doubled her size, but he kept his hands carefully in view as he shook himself off.

“Xe.”

“No problem.” Xena called to her partner. “We’re coming out.”  She pointed to a gap in the trees, and followed the forest dweller as he edged between them, scraping his chest in the narrow space. They emerged onto the track, to find Gabrielle standing with the horses behind her, her staff held casually across her body.

Dori peeked over her shoulder.  The forest dweller kept clear of Gabrielle’s staff and turned to face them as Xena joined the bard.  “Okay.” He held his clawed hands up. “My bad. I should have just come out to you last night. But I’d just caught up with you, and I..” He sighed. “Anyway, I was sent to find you.”

“Sent by whom?” Gabrielle asked.

“Lestan.”

Xena and Gabrielle exchanged surprised glances. They had last seen their friend Jessan’s father during the war.   “What’s the problem?”

The forest dweller’s face took on an unhappy look. ‘He’s dying.”

Gabrielle gasped. “Oh, no. What happened?”

Xena put a hand on the bard’s back. “Gods.”

“It’s…” The forest dweller scrubbed his face with one hand. “It’s been a tough moon. Another tribe attacked us, out of the blue, and a lot of us got hurt. Lestan was one of them – he defended his home and they just… they ran over him, a dozen of them and he couldn’t stop them all.”

“Oh.” Gabrielle exhaled. “Damn.”

“We finally fought them off.” The forest dweller continued. “But we lost a lot of good people. Good warriors. The ones that were left… well, there’s a struggle now to take over after Lestan…”

“Wait.” Xena held a hand up. “You mean to take over the tribe?”

A nod. “One of the soldiers, a young one named Rufus, he blames Lestan for us getting caught by surprise. He wants to take over and make us a war tribe again.”

“Can’t Lestan name a successor?” Gabrielle asked quietly.

“He has. His son. But Jessan’s halfway across the land, and we can’t get there in time.” The forest dweller explained. “Anyway, we don’t’ know if even he could fight off Rufus.  So when we heard you were in these parts, Lestan sent me to find you.”

“Why me?” Xena already knew what the answer would be.

“You’re our champion.” The quiet answer came back at her. “He said he would try to hold on until I could find you, and bring you to him.”

Gabrielle took a step forward. “How’s Wennid?”

The forest dweller’s eyes glistened as he gazed at her in silence. “Preparing.” He finally said.

Xena glanced at the sky. “We’d better get moving.” She said. “What’s your name?”

“Tucker.”  The forest dweller answered. “So you’ll come then?”

“Of course we will.” Gabrielle answered.

“Let’s go.” Xena said, swinging her body up onto Argo’s back. “Gabrielle,  up.” She extended an arm to her partner. “You get on the other one. We don’t’ have time to argue.” She told the forest dweller. “Move it.”

The wind blew colder as they started off, rattling the branches with an ominous chill.

**

Gabrielle felt her memories haunting her as they crossed the pass and started down into the valley of the forest dwellers. The shape of the rocks around them, sharp and granite brought a day to her mind she often tried to consciously forget.  Having Xena in front of her helped, of course. She had her arms wrapped around the warrior’s body, feeling the steady motion of her breathing

The forest seemed a little thicker now, she noticed. Trees and brush had grown in over the path, making the area even more remote than she’d remembered.  Her skin stung as a flash of ripping through those branches on Argo’s back came to her, along with the sense of grief stricken panic that had filled her guts as she’d ridden to find help for a partner trapped under half a mountains worth of rocks.

Hurt. Helpless.

Dying.  Gabrielle closed her eyes and let her forehead rest against Xena’a back.  The horrible sensation of feeling her slipping away, past anything Gabrielle could do to stop it was something that haunted her to this very day and would for the rest of her life.

She hadn’t been ready to say goodbye.  You never were, really, she acknowledged in silence, but then, so soon after they’d become lovers it had hit her with all the unfairness of an unfair life. She remembered the moment she’d spent on that mountainside, after digging until her hands bled, when she’d felt that thread that bound them unraveling.

She remembered screaming.

“Hey.” Xena’s hand wrapped around the one she had circling the warrior, it’s touch feeling comfortingly warm. “What’s going on back there?”

There was really no sense in lying. “Just remembering.” Gabrielle admitted. “Maybe the weather’s reminding me.” She glanced up at the growing clouds. A faint, far off rumble of thunder seemed to echo her thoughts.  She sighed. “What a truly sucky day that was.”

“Mm.” Xena kept hold of her hand. “Wasn’t my idea of fun either.”

“I know.” Gabrielle leaned her head against Xena’s shoulderblade.

“But we got through it.” The warrior guided Argo carefully down the steep, rocky trail towards the valley. Behind them, Tucker followed on Iolaus, the forest dweller having fallen silent the last part of the trip. “I all turned out all right.”

True. The bard glanced over her shoulder, where Dori was dozing in her pack. Everything had turned out all right, in the end. Luck, and Xena’s own strength of will had carried them through and they’d left the forest dwellers lands with the gift of each other and knowing how much that was really worth.  Gabrielle lifted her hand up and played idly with the crystal necklace around her neck, it’s glittering facets tucked into the woven tunic she wore. “Xena?”

“Yes?”

“Poor Lestan.” She felt her partner inhale deeply, and release the breath in a long sigh. “Poor Wennid. They’ve been together a long time.”

“Yes, they have.”

“You and I hadn’t been together that long then, and it felt like I was being ripped to shreds. It must be unbearable for her.”

Xena squeezed her hand. “I’m sure it is.” She replied briefly. Unwillingly, her mind flicked back to a memory of seeing Gabrielle fall away from her, hand outstretched, eyes begging forgiveness as she took Hope into the lava pit. “I’m sure it is.” She repeated in a whisper.

They rode in silence for several lengths, both of them deep in thought.

“Do you think she’ll choose to go with him?” Gabrielle finally asked. “I know Warrin stayed, but he had his son to take care of.”

Xena understood, at some level, what that question meant to both of them. “I think she will.” The warrior answered. “But let’s not think about that until it happens, Gabrielle. You know better than most people not to give up on life so fast.”

The words settled over her, and Gabrielle realized the truth in them.  Though she sometimes got frustrated with her partner’s pragmatic way of looking at the world it did have it’s solid, logical points and this was one of them. Lestan wasn’t gone yet, and Xena was right – she knew better than most not to take death for granted.  “Okay. Good point.” She gave the warrior  a squeeze. “I guess I’m just being gloomy today.”

“Maybe it’s the weather.” Xena glanced up as the first big, fat raindrop plopped itself down on her shoulder and sat for a second, before sliding down her arm. “Got the cloaks handy?”

Gabrielle was already fishing in their packs, pulling out the neatly folded garments. She got Xena’s out first, shaking it open to one side then reaching up to clasp it around Xena’s neck. She arranged the folds, then retrieved her own. She got the hood in place around Dori just as the downpour started in earnest, rattling the leaves next to her and turning Argo’s golden coat a muddy tan.  “Glad we’re not up in the mountains anymore.”

Xena looked up over her shoulder to the high peaks, a vivid picture firmly in her mind’s eye. “Me too.”  She urged Argo on, towards the valley entrance below.

**

It was raining so hard they could barely see in front of them when they reached the river. Dori had woken, and was stirring fitfully in the rain, displeased with the cloak Gabrielle had tucked over her. “Mama.. no see!”

Gabrielle reached back and patted her on the leg. “It’s okay honey, just a little longer. We’ll be there soon.”

“Bck!”

“I know, I know. But you really can’t see anything anyway, because it’s raining so hard, and we’re behind Boo.”

“Boo!”

Gabrielle felt the faint chuckle under the arm she had encircling Xena. “Boo, boo boo.” She hummed, patting Xena’s belly with her hand. After the long day of riding, she found her back bothering her, and between that and the rain, despite what was waiting for them she’d be glad to get to journey’s end.  A warm touch circled her knee, and she felt Xena’s hand clasp around it, her thumb rubbing gently along her calf.

Argo splashed into the ford, the water rising quickly up her flanks to cover their boots. Gabrielle winced at the chill, wiggling her toes as the mare stolidly plodded forward. As they approached the far bank, Tucker urged Iolaus ahead of them. “Better let me warn the sentries.” He said, giving them an apologetic look. “Most of the folks who really knew you went to the valley with Jess.”

Xena nodded, turning Argo a little to follow him. “Almost there, girl.” She stroked the neck of the tired mare. She took a moment to let Tucker get ahead of them, half turning in the saddle. “You two okay?”

“We’re just fine, sweetheart.” Gabrielle assured her warmly. “You?”

“I’m drenched, cold, hungry, and not in the mood for prickly forest dwellers.” The warrior informed her. “Other than that, just great.”

Gabrielle managed a grin despite the rain, and pulled herself up to give her partner a quick kiss on the lips. “We’ll survive.”

Xena’s expression turned serious. “This might get tough.” She said. “For both of us.”

The bard patted her side. “I know. Someone once told me to just take things as they came, though, so let’s go find out the worst of it.”

With a nod, Xena turned and started after Tucker. Iolaus was already climbing up the far bank, shaking his golden coat and flicking mud from his hooves. As he gained the bank, there was a sudden shift in the long grass and with an explosion of color, two big bodies attacked him.

“Son of a Bacchae..” Xena clamped her legs down around Argo and reached around for her sword. “I coulda waited a candlemark before finding that worst, Gabrielle.”

With a sigh, Gabrielle freed her staff from under her knee and tugged her cloak down more snugly over Dori.  She felt Argo’s muscles surge, and the wind blew against her face. Then she almost tipped backwards as they climbed the bank. Instinctively, she released Xena as they gained the top and took hold with her knees as the warrior launched herself from the saddle and into the fight.

Gabrielle scooted up and grabbed the reins, then tucked them under her leg and circled Argo to her right, looking for an opening.

The two guards were pummeling Tucker, having pulled him out of the saddle and onto the muddy ground. They were growling, so was Tucker, but the nearest one’s growl cut off as Xena landed on him and sent him sprawling. The other forest dweller heard his yelp and whirled, giving Gabrielle her chance. She whipped her staff around in a short, sharp arc and caught him just as he was about to jump on Xena, smacking him on the back of the skull with a sodden crack. He went down.

A moment later, Xena reversed her position and came up, hauling the second guard with her. She didn’t even pause, but hurled the huge body over her shoulder and into a nearby boulder. The forest dweller bounced off, then back onto his feet, extending his claws with a hideous growl.

Xena twirled her sword, the wind suddenly blowing her cloak back and revealing her drenched, wild form. Lightning flashed, glinting off the blade, the fierce grin, and the icy blue eyes.  She lifted her hands, and curled her fingers inward. “C’mon.”  She yelled at him. “Ya little squirt!”

Tucker sat up and spat out a mouthful of fur and blood.  The guard towered over Xena, but at her words he visibly deflated, and stepped back, sheathing his claws and wiping his forearm across his muzzle. “You backward fanged moron. What in the name of Ares d’you think you’re doing?”

Gabrielle moved forward to get a better look. It had been hard to tell from her angle, but now she could tell that these two were young, just past juveniles. “What’s going on?” She asked sharply. “You think this is the time for games?”

He swiveled his head, his rounded ears cupping and going flat as he looked at her with big eyes.  “Hey. They told us to watch the crossing, and stop anyone comin across.” He protested. “Even you, Tucks.”  His eyes went to his prone friend. “Whatj’a do to him?”

Xena sheathed her sword with a sodden click of disgust. “Why were you told to stop everyone?” She stepped up to the youngster and glared at him.  The forest dweller’s eyes dropped. “What’s going on?”

“Is it Lestan?” Tucker asked, getting up. “Beak, spill it.”

The guard nodded. “It’s close, I guess. They chased us all out from the commons. Just the bonded are there.” He looked at the two humans. “So you can’t go.”

“Of course we can.” Gabrielle felt her chest ache. “Come on. We’d better get there.”  She moved started to move back, but Xena waved her forward instead. She pulled herself up near the saddlehorn and leaned forward as Xena leaped up behind her. “Careful.”

“Don’t worry.” Xena snaked a long arm around her and captured the reins, tucking herself in back of Gabrielle with space to spare for Dori. She directed Argo with her knees, and they moved past the three forest dwellers without much of a backwards glance.

“Wait! Wait!” The guard turned. “How could you bring humans here, now! Of all times! Tucker, are you nuts?”

“Stupid fur ball.” Tucker eased after Iolaus. “That’s Xena.”  He caught the stallions reins. “Turn him over before he drowns.” He pointed at the other young guard. “You’re lucky they didn’t just kill you. I didn’t have time to tell them what was going on.”

He mounted Iolaus and rode after Argo, leaving the river behind him.

**

There was a pall over the village that Gabrielle could feel as they rode in. It didn’t look that different from what she remembered – a circular patch carved out of the forest, a central common area surrounded by well built huts that almost blended into the trees. The large firepit was sodden and dark, and there was obvious damage throughout the village, however.

Fences that had held the village horses were shattered, and the fields were emptied. Near the edge of the trees, there was also evidence of a burial pit.

Some of the huts were collapsed in on themselves. Gabrielle looked at one as they passed, wincing at the sad sight of a child’s toy hanging half shredded from a broken pole.

The circle of round huts were silent, and a cluster of mottled fur could be seen near the center one, the one she knew was Lestan and Wennid’s.  The air was thick with dread, even outside the weather and she felt eyes turn towards her as Argo slowed to a halt. Xena slid down and paused, taking her arm as she followed suit and steadying her as she landed on her feet next to the mare.

For once, she didn’t protest. “Xe.”

The warrior straightened next to her, shaking her drenched hair back out of her eyes. “I know.” She pulled her cloak closer, and did the same for Gabrielle’s. “C’mon. Let’s see what we can do.” She motioned Ares forward. “Under the porch, boy.”  The wolf shook the water out of his coat and escaped gratefully out of the rain, huddling under the wooden structure and licking his paws.

They walked together towards the homestead. The ring of forest dwellers turned to watch them, but offered no resistance to their passing. Xena slipped an arm around her as they walked up the stairs and Gabrielle felt very glad of the warm support as they entered the sturdy structure.

Inside was worse. Here there were people they knew, forest dwellers Gabrielle remembered from her last visit, in a long rainy afternoon’s storytelling. They were seated in every available space, arms clasped over knees, looks of stolid patience on their faces. Near the back of the dwelling a large doorway stood open, and through that she could see one of the round beds common to their people.

“Welcome, my sisters.” The eldest of the soulbonded stood and walked to greet them. “I’m glad you’ve come.”  She held out furred hands to both of them, and looked at them from pained eyes. “Though I wish it were a happier occasion.”

Cessi, her name was, the bard remembered suddenly. Gabrielle clasped the hands held out to her, and felt Dori squirm at her back. “Me too.”

“Mama?” Dori poked her head over Gabrielle’s shoulders. “Guff!” Her eyes widened at the room full of furred people.

“Your little one.” The gray furred elder managed a smile. “It has been such a long time, little sister.”

“Yes, it has.” Gabrielle pulled her hood back and threw her cloak over a shoulder. “We came as soon as we knew.” She said. “How are things?”

“Not well.” Cessi sighed. “The end is close, now.”

Xena eased past them and threaded her way towards the back room. Her nose already detected a dire injury and she put niceties aside as her healer’s instincts kicked in. She put her hand on the door frame and edged past the two forest dwellers closest to the door, looking up to find Wennid looking back at her.

“Xena.” Jessan’s mother whispered. Her eyes were sunken into her head, and her fur was matted with blood and worse. She was curled up in the round bed cradling Lestan’s still form, the fingers of one hand rhythmically stroking his blood stained skin.

Xena dropped to a knee next to the bed, shocked by the damage she saw on the tall body before her. One half of Lestan’s chest had been ripped away, and his crippled arm was missing. Only the faintest motion of his chest indicated any life at all, and Xena wondered how in all Hades the forest dweller had remained alive even this long. “Gods.” She laid a hand on the stricken man’s knee.

“I think I have stopped believing in them.” Wennid whispered. “I think he did. He said he’d rather put his trust in you.”

Xena’s eyes lifted, aware that the room’s attention was now squarely focused on her. “Let me get my kit.”  She started to stand, but Wennid lifted a hand and stopped her.

“There’s nothing you can do.”

“You don’t know that.” Xena replied. She straightened and headed for the door, but in her heart, she did know, just as Wennid did, that no healer, no matter how skilled, could fix this kind of damage. Her nature forced her to try, though, and she steeled herself for the effort.

Gabrielle slowly let her breath out as she stood in the doorway, already feeling the grief that lay heavy around the room inside.  Dori had gone very quiet, her small hands clutching Gabrielle around the neck as she watched over her shoulder.

She recognized faces here, too.  Every neck had a glittering crystal on it, like hers, only unique in it’s facets and shape.  Partners sat side by side, some holding hands, four of them right up against the round bed lending a comforting touch to Wennid.

Xena stood and moved to walk past her, their eyes meeting in mute, horrible understanding. Gabrielle slid her arms around her partner as she passed, giving her a little hug and letting her touch linger until the warrior moved along. She felt Xena’s lips brush her damp hair on the way by, and the sensation calmed her in a way few other things could.

She knelt beside Wennid, in the small space left near the bed, and took her hand in her own. “I’m so sorry.”  Gabrielle said. “I know how horrible this is for you.”  Her mist green eyes met the liquid golden ones in aching sympathy.

Wennid’s lips twitched a little. “Yes, you do, don’t you?”  She murmured.

Gabrielle nodded.

The forest dweller squeezed her hand. Her eyes tracked to the small face behind the bard. “Hello, little one.”

“Hi.” Dori replied, watching with big, round eyes.

Gabrielle unhooked the pack and pulled Dori around to sit on her knee, holding her in place with one arm. “This is our daughter, Doriana. Dori, this is Wennid, she’s a friend.”  She heard and felt Xena enter behind her, the warrior’s presence materializing warm and real at her shoulder.

Wennid extended a finger to Dori, which was clasped immediately  The woman’s eyes went unfocused, then sharpened again. “She has the spirit of both of you in her.” The forest dweller whispered in a wondering tone. “It is true.”

“It sure is.” Gabrielle patted her daughter’s belly. She glanced to one side, where Xena was silently examining Lestan and almost shuddered at the horrible damage to their old friend.

Xena had removed the bandage around his shoulder, and she could see the white of bone showing. They’d packed the wounds as best they could, but without the covering of skin, infection had taken hold and the entire area was an endless patch of festering flesh.

“Mama. Owie.” Dori burbled softly. “No good.”

Gabrielle heard the whispers behind her. “No, sweetheart. It’s not good.” She said.

“Boo fix.”

Xena looked back over her own shoulder, her face tense in the low light. She opened her mouth to answer, then shook her head and turned back.

That one motion was enough, though. Gabrielle felt her heart sink. She looked up at Wennid, and saw a grim, dull acceptance in her eyes. “I’m sorry.”

“So am I.” Wennid said. “The fates… the fates. I cursed him for going off to war with you the last time, and not a scratch, only to come back home to this.”

“What happened?” Gabrielle gently distracted her from what Xena was doing, the warrior’s precise hand motions cleaning away cruelly tortured flesh and releasing pockets of virulent yellow infection.

Wennid shifted Lestan’s head in her arms and stroked his furry ears. The stricken man showed no signs of reaction and Gabrielle had to look twice and closely to see if his faint breathing continued.

Cessi moved closer, settling by Wennid’s side. “It came from the northern forest.” She put a gentle hand on her friend’s shoulder. “There was no warning. It was midday, just after lunch and they just came on us. They killed the sentries and rode through the village, wrecking everything they could get their hands on, the bastards.”

Wennid nodded weakly. “I was in the garden.” Her eyes shifted to the nearby wall. “They burned my garden.”

Gabrielle felt a sense of rage against the remorseless attackers. Her hands twitched and closed into half fists, wishing desperately that she and Xena had been there to help. “Why?”

“Why.” Cessi shook her head. “Why do you humans fight? Why do you kill one another?”

“A lot of reasons.” Gabrielle admitted. “Most of them bad ones.”

“They wanted our horses, our grain… easier to steal than to grow things, buy things, isn’t it?” The elder forest dweller said. “And I think they just enjoyed the battle. We do.”

Instinctively, Gabrielle’s eyes went to Xena’s profile.  She saw the jaw muscles there bunch, but the warrior remained silent. “We do too, sometimes.”

“They surrounded Lestan. He had little chance.”

“What did this?” Xena spoke for the first time, her low voice cutting through the grayness of the mood.

Wennid stroked the blood stained fur, tears welling up in her eyes. “He was so brave.”

“They.. roped him between two horses.” Cessi murmured. “And then they pulled in opposite directions.”

Xena looked at her, then she looked at Gabrielle. Unspoken words flicked between them before the warrior went back to her hapless task.  “What about this trouble Tucker told us about? Someone wanting his job?”

Gabrielle watched the nervous looks being exchanged between the forest dwellers in the room. She sensed no one wanted to discuss the mysterious Rufus, and she wondered what it was that had these ferocious people so frightened.

Xena seemed to sense it as well. She let her ice blue eyes travel the room once, absorbing the silence, before she returned her attention to horrific wounds.

She could not save him, and she knew it. The infection had spread through his body, and even now it was driving him deeper and deeper into the twilight, his life essence fading almost before her eyes. She removed her herbal pouches from her kit and studied them, combining several with a squeeze of the cleansing paste she and Gabrielle used all the time. Dabbing her fingers in it, she gently spread the mixture on the wounds, now bright, raw red where she’d taken out the dead flesh. Blood ran sluggishly at her touch, but she kept on until she finished, covering the gaping wounds with yet more powdered herbs and a clean wrapping of bandage.

He never felt any of it, she  was sure. She could see his face, slack and unresponsive, lips half curled in an unconscious grimace. Xena took his remaining hand in her own and held it, the flesh warm with fever, and dry to the touch.

“Xena.” Wennid rasped.

The warrior turned towards her, with a questioning look.

“Thank you.”

“It’s not going to help.” Xena said.

“I know.” She replied. “But… somehow, I think he’ll know, down in there somewhere, that you’re here, and it’s okay for him to go now.”

Xena gazed quietly at her, unable to speak for the lump in her throat. She finally nodded, then slowly lowered herself to the mat covered floor, keeping hold of Lestan’s hand

Cessi eased aside, and motioned for Gabrielle to sit next to the bed. “Wait with us.”

With a heavy heart, Gabrielle sat, extending her legs out and tangling them with her partner, seeking the comfort of her touch. She settled Dori on her lap and hugged her, turning her head to look at the gathering of soft, sad eyes scattered across the room.

“Gabrielle.” Wennid whispered.

“I’m here.” The bard reassured her.

“Tell us a story.” The forest dweller asked. “I’d like to hear that. I think he would too.”

Gabrielle had to swallow a few times before she could speak. “All right.” She managed to get out. She paused for a brief moment, and felt Xena’s hand curl around her calf reassuringly. “I’ll tell you the story of a friend, and  how we came to know him.”

A soft ripple of sound crossed the room, and Gabrielle could see the waiting figures outside coming closer to the door.  She took a deep breath, and started.

**

Xena stood in the darkness, Dori cradled in her arms as she looked out over the moonlit village. It was near dawn, and she’d gotten up to change her daughter and stretch her cramped body out from the long vigil. She hitched herself up onto the porch railing and exhaled, glad of the cool breeze.

“Boo.. boo.” Dori put her arms around Xena’s neck. “You gots sad.”

Xena gazed down at her. “Yeah. I am sad.” She told the child. She questioned again the wisdom of keeping Dori in the hut with them, but acknowledged there really wasn’t any other way, unless she wanted to separate from Gabrielle.

Xena didn’t want to do that. Just as the rest of the forest dwellers felt a need to be with Wennid during her sad ordeal, Xena felt a need to share it with her partner.

Her soulmate.

“Mama’s sad.”

“Very.” The warrior sighed, wondering how to explain what was going on to the toddler. “Dori, you’re gonna have to be really good for a while. Something very bad is happening.”

Dori peered at up at her with wide, green eyes. “What’s bad?”

Xena picked up one of Dori’s small hands and held it in her own. “Mama and I have a friend inside there and he’s very sick.”

“Why?”

“He just is.” The warrior said. “Bad things happened to him.”

Dori blinked. “Make owie?” She asked. “Bad mens make him owie?”

“Yes.” Xena was mildly surprised at Dori’s understanding. “Very bad men made him owie, and now he’s very very sick.”

Dori stuck her thumb in her mouth and put her head down on Xena’s shoulder. “Boo fix.” She mumbled. “Make good.”

The confidence in the toddler’s tone made Xena flinch inside. Dori was convinced she could do anything, with probably good reason. She’d never failed yet, in Dori’s eyes.

Yet.

Xena exhaled. “Dori, sometimes I can’t fix things.”

“No.”

“Yes.”

Dori shook her head. “No. Boo fix. Make good.”

Xena hugged her gently. “Oh, Dori.” She ruffled the dark hair, and kissed the top of her head.  “I wish I could this time.”

She heard a faint creak at her back, but her senses recognized the presence behind her easily and she didn’t turn around.  Gabrielle appeared behind her a moment later, sniffling a little as she slid her arms around her and rested her head on the warrior’s shoulder. “Oh, Xe.”

“I know.”  Xena leaned her head against her soulmate’s. “I know.”

“How long can he hang on?” The bard whispered.

Xena shook her head. “He’s getting weaker.” She murmured back. “I just wish I could…” She stopped and gazed off across the darkened village.  She’d changed the poultices twice, even though she knew it wasn’t doing much good.  Each time, she’d seen the bloody discharge of their friend’s life seeping away.

“At least you made him more comfortable.”  Gabrielle felt the muscles in her partner’s neck release as her shoulders dropped, and the unhappy look on her face was plain even in the darkness.  “I know it doesn’t help much.”

“No.”

“Mama..” Dori pulled her thumb out of her mouth. “Make Boo fix.”

Gabrielle winced. “Honey, Boo’s doing the best she can, okay? Sometimes you can’t always fix things like this, even when you’re really good at it, like Boo is.”

“Boo..Boo…Boo…” Dori chanted. “Boo make all good, go play.”

Xena sighed.

“She has a lot of faith in you.” Gabrielle took one of Xena’s hands in hers, and rubbed it. “Probably got that from me.”

There was a tiny smile to be found in that thought. Xena treasured it, no matter the circumstances.

The door opened behind them. “Xena?” Cessi called out softly. “Please come.”

The warrior took a deep breath and got off the railing, turning to look at Gabrielle. “Why don’t you keep her out here?” She untangled Dori’s hands from her neck and passed her over to her mother.

“No.” Gabrielle hefted the toddler up. “We stay together.” She followed Xena inside, her eyes lifting to meet Cessi’s.

The elder soulbond managed a brief smile. “We all will.”

They walked past the silent watchers, back into the bedroom. Xena’s tall figure collected the candlelight as she made her way to the bed, a way being cleared around her. The still forms on the bed hadn’t changed much, but Wennid now was cradling Lestan’s head against her chest, her fingers stroking the soft fur around his face.

“He opened his eyes, a little.” Wennid whispered, her eyes searching Xena’s face. “I thought if there was a chance… you’d want to speak to him.”

“Thanks.” Xena knelt, and put a hand on Lestan’s wrist. “Lestan.”

Very slowly, the forest dweller’s eyelids flickered half open, revealing dark mahogany, glazed orbs that looked directly at the warrior.

Gabrielle inhaled in surprise, and saw Xena’s back stiffen in her own reaction. She joined her partner and watched the eyes track to her, bringing a smile to her face. “Hi.”

Lestan’s lips twitched faintly. His gaze shifted back to Xena and the tip of his tongue emerged, painfully moistening his lips. “Need..”

“I’ll take care of things, Lestan.” Xena spoke first. “Don’t worry.”

His eyes closed in acknowledgement, then opened. “Ch..” The rasp was barely audible.

Xena tightened her grip on his hand. “I’m here.”

“Th..ks.” He seemed to relax a little.

Was that it? Xena threw her mind into furious thought. Would she let him slip away now, that he knew his family and his people would be taken care of? Damn it, there had to be something…

Something.

Xena’s voice suddenly took on a deeper, more compelling tone. “But it’s gonna cost you.”

A tiny ripple of shock went through the listeners. Xena ignored them, focusing on the glassy eyes facing her.  She felt Gabrielle’s hand on her back, warm through her leathers. It was not a censure – she could sense the solid support in the bard’s posture.

“U.. h.” Lestan put a tiny question into the sound. “What?” The second word was clearer, but only barely.

Xena leaned forward, capturing his eyes with her own. “Live.”

Utter silence dropped over them. Lestan’s half opened eyes stared at her.  There was a shadow of a motion, that might have been a shake of his head no.

“Don’t you tell *me* no.” Xena growled. “All you gotta do is want to bad enough. Been there, done that.”

Wennid was staring at her, Xena knew. She ignored the look and concentrated on Lestan’s flagging attention. She knew she had seconds, maybe, to impact a mind already fogged by impending death. One chance, to make a difference. “You want me to put my life on the line, Lestan.. you want me to risk that.. risk myself, risk Gabrielle, and our child – then damn you, you owe me your life. Do it.”

Gabrielle swallowed, not daring to say a word. She could feel the tension in Xena’s body, and in the charged atmosphere, even Dori didn’t make a sound. Behind her, she could almost hear everyone in the room holding their breath.  Looking up, she found Lestan’s flickering gaze on her. “She’s right.” The bard said huskily.

Slowly, his eyes slid shut. They all waited in petrified silence.

Almost anticlimactically, all that happened was that his chest continued to rise and fall, the short, strained breaths audible in the stillness.  Xena lifted her head and met Wennid’s eyes evenly, and for a few heartbeats, they simply looked at each other.

Then the forest dweller pulled Lestan closer, and put her head down to rest on his, closing her eyes.

Xena let out a long held breath. She turned as Gabrielle put her head down on her shoulder, nuzzling her. Dori clung to her mother’s neck, her eyes bright with interest. Xena reached up and tousled the toddler’s hair, hoping her one slim chance would against all odds take hold.

They could only wait now – wait and see.

**

Continued in Part 2

Champion

Part 2

Dawn broke.  The light filtered in through the painted wood shutters and threw gold and pink bars across the round bed. Xena watched them edge forward, her eyes shifting to Lestan’s face as he lay nestled in Wennid’s arms.

Against the odds, he was still with them.

Xena smiled faintly, and shifted her body, cramped from the long night’s watch. Gabrielle was curled up against her asleep, with Dori likewise in her arms, and she didn’t really want to move enough to wake them. She swiveled her head instead, and looked around the room. The atmosphere had lost it’s air of tense, waiting grief, and most of the waiting forest dwellers had dozed off. She could see furry bodies in the room beyond as well, and wondered briefly what this new day would bring them.

At least it wasn’t raining any more. Xena wiggled her nose, twitching a little at the pervasive scent of damp fur and damp wool from the previous day’s weather. She tucked her cloak a little more closely around Gabrielle, and moved a bit of her hair off her face. In her sleep, Gabrielle seemed to sense the touch – she nestled a little closer, and a smile twitched at the corner of her mouth.  Xena smiled back, and wasn’t terribly surprised when the bard’s pale lashes flickered open.

First, the green eyes went to her face, reading it. Then they shifted to the bed.

“Same.” Xena murmured.

“Mm.” Gabrielle shifted and straightened. “That’s good, right?” She murmured back.

“Given what might have been? Yes.” Xena confirmed. She’d changed Lestan’s dressings twice more, most recently only a candlemark ago and each time there had been less foul matter to remove. It was touch and go, but she knew in her heart she’d given him the best chance she could. What happened next was up to him.

Gabrielle gave her a pat on the belly, and smiled  at her. “I liked what you said to him last night.” She said. “I really did. I liked that you reminded him of how powerful wanting something can be.”

“I don’t know if it made a difference.”

The bard turned to look at the two forest dwellers, then back at her partner. “Do you really believe that?”

“Too soon to tell, my bard.” Xena brushed her lips across her partner’s head. “Think we’d better get ourselves a spot to change, and get Dori fed and taken care of.”  She eased herself to her feet, and took hold of Gabrielle’s shoulders as she struggled to stand with Dori in her arms. “Getting too big for you.”

“Ugh.” Gabrielle cradled her daughter, who woke and peered up at her sleepily. “Hey there, Doriboo.”  She rocked Dori as she followed Xena out of the room, stepping carefully around the sleeping forest dwellers.

They were met at the door by Cessi, and led outside. The elder soulbond gave them a tired smile, as she reached out to tweak Dori’s foot. “We have a home for you.” She told them. “I’ll take you there. It is quiet, this morning.”

“Thanks.” Gabrielle still felt tired, though she’d gotten some sleep. “I know it’s really tough right now, but I’ve got a good feeling about them.”  She shifted Dori, who was rubbing her eyes with one small fist. “I really do.”

Cessi glanced behind them. “It’s in the gods hands.” She said. “But maybe they will be kinder to us, this time.” She put a hand on Gabrielle’s shoulder. “Come. I think this little one’s hungry.”

“Can you really tell that?” Gabrielle asked curiously.

Cessi chuckled as she led the way down the steps. “Not really, no, not with your kind, but I remember when you stayed with us, Gabrielle, and…”

Xena snickered. “Good guess.” She arched her back, glad to be out in the slowly growing sunshine. “Like mama, like…oof.” Xena caught the hand that had just smacked her in the stomach. “Here, let me carry her.”  She took Dori from Gabrielle’s arms and set her on her shoulders. “How’s that, better view, Dori?”

“Good!” Dori thumped her heels against Xena’s chest happily.

“What’s really going on, Cessi?” Gabrielle asked. “Tucker said you’d been attacked?”

The elder shook her head. “It’s a bad thing.” She sighed. “We thought things were getting better. After we won the battle with Secan.. after you beat him, Xena, things settled down in these parts. The tribes didn’t go to war that often, and when they did… well, it was more like testing.. sparring.. than anything else.”

“Jessan said that.” Gabrielle agreed. “It sounded good.”

“It was.” Cessi nodded. “That’s why some of us decided to come back here, after the big war.” She said. “The elders, like me.. .that valley was beautiful, but this is home.”

The bard’s lips tensed a little, into a partial smile.  “I know what you mean.”

They crossed the battered central square. Gabrielle’s eyes took in the damage, narrowing a bit in a wince as she passed. “This is awful.”

Cessi followed her gaze. “Aye, but it can all be rebuilt.” She paused, and looked past the destruction, towards the newly dug pit. “The dead ones cannot be.”  With a shake of her head, she beckoned them forward, down a small, leafy path that sloped downhill.

“Boo… whassat?” Dori pointed at something as they walked in pensive silence.

Xena lifted her head and peered into the leaves. “Bug.”

“Want that!”

“No bug.” Xena edged further away from the colorful beetle.

“Why?”

Aware of the listening forest dweller, Xena considered her response. “It’ll bite you.”

“No!”

“Yes, it will. It’ll bite you, and that hurts.” Xena insisted.

“Want that!”

“Doriana.”

Gabrielle bit her lip to keep from laughing. Xena spoke Dori’s name like that, all deep and growly, exactly like she had once pronounced Gabrielle’s own, in not quite similar circumstances.

“She’s a cutie.” Cessi murmured.

“Who, Xena? Well, I think so.” Gabrielle’s eyes twinkled. “Dori’s not bad either.”  She slowed up as they reached the small, round hut she remembered from her last visit. “Wow… feels like it’s been forever since we’ve been here.”

Cessi courteously held the door open for them. “Much water has traveled under the bridge since then, I think.” She said. “For all of us.”

Isn’t that the truth?  Gabrielle entered and unslung the bag from her shoulder, letting it drop lightly on the floor. The hut had only two chambers, the front which held a comfortable padded couch and a small fire, and the back, which had one of the big round beds the forest dwellers used. It was decorated in cool colors, and as she had the last time, the bard felt both at home, and at peace in it.

“Rest.” Cessi told them. “I know the elders wish to council with you, Xena. We were fortunate in that Rufus has taken a hunting party out into the hills, and will not return for a few days.”

“Hunting party? With Lestan like that?” Gabrielle’s voice lifted in outrage.

“He is not as we are, little sister.” Cessi told her quietly. “And, in my heart, I believe seeing us as we are discomfits him.”

Xena snorted. She managed to encapsulate disgust, disdain, and condescension into the single sound. “All right, Dori, let’s get you changed.”

“You mean he’s like Secan was?” Gabrielle asked. “He doesn’t like the idea of soulbonds?”

Cessi perched on the corner of the thick, sturdy table near one window. “No, I don’t think it’s that. Secan…  he just saw no use for it. He thought the bond weakened us. Rufus is different – he has great respect for the people, and our traditions, but he had a bad experience as a younger and it has made him not trust the bond, I think.”

“Hm.” Gabrielle folded her arms over her chest, listening with one half ear to the sounds of Xena getting their child settled. Dori’s querulous pouting had morphed to delighted laughter. “Tucker said he wanted to take over, though. Is that true?”

“It is.” Cessi said. “He was horrified that the raiders destroyed the village, and he thinks it’s his responsibility to make sure that never happens again. He lost a sister in the attack.”

“Ah.” Gabrielle exhaled. If it was one thing she’d learned the hard way over the years, it was that there was very seldom only one side to a story. “Is he that bad a choice then?” She asked. “Defending yourself is usually a pretty good idea.”

Cessi had to think about that for a minute.

Gabrielle lowered her voice, since her partner was in the other room. “When Xena first went home to Amphipolis a couple of years ago…” She paused. Had it really been that long? “Her home was in pretty bad shape. Things were down, food was short… Xena turned it around and made a difference. She taught the village to take care of itself.”

The elder soulbond scratched her jaw. “Rufus is very young.” She mused. “Xena brought, to her people, the experience of a lifetime and the wisdom to guide them that they respected.”

“True.” Gabrielle had to agree. “But she also had to overcome a very violent history with them.”

“What we fear.. “ Cessi went on. “Is that his judgement is clouded by youth, and by haste, and by grief.” She said. “He has no patience.”  She got up off the table. “Perhaps in time, he would not be a bad choice, but… as I am what I am, and there are so many of us who are as we are – having one such who doesn’t share our trust in our bond I don’t know that I would like him to lead us.”

Gabrielle watched the older forest dweller leave. “Well.”  She turned to find Xena seated on the couch, with Dori and a handful of trail bars. “Looks like…”

“Things are more complicated than we thought?” Xena inquired dryly. “I’m just as glad to defer messing with Rufus. Lestan comes first. If that kid comes back and starts making trouble, I’ll just kick his butt right out of here again.”

“Bap!” Dori clutched at a trail bar. “Boo, hungry!”

“Sorry, munchkin.” Xena unwrapped a bar and handed it to her.

Gabrielle walked over and sat down next to her partner on the couch. She patted it’s cover, well woven but worn by the years and smiled. “I’m glad we’re here.” She accepted the half bar Xena split with her and put an end in her mouth. “I really am.”

Xena rubbed a bit of blood stain off the back of her hand. “Me too.” She let her head rest against the back of the couch. “I can’t believe their healers didn’t do what I did last night, though. What the Hades were they thinking?”

“Here, honey.” Gabrielle took another bar and portioned it, giving part to Dori. “What do you mean, Xe?”

The warrior lifted her hands and let them fall to her thighs. “Gabrielle, I’m a good healer. I know it, you know it… but I didn’t do anything any healer wouldn’t have.. *shouldn’t* have.” Her voice was perplexed. “It was basic.”

Gabrielle frowned. “Okay.. maybe it wasn’t what you did, Xe. Maybe it was what you said. Maybe that was the difference.”

Xena spread one arm out along the back of the couch, her fingers idly playing with a bit of Gabrielle’s pale hair. “I don’t know.” She looked around the room, dismissing the quandary for the moment. “I’m just glad I’m the healer, not the healee this time.”

Gabrielle smiled. “So am I.”  She freed a hand from Dori’s clutches to stroke Xena’s knee. “How’s that feeling? I thought the weather was getting to you a little yesterday.”

“No, it’s fine.” Xena replied absently.

The bard let her hand rest on the joint, feeling the very subtle motion under her fingertips as the warmth of her touch penetrated. “ You know what I’d like to do, once we get things settled here?”

“Visit the cave.” Xena said without hesitation.

“Tch. Can you read my mind?” Gabrielle asked. “Sometimes I think you can.”

Xena put a piece of trail bar into her mouth. She chewed and swallowed before she answered. “No. I just know you.”  Her voice warmed. “Better than I know myself, sometimes.”

Gabrielle watched the sunlight pour in the windows, a rich golden splash that ended up coloring her russet boots a fiery red. Having someone know you better than you knew yourself was, she reckoned, the heart of what it meant to be soulbound.

Someone who was afraid of that – could they really govern those who weren’t?  Gabrielle didn’t think so. She understood Cessi’s objection, but.. she also wanted to understand what was behind the young challenger’s fierce intent.

Did he think you couldn’t be strong, and also a soulmate? Gabrielle’s eyes fell on her partner, whose eyebrows were twitching up and down as she played a little game of pattycake with Dori.  Guess they would have to find out.

Hopefully, Lestan and Wennid would be there to help.

**

Xena shut the woven door behind her and headed down the path, her hands twitching her cloak about her as she walked.  Though the weather had cleared, it was growing cold, and under the leaves the chill was very evident.

After some breakfast, and a little playtime, Dori had been coaxed into a nap with her mother. Gabrielle had gotten very little sleep the night before, and though Xena could see her partner wanted to stick with her and make herself useful, her better sense won out.

Xena was glad of it. She’d tucked Gabrielle into the round bed with Dori, and set Ares on guard just in case. Then she’d changed her travel and bloodstained clothing and ventured off to see what she could find out.

She hadn’t gotten much sleep either, but after the strain of the long night, and the tasks she knew had to be accomplished, she knew falling asleep would have been difficult or impossible for her.

So here she was. Xena slowed her steps and started examining the damage.  She flexed her shoulders idly, settling her armor over them and took a deep breath that strained against the well used brown leathers she’d put on.

Two forest dwellers were working on repairing the well cover, which had been smashed by the attack. Xena watched them for a moment, then walked over and picked up the end of the log they were attempting to shift back into place.

“Okay, okay.. wait.. hey!” The larger of the two turned, and spotted their unlikely helper. “Oh! Hey! It’s Xena!”

“That’s right.” Xena agreed amiably. “You wanna get a move on before this thing puts me a foot deep in the mud?”  She lifted a booted foot up out of the squelching mire in demonstration.

“Oh! Sorry.” The forest dwellers picked up the other end and heaved it over the stone edifice, then let the end down. “Okay.”

Xena shoved the log into place, then dusted her hands off and examined the well. “They pull this down?”

“Yeah.” The big one sighed. “Fangless sons of hum..uh..”

Xena gave him a look. He shrugged sheepishly.  “What’s your name?”

“Daris.”

“You?” Xena looked at the smaller one, who had a soft golden fur that reminded her a little of Gabrielle’s thick hair.

“Breck.”

They were young, Xena realized. Like the guards at the river.  “Tell me about the ones who did this.” She hitched up her cloak and settled on the edge of the well, resting her hands on her knee.

The two of them exchanged looks. “We don’t know.” Breck mumbled, looking more than a little mortified. “We weren’t here. We were out hunting.”

Daris nodded. “All of us. All the guys our age, we were out with Rufus, up on the north slope.”

Xena’s dark head cocked to one side. “Oh yeah?” She mused. “He in charge of you?”

They exchanged looks again. “Not exactly.” Daris said. “But he likes to take us out and talk to us… teach us things. He’s a great hunter.” He explained. “So we were up there, and then we came down, in the morning, and we found…” His voice trailed out. “Rufus kinda lost it.”

“Mm.” Xena nodded. “If I’d been up hunting and come home to find Amphipolis like this, I’da lost it.” She said. “Because I’d have felt guilty for not being here.”

“Yeah.” Daris nodded. “Hey, Xena?”

“Hm?”

“We heard in the hall that you… like, fixed Lestan. Is that true?”

“Not really.” Xena folded her arms. “I worked on him a good part of the night, but I think any chance he has is in his hands, not mine.”

“Wow.” Daris murmured. “They were pretty tanked last night. It was like a whole different village this morning.”

Xena got up. “Keep working. There’s a lot to do before this place gets back to where it was.” She eased around the well and sauntered off, looking for a new subject to pin her attention to. Mention of the dining hall gave her an idea, and she headed in that direction.

She passed more destruction. Most of it senseless, she decided. Not meant to achieve anything, but instead to destroy the everyday things the village needed in order to survive.  She pushed the door open and stepped inside, out of the cold wind into a warm, bright atmosphere full of the scent of cooking.

Not far different from her mother’s inn, in fact, save this place was built to a bigger scale. Chairs were larger, the tables were higher.. the forest dweller’s village was one of the few places Xena had ever been in that made her feel smaller than her actual inches.

At over six feet, she was taller than most, and being a warrior as she was, she was bigger than most in Amphipolis.  But the forest dwellers were on average a foot taller than she was, and twice her weight. Perversely, Xena actually enjoyed being among them because of it.

One of the cooks looked up as she entered, and almost dropped a spoon into a pot. “Xena!”

“Hello, Rese.”  Xena greeted the older woman. She took the extended arm and gripped it. “Long time.”

“Too long, Chosen.” The cook agreed. “It’s good to see you here, no matter.”  She glanced behind her at the other workers, who were gathering around curiously. They were all young, and not familiar to Xena. “All right, you lot. This is Xena.”

Xena found herself facing a lot of round, golden eyes. “Hi.”

“Xena’s a friend of ours.” Rese smiled. “An old friend.”

One dark eyebrow rose.

“She’s come here to help us. To help Lestan, and Wennid, and to protect us against the raiders.” Rese told them confidently.

The round golden eyes grew rounder. “But she’s human!” One of the young males blurted. He was hushed by one of his larger sisters. “Rufus says..” A hand was clapped over his mouth unceremoniously.

Xena crossed over to him and removed the hand. “Rufus says what?” She asked, in a low rasp, pinning his eyes with her own. “Something about me? That’d be tough. We’ve never met.”

The forest dweller swallowed, caught in her thrall.

Xena leaned a little closer, exerting her considerable charisma. “Make your own judgements. Don’t let someone make em for you.” She tapped his chest with two fingers, making him jerk backwards at the force. “Got me?”

His jaw worked a few times. “Yes, ma’am.” He stammered. “I.. um…”

Xena growled at him.

The youngster snapped his jaw shut with a click. His flat, fur covered nostrils flared out.

If he’d known Xena better, he’d have recognized the twinkle in those very blue eyes. “Still think I can’t protect you?” Xena drawled softly.

“No, ma’am.” He shook his head.

“Good.” Xena patted his cheek.  She turned and faced Rese. “I see they missed this place.”

The head cook nodded. “Go on, you lot. Back to work.” She steered Xena towards a nearby table as the youngsters scattered. “We’re far enough back in the trees so that it wasn’t easy to get to, like some of the homes.”  She sat down. “Can I get you some bread? You had a long night, I heard.”

“Sure.” Xena agreed.

Rese motioned to one of the kids, who quickly trotted over with a loaf of bread and a crock of something which smelled like it had honey in it. The cook broke the bread in half and handed one portion to Xena, taking the other for herself. She took a flat knife and spread some of the contents of the crock on the end of hers and took a bite. “Tucker said the bonded are convinced you have a god’s powers.”

Xena paused in mid munch, then swallowed her mouthful. “What?”  She snorted. “I’ve got nothing of the kind. All I did was what any skilled healer would have – he did the rest, and whether it’s even going to help we don’t know.”

Rese shrugged. “As I said, the bonded are convinced. They are not easy to convince, and once they have made up their minds, it’s like moving the river with a wash basin to change it.”

Xena ripped off a piece of bread and toyed with it. “I remember.” She bit off a piece of the bread and chewed it. “Took them a long time to accept Gabrielle and I.”

“Yes.” Rese nodded. “The fighters… they always took to you. I remember hearing them talk of you even at the very first. But the others… that was hard.”

“Well.” Xena glanced up at the older woman, who had befriended her on her last visit. “It took me a long time to accept it, so I can’t really blame them.”  She dusted her fingers off. “At any rate, I don’t’ want anyone thinking I’m something that I’m not.”  She stood up. “So let me go correct that impression.”

Rese watched the tall human leave. She propped her chin up on her fist and shook her head.

“But Rese..” One of the youngsters sidled over. “If she healed Lestan, how can she say that?”

“Child.” The elder looked up. “Don’t try to figure that one out. I doubt her soulbond even has.”

**

“What are you doing, honey?" Gabrielle peered over the edge of the bed.

"Go find." Dori was crawling industriously around under it, picking up something.

Uh oh. "Whatcha got?" Gabrielle knelt down and rested her weight on her elbows. "Dori?"

"Gots rocks." Dori held one up for her inspection. "Good."

Rocks. Gabrielle sighed. Why her daughter couldn't have picked something easier to carry,  such as, say, leaves, she didn't know. But she had a saddlebag full of the little buggers. "Okay, why are those good?"

Dori crawled over to her. "Pretty." She plunked the handful down. "See?

Gabrielle examined the pebbles, which looked more or less ordinary to her. "Oh, okay. I see."

Dori sat down spraddle legged, and picked one up. She held it out to her mother. "Dis one far." She explained. "Gots dirt."

Gabrielle sat down on the floor next to her and took the pebble. Part of it was, indeed, covered in brown earth. "Okay, so this came.. from far away... how do you know that, Dori?"

"No dirt." Dori slapped the floor with devastating logic.

Wow. Gabrielle blinked at the toddler. "You're pretty smart, you know that?"

Dori grinned at her. "Mama like?" She held out more rocks invitingly. "Go tell story?"

Gabrielle rose to the challenge. She pulled her boots under her and sat cross legged as she took one of the pebbles. "Okay." She studied it. "This is the little green rock."

"Wrock." Dori agreed.

"The little green rock lived in a little green pond with all his green brothers and sisters." The bard began. "His mama was green, and his  papa was green, and everyone around him was green, too."

"Boo." Dori touched the rock. "Wrock gots Boo?"

Gabriellle considered her. "No, because not everyone is lucky enough to have a Boo, right? Only Dori has a Boo."

"Yes!" Dori giggled.

"Okay, so one day, the little green rock got up, and he rolled down the path, just like he did every morning."

"Rolllll....." Dori pushed the other rocks around.

"But this morning was different. This morning, when the little green rock rolled down the path,  a scary thing happened!"

"Oh!"

"The little green rock got stepped on by a big yellow horse!"'

"Horsie!!!" Dori hopped up and down."Mama, we go see Gogo now?"

"In a little while, honey." Gabrielle chuckled. "Anyway, the little green rock held on to the inside of the horsies's foot, and he was carried far, far away, all the way to the land  of the forest people."

"Pipple? Mama, what's pipple?"

"All our friends here are people, honey." Gabrielle told her. "And when the little green rock got to the land of the forest dwellers,  he found little rocks like he was, but none of them were green."

"Oh.!" Dori took the pebble and examined it. "Bad! Mama, rock no like!"

"You're right. He didn't like it because there were no little rocks like he was. If you were the little rock, what would you do, Dori? Would you play with the other rocks?"

Dori concentrated, a tiny furrow appearing in her brow as she studied the pebble.  She tossed it back in the pile. "Yes."

"Yes? Why?" Gabrielle tweaked her foot.

Dori pointed at the rocks. "All same."  She explained. "Good friends."

"Good girl." Gabrielle ruffled her hair affectionately. "That's exactly what the little green rock did. He made friends with all the other rocks,  even though they weren't green." She smiled. "And they all went to live together under the bed."

"Good!" Dori clapped.

Gabrielle straightened, when the clapping was echoed from the door. She turned to find Cessi leaning on her cane there, a gentle smile on her face.  "Oh, hi."

The elder entered, and walked over to where the bard and child were seated. "It's a shame more don't share your views, Gabrielle." Cessi said. "So many are so quick to make differences the important thing, rather than similarities."

"Ah." The bard gathered Dori into her arms and hugged her. "Well, when you've been where I've been, and done what i've done, you learn to look for what you have in common rather than anything else." She studied Cessi's face. "How's everything?"

"Holding steady." Cessi told her. "Xena's with him again now, so I thought I would take a break and go for a walk."

Gabrielle let out a breath and focused, thinking about her partner and opening herself up to the link between them. She felt no distress, and smiled in relief. "Great." She got up, and patted Dori on the back. "Time for us to go help out, sweetie.  Want to help mama clean things?"

"Fun?" Dori asked.

"We can make it fun." Gabrielle told her.

"Uh oh." The toddler put a finger in her mouth and regarded her month. "Bck."

Cessi laughed. "Great Ares, she's a smart one." She reached out a furred hand and watched Dori grab for it.  "But then, she has clever parents, so..."

Gabrielle reflected on how nice it was to have someone accept Dori's unusual heritage so naturally. The Amazons and their family all knew, but no one talked about it, and she'd walked into several conversations that cut off abruptly where she knew the subject had been raised.  "Sometimes she says things or does things that are just so in Xena's image, I crack up."

Dori scowled, as though she knew she was being spoken about.

"Like that?" Cessi guessed.

"Yes." The bard agreed, laughing. "I just love how she's a part of both of us."

Cessi played with Dori's hand. "Her spirit as well. She shares Xena's fire, and also your great heart.  What a wonderful legacy that will be for her."  She said. "In fact, the bonded were asking if I would ask you to bring her in to our circle - it has been many a year since a child of the spirit was known to us."

"Sure." Gabrielle nodded. "Now?"

"Yes. We are gathered to speak about Lestan and Wennid, and it would be good for you to join us."

Gabrielle cocked her head, catching the omission. "What about Xena?"

Cessi hesitated. "We would speak with you first." She answered slowly. "There are some things we have heard... we would like to ask you about."

The bard's eyes narrowed. "There are things you might have heard that I won't answer questions on." She spoke quietly, but with force. "And that includes anything involving  my partner."

Cessi held a hand up. "Be easy, little sister - we mean no insult to your soulbond. We are just curious."

"Okay." Gabrielle relaxed. "Just setting the record straight first."  She put Dori down and took her hand. "Come on, Dori. Let's go find us some friends to talk to."

"Got Boo?" Dori looked up at her.  "Got Boo, make friends."

Interesting  statement. Gabrielle smiled at her. "We'll get Boo soon." She promised, giving Cessi a wry look. "Boo is what she calls Xena."

"I gathered." The forest dweller chuckled. "Follow me, little sister."

Gabrielle complied, stepping out of the cabin into the cool breeze and bright sunlight.   Privately, she still wondered - things they had heard since her last visit could encompass a whole lot of ugly memories she had no intention of dragging back up out into the light.  Especially in front of Dori.

Listen, Gabrielle. You're here, and she's here to save their butts at their request. Her better sense cut off the dark thoughts. Xena just possibly saved Lestan's life. They're not about to go pissing you off.

They approached the large, round chamber she remembered from her last visit. As they walked up the steps, she squared her shoulders and lifted her head, meeting the eyes waiting for them inside.

**

Xena straightened up, wiping her hands on a bit of bloody rag as she examined her handiwork.  Lestan's wounds were no better, but on the other hand, they were also no worse.  The steady sloughing of his fleash had stopped, and she hadn't had to cut away anymore dead skin around the horrific injuries.

But she'd been faced with the question of, what now? The man coudn't live as he was, she knew that. Half his chest was ripped open, and without skin to cover it, it was really only a matter of time before his body couldn't cope with the distruction anymore.

So, as she had with Ephiny, and as she had so often in her life and her experience as a healer, she improvised.

She'd taken soft, tightly woven cloth and infused it with herbs she knew fought the skin death. She'd sewn up the muscles around the bone left exposed, and then covered the huge wound with the moist fabric.  Then she'd covered that with another layer of bandages.

Would it help? Xena honestly had no idea. But at this point, it couldn't hurt.

She sat back and looked at Wennid, who had gone to bathe herself and had returned. The forest dweller was sitting on the edge of the bed watching her quietly.  "I can't do much more. "

"Should you?" Wennid asked.

Xena's eyebrows lifted.

"Is it just prolonging the pain, Xena?"

The warrior exhaled. "Maybe." She admitted.  "But as long as he's fighting, I will."

Wennid shifted over and stroked her partner's face. "I wonder if he really realizes how badly he's injured."  She shook her head in dismay. "Would he want to survive this?" Her eyes shifted to Xena. "Would you?"

Would I? Xena stared at the wreck of her old friend. He would be crippled, no question if he did live. Would she want  to live like that? Amidst the pity of everyone around her?

"No."  Xena finally said.

Wennid sighed.

"But I would, for Gabrielle." The warrior continued, in a quiet voice.

The forest dweller looked at her for a long moment. "What if Gabrielle didn't want that. What if she knew it was time to let you go, for your sake?"

Xena half smiled. "Then it would be a fight the likes of which you can't imagine." She said. "Because we're both damn stubborn women."

"Because she couldn't go with you... for Dori's sake." Wennid said. "Am I right?"

Xena stared off into the distance. "I don't know if you are." She glanced up at the surprised woman. "Much as it hurts to say that, for Dori's sake."

"Hm."  Wennid curled herself around Lestan's body. "You have both changed."

Xena nodded somberly, knowing it for the absolute truth.

**

It wasn't at all what she'd expected. Gabrielle sat on a pile of cushions, with Dori in her lap, mostly answering questions about her child, and events that had happened during the war.  No one asked about before, no one mentioned anything about the dark times between her and Xena.

Frankly, she was a little curious about that.  She knew the forest dwellers knew - Jessan had told her he'd talked about it with them.  But it was as if that chapter of her life was closed and forgotten.

Which was okay by her.

"No, not from the very first, because actually I was trying to have a child, and we'd asked Toris, Xena's brother, to help us." She explained.  "So, when I ended up pregnant, it wasn't really a shock, you know?"

"Of course." Cessi nodded. "Naturally... but..."

"But." Gabrielle nodded. "The timing was wrong, for one thing. I was about to start my cycles the night after we...um... tried."

"Ah!" One of the other bonded exclaimed. "Xena didn't realize? She's a healer!"

"Well.."  Gabrielle smiled. "You know, I think she did. She started to say something about it, then just said the gods must have been watching out for me."  She bounced Dori on her knee. "But as time went on,  I started thinking about it more and more and by the time she was born, I was pretty sure. Right,  Dori?"

"Mama?" Dori looked up at her. "C'n we go get Boo now?"

"Soon, honey." Gabrelle promised. "We'd like to see what we can do to help out" She told the forest dwellers. "So much was torn apart."

"Gabrielle... may I ask you something?" Cessi said.

"Sure." The bard smiled easily.

"Did you realize, before now, that Xena is of the gods?"

Zing. Gabrielle snapped her jaws shut before something really inane came out of them.  She took a breath before she tried to answer.  "We don't..." Know? The bard pursed her lips.  "It's not something we talk about, a lot." She said. "Has it occured to us, sure.  Xena does things that are sometimes just outside the bounds of what the rest of us can do."

"Mm."

"But she's human. Mortal. I can attest to that, and so can you."  Gabrielle went on.  "So - if she has a little gods blood in her,  i'm grateful for it because it's brought her back to me more than once.   But she's not a god, or even a demigod, and she'd be the first one to tell you that."

"That's for damn sure."

Gabrielle turned, as Xena entered the room and stalked over to her, facing the circle of soulbonds with a dour glare.

“Hi honey." Gabrielle murmured, giving the armored leg next to her a pat.

"Boo!" Dori scrambled up and attacked Xena's leg, climbing up it as though the warrior were a tree.

Xena glowered at them, reaching a hand to haul Dori up. "I don't want to hear any more of that kind of talk."

"How's Lestan?" Gabrielle attempted a distraction.

"If I were a god, he'd be walking in here after me." Xena told her. "I did what I could - probably just prolonging the inevitiable."

"Boo, mama made good story about rocks." Dori told her, tugging on the warrior's cloak clasp.

"She did, huh?" Xena glanced at her daughter. "Mama always makes good stories."

"Xena, we meant no insult to you." Cessi broke in. "We're just curious. We've never had a human be like we are, and ..."

"And you'd like god's blood to explain the two of us so it's not so painful to accept you're not the only ones?"

Everyone looked at Gabrielle, who was still seated on her cushions.  The bard waited for the echo of her words to dissispate, before she spoke again. "Is that it?"

The forest dwellers all looked at each other, and then back at her. "Well..." Cessi hesitated. "Not exactly."

Xena raised an eyebrow at her.  "C'mon, Gabrielle. There's actual work to be done around here."  The warrior turned and walked out.

Gabrielle got to her feet and dusted her tunic off. "Like I said-  she's a little touchy on the subject. " With a brief smile, she followed her partner out.

**

“I don’t think they meant…”

“Grr.” Xena growled.

“Honey.” Gabrielle chided her. “C’mon now.”

Xena stalked along in silence for a bit, then she shook her head, snorting slightly. “Sometimes I just don’t…” She stopped, frustrated. “It’s like the Amazons.”

Gabrielle blinked at the mental whiplash the statement caused. “Excuse me?”

“It’s like the Amazons.” Xena repeated, lifting her hands and letting them fall to her sides. “They think I’ve got this magic powder I mix with my breakfast ale that lets me fight the way I do. They refuse to believe it’s just a lot of damned hard work.”

“Mm.” It was an old argument with them. “Yeah… well, it’s easier for them to think that, because then they don’t have to face allllll the hard work they’d have to do to do the same thing. Y’know?”

“And then we come here. All I did was basic healing techniques that any damned battle healer worth the name would do.” Xena continued her complaint. “There’s no magic involved, damn it!”

“Easy, honeybear.” Gabrielle tucked her arm inside Xena’s. “You and I know the truth, and that’s all that really matters, isn’t it?”

Xena watched Dori scamper across the central space. “Yeah.” She exhaled. “I know. It just… “

“Bugs you.”

“Yeah.”

Gabrielle leaned against her, just a little. “How’s Lestan?”

Xena appeared troubled, and she didn’t answer for a little bit. “About.. the same. Wennid asked me some pretty good questions, though.”

“About?” The bard encouraged her.

“About if he should be kept alive.” Xena admitted. “Given how badly he’s injured.”

Gabrielle almost stopped walking.  Dori ran over to her, and held something up. She took it without thinking. “Thank you, swee… yow!” She released the lizard, who jumped free of her hand and scampered off. “Dori, that was bad.”

Innocent green eyes peered up at her. “Why bad, mama? Make nice!” The toddler turned and searched for her erstwhile pet.

Xena and Gabrielle looked at each other. “What d you mean?” Gabrielle asked, softly. “Does Wennid want him to die? Really?”

Xena sat down on a half overturned barrel, and patted the wood next to her. Gabrielle took the offered seat. “I think… she’s trying to think about how he would feel.. having to live if he does survive.” She mused. “I… understand her viewpoint.”

“Xena, that’s hogwash.” Gabrielle stated flatly. “He’s been living with a handicap most of his life. You know that arm’s never been much use.”

Dori pattered back over, this time offering her little friend to Xena. “Boo, take him.”

The warrior gently closed her hand over the animal, allowing it’s head to peek out between her thumb and forefinger. “What am I supposed to do with him, Dori?” She asked the child. “He doesn’t like being all cooped up like this.”

“Make play with him.” Dori instructed.

Xena opened her hand, and watched the lizard climb up onto her arm and bob up and down. “Dori, he’s not a toy.” She told her daughter. “I’m not going to play with him.”

Dori held on to her arm, watching the lizard. “No?” She queried. “H’come?”

“Because it’s not fun for him.” Xena explained seriously. “How would you like it if someone grabbed you and held you down?”  She asked. “He doesn’t like it.”

Dori pointed at the lizard, which seemed to have settled down to sun itself on Xena’s forearm. “Gaza have fun, Boo! Like you.”  She reasoned. “He come play with me?”

Xena sighed.

Gabrielle covered her mouth with one hand. After a moment, she cleared her throat. “Dori, Boo’s right. It’s not nice to play with animals who aren’t your pets.”

Dori pouted. “But mama, Gaza likes Boo! Gaza playing nice!”

The lizard had sprawled itself on Xena’s arm, apparently appreciating the warmth of her skin in the cool air. It put it’s head down and extended a lazy tongue.

“Honey, I know, but Boo isn’t playing with the lizard. She’s just letting it sleep on her.” Gabrielle told the toddler. “She’s not playing with him.”

Dori scowled at the animal.

“Did you see those rocks over there?” Gabrielle pointed. “I think there’s some red ones, Dori. You don’t have any red ones, do you?”

The child allowed herself to be distracted, since the lizard wasn’t providing much entertainment for her. She peered at the small, rounded pebbles and headed for them, attracted by the sunlight flashing off their surface. “Okay, mama, I go get rocks.”

Xena propped her elbow on her knee and rested her chin on her fist, dourly eyeing the now sleeping lizard.

“Okay, where were we?” Gabrielle ran her fingers through her hair. “Xena, living with a handicap isn’t something he’s not used to.” She reasoned. “Does she really think he’d rather die?”

“I don’t know.” Xena answered honestly. “She knows him better than we do, Gabrielle. She’s his soulmate. Do you think you could make that choice for me?”

The question shocked her. Gabrielle fully admitted that. It made her breath catch in her chest, and sent an unpleasant chill through her, causing her fingers to twitch involuntarily. “Whoa.” She murmured, taking a deep breath. “I didn’t expect that.”

Xena waited.  She knew Gabrielle well enough to give her time to consider an answer, watching her partner’s brow furrow in thought.  The wind had picked up again, and it seemed to be getting colder. She looked around the central space, noting the small groups of workers dragging broken wood off and realized how much of the village would have to be rebuilt to stand the coming winter.

Not good.

“You know, we talked about that.” Gabrielle spoke up unexpectedly. “When Jess told me about spirit children to start with. About that forest dweller who gave his partner a child, when he was paralyzed and I remember… I remember thinking about how horrible that would be.”

“It’s a tough choice.” Xena nodded.

“No.” The bard shook her head. “I mean, how horrible that would be for you.” She said. “I thought…” Gabrielle stopped speaking, as her throat closed, and she had to take a breath. “I thought about how you’d hate it.”

“I would.” The warrior agreed.

They were both silent for a while. “What would you want, Xena?” Gabrielle turned and asked her, in a quiet voice. “If you could choose, what would you choose to do, for yourself?”

“For myself?” Xena watched Dori plop herself down in the rocks and begin to sort through them with childish glee. “For myself, I wouldn’t want to live helpless. Dependent like that.” She said. “I’d die by inches.”  She added. “Wennid asked me that.”

“Mm.” Gabrielle rested her chin on her clasped hands. “Yeah, I knew that already.” She looked at Xena. “Is that what you told Wennid.”

Xena nodded.

“Mm.” The bard murmured deep in her throat again.

“But I also told her I’d do it for you.” The warrior remarked, in an ordinary voice.

Gabrielle turned and stared at her.

“What?” Xena said. “Oh, c’mon, Gabrielle. Don’t act like that shocks you. Give me a break.” She smiled to soften the words. “I became an Amazon for you, remember?”

“Well, no, I…” The bard sat up and smoothed a hand over her tunic, fingering the fabric as she collected herself. Then she sighed. “No, I guess it doesn’t surprise me, but… “ She stopped again. “I just realized how hard it would be to reconcile what I wanted.. and what’s right, if…”

“So.” Xena leaned against her. “You can see Wennid’s predicament, huh?”

Gabrielle’s shoulders relaxed slightly. “Yeah.” She sighed. “But Xena, it’s not the same thing. That forest dweller was completely helpless. If Lestan survives, will he be?”

Xena considered that. “Well, no.” She admitted. “It would be a very long recovery, but.. .no.”  She said.

“So, it still falls into being tough, but not impossible.” Gabrielle said. “I mean, no one likes to have to ask for help, Xena. Even I don’t. Even when I was pregnant, I didn’t want to have to ask anyone to do anything for me.”

“Really? I hadn’t noticed.” The warrior drawled.

“And look who’s talking, Ms. Warrior Princess of ‘it’s just a scratches’” Gabrielle shot back. “You don’t either. But you could learn to cope with what he’s got, couldn’t you?”

“Hmmm…. My ego would take a beating, but yes.” Xena smiled wryly in self knowledge.  “It would take a lot more than that to make me want to give up my life.. our life.”

“So we’re back to the question of, why did Wennid ask you that?” Gabrielle said. “Is there something else behind it? Maybe I should talk to her.”  She watched as Dori ambled back their way, her hands full of colorful rocks. “Ah. I asked for that, didn’t I?”

“More ballast.” Xena plucked the lizard from her arm and set it on the wood, in the sun. “C’mon. Let’s see if we can find Dori some friends to play with, and start getting this place in order. I’m wondering if that random attack was so random.”

Gabrielle picked Dori up and cradled her, following Xena’s tall form as she made her way towards the nursery.

**

It was dark, long dark, by the time they finished working.  The air had turned cold, frosting Gabrielle’s breath as she stood near the ruined stables, her hand resting on one of the newly dug posts.  They had made good progress, though, and she was glad to see the forest dweller’s spirits rising as they worked to put their home back into order.

All the burned wood had been taken off, and the buildings in the center of the village propped up, freshly cut timber laying beside them for tomorrow’s tasks. The water troughs had been righted, and things were looking pretty good to Gabrielle’s eyes. She felt pleased with the progress, and thought Xena had been pleased as well.

A whiff of something cooking from the dining hall caught her attention. Time to end her days’ work, and rejoin her family, she reckoned, since Xena had disappeared shortly before her to go retrieve Dori and hopefully their dinner.

Gabrielle wiped the back of her hand across her muddy forehead as she trudged across the village, her shoulders aching from her long day’s tasks. She heard gentle voices coming from Lestan and Wennid’s as she passed, and she paused to listen, then changed direction and headed up the low steps.

Inside, she found four of the soulbonded, seated with Wennid at the round table in the outer chamber. They looked up as she entered and paused, their eyes going a little wider.

For a moment, Gabrielle was puzzled, then she remembered her session that morning. “Hi.” She gave them a reassuring smile. “How is everything?”

Wennid recovered first. “Gabrielle, great stars. You’re covered in mud!” She exclaimed. “For a minute I didn’t recognized you!”

Gabrielle looked down at herself. “Ah. “ Ew. She was covered in more than mud. The soot from the burned out wood had smeared all over her, and she had to admit that she looked more like a bog monster than a bard at the moment. “Yeah, it’s been a day.”

“You two.” Wennid sighed. “Lestan woke for a little while. He asked what you were doing. I’m glad I didn’t know better than to tell him you were planning.”

The bard’s eyebrows lifted invisibly. “He spoke?”

The forest dweller nodded. “Yes, little sister. He did.”

“Wennid, we’ll see to dinner.” One of the soulbonded sitting with her stood hastily, and the other’s followed. “Will you join us, Gabrielle?”

“Oh, no….” The bard indicated her length. “I think a bath is calling my name, and I haven’t seen Xena since she carried off an old manure bin. But thanks.”

The other soulbonded scurried off, leaving her and Wennid alone.

“Sit down, Gabrielle.” Wennid picked up a pitcher, and poured a cupful of the strong ale of the village. She pushed the cup across the table and exhaled. “I think you gave my brothers and sisters a bit of a fur tug this day.”

“Well.” Gabrielle sat down and lifted the cup, sipping carefully at it. “They tugged my fur… or more accurately, Xena’s first.  Neither of us appreciated it.”

“Mm.” Wennid sipped at her own cup. She had dressed in a set of the forest dwellers usual tunics and trousers, with an apron tied over her and in sharp contrast to the first time Gabrielle had seen her, seemed rested, though still painfully tense. “I doubt they meant harm.”

”Probably not.” Gabrielle agreed. “But Xena’s really… “

“Sensitive?” Wennid’s lips twitched a bit. “Hard to fathom.”

Green eyes met hers steadily. “She doesn’t like her achievements cheapened.”

Wennid got up, walked to the inner room and studied her injured soulmate for a long moment. Then she turned and leaned against the door. “Is that how she sees it?” The golden haired forest dweller mused. “Most would be honored to claim the blood of the gods. That’s how we view it.”

Gabrielle propped her chin against her mud encrusted fist. “We know the gods.” She said, with a mild, droll grin. “It’s a different perspective.  Xena works hard for her skills, and she doesn’t like when people think she’s got some kind of magic.” A pause. “Even though she does.”

Wennid looked surprised. “You say so?”

“Wennid, she fathered my child.” Gabrielle’s eyes twinkled solemnly. “And she came back from Tartarus to live at my side. I’d be an idiot if I didn’t’ know there was something just a little special about my partner.”

“Then I don’t understand.” Wennid crossed back over to her, sitting on her chair and clasping her hands around her cup. “Why get upset when we believe it too? Gabrielle, you’re not making any sense!”

No, well, maybe she wasn’t. Gabrielle sipped the ale thoughtfully as she tried to order her thoughts. “I think it’s because… most of the things she does, she works very hard at. Fighting. Healing… when she works like we did today she hurts, I’ve spent more time than I can tell you easing those muscles.” The bard paused thoughtfully. “She’s mortal. She feels the cold more every year. She’s human like I am… it’s just that when she puts her mind to it, she’s just a little bit more.”

“Mm.” Wennid watched her. “You love her.”

Gabrielle’s brows knit together. “Yes. Of course.”

Wennid played with her cup. “I know that seems odd I should say that.” She said. “But sometimes, Gabrielle, the bonded have to grow into love. It’s not a given.”

The bard blinked at her, truly surprised. “But….”

“Mm.” Wennid went back to the doorway, and stood, watching the bed. Gabrielle got up and joined her. “But it was not that way with you, I’m thinking.”

“No.” Gabrielle observed the still figure on the bed. Lestan’s chest rose and fell regularly, and to her eyes, the breaths seemed deeper than they had been. “I loved her from the moment I saw her.”

They stood together in silence for a few minutes. Finally Wennid sighed. “It was so for me, as well.” She admitted. “It is because I feel this way that I waver, sometimes, and wonder if it good, or bad, to continue this struggle.”

Gabrielle looked up at her.

“So much pain.” Wennid shook her head.

“I understand.” The bard murmured. “It’s always a hard thing to watch, someone you love hurting so badly.” She said.  “Someone once asked Xena what it felt like, to die. She said.. it’s like going to sleep when you’re very, very tired and when that happened, she was. She thought it would be for the best.. for the world because of her past, and for me.”

Wennid stared at her.

Even after all this time, Gabrielle had to pause, to let the lump pass in her throat. “I could believe that. She was in so much pain.”  She exhaled slowly. “Wanting her to stay, to suffer that, seems selfish, doesn’t it?”

“Yes.” Wennid whispered. “You do understand.”

“I do.” The bard agreed. “But I also understand that someone needing you that much…is in a lot of ways it’s own reward. It’s own justification for life.”

The sound of the other forest dwellers returning made them both turn, and made Gabrielle smile as the tallest of them peeked timidly around the corner of the door. “I think you’re dinner’s here, and mine’s probably waiting for me.” The bard said, in a normal tone.

“After a bath?” Wennid also smiled.

“Ah. Yeah.” Gabrielle winced, feeling the mud dried on her face. “Definitely.”

“Rest well, Gabrielle. We’ll talk again.” Wennid patted her gently on the shoulder. “You have given me, as you always do, much to consider.”

Gabrielle nodded, and edged around the entering forest dwellers, into the crisp chill of the night air.  She walked down the steps and across the hard ground, glad of the torches placed near the paths to guide her way.

As she found the one that lead to their little home, a smile appeared on her face as the faint sound of singing drew her closer. She pushed the door to their cabin open and poked her head around it, spotting her partner and her daughter across the room. “Hey, you two.”

Xena’s voice cut off, and she turned her head. “Well well. Look what just came in, Dori. Is that mama?”

Dori splashed in her bath. “Mama! You dirty!”

“Thanks, honey. I love you too.” Gabrielle entered and closed the door behind her, rubbing her arms a little. “Getting chilly out there. I forgot how much colder it is up here in the mountains.”  She walked over to Xena, who was dressed in a rough linen tunic, easily as wet as their daughter was from all the splashing. “Which one of you is taking the bath?”

“You’re next.” Xena warned, tweaking her nose.

The warrior seemed to be in a very good humor, Gabrielle noted. They traded off caring for Dori, but Xena enjoyed giving the child her evening’s bath and playing with her before they had dinner, and the bard suspected that in conjunction to the progress of the day had put her partner in a good mood.  “Yes, I know. Everyone’s told me I need one.”

“Well..” Xena chuckled wryly. “Your hair’s as dark as mine at the moment.”

Yikes.  Gabrielle ambled over to the mirror and took a look. “Oh.. yeesh!” She almost burst out laughing, faced with the image in it. “No wonder everyone was staring at me.”  She glanced around, spotting bowls and a large jug already on the table, along with a trencher supporting a loaf of bread. “I’m going to rinse off before I start scaring myself, Xe.”

“I’ll join ya in a minute.”

Gabrielle left the giggling Dori and her tall playmate behind and slipped into the clever showering room the forest dwellers used in all their dwellings.  She stripped out of her clothing, suspecting they would stand up without her in them, and grabbed a bit of their soap that Xena had left out.  She got under the water basin and pulled the rope, exhaling in relief as warm water cascaded over her.   “Hey, Xe?” She yelled out.

“Yeah?”

“Wennid said Lestan woke up for a bit today.”

“I know.” Xena’s voice was suddenly much closer. Gabrielle turned to find the warrior at her back, her bare body dusky in the low light as she joined the bard under the water. “I stopped by there before I picked up Dori. Didn’t look too bad.”

Gabrielle allowed the soap to be taken from her. “Mm.” She closed her eyes as Xena’s arms slid around her, and the scent of soap rose from the warrior’s scrubbing. “Long day.”

“Uh huh.” Xena nibbled her ear. “Not a bad one, though. We got a lot done.”

Gabrielle leaned back against her. “I know. I feel like it.” She confessed. “Do they have to make everything in this place out of dense hardwood and rock?”

Xena chuckled, moving her hands over Gabrielle’s body and removing the layers of mud from it. “Did you get a chance to talk to Wennid?” She asked softly, rubbing the soap over the strong muscles on the either side of her partner’s neck.

“A little.” Gabrielle turned and slid her arms around Xena, now that the front of her was nice and clean. “What’s for dinner?”

“You.” Xena kissed her. “But I guess we can have that pot of venison stew for an appetizer.”

Gabrielle returned the kiss, her hands sliding up and gently cupping Xena’s breasts. “Dori would probably appreciate that.” She leaned her head forward as Xena’s fingers scrubbed her scalp. “Uerrgh.”

“Did you take a mud bath or something?” Xena laughed. “Haven’t seen you this color since you had to be me that one time.”

Gabrielle shook her head as it was rinsed, sending a spray of water everywhere. “Better?”

The warrior regarded her once again blond soulmate. “Much.” She captured her face in both hands, and they stood under the drizzle, kissing for a very long moment.

“Ahh..” Gabrielle let a breath out as they parted. “Can I hold that spot till after dinner?”

“Sure.” Xena nibbled the tip of her nose. “But only if you eat fast.”

The bard giggled and buried her face into Xena’s chest. Xena wrapped both arms around her and squeezed her, joining her in laughter.

**

“So.” Gabrielle ripped a chunk of the bread off and set it on her plate. “Do we have a plan here, or are you just playing it by ear?”

They were seated at the small, round table, having divided the stew into their plates. Dori was investigating a likely chunk of venison clutched in one fist, while Ares waited hopefully beneath her chair.  Xena had lit a neat fire in the central firepit, making the cabin warm and cozy.

They could have eaten in the large dining hall, Gabrielle mused, but Xena had not even suggested it – preferring to spend her mealtime in just the company of her family.

Being on the road, maybe, triggered that. At home they’d usually gone to the inn, but she found she liked the intimacy of it just being the three of them at the end of the day and Gabrielle suspected they’d be doing more of that once they got back to Amphipolis.

“Depends.” Xena answered, after consuming a few mouthfuls of her stew. “Get the place rebuilt first, yeah, but after that.. a lot’ll depend on Lestan, and what else happens.”

Gabrielle gazed across the table at her partner, who had her head propped up on one fist. Despite the long day, and the lack of sleep the night prior, Xena didn’t appear to be tired. She was, the bard admitted, having only had a short nap, but it was good to see a return to that overabundant energy that she’d always seen in Xena. It had gone missing, for a while. “Hey.”

Xena glanced up from her plate, straightening and pouring herself another cup of the forest dweller’s strong ale. “Hm?”

“I love you.”

“Wuv you.” Dori repeated, with a giggle. “Mama wuvs Boo.” She took a chunk of bread Gabrielle had placed by her plate and threw it into her stew, patting it vigorously.

Xena looked from one to the other. “Thanks.” She smiled, her eyes twinkling. “I love you both too.” Then her eyes fastened on Gabrielle’s face. “What brought that up?”

“Nothing.” Gabrielle shrugged lightly. “I just like saying it. I can remember times when I really wanted to, and didn’t, so now whenever it pops into my head, I do.”

“Ah.” Xena leaned back, sipping her ale. “I remember the first time I said those words.” She mused. “You weren’t there. Wasted effort.”

Gabrielle cocked her head to one side. “Eh?”

A wry look appeared on the warrior’s face. “Night you and Perdicus got married.” She said. “Me out at my campfire, kicking myself for being so pigheaded stubborn and not talking to you.”

It was a bittersweet pang. Gabrielle sighed. “You know, I remember waking up the next morning and going outside, seeing Potadeia in front of me.” She remembered. “I started to cry. I didn’t even know why, then, but I did.”  She said. “Perdicus came out and asked me what the matter was… I think  I told him I was just…” She paused. “You know, I don’t even remember what I told him. He must have thought I was a little nutty.”

“Mmph.” Xena nodded. “I went out and kicked a rabbit.”

Gabrielle sat up and looked at her in surprise.

“Wasn’t one of my better moments.” The warrior admitted. “Then I decided to go back to Potadeia, to tell you.”

“Tell me?”

Another nod. “That I loved you. That I’d never forget you. “ Xena said, in a mild voice. “And goodbye.”

Gabrielle gazed at her for a very long moment in silence. “You do realize.” She finally said. “You’d never have gotten out of Potadeia alone after that.”

Xena’s pale blue eyes took on a hint of darkling edge. “Maybe that’s what I was hoping for.”

Wow. Gabrielle sat back and imagined it. It was stark, and honest, and more than a little brutal. Like Xena herself. How unfair to Perdicus it would have been.  How unfair to her… for her, to have that choice put in her hands at just that moment.

“Mama… c’n I have dat?”

Gabrielle looked. The child’s finger was pointed at her bread, imperiously.  “You haven’t eaten yours yet, Dori.” She observed, seeing the mess of stew soaked crust in the plate. “How about you finish yours, then you can have mine. Okay?”

“Don’t want.” Dori pushed away the plate. “Too icky.” She turned her attention to Xena. “Boo, gimme.”

“Aren’t we being demanding tonight.” Xena tore a piece of her bread off and handed it over. “Bandit baby.”

“She knows what she wants.” Gabrielle rested her chin on her fists, and regarded her soulmate affectionately. “Just like you.”

Xena chuckled softly. “It would have been a damn bastardly thing for me to do, Gabrielle, and we both know it.” She held out a finger for Dori to clutch.

The bard nodded slightly. “If you had to go back to that same moment and make the decision again, to come back to Potadeia, would it be the same?”

“Yup.” Xena replied instantly. She watched Dori climb up on the table and crawl over to her, plopping down into her lap with a contented grunt.

“Good, because if you’d said no, I was going to have to get down and dirty with you.” Gabrielle chuckled, then sighed. “I look back on that and all I can do is shake my head. I wish things had gone differently.” She said. “But you know, sometimes things just have to happen, I guess.”

“Mm.” Xena agreed.

“Boobooboo… “ Dori had found a button to play with. “Gots two new good play t’day.”

One of Xena’s eyebrows lifted. “Yeah?” She looked over at Gabrielle.  “Two out of six ain’t bad, I guess. That’s how many furballs are in the nursery.”  She informed the bard. “Dori was a novelty for them, wherentcha Dor?”

“Had fun.” Dori mouthed the button. “We play go get, Boo. I tell… I tell we go fly.”

“Mm?”

“No go. Too scaredy.”

“Uh oh.” Gabrielle chuckled wryly. “I don’t think I like the sound of that. What were they too scared to do, honey?”

“Go fly.”

Xena and Gabrielle exchanged glances. “Don’t look at me.” The warrior held a hand up. “I haven’t taught her that.”  She paused. “Yet.”

“What do you mean go fly, Dori?” Gabrielle leaned on the table. “I thought you needed Boo to do that.”

Dori crawled over to the table and got up onto it, toddling unsteadily across it’s surface towards her mother.  “Go fly.” She announced, then threw herself forward, jumping up and outward to land in the very startled Gabrielle’s quickly outstretched arms.

“Hey!” The bard yelped. “Dori! Don’t do that! If I didn’t catch you, you’d get real owie!”

Dori put her arms around her mother’s neck and gave her a kiss. “Mama good catch.”

“Well, I always thought so.” Xena drawled, lacing her fingers together and resting her thumbs against her nose. Her blue eyes peeked out from behind them. “But mama’s right, Dori. That’s a bad thing to do.”

“Bad?” Dori put her finger in her mouth, one arm still wrapped around Gabrielle’s neck. She gave Xena a plaintive look. “Like to fly.”

“I know you do, sweetie.” Gabrielle bounced her a little. “But you don’t like getting hurt, do you? Go owie?” She smoothed the child’s hair back, then pulled Dori’s head forward and kissed it. “I don’t like when you get owie, y’know.”

Xena watched them, a smile playing over her lips. Gabrielle’s face, caught in the light from the table candle seemed lit from within as well.  The bard smiled at their daughter and the glow increased, an almost physical manifestation of the love so evident in her partner’s voice and eyes.

Ah well. Xena stretched her legs out and relaxed. The tense irritation she’d felt earlier that day had eased, and she’d used the hard physical work to relieve her aggravation with the forest dwellers assumptions. By the time she’d picked Dori up from the nursery, after checking on Lestan and finding him holding his own – she’d discovered a good mood to be in.

Add that to a decent dinner, and time with her family…  Xena felt an almost absurd contentment. Life didn’t get much better than this, did it?  She picked up Dori’s discarded dish and set it on the floor. “There ya go, boy.”

Ares scuttled forward and licked his chops appreciatively. “Roo.”

“Mama!” Dori pointed at Xena, scandalized. “Boo get mine! No give Guff!”

“Ah ah” Gabrielle tweaked her nose. “You said you didn’t want it, remember?”

Dori pouted, then decided it was all right after all. “Otay.”  She nestled down against Gabrielle. “Mmm… mama.” A big yawn interrupted her warbling.

“Are you ready to go to bed, Doriboo?” Gabrielle rocked her daughter, hugging her gently. “It’s been a long day, huh?”  She almost stifled a yawn herself.  “See what you started? You little bandit baby.” She got up, carrying Dori with her, and walked over to the toddler’s folding crib.  “Let’s tuck you in.”

Xena got up and collected the dishes, including the now spotless one at her feet, and stacked them together for cleaning. She poured herself another cup of ale and took it with her to the couch near the firepit, settling down in it and waiting for Gabrielle to finish her task.

And she did, after she tucked the toddler into her bed, putting her stuffed toy dragon in there with her.  Gabrielle retrieved her own cup from the table and joined her partner on the couch, curling up against her and letting out a long sigh. “Xena.”

“That would be me.” The warrior agreed, shifting and putting an arm around her.  She glanced at the bard’s profile, seeing the pensive look written across it. “Dinar for your thoughts.”

“Just something Wennid and I talked about.” Gabrielle admitted. “About whether.. expecting someone to.. sacrifice so much.. .like what Lestan is.. whether or not that’s really fair.” She sipped her ale. “Or is it just selfish? To want someone to live just because it hurts you for them to die?”

Xena stared into the fire, it’s flickering light reflecting off her pale eyes. “Well.” She finally said. “Speaking as someone who has died… your wanting me back never seemed selfish to me.”

No. Gabrielle felt a touch foolish. I suppose it wouldn’t have. “I think it’s kind of a natural feeling.” She concluded. “To not want to let go.”

They both pensively regarded the fire, as a somber silence settled over the room.

Xena cleared her throat. “Can we stop being so morbid? It’s giving me an itch.”  She told the bard. “Personally, I’d be damn disappointed if you didn’t want to fight tooth and nail to keep me on this side of Hades. I know I’d be kicking some asses to keep you that way.”

Gabrielle got the hint, and managed a chuckle. “So true.” She lifted her cup and touched Xena’s. “Okay, let’s talk about… “

“Let’s not talk.” Xena kissed her instead.

“Mm.” Gabrielle surrendered to superior strategy. She set her cup down and responded, gently cupping Xena’s face in her hands and letting the emotions running through her shift to the intense love between them.

It really was what mattered, anyway. You couldn’t control the future, so living every moment, she’d learned, was the way to fill your life to bursting.

**

Xena slowed her steps as she powered up the path towards the  village, her body covered in sweat despite the chill air.  The sun hadn’t risen yet, and she crossed an empty, quiet forest filled with twilight and shadows.  Dori was in her backpack, busily drumming her toes against Xena’s back and tugging on her hair. “How was that, Dor?”

“Boo, like to fly.” Dori burbled. “C’n we go up again? One more?”

“Sure.” Xena angled up the path, stretching her strides out again and leaping upward just as she reached the top of the slope, rotating in mid air in a double flip that she landed neatly on both feet, much to Dori’s delight. “Okay, let’s go wake up mama.”  She paused at the top of the hill, gazing down into the forest dweller’s valley now shrouded in fog. They’d been out for a candlemark, and with the steep slopes, she’d really put her body through a kind of workout she hadn’t really bothered with while they were traveling on the road.

After all, they were walking all day, and often sparred at night together, by the campfire under the stars when she was sure the sound of their staves crossing scared small animals for leagues.  But being in a village seemed to trigger her need for this kind of exertion and so when Dori had woken early, and she’d done likewise, it had seemed the natural thing to do.

“Boo, goberries.” Dori had spotted a favorite treat.

Xena turned her head, and spotted the blueberries nearby. She ducked through the underbrush and paused, looking around with her hands on her hips. “Well well. I didn’t bring my carry bag, Dori. What are we gonna do?”

“Get.” Dori was attempting to snatch some of the berries, her arms just a tad too short to do so.

The warrior broke off a few bunches, and handed them to the toddler while she searched in the nearby foliage for something to carry the little suckers back in. Both she and Gabrielle were fond of them, and Gabrielle had figured out a way to make a road cake with dough, the berries, honey, ginger and cinnamon that Xena literally pledged to kill for.

“Mmmm.” Dori threw a couple leaves over Xena’s shoulder. “Boo, good goberries.”

“I bet.” Xena found what she was looking for, and chortled softly. She took out her knife and removed a section of soft, flexible bark from a nearby tree, folding it into a basket and tucking it’s ends in with quick slits of the blade. Then she set about some serious berry collecting.  After she’d gotten her makeshift basket full, she turned and made her way back to the path.  A berry found it’s way into her mouth as she started down, it’s sweet taste putting a grin on her face.

Halfway down, something triggered her senses, and she slowed a little, cocking her ears and focusing on the surrounding forest.

“Boo..”

Xena lifted her hand over her shoulder and made a signal. The toddler fell silent at once, and she felt her huddle close to the back of her neck.  “Good girl.” Xena murmured, easing to a halt and letting the stillness around her settle over them.  Wisps of fog drifted past her boots, and she felt moisture condensing on her skin as she stood still. Slowly, her head turned to the east and she drilled down, filtering out the leaves whispering against each other and a few, falling ones hitting the ground. She filtered out the sounds, far off and subtle of the village and of her own and Dori’s breathing.

The soft rasp of fur against bark came clearly to her ears. Then skin, the scraping sound sharp, and the scuff of weathered soles against the moss covered ground. Her eyes shifted to the right slightly and held, focusing between two trees with an empty space between them.

And then, in less than a blink of her eyes, the spot was filled with a large, russet colored forest dweller, one she’d never seen before. He saw her and stood still, staring at her as she was staring at him. He was taller than most other of his kind that she’d seen, and thickly built, and his rugged shorts and overtunic were mottle shades of the forest around him rather than the usual colors.

He had a longsword strapped across his back, but he left it sheathed as he started forward towards her.  Xena merely stood her ground and waited, holding her basket of berries in one hand, and leaving the other open and resting lightly against her thigh.

The stranger stopped several paces from her and cocked his head. He had unusual colored eyes, an almost green shot through with amber and his muzzle twitched as he regarded her in what in a human might be the start of a sneer. “So. You must be Xena.”

Xena didn’t answer right away. She flared her nostrils slightly, and let the corners of her mouth twitch upward. “Hello, Rufus.” She replied. “Interesting place to hunt. Get anything?”

His head cocked to one side, and his ears swiveled a little. “Quite a prize catch, from my view. I didn’t expect to find you out here.” He indicated the forest. “I had heard you came to the village.”

“When a friend calls, I usually try to show up.” The warrior said. “I’m sorry about what happened.”

Rufus relaxed a trifle. “You know, it’s funny. I’ve heard so much about you, I’ve built up an image in my mind that you’re making a total scrap of.” He said. “I’m sorry about what happened as well. I intend to make sure it never happens again.” He added. “Whatever it takes to do that.”  His eyes shifted slightly to the right. “Ah.”

Xena turned her head slightly, finding Dori peering over her shoulder at the newcomer. “My daughter, Doriana. Dori, say hello to Rufus.”

“Hi.” Dori obliged, one hand keeping a tight hold on Xena’s collar.

“Hello.” The forest dweller said, then shifted his eyes back to Xena. “Well, it’s been nice meeting you at last, Xena. But my men are waiting for me. Perhaps we can talk another time.” He tilted his head, then backed off, his motions smooth and liquid until he blended into the forest and was gone.

Xena tracked his progress effortlessly, however, turning her head as though she could still see him as he traveled up the ridge, and towards the west. He finally passed out of her sense range, and she exhaled, turning and starting back down the path with a thoughtful look on her face.

“Boo?”

“Hm?”

“Issat bads mens?”

Dori definitely had a knack for pegging skunks, Xena had to smile. “He might be, munchkin. I don’t know yet.” She passed into the fog,  it’s soft, wet touch reaching up her legs to her waist as she reached the valley and crossed into the village proper.  Here, the light was still the grayness of predawn and she reveled in the quiet that gave her a chance to think as she headed for their cabin.

Was Rufus bad, or just needing to protect his people?  Xena was the last person in this end of Greece to start putting labels on people based on someone elses perceptions. As she’d told Dori, she’d just have to wait and see what his actions proved out to be. There had been, she knew, a definite veiled threat in his words, as though he was warning her not to stand in his way.

Xena smiled to herself as she jumped up the steps to the cabin and strode across the deck. “What would make anyone think I’d stand in their way, Dori? Hm?” She opened the door and peeked inside, glad to see her partner still curled up asleep in the bed. “Little old harmless me.”

Dori giggled. “Go go boo.”

The warrior went inside the cabin and closed the door behind her, crossing to the bed and gazing down at it’s occupant with quiet affection.

A green eye opened and pinned her. “What’dja find?” Gabrielle drawled softly.

“Berries.” Xena held them up.

“That almost had me scooting out in the dark in my nightshirt?” The bard asked, with a knowing grin as she uncurled herself and stretched.  “Honey, even you couldn’t find berries that exciting.”

“No. But I met Rufus.”  Xena set the basket down and unhitched Dori, swinging her around and letting her down on the bed. “I don’t think either of us was what the other expected.” She released the straps and set Dori loose. “I’m gonna wait and see what he does, but Dori didn’t like him.”

“Uh oh.” Gabrielle sat up and raked a hand through her sleep disordered hair. She stifled a yawn. “Not a good sign.” She looked up at her partner. “You have a nice run? You’re sopping wet.. you must have.”

“Just an excuse to use that shower.” Xena grinned. “Dori kept me in the air most of the time.”

They both turned as a light knock came at the door. Xena walked over and opened it, surprised to find the caretaker from the nursery there. “Morning, Jeren.”

The good natured, heavyset forest dweller grinned back at her. “I knew you’d be up.” She said. “We’re taking the children out to the pond, then over to one of the playgrounds the elders built. Would Dori like to come with us?” She asked. “We’re doing breakfast first.”

Xena turned. “Dori.  You want to go play?”

Silly question. “Eeee…” Dori bounced off the bed and landed, eliciting a startled yelp from Ares who’d been the landing site.  “Go play now?”

Xena lifted her gaze to Gabrielle’s and cocked an eyebrow in question.

The bard nodded. “Sure.”

Xena turned to the forest dweller. “Mind if she takes a friend along?” She indicated the wolf.

“Nope.” Jeren shook her head. “Any carnivore that’s a friend of yours, is a friend of ours.  C’mon, Dori!”

Dori pattered happily out to her, tugging Ares along with her by the ear. “C’mon, Guff. Let’s go make fun!”

Jeren scooped her up. “We’ll take good care of her, Xena.” The forest dweller met the warrior’s eyes. “I found out just how clever she was yesterday. You’ve got our deep admiration.” A pause. “And condolences.”

The warrior laughed shortly. “My mother says we both got what we deserved.” She remarked. “Have fun, and you be careful, Dori. No being bad, got me?” She gave her daughter a serious look. “Be good.”

“Otay.” Dori grinned, her nose wrinkling up. She watched Xena as the forest dweller carried her off, waving her fingers at her in a cheerful goodbye as they moved out of sight.

“Well, that’s one good thing.” Gabrielle had joined her at the door. “At least, being with us so much, she doesn’t mind going to play with someone else all day now.”  She leaned her head against Xena’s shoulder. “It’s safe, right?”

“Mmph.” Xena grunted. “As safe as anything ever is. They’re damned protective of their kids here.”

“True.” Her soulmate agreed. She took hold of Xena’s arm and tugged her inside. “Well, I’m glad you and Rufus met.. at least it sounds like he’s going to be willing to talk. I’d like a chance to find out what his side of all of this is.”

“I knew you would.” Xena glanced out the window, where the dawn light was starting to dispel the fog. “If we can get the rest of the cleanup done today, we can start helping rebuild those cabins tomorrow. Then I need to sit down with them and see what the real story is here.”

“Okay.” Gabrielle knelt beside the firepit, stirring it and adding their water pot on it to heat. “Tell you what. You work on that, and I’ll work on the soulbonds. Let me see if I can get inside their heads on this Rufus character. Maybe he’s not as bad as they’re making it sound.”

“Despite Dori’s reaction?” Xena asked, with an amused look.

“She could be wrong, too.” Gabrielle retorted. “Or she could have been picking up on your reaction… I bet you didn’t greet him with open arms, did you?”

“I never greet anyone with open arms.” Xena objected.

“Well, I’d like to keep an open mind.” Gabrielle said. “Because I remember some of these very same people were pretty hostile to *us* when we first came here.”

“Mm.” Xena conceded the point.

“Now.” Gabrielle slid over to the table, and selected a choice berry from the top of the basket. “About these little darlings.”  She looked up at the suddenly at her side warrior. “Hm.”

“Maybe you could take them to the dining hall.” Xena suggested helpfully. “They’ve got ovens there.”

Gabrielle picked another berry, then offered it to the warrior. “You’ve gotten so much more subtle over the years, honey.” She patted her on the belly. “But it’s not a bad idea. I can listen to the village talk.”

“Good plan.” Xena said.

“But first… I’d like to share a shower with you.”

“Better plan.”

“Can I hide a berry in your navel?”

“Last time we tried that, we almost drowned.”

“It’s a shower.”

“All right. Then I’ve got a better place to hide one.” Xena rolled a berry between her fingers, and grinned.

Gabrielle tucked a finger inside her gambeson and lead her towards the bathing room, leaning over to remove the water pot from the heat and set it aside as they passed.

**

Continued in Part 3

Champion

Part 3

It was the end of another long day. Xena looked around this time, though, and got a very solid sense of achievement in what she saw. The wellhouse had been rebuilt, and most of the burned out huts had new frames already standing.  They’d lit the central firepit,  which she’d seen redug and relined after the attack, and now the village was starting to gather around it as the sun started dropping behind the trees.

Xena studied them as they clustered around a thick, wooden keg newly tapped for the occasion. She could smell the sharp scent of hops, and heard the low, growly voices that held far more hope today than they had the day before.  Youngsters, and older forest dwellers made up the village, evident now that they were all together. The men and women of prime fighting age had all gone with Jessan, to the deep valley near Amphipolis.

It explained a lot.  Xena dusted her hands off and started towards the firepit, picking her cloak up from where she’d hung it and settling it over her shoulders as she walked.  Her boots kicked up a bit of crushed rock, and she stretched her back out, feeling the ache of well used muscles. The air was growing chilly, and she welcomed the heat of the fire as she joined the crowd.

“Xena!” Tucker spotted her and trotted over.

The others turned and noted her presence. Murmurs of greeting went up, and the warrior was surrounded slowly by furred but friendly faces. A mug was handed to her.  Xena grasped it and took a sip, returning the words with a nod and a brief smile.

“Boy, a lot got done today.” Tucker noted. “It’s starting to look almost normal around here.”

A round of low chuckles went up. “Not that you got your fur dirty, Tuck.” One of the youngsters snorted. “Oh, that’s right. You were ‘guarding’.”

“Hey! I was!” Tucker protested. “Someone’s gotta!”

Xena listened quietly, judging the mood around her.  “He’s right.” She let her voice lift a little. “There’s no guarantee those guys won’t come back.”  In a few moments, she was the center of attention, the fire catching glints off golden eyes as they watched her. “Now that we’re putting the pieces back together, we need to make sure we don’t have to do it again any time soon.”

A low murmur lifted up. “Xena… how can we protect against something we don’t understand?” Cessi eased her way forward. “In all our history, we never have been attacked like this. Not by our own folk.”

“Yeah.” Tucker agreed, sticking his thumbs into his blue britches. “Rufus was right about that. Only humans attack for no reason.”

Xena cocked her head to one side. “Humans attack for all sorts of reasons.” She disagreed. “Either they want something, or they just enjoy killing, or they’re threatened. So if your people did this, they had a reason too. Just because you don’t understand what the reason was doesn’t mean there wasn’t one.”  She hopped up onto the stone ring that surrounded the firepit, and booted a chunk of burned wood up to her hand.

The firepit had a stone backing, and she scratched the wood against it, satisfied with the mark it made. “Your village looks like this.” Quick motions sketched out the river, the village, and the surrounding forest. “You’ve let the river be your guard for a long time.”

“That’s where the danger was. Humans.” Tucker stated. “Hectator’s troops.”

“Yes.” Xena gave him a direct look. “I remember. I’m the one who dragged him in here on the back of my horse to change his mind about you.”

Tucker’s ears flattened a little, and he appeared abashed.

Xena went back to her drawing. “The problem with that is that it leaves the village open on the rest of these three sides.” She said. “Now here, the steep cliff protects most of that section, but there’s two places where climbs have been marked.”

“Climbs?” Cessi asked.

“Places where handholds have been cut into the rock.” Xena said. “But here, and here – it’s wide open.” She felt a warm presence nearby, and held back a smile. “Without some serious construction, there’s no way to secure it.”

The forest dwellers exchanged glances. “What are you saying, Xena?” Cessi asked. “That we should move? Leave? Like the others did? Most of us chose not to do that. We chose to stay in our homeland, and live our lives the way we always have.”  She looked around at her friends and companions. “Is that what the attackers want? Us to leave?”

Xena tossed her wood chunk up and caught it. “I don’t know.” She said. “But it’s a good question. Why.” She turned and wrote the word near the sketch. “What did they take? Horses and weapons – your means of defense.” She made a mark. “What did they destroy? Your ability to feed yourselves, and supplies.” A thoughtful pause. “So. Either they’re just a bunch of marauding jackasses or they want you at their mercy.”

“For what?” Tucker asked.

“Good question.” Xena answered. “The answer depends on who these guys were.” She turned and studied the crowd. “No one knows them? No one recognized any of them? Not from markets, not from trading.. not from being out  there hunting.. nothing?”

Silence.  Xena studied them, sensing there was something she wasn’t being told. The golden eyes shifted to either side, none meeting hers. Then Tucker shuffled and leaned against one of the rocks and exposed a pair of pale green orbs that had no problem locking with hers.

“All right. Then I guess I’ll have to go find out who they are.” Xena concluded. She tossed the bit of wood to the ground and brushed her hands off, then stepped off the rocks, launching herself into a flip that landed her at Gabrielle’s side with a jaunty bounce.

“We tracked them.. but no one could find where they went.” Tucker spoke up quickly. “You don’t want to waste your time.”

Xena looked at him, as she stood there with the fire backlighting her. “No. I never do.”  She told him.

There was an uncomfortable silence for a moment. Then Cessi clapped her hands together with determined cheerfulness. “I’m sure it’ll all get figured out. I think I hear the cook’s bell.” She cupped a hand over her ear, and sure enough, a soft chiming could be heard. “We can talk about it over dinner. Xena, Gabrielle.. will you join us?”

“We’d love to.” Gabrielle answered for them, after a few heartbeats of unspoken communication with her partner. “But we’ve got a toddler to take care of, so we’ll be a little late.”  She tucked a hand inside Xena’s elbow.

“Perhaps you’ve got a new story to tell us, Gabrielle?” Cessi suggested, as furry, round ears perked up around her. “After what we’ve been through, it would be welcome.”

“Sure.” The bard agreed, with a smile. “See you all in a little while.”

Xena maintained her dark silence as she allowed Gabrielle to steer her away from the fire, towards their cabin. She waited until they were clear of the firelight, then she opened her cloak and tucked it solicitously around the blond woman, who was dressed in just a light tunic.

“So.” Gabrielle took advantage of the situation and snuggled close. “What the heck is going on here, Xe?” She asked. “I’ve been working over near the stockyard all day, and all I’ve been hearing from the youngsters is how Rufus said this would happen, and that he said if they’d go back ..”

“Shh.” Xena uttered, almost sublingually.

Gabrielle’s teeth clicked shut.

“Wait.” The warrior murmured. “Dori back at the cabin?” She asked, in a more normal tone.

“Just dropped her off there, then I went to find you.” The bard agreed. “Apparently she had quite a day. She’s full of stories.”

Xena chuckled softly.

Gabrielle knew what the laugh was. Whenever either of them found a bit of their daughter they could identify as coming from one of them, it was always a reason to stop and appreciate the fact.  And the fact was, Dori liked to tell stories, even if they were rambling little baby stories.

She was damn proud of that. Dori had a good imagination, and she liked to play games that let her use it. Gabrielle remembered playing some of the same games as a small child and as she watched her daughter make stories with her dolls, it brought her own memories flooding back.

“I went to visit Lestan before I picked Dori up.” Gabrielle said. “He opened his eyes and winked at me.” She gave her partner a hug. “I think he’s really fighting.”

Xena remembered a time when she hadn’t. “I think so too. When I changed his bandages today, I could see some real healing going on under there.”

They walked up the steps to the cabin. Xena tugged the door open, and they entered, to be greeted with squeals of delight.

“Booooooo!!!” Dori picked herself up from the floor, where she’d been sitting and playing with her stuffed toy. She rambled across the floor and slammed into Xena’s legs, hugging them fiercely. “Boo, I gots rocks. I saw big pipples!”

“Yeah?” Xena picked her up, and got a sloppy baby kiss for her efforts. “I can see you were in the pine trees. You smell like em.”

“Big pipples come, make fun.” Dori told her. “Play catch. No catch me, I go fly.”

Xena stopped halfway to the couch, where she’d been headed to listen to her daughter’s chatter. She looked over her shoulder at Gabrielle, who put down her cloak and joined her partner. “Does that sound a little…”

“Yeah.”

They sat down on the couch together. “Okay, Dori. Now tell me all about it.” Xena told the toddler. “You said big people came?”

Dori nodded, busy playing with the front of Xena’s armor. “Lots big pipples, make noise.” She explained. “E’verybody go run. Play catch. Big pipples go catch me, I fly.”

Xena frowned. “Did they say anything had happened today?” She asked Gabrielle.

“Not to me, no.” The bard answered, with a puzzled look. “I just asked if she’d been good, and they said yes.”  She took hold of Dori’s bare foot. “Dori, were they chasing you?” She asked. “Like when you play with Ares?”

“Guff make bite.” Dori recognized her friend’s name. “Make noise, bite pipples, they go chase Guff, guff run fast, me chase.” She tugged at a brass catch. “Pipples chase me, I go up on rocks, go fly. Pipples all make big noise, all run around. Go fast, go away.”

Gabrielle looked over at Ares, who was curled up near the fireplace asleep.  “Okay, wait.” The bard tugged the child’s toes. “Dori, are you saying that forest dwellers, people, who you didn’t know came to where you all were, and chased you around?”

Dori thought about the question. “Yes.” She nodded confidently.

“And they chased Ares?”

“Yes.”

“And Ares bit them?”

“Yes.”

“Uh oh.” Xena muttered. “I’m getting a bad feeling here.”

“So they chased Ares, and you chased Ares, and then they chased you, but you went up on a rock and jumped off, and that got them very upset?”

Dori nodded. “Mama make good story.”

“So then they ran away?” Gabrielle persisted. “And left you alone?”

“Yes.” Dori squirmed around and got a better hold on Xena’s armor clasp. “Fun!”

Her parents regarded each other. “I think we need to have a chat with the nursery minder.” Xena said quietly. “Now.”

Gabrielle stroked Xena’s arm lightly. “Let’s wait until after dinner. No matter what happened, it obviously turned out okay, because she’s here, and she doesn’t have a scratch on her, Xe.” The bard said. “Maybe it was just a bunch of the older kids, fooling around.”

The warrior’s blue eyes were almost gray with irritation. “Fooling around with my kid?” She growled. “I’ll make sure they never become adults in that case.”

“Xe.” Gabrielle gave her an affectionate look.

“I mean it, Gabrielle. She’s just a little girl.” Xena stated flatly. “What if she got hurt?”

“Got hurt.” Dori pulled herself up and investigated a leaf caught in Xena’s dark hair. “Pipples make hurt, Boo fix.”

Xena studied her, their eyes on a level. Her temper settled as she realized the meaning behind Dori’s innocent words, and she felt the warmth as Gabrielle’s hand closed around hers. “I’ll fix, huh?”

“Yes.” Dori agreed. “Boo make fix good. Eve’ry body all better. Like mama.”

Oh. Xena exhaled. That kind of fix.

“Mm.” Gabrielle leaned against Xena’s shoulder. “Boo fixes everything. You’re right, Dori.” She said. “She fixed mama when I was sick, didn’t she? And she fixed your owies?”

“Yes!” The child produced a sunny grin. “Boo fix!”

Xena put an arm around Dori and hugged her. “I still want to talk to the minders. You may be right, Gabrielle, it may have just been some of the kids goofing around.”

“Especially if they got scared off by Dori’s jumping off a rock, Xena. Now, c’mon.” The bard stated practically. “It sounds like something the minder was embarrassed to tell us about – not something that dangerous.”

“Mm.”  The warrior conceded the point. “Tomorrow, I want to track the raiders trail, though. See what I can find.”

Gabrielle stretched out on the couch, sliding down and resting her head on Xena’s thigh. “I got the feeling that wasn’t a popular idea.”

“Exactly why I’m gonna do it.”

“I knew you were going to say that.” Gabrielle folded her hands over her stomach. “There’s something odd going on here. I kind of got the feeling that a lot of the people here really want Rufus to take over.”

“Uh huh.”

“But it’s the olders, and the soulbonds that don’t want him.”

“Uh huh.”

“So, are they being prudent, or just stubborn?”

“That’s what I’m gonna find out.” Xena stretched her legs out towards the fire and sighed. “And I need to start by finding out what was behind the attack.”  She flicked a bit of pale hair out of Gabrielle’s eyes. “Maybe you can find out what Rufus has been telling these kids.”

Gabrielle gazed up at her, a serious expression on her face. “All right.” She agreed. “But only if you promise me you’ll be very careful.”

“Cawful.” Dori patted her mother’s head.

“Always.” Xena assured her.

Gabrielle’s lips quirked. Xena was almost never careful, and they both knew that. When she did something, she did it full out and didn’t pull any punches. That was why she was often as effective as she was. But Gabrielle also knew that her partner valued, if not her own life, the effect her life had on her family. She would not be careful for her own sake, but she would protect herself to the utmost for Gabrielle’s.

And that was nice to know, but accidents could, and did happen sometimes.

“Wanna get cleaned up and go see what trouble we can get into?” Xena asked. “I’m in the mood for a good story.”

Gabrielle smiled up at her. “You could ask me for one, sometimes you know.” She chided her partner. “It’s not just Dori’s prerogative.”

“I know.” Xena said. “C’mon.”

Gabrielle rolled to her feet, stretching and offering Xena a hand up. They walked together to the bathing room, each quiet with their own thoughts.

**

The vibe was strange in the dining hut, and Gabrielle could feel it. She eased her way through the crowd, taking her time and absorbing the different flavors of strange as she decided what story she wanted to tell.  There was definitely a tension in the village, and she wasn’t sure it had to do with the attack.

As she neared the front door, where an open space afforded her a place to stand and talk, she turned and leaned against the sill briefly. Her eyes traveled over the forest dwellers, noting the distinct ‘camps’ scattered among them.

On one side, the soulbonded were gathered. Most of them were older, and it was evident they were very comfortable with each other.

On the other side of the dining hall were the youngsters, with roving, restless eyes and an impatience she could almost feel. Most of them were eyeing Xena, who was sitting in the back with Dori on her knee. The looks were a mixture of fascination and uneasy suspicion and Gabrielle reasoned that Rufus had planned his audience carefully.

So.  The bard pushed off the doorway and took a few steps forward, stopping and waiting with her hands resting lightly on her thighs.

Xena had taught her, on their long journeys together, some of her secrets; what she called the mystique of leadership.  That included how to hold yourself when you knew people were watching you and how to watch them, letting your eyes travel slowly and making contact with quiet deliberation.

The most important thing in getting people to believe in you… is making them believe that you believe in yourself.   Words of wisdom from a natural leader who had certainly captured Gabrielle’s rapt belief from the very start.

The room quieted swiftly and she gathered eyes both young and old to her as she cocked her head slightly to one side and took a breath in deep, readying herself to reach out and touch hearts and minds. “It’s been a long time since Xena and I came this way.”  She told them. “You welcomed us, and we’ve traveled a long, and sometimes difficult road together.”

She had them. Gabrielle could sense the attention focused on her. “I often wondered, in the beginning, why it was that even from the start, I felt a sense of kindred between us. After all, we’re not very much like you on the surface, are we?”

A soft, rumbling chuckle. Gabrielle held her hands out and looked down at herself, looking up again with a sunny grin. “But then I remembered that when I first met Xena, I thought we were really different from each other, too.”

Eyes shifted to the warrior, who responded with a sexy smile.

“After all, I was a shepherd’s kid from a little farming village, and she.. whoo. The stories I’d heard about Xena.”  Gabrielle said, pausing to let the chuckles fade. “Should have sent me running for my life.”

“But it didn’t.” Cessi remarked from her spot near the fire.

“No.” Gabrielle shook her head. “I felt a sense of kinship with her from the start too. In fact… it was like meeting my best friend the first time we looked into each other’s eyes.”  Instinctively, she looked at her partner, returning the smile she found on Xena’s face. “Now, because I met your people, I know why.”

She took another breath. “So let me tell you what it’s like, through the eyes of someone so different than you are, to find the other half of your soul.”

Xena was surprised at her partner. Gabrielle only seldomly told stories from her own point of view, preferring to relate tales from a more neutral perspective.  Not only that, it was extremely rare for the bard to delve into something so very personal to both of them, but Xena had learned over the years that if Gabrielle did something out of the ordinary like this, it was usually for a reason.

So, despite the fact that she herself wasn’t too keen on having her inner feelings exposed in a story, she sat back and put her arms around Dori, ready to listen.

“Boo.”

“Mm?” Xena looked down at her daughter

“Mama go tell story.”

“Shh.” Xena hugged her. “You gotta be quiet for mama.”

“Good story?” Dori looked up at her with innocent, misty green eyes.

“The best story.” Xena whispered in her ear. “My favorite one.”

“Good.” Dori snuggled up against her chest as they turned to listen. “Got Boo?”

“Oh yeah.” The warrior smiled.

“Fun.”

Xena braced her booted foot against the table trestle and leaned back, feeling the wall of the dining hut solid behind her. She rested her head against the wood, taking a moment out to look down at Dori’s dark head and revel silently in the child’s solid presence.

It was hard to fathom, sometimes. Hard to absorb the fact that this child, this person existed because of the power of her love for Gabrielle. It was awesome, in the full sense of the word, and one of the things in her life she was proudest of.

She hugged Dori

Mine.

Her eyes tracked to Gabrielle, who was standing in the doorway lit by firelight, her clear voice weaving magic around the room.

Mine.

Xena wiggled her toes inside her boots, and produced a smirk of utter satisfaction.

**

Gabrielle accepted the hoots and claps as she finished, along with a cup of ale to sooth her well used throat. She’d taken a chance with the story, she knew, because many of the soulbonded were wary of them, and many of the youngers didn’t seem to approve of bonding. But she’d never been one to play things all that safely and her gamble had paid off.  “Thanks.”  She grinned at Cessi, who had handed her the ale.

“But.. “ Tucker stood up, despite the grabs at his trousers. “I gotta ask a question.”

“Sure.” Gabrielle glanced at him with casual good humor.

“We..” He pointed at his own chest. “We’re fighters.”

The soulbonded glared at him, but the rest of the youngers watched with wary alertness as Gabrielle turned fully to face him.

“Sure.” The bard said. “So are Xena and I.”

Tucker scowled, his muzzle wrinkling up. “How can you be a good warrior, if you’re afraid to die?”

Gabrielle was caught by surprise.

“Only idiots aren’t afraid to die.” Xena answered for her, the warrior’s powerful voice cutting through the air with ease. “Don’t believe anyone who says otherwise.”

The forest dwellers shifted to look at Xena. The warrior was leaning against the wall, with Dori’s sleeping form cradled in her arms.

“Dying’s easy.” Xena continued, in a quieter tone. “Living’s what takes true courage, most times.”

Tucker stared at her.

“Think about it.” The warrior said. “What warrior wouldn’t want the most gut level drive inside them to never lose? Never give up? To always prevail because that’s what you need to do.”  Xena gave him a direct look. “There is nothing I wouldn’t do to protect us.” A dangerous pause. “Nothing.”

Tucker blinked his golden eyes, his nostrils flaring. “Oh.” He scrunched up his muzzle, managing to look extraordinarily sheepish for a being his size. “I never thought about it like that.”

The other youngsters looked at each other uncertainly.

“Xena’s right.” Gabrielle said. “Secan thought that. He thought love weakened you.” She made her way back to the table to stand at Xena’s side, resting her hand on her partner’s shoulder. “He couldn’t be more wrong.”

Tucker sat down, his face thoughtful.

Gabrielle looked around, still sensing the turmoil, but now recognizing a difference in it. Satisfied, she glanced down at Xena, then unexpectedly leaned over and captured her partner’s lips, indulging herself in the sweetness of the contact and letting the passion that surged up resonate through her.

Through their link.

After a long, but very pleasurable moment, she lifted her head, her eyes meeting a roomful of very round golden ones.

A frozen second later, Cessi coughed and stood up. “Ah.. I think we’re done here..”

The entire room joined her, rambling hastily for the door and bumping into each other.

Xena had to laugh. “You’re just a walking clump of trouble, aren’t you?” She muttered.

The bard folded her arms and smirked. “I’ve finally gotten over blushing about that, and darn it, I’ve been waiting long enough to enjoy it.” She said. “Think we did some good?”

Xena stood, careful not to wake Dori. “Yeah.” She watched the departing forest dwellers. “I think we did.” A moment’s consideration. “Least we gave them something to think about.”

“Mm.” Gabrielle agreed. “One step at a time.”

**

Xena stepped out onto the porch into a misty dawn, this time alone. Instead of her cloak, she wore a heavy knitted hunting shirt over her leathers, and close fitting leggings that tucked into her boots.  The village was still quiet, and she paused a moment to absorb the slight sounds around her before she continued down the steps and onto the path.

The rocks scuffed lightly under her feet and she felt her body shift, muscles in her legs tensing slightly to change the way she was walking and eliminate the sound. After a lifetime of being who and what she was, it wasn’t even a conscious choice anymore but it did bring a faint smile to her face when she realized she was doing it.

She passed through the fringe of trees on the outer side of the village and found the path the raiders had taken without difficultly. Driving that many horses through the undergrowth left a gap a blind person could have followed and certainly it presented Xena with scant challenge.

For the first while, she simply walked along, observing. The trees bore broken branches on either side, and the leaves were ripped and torn, still emitting a green, rich scent she could smell as she neared them.

She stopped briefly to examine a scuff, running her fingers over the bark and lifting a few thick tufts of fur from it. The color was dark, an almost chocolate brown and she edged around the tree looking for more.

She found some, but she also found something else, that made her eyebrows lift. On the surface it wasn’t that unusual, just a waterskin, but as she picked it up and studied it, she recognized the distinctive glyph of the forest dweller village burned lightly into the leather surface.

A chance drop? Xena leaned closer to the bag, and captured a few strands of hair from the bottom of it. She compared it to the clump she’d removed from the tree, and her eyebrow lifted again.

With a frown, she put the fur into her belt pouch, and slung the waterskin over her shoulder. Then she continued on the path, her boots stirring the thin layer of fog drifting over it.

**

Gabrielle tugged her boot lace back from Dori’s fingers and made another try at completing her dressing. “Honey, I need to put this on.”

The toddler was sitting spraddle legged around her feet, busy trying to undo Gabrielle’s best attempts at tying her laces. “Mama, c’n we go play?”

“Soon as you let me put my boots on.” The bard told her. “Then we can go find your friends, okay?”

“Otay.” Dori sighed, her fingers still plucking at her mother’s boots.

Gabrielle watched her, a faint smile crossing her face. “Are you mad, Dori?”

“Yes.”

The bard held back a chuckle. “Are you mad at Boo?”

“Yes.”

Xena had, of course, left before dawn and that meant no morning run and no flying for her little wild one. “Well, you shouldn’t be mad, Dori. You know Boo has to go and do things sometimes.”

Dori pouted.

“Honey, you need to be nice to Boo. You know she plays with you because she loves you, and she likes it, but sometimes Boo has things that she has to take care of, and those things are very important.” Gabrielle told her daughter. “You can’t get mad at her if she doesn’t play with you, because that makes her feel bad. You don’t want Boo to feel bad, do you?”

Dori kicked her booties out. “Want Boo.”

“Ah ah.. you didn’t answer my question. “Gabrielle finished lacing. “Do you want Boo to feel bad?”

“No.”

“Okay.” Gabrielle ruffled Dori’s dark hair. “So let’s go find you someone to play with. Boo will be back later.”  She stood up and held her hand down to Dori. “C’mon.”

Dori got to her feet and took her mother’s hand. They walked out together into the early morning sunshine, to find the village already stirring busily. She returned the wave of a few of the forest dwellers as they walked across to the children’s area, and she held back a chuckle as Dori studiously waved as well. “Good girl.”  She praised her daughter. “You’re being very nice.”

Dori kicked a rock, then released Gabrielle’s hand and chased after it, picking it up and rambling back to her mother with it. “Nice wrock. Mama, look.. gots sparkles.”

“Yep, it sure does.” Gabrielle admired the mica bits. “That’s very pretty. Why don’t you save that one, and give it to Boo for a present later. I bet she’d like that.”

Dori peered at the rock interestedly. “Boo like?”

“You know Boo loves when you give her presents, honey.” Gabrielle assured her, as they skirted the firepit. “Just like you love it when she gives you presents. Remember what she gave you the last time?”

“Cookies.” Dori responded immediately.

“Special cookies, right?”

“Yes.”

They walked along for a few steps. “Mama?”

“Hm?” Gabrielle swung their rejoined hands. “What, Dori?”

“Give Boo wrock, Boo give cookies?”

Ah.  Gabrielle sighed inward. “No..no.. that’s not how that works, Dori. We don’t give people presents so we get presents back.”  She said. “Boo gives you cookies because she wants to, not because she has to.”

“Oh.” Dori trudged along. “Good!”

“You should give Boo presents because you want to, because you love her, not because you want to get something back.” Gabrielle went on.

“Mama give Boo peasants?”

Gabrielle had to grin at the piping voice’s question. “Oh, Dori, mama gave Boo so many presents… mama loves giving Boo presents.  Boo probably thinks Mama gives her too many presents.”

“Too too?”

“You know what the first present was that I gave Boo?” Gabrielle reminisced as they walked. She had to keep her steps short for Dori’s to keep up with her, and their progress was slow.  “I used to think the first present was a cup, this wooden cup I bought her at the market when we first starting traveling together.”

“Cup. Gup. Cup.” Dori bounced a few steps.

“It was pretty, and it had these little birds carved all over it.” Her mother related. “And after I gave it to her, I never saw it anymore, so I figured she probably thought it was silly, and threw it away, but you know what Dori?”

“Whap?”

“She didn’t. I found that cup in our cabin before we left for Athens.” Gabrielle said. “She took very good care of it, this whole time.”

“Gup.”  Dori humored her.

“But then.. I figured out that the first gift I ever gave her was my heart.” The bard steered their steps towards the leafy path leading to the nursery.  “And you know, she took pretty good care of that, too.”

“Mama?”

Gabrielle glanced down. “I’m boring you, huh? You don’t like mushy stuff, do you Dor?”

“Cookie?”

“Uh huh.” The bard leaned over and picked Dori up, hitching her onto her hip and wrapping her arms around her. The toddler was getting to be heavier than was really comfortable for her to carry, but for short distances it didn’t bother her much.  “C’mon.. let’s see what they’re having for breakfast in there.”

She elbowed open the door to the nursery, already hearing piping, childish voices inside. Her entrance was greeted with trills of delight, and three of the small fuzzballs in residents bolted for her. “Hey guys.”

“Mama! Down!” Dori ordered imperiously. “Go play!”

“Ah ah. What do you say?” Gabrielle frowned at her daughter. “Is that how I taught you to act, Doriana?”

Dori stuck her index finger in her mouth and gazed at her mother from under her long, dark lashes. “Sowwy.” She burbled. “Pwese?”

“Good girl.” Gabrielle gave her a kiss on the forehead, and set her down. Dori immediately joined the three forest dweller children in a tumble of arms, legs and giggles.  Her mother watched them for a moment, then she turned her attention to the two minders. “Hi, Jeren.”

The one nearest her grinned. “Hi, Gabrielle. Brought the tiny terror back, huh? She’s really something.”

“Mm.” The bard ruefully agreed, as she crossed the room and perched on one of the padded stools the minders used. Fortunately for her, they were low to the ground, so the minders could tend the children. “I was wondering if you could fill me in what happened yesterday.”

The two minders exchanged glances. “Happened?” Jeren asked. “When?”

Gabrielle cocked her head. “Yesterday. Dori told me something happened… the kids got chased around, something like that.”  She sensed the awkwardness immediately. “So… what happened?”

“Uh.” Jeren tugged at one of her furry ears. “Well, you know.. kids tell all kinds of stories, Gabrielle.”

The bard crossed her arms. “Are you saying nothing happened?”

Jeren shrugged. “The kids say stuff.. you know.”

“Not my kid.” Gabrielle replied quietly. “She may get her bug to tell stories from me, but she gets her knack for observation from Xena. Xena doesn’t see things that aren’t there. Neither does Dori. So.” The bard got up and put her hands on her hips, giving Jeren a direct stare. “What happened?”

The other minder sat down on the floor, and started playing with one of the other fuzzballs. She made a point of not looking at Jeren, apparently abandoning her workmate to this diminutive yet threatening blond human.

“Um.”

Gabrielle cocked an eyebrow at her.

“It wasn’t anything.. really.” Jeren sighed. “It all ended up okay.”

Ah. Gabrielle sat down again. “Great. Then you can tell me all the details.” She smiled at the minder. “Because from what Dori was telling me, it sounded like someone attacked the kids, and ran off when my daughter, all this high of her..” Gabrielle held a hand near her hip. “Jumped off a rock at them, and I know for sure that can’t be what really happened. Right?”

Jeren scratched her ear, then folded her arms across her chest. “Um…”

“Hm?” Gabrielle prodded her.

“Well, not really.” Jeren muttered. “I mean, they didn’t really attack us… it was just sort of a joke. Kind of.”  She said, giving Gabrielle a wary look. “Rufus was working with some of the older kids on stuff… showing them I guess that we were kind of out there in the open and vulnerable.”

“Uh huh.” Gabrielle made an encouraging sound.

“So… they jumped us.” Jeren said. “It was a little scary… they started grabbing at the kids and stuff got out of hand.” She explained. “I was yelling, Brac was yelling..”

“Yeah.” Brac muttered, still on the floor. “Jerks.”

“So then one of them grabbed me, and the next thing we knew your little one let out a holler and jumped off this… um…”

“Rock?” Gabrielle suggested.

“More like the river embankment.” Brac noted. “It’s over my head.”

Gabrielle’s green eyes widened.

“Anyway, she jumped on the kid who had hold of me, and started beating on him. He freaked.”

“Gods.” Gabrielle covered her eyes.

“Well, wouldn’t you? Having something  that size screaming and jumping on your head?” Brac asked, reasonably.

“He tripped and fell down, and Dori started whomping on him.”

“Gods.” Gabrielle muttered again.

“So the rest of them ran off, and left this guy behind.. I got hold of Dori, and then Brac…”

“Kicked his adolescent furry butt.” Brac grunted. “Jerk.”

“Uh, right.” Jeren glanced cautiously at Gabrielle. “So that’s what happened.”  She glanced at the tumbling kids on the floor, who were wrestling to see who got possession of a stuffed rag doll. Dori was holding her own, delighted to have kids to play with who could stand her roughhousing. “She’s a scrappy little thing, isn’t she?”

Gabrielle sighed, and sat down. “Yeah, she is.” The bard admitted. “Unfortunately, I think she gets that from both of us.”

“Really?” Jeren asked.

“Yeah.” Gabrielle propped her head against one of her hands. “I used to pretend I was the quiet, reflective writer, who cruised along just documenting Xena’s warrior prowess, but I’ve had to come to grips with the reality that I like a good fight almost as much as she does.”

“Oh.” Jeren studied Dori’s half hidden form. “Boy.”

Gabrielle frowned, her brow creasing. “So, why was Rufus telling a bunch of half grown kids about that? Why not just put a guard into place, or do something about it? What’s he trying to prove?”

Dead silence.

Gabrielle looked up at the two forest dwellers. They refused to meet her eyes. “He’s trying to prove his way’s better.” She answered her own question. “And in order to do that, he’s got to prove the current way doesn’t work.”

Her heart skipped, and she thought about Xena out there, tracking the unknown.  Would Rufus use her to further his plans?

Would he try?  “Well.” Gabrielle folded her arms again. “He better be careful of what he picks to test his theory on.”

Dori captured the doll, and bolted with it, rambling across the mat covered floor and dashing under the table. The other three fuzzballs chased her. Dori skidded to a halt near the other side of the room and turned, waving the doll and letting out a fierce yell. The fuzzballs all screeched to a halt, and yammered at her.

Dori grinned and tossed the doll to them. They grabbed it, scuffled, then the tallest, a silver hued little boy snatched it and ran off. The others ran after him, and Dori followed, content to let the game progress.

Gabrielle glanced out the window, and sent a quiet wish flying out it, down the leafy paths, towards the other half of her soul.

**

Xena loped along the path, her eyes picking up trail markers with automatic ease. The track lead deeper and deeper into the forest, and now the overgrowth blocked out the sun and colored the leaves and dirt under her boots with dappled shadows.

It was beautiful country. The hilly terrain was covered in mossy rocks, and long, ivy covered vines draped over the trees. Trickling down the boulders on either side of the path were tiny waterfalls, lending a melodic tinkling to the air and bringing a pleasant wet scent to her nose.

The trail she was following was old. Xena knew time had passed enough to dull the scents, and she suspected she might find a dead end before she was through.  In the meantime, she had this lovely landscape to travel through and she’d been with Gabrielle long enough to have developed the ability to appreciate that.

It was cold, but she was comfortable in her leathers, having put on one of the long, woven tunics Gabrielle had gotten made for her, cut specifically to fit over her gear with slits for her sword and chakram. The hem hit her at mid thigh, and the sleeves were cut to allow her to fully swing her sword without impediment and Xena was quite fond of the garments.  This one was a rich, forest green and it blended in very well with her surroundings. With her traveling tan, and that, Xena felt quite camouflaged as she ran along.

The path was sloping up at an angle to the next ridge, and Xena could see there was a dip between two sets of granite outcroppings that made a natural pass over into the valley beyond. She headed for it, and reviewed what she knew in the meantime.

There had been an attack on the village. Nothing had been taken save horses. No provisions, no captives… the attack hadn’t seemed to be motivated by profit, or to chase the forest dwellers off the land. To Xena’s eyes, the attack had been focused mainly on intimidation, and the destruction of the forest dweller’s security.

So, the question was – why?

As Xena hit the steeper part of the slope, she leaned forward and threw her weight upward, using her sense of balance to glide up the path from outcropping to outcropping. Near the top, her sense prickled.  With the gap within a body length she slowed, dropping to a crouch instead of topping the crest and waited.

Listened.

Up here, more exposed than in the forest, she could hear the world moving around her. The wind rustled the tree leaves behind her, and set a few pebbles rattling down the path. Nearby, water was trickling, a steady burble that almost sounded like birdsong.

She could hear nothing out of place in the sounds that were audible, but Xena hadn’t spent as much time developing all her senses for nothing. She could feel slight, subtle vibrations under the fingers she had pressed against the moss covered granite, and her skin detected pressure changes in the air that meant to her something moving at her back.

And then they faded off. For a moment, everything was still, then a robin called in a tree behind her and Xena relaxed. The motions hadn’t been that close to her. She remained where she was for a few minutes, simply extending her senses to see what she could find before she stood and deftly picked her way up the rocks to the summit.

The pass interested her. It was the only reasonable sized gap in the range that she could see, and as she rested her hand on the rocks the signs of use were evident. The moss on either side of the lower part of the granite was worn off, and just about at her shoulder level there was a smoother patch on the rock where many hands had touched where hers was.

Xena leaned close to the granite, sniffing a rusty dark stain. Blood, as she’d thought.  She turned and put her back to the boulder, letting her eyes run carefully over the ground behind her for a long moment before she turned back and slipped through the pass, it’s edges easily clearing her body.

She watched the ground as she traveled through the gap, noting the wear scuffs on the muddy surface. Pausing, she knelt, touching a finger to a long mark, then she stood and continued through until she reached the other side.

Xena stopped just outside the pass, finding herself on a small ledge overlooking a wild, steep valley. Across from here was a granite cliff complete with a gorgeous waterfall, and the only path down that she could detect involved fragile hand holds and a lot of luck.

Well.

Xena  was no mean climber, and she generally considered herself pretty lucky. However, her problem with the valley was that the marks on the rock indicated horses had been driven through the pass and no matter how lucky those equines were, they lacked opposable thumbs or a mountain goat’s hooves, and there was no way they climbed down.

So.

The warrior leaned against the stone and let her eyes slowly track around her surroundings. To one side, the ledge simply fell off to nothing. To the other side, the path broke off, then continued again further down on the cliff after perhaps three bodylengths of open space.

Xena’s eyes studied the edge of the path. Curiously, she walked over and knelt, resting her hands on her knees and gazing at the rock. On the outside and very inside of the path were gouged in the stone, their edges scraped from recent contact.   The warrior peered over the edge, to the next section of stone.

“Hm.” Xena stood and took a step back, then paced forward and crouched, leaping away from the edge of the broken path and out into space.  Lazily, she completed a roll in mid air before she got her feet back under her and landed on the lower section, her boots scuffing lightly on the stone.

She turned and looked back, her eyes measuring the angle. Could she get back up it? “Guess I’ll find out later.” She commented, acknowledging at least that if anyone was following her, they’d also be faced with the same problem and perhaps would not have had her particular leaping skills to fall back on.

Satisfied, she turned and continued on her way, stopping first to examine some grooves in the stone at the edge of this new section of path.  With a grunt, she stepped around a patch of slick moss and kept going downward.

It was a reasonable slope. Xena looked around at the wildness, enjoying her surroundings even despite the mystery she was investigating. She was moving around towards the waterfall, and already she could smell the moisture rising up, along with a waft of heavy mud and rich green foliage so thick she could almost taste it on the back her tongue.

The enjoyment was short lived, however, when she sensed something ahead of her, past the rapidly approaching first canopy of trees.  Danger.  It was her battle instincts flaring and her nostrils twitched, picking up a spicy muskiness in the air.

Not unexpected. Xena reasoned. She was tracking rogue forest dwellers. Finding some wouldn’t be a total surprise, given her skills. She flexed her hands and continued on, placing her boots carefully on the rocky path to avoid surprises.

The soft sounds that had alerted her faded as she approached, and Xena could almost feel the watchfulness. She felt her breathing settle into a certain rhythm and the muscles of her torso tensed as she reached an area that was overhung with branches she couldn’t see past.

With a flickering motion, she drew her sword from it’s sheath and whipped it through the leaves, slicing a path through them and returning the blade before the cut foliage hit the ground.

A darker world awaited her. She ducked beneath the branches and paused, looking around at the still gloom under the canopy.  Here, huge, old trees with twisted branches stood, hanging with moss and heavy with thick leaves. The floor lengths below her was covered in dead leaf litter, with no paths or other signs of habitation visible.

Xena turned her head and regarded the sloping path that widened and ended in the floor of the valley. At it’s end stood two huge boulders making almost a gateway she couldn’t see past.

One eyebrow cocked.

From her crouch, Xena leaped off the path, and simply fell through the air, landing on the valley floor and recoiling up with a small hop before her boots settled again into the thick loam. She felt the aura of danger rise the moment she touched the soil and the thrill brought a wry smile to her lips.

You still love a good scrap, don’cha?  She accused herself silently, acknowledging the surge of energy as her darker side pricked up it’s pointed little ears. Xena found herself gaining a bit of a bounce to her step as she carefully crossed the springy ground. Now that she was closer, she could spot the faint signs of other creatures passage, patterns in the litter and scuff marks on the low, flat rocks that dotted the valley floor..

The trees directed her one way, it seemed, lines of them that lead more or less towards the boulders. Xena regarded the tall rocks, then she decided that she might as well get it over with. Changing direction subtly she headed directly for the end of the ridge, where the path dropped off into a small dell ringed with thick underbrush.

It was a perfect place for a trap. Accordingly, Xena took two long strides before she reached it and leaped, catching the side of the tall rock and kicking off, propelling herself into the center of the dell from a very unexpected direction.

She landed, and sensed the moment of faint shock around her, and then the attack happened.

It was fast, and very fierce, and if Xena hadn’t been who she was, she understood that she would have died in the first few seconds of it. At least six forest dwellers descended on her, in perfect silence, with claws and teeth their weapons.

Xena, of course, did not limit herself. Fair play wasn’t a concept she particularily subscribed too when she was being attacked.  One the first change in air pressure she felt, she drew her sword and wove a net of steel around her body, swinging and ducking in a tight circle as the forest dwellers charged her.

Her yell rang out over the glade, shattering the silence as she released the killer that rested quietly just behind her smile and blue eyes. She sheered off an outstretched hand, sending it spinning away then she ducked under the arm that was left behind it and plunged her sword directly into a fur covered ribcage, yanking it out and stepping away in the same motion as the body fell past her.

She never stopped moving, knowing to do so would be fatal. But she didn’t wait for the attack, she pressed her own using offense to short circuit the pattern of the forest dweller’s strategy and refusing to give them time to adjust to hers.

Another yell, and she jumped, spinning into a kick in mid air that impacted a fur covered skull, as she dipped her upper body down and around, slicing with her sword as she fell through the air and meeting flesh at every motion.

Blood flew.

None of it was hers. Xena felt a set of claws catch on her tunic and she continued the arc her sword was in with one hand, releasing the hilt with the other and unhooking her chakram. She slashed backwards, hearing a gasp as she buried the chakram almost up to her hand in flesh, then she yanked it back out and turned, catching one of her attackers right across the face with the edge of the curved blade as she whirled.

And then, just as quickly as it started, it stopped.

In a flicker of brown motion, the forest dwellers vanished, taking their fallen comrade with them, so quickly Xena barely had time to see them go. They morphed into the thick undergrowth too fast for even her to spot which way they went and all that was left was scattered leaves, blood, and a blackened hand, it’s fingers still eerily twitching at her feet.

Silence returned.

Xena put her back to the stone and stood, letting her breathing settle as she waited to see if the attack would resume. She didn’t take anything for granted, and she let her senses extend outward to catch even a hint of anything close by.

Not even a squirrel, which she would have expected after the fierce battle.

With a tiny, satisfied grunt, she pulled a handful of leaves from the nearest tree and walked to the trickle of water coming down from the granite wall in a tiny offshoot of the waterfall. She washed her blades, then dried them with the leaves, resheathing the sword and reseating the chakram with distinctly satisfied snicks.

And that, Xena brushed her hands off. Is how we do that.

She flexed her fingers, and decided on a course. Next?

**

Gabrielle knocked lightly on the door to Lestan and Wennid’s home, pushing the door open when she heard Wennid’s low reply.

The outer room was empty, but comfortably neat, and a tray of lunch was sitting on the table waiting for attention. Gabrielle padded past the table and stuck her head through the door to the bedroom, meeting Wennid’s eyes as she sat with her soulmate on the bed, knitting while he slept.

“Good morning, Gabrielle.” Wennid greeted her with a smile. “Come in.”

“Thanks.” The bard entered and took one of the stools near the bed. “How are things?”

Wennid put her needlework down and gazed at Lestan. “It’s hard to say.” She admitted. “Just when I think everything is just… never going to change, he blinks or he wakes up for a minute… and I realized today that was happening more now.” She said. “Xena has instructed me on how to change the bandages.. I hadn’t realized just what a thing of caring that was.”

“Mm.” Gabrielle hitched one knee up on the stool rungs and circled it with both arms. “I know what you mean there. I hate when Xena’s hurt more than anything, but I know I always feel very close  when she is, and she lets me take care of her.”

“Lets you?”

The bard smiled. “Xena’s a very.. um… self reliant person. It was one big clue to me that we were getting closer to each other when she started letting me do things for her.”

“Ah.. yes. It’s that big, tough, warrior thing.” Wennid said, wisely.

“Uh huh.” Gabrielle agreed.

“I am sure if he was in his right senses, he’d been griping up a storm.” Wennid smoothed the thick, russet fur out of Lestan’s eyes. “I look forward to hearing it.”

Gabrielle watched her face, seeing now a calm, sweet acceptance on it rather than the pensive questioning of the days prior.  “Wennid… what’s going on here?” She asked, in a straightforward tone. “What’s really going on? I’ve seen so many contradictions in the last few days, I hardly know what to think.”

Wennid pursed her lips, wrinkling the skin on her muzzle. She sighed. “It’s complicated.”

Gabrielle almost chuckled. She released one arm and rubbed her face with her hand instead. “People usually are complicated, and I’ve got a feeling people are involved in this.”

The older forest dweller leaned back and looked around her. “You know, I think I’m just too damn old for all this.”  She lifted one hand and let it drop on her thigh. “A lot of those who came back here from the valley came back for two reasons, Gabrielle.” She told the bard. “One, those like me, just felt a connection to this place and wanted to end our days here. We were comfortable, we liked our homes…we just weren’t ready to uproot and move so far, change so much.”

“Mm.” Gabrielle nodded. “I understand.”

“Do you?” Wennid asked. “Your life has been nothing but change, Gabrielle.”

The bard considered that. “True.” She admitted. “But it makes me value stability, those small patches of it I’ve had in my life, all the more.”

Now it was Wennid’s turn to think. She sighed again. “Perhaps. At any rate, there was that group of us, and then there was another.” She eyed Gabrielle speculatively. “There were those who do not like your kind.”

Gabrielle rolled her eyes. “My kind.” She exhaled. “Like we’re all the same. My kind what? They don’t like short blond Amazons in love with the land’s greatest warrior?”

Wennid’s lips twitched. “Humans.”

Blond brows contracted. “Wennid, *I* don’t like a really annoying percentage of ‘my kind’” Gabrielle told her. “I bet there’s a number of your kind *you* don’t like.”

Wennid sighed. “Gabrielle, that’s not what I mean, and you know it.” She gave the bard a stern look. “These people… they feel that contact with humans changes us in ways they don’t want.” She said. “Before humans came to this area, our people lived a very….different life.”

“Really?” Gabrielle circled her knee again. “That must have been a long time ago, because we know from Ardrwyn’s scrolls that humans have been around here for quite a while.”

“Long ago, it was different.” Wennid said. “We did not live in such a places as this…” She indicated the hut. “Or wear clothes as we do now, or pattern ourselves after your kind as we have come to do.”

Gabrielle got up and paced, a habit she realized she’d started to pick up from her restless partner. “But you don’t, not really.” She argued. “Your culture is very different from ours. Very different from most that I’ve seen, as a matter of fact.”

“Did Xena ever tell you that you talk too much?” Wennid sighed.

“Constantly, but it never stopped me. I’m a bard. It’s what I do.” Gabrielle answered without missing a beat.  “But it’s true, Wennid. I’ve just been to Athens. I know what I’m talking about.”

The forest dweller watched her with a wry expression. “Gabrielle, we are not humans.” She said. “And once, we lived more like animals. That’s what I am trying to tell you. There are some who feel our nature has been altered by becoming more like you, and they don’t like that.”

“So.. they think it’s better to live without shelter in the woods?”

“Yes.” Wennid said, seriously. “Hunting their food and living in a totally natural way. Without fire, without tools, without anything. Just as the beasts do.”

Gabrielle looked at her.

“I did not say *I* believed that.” Wennid told her, a trifle tartly. “I like my comfortable home, and my conveniences, thank you. Porridge in a pot suits me far more than raw deer meat.”

The bard sat back down on the stool. “Are those the people who Rufus is courting?”

“Rufus is one of those people.” Wennid said. “He is one who believes we are becoming too much like you. He wishes for the old days.”  She shifted, and adjusted one of the bandages on Lestan’s shoulder. “He thinks the salvation of our people lies in returning to our roots.”

“Hm.” Gabrielle exhaled. “Well, you know… I think that proves more than anything that we’re not as different as either of us would like to think. I have heard that sentiment from ‘my kind’ from one end of the earth to the other.”  She said. “I can even feel it myself, when I look at Amphipolis, at what it’s becoming after the war, and there’s a part of me that wishes it could go back to being a simple crossroads village.”

“It’s not quite the same thing.” Wennid said. “You wouldn’t live in a cave, and eat bugs, would you?”

Gabrielle rested her chin on her knee and thought about it, her fair lashes blinking slowly. “You want an honest answer?” She gazed up at Wennid, a faint twinkle in her eyes.

“Let me guess.” Wennid covered her eyes with her hand in a melodramatic fashion. “If that’s where Xena wanted to live, I’d do it.” She opened one eye. “Right?”

The bard chuckled. “Yes, that’s very true, and I would.” She said. “But Xena, who’s about as down to earth as anyone I have ever  known would never put up with that. She believes in making life easier for herself, for me… if she can use a tool to do that, she will.”

And as she said it, she felt the wash of seductive power she’d come to associate with Xena’s fighting passion. It crashed over her, washing across her skin like water and she closed her eyes and let it pass.  There was no fear attached to it, just a sense of sheer pleasure, and she waited until it faded a little before she opened her eyes again.

“What is it?” Wennid asked.

“Xena went looking for trouble.. I think she found it.” Gabrielle probed their connection, searching for any hint of distress. But there was none, and after a few minutes the feeling faded, and their link settled back into it’s normal, background warmth she was just barely aware of. “Seems like everything worked out though.”

“What do you feel?” The forest dweller asked curiously.

It was hard to answer. Gabrielle nibbled the inside of her lip for a minute before she tried. “Xena… when she fights, she really enjoys it.”

“Ah.” Wennid nodded. “She is, after all, Ares’ Chosen.”

“It’s not like that.” Gabrielle objected automatically. “It’s just something she is really good at, and she loves doing.”

Wennid tilted her head a little. “Gabrielle, I did not mean that as an insult.”

“I know.” Gabrielle pursed her lips in a mute apology. “It’s just how she… how we both feel about that is kind of ambivalent.”  She got up again and paced, responding to her own fidgetiness and to the energy coming down from Xena across their bond. “Xena and Ares have a very… complicated relationship. It’s hard to explain.”  She said. “He’s done a lot of things to hurt her. He wants her to go back to being his warlord, and he’s not really into taking no for an answer. So we sometimes get caught up in things because of that.”

“Oh.” Wennid blinked at her. “You talk about him like he’s a pony. It’s very odd.”

“I know.” The bard repeated. “It’s odd to me now, to talk to people who worship him.”

Lestan stirred, and his eyes slowly opened, blinking a few times before he turned his head to look for Wennid.

“Right here, my love.” Wennid soothed him, putting a hand on his forehead. “Thirsty?”

Gabrielle smiled in quiet memory.

“Ugh.” Lestan surprised them both by making a low grunt. He clicked his teeth a few times, and lifted his head a little, squinting as he looked over at Gabrielle. “Ah.”

Gabrielle went back to her stool and moved it closer, then sat on it. “Hi there.”

“Wh…” Lestan cleared his throat. “Xena?”

“She’s out looking for trouble.” Gabrielle told him. “She’s tracking the people who attacked your village.”

“Need to talk t’her.”

“Now?” Gabrielle asked.

“Yah.”

Gabrielle almost smiled.  “I’ll go get her.”

“I’ll make sure someone’s looking after your little one.” Wennid offered. “I heard there was a little ruckus in the nursery yesterday.”

The bard was already getting up, giving in to the pull she could feel. “I’ll check on her before I go. I think the minders have a clearer idea of how to handle Dori now.”  She patted Lestan on the knee. “Hang in there.”

Wennid watched their human friend leave, her steps quickening as she reached the door and headed outside.  “Do you really need to speak with Xena, Les?”

“Uh.” Her soulmate nodded weakly. “Dangerous.”

Wennid gazed at the now empty door. “Dangerous to her, or dangerous to us, my love?”

“Wild.” Lestan whispered. “Want her.”

“Well.” His soulmate murmured back. “They may have already gotten what they wanted. The question will be…what will happen next?”

“Ugh.”

“Mm. You may have said it quite precisely.” Wennid exhaled. “Have a care, little sister. Have a care.”

**

Xena stood at the base of the waterfall, taking a moment to stand and marvel at it’s beauty. It gushed over a series of moss covered shelves, pitching down from level to level before it dropped off the last and plunged into a crystalline pool.

She knelt beside it and scooped up a double handful, taking a taste of it’s sweet chill before she drank the rest of it down. The water held a hint of the granite beneath it, and she licked the droplets off her lips as she held her hands in the weakly filtered sun to watch the bit remaining on her skin catch the light.

It felt very wild. Xena had been in many places, in many parts of the world but there had been very few where she’s felt the touch of her kind so lightly.

Thinking about that, she took a seat on a rock near the base of the falls and extended her legs, crossing them at the ankles as she absorbed the stillness around her. She decided she liked it.  It reminded her a bit of being far out at sea, where you could sit on a boat’s bow and be surrounded by nothing but the soft murmur of the waves.

A memory unexpectedly assailed her, bringing a faint smile to her face.

“Xena.. I don’t think I can take much more of this.”

Xena regarded the miserable looking bard. Gabrielle’s face came close to matching the color of her eyes, and her travel stained top, and even Xena’s pressure points didn’t seem to be working. “We’re almost there.”

“Ugh.” Gabrielle put her head against the wall of the small ship’s cabin, her face tensing. “Can I just swim the rest of the way?”

The sea had been rocking a little more than usual the past bit, and Xena was afraid it was only going to get worse before it got better. What to do? “C’mon. Let’s go up on deck.” She suggested. “It’s cooler up there, at least.”

“Ugh.” Gabrielle didn’t move.

Xena hesitated, then she took Gabrielle’s hand and tugged it, feeling the skin under her fingers chilled and clammy. “Gab?”

One green eye opened and gazed piteously at her. “If I move, you may regret it.”

“I’ll take the chance.” Xena tugged again. “I know a spot up on the deck I think you might like.”

It occurred to her that what she was saying and how she was feeling wasn’t normal. She knew her attention to her friend’s comfort wasn’t typical. She wondered when the same thing would occur to Gabrielle.

The hand she was holding tensed, and clasped around hers. Xena looked through the gloom of the cabin and found Gabrielle looking back at her, head tilted just a bit to one side in gentle question. “C’mon.” Xena said again, and this time her friend pushed away from the wall and stood and they walked together out of the tiny space and up the creaking wooden steps to the deck.

“Where?” Gabrielle asked.

Xena led her up past the mast, past the sailors sprawled on the deck mending sail, past the cook scraping salt off a few stiff, dried fish, and past the captain standing at the wheel. They climbed up onto the forecastle, edged past the rigging, and arrived on the very bow of the ship.

“Uh.” Gabrielle grabbed for one of the sheets as the boat rocked. “Xena, I don’t think this was a good idea.”

“Sure it is.” Xena took a seat and patted the deck next to her. “Trust me.”

Gabrielle involuntarily joined her as the ship rolled and she fell to the deck with a yelp. Xena grabbed her before she could roll away, and held her until she got her balance.

“Okay, I..” Gabrielle yelped again and grabbed for the deck as the boat pitched and almost sent her sprawling. “Yeesh! Xena! Did you pick this spot just to take my mind off my stomach?”

“Yes.”

“Overkill!” Gabrielle’s eyes widened as the bow rose up and the boat crested a wave. “Yow!”

Xena grabbed her again before she could roll away, then found her subconscious making a decision for her without consultation. She put an arm around Gabrielle’s waist and lifted her up, plopping the bard down between her legs, braced against the railing. “There.”

“Urk.” Gabrielle squeaked. “You didn’t…”

Xena put her other arm around Gabrielle. She felt the motion as the bard inhaled sharply, but for a moment neither of them spoke. Then the lean, muscular surface under her forearms relaxed as Gabrielle exhaled. “Yes, I did.” Xena said “If you fell overboard, I’d just have to go get you, and I’m not in the mood to swim right now.”

“Oh.” Gabrielle said. “Well…thanks.”

The breeze from behind and one side cooled them. The sun splashed down over them, it’s rays broken by the slowly gathering clouds.  Xena took a deep breath as the ship crested another swell and tightened her hold, trying not to react when Gabrielle responded by leaning back against her.

She felt something of a coward, using the specious excuse of the weather to forgive her desire. The warmth of the contact certainly made her feel better, though she had a doubt as to whether it would do anything for the bard’s seasickness.

Gabrielle’s head came to rest against her collarbone. They sat together in silence for a space, riding the waves in a natural rhythm as Xena’s powerful legs kept them neatly in place.

“Wow. You know Xena? This really works.” Gabrielle said, suddenly.

Huh? Startled out of a daydream, Xena looked at her companion in surprise. “Yeah?”

“Yeah.” Gabrielle casually draped her arms along Xena’s thighs. “It really does. I feel much better now.”

Sometimes, you just got lucky. Xena grinned. “Great. See? I told you it’d work.” She told the bard. “Stomach back to normal?”

Gabrielle put a hand over her belly, and her profile crinkled into a curious smile. “Well… not exactly. But I don’t feel sick anymore.”

Xena felt a touch on her knee, and realized Gabrielle was stroking the skin there with her thumb. She looked at her friend. Gabrielle looked back at her.

A wave crashed into the bow and the spray washed over both of them.

“Mmph.” Xena smiled, and shook her head, glancing idly to one side into the pool of crystalline water. She spotted a flash of sunlight at the bottom and leaned closer, shading her eyes with one hand. “Ah.”  She got up and dropped to knee next to the water, reaching down into it and retrieving the item causing the glint.  A bit of  golden amber lay in her palm, and on impulse she stuck it into her pouch for safekeeping.

“Never know what that might come in handy.” Xena stood and dried her hands on the edge of her tunic. She looked across the pool into the dense green, and spotted a darker area just behind it. It looked like as good an area as any to investigate, so she found a convenient rock and stepped on it, then leaped across the pool to the other side.

The leaves closed in around her and she held them back lightly with one hand as she made her way through the trees. The smell of earth came to her strongly, and she knelt, brushing aside the covering of dead foliage to expose the ground underneath.  Her finger traced a half moon shaped mark, and she nodded, her nose also capturing a hint of horse manure.

She continued forward, touching the recently bruised leaves and broken branches that cleared a path more than large enough for her to pass through.  Forest dwellers could hide, but one thing Xena had learned when she’d commanded an army – it was damned difficult to make horses invisible to anyone’s senses, much less hers.

Horses were large animals, with big, hard feet, and a distinctive scent. They also, unless very well trained, were noisy and skittish. Forest dweller horses were bigger than most, animals that size were usually used as draft animals by humans, and Xena felt very confident that she could track the stolen beasts wherever it was they’d taken them.

She moved on, putting her boots carefully down on the ground and letting the branches slide slowly off her body as she followed faint signs still visible to her eyes.  The path led to a narrow cleft in the rocks, beyond which she could see a more open area. She plucked a bit of dun colored hair off the granite and examined it, then she entered the cleft.

Immediately, she sensed trouble. Her eyes went up quickly, then to either side, then behind her, but the ceiling was bare, the rock walls blank, and the green leaves in back of her were untouched save by a light breeze.

Alert now, she padded forward, the wind bringing her the scent of horses and sunlight.. and the muskier smell of the forest dwellers. Xena stopped just inside the edge of the rocks and looked out into a bowl surrounded by sheer walls.  The floor of the bowl was covered in long grass, and cropping the grass was a herd of forest dweller sized horses.

Okay. So that was easy. Xena remained still and let her eyes move around the space. She could smell the other inhabitants, but they were nowhere to be seen and she got the distinct impression that she, herself was being watched.

She could feel a sense of waiting, of anticipation, and prompted by her instincts she lifted her eyes from the grasses and looked up past the lip of the rock.

Wild eyes, and a woven net full of heavy rocks met her gaze.

Xena felt motion behind her and she reacted, understanding the consequences as she jumped forward into the sunlight, diving for the grass and rolling forward as she heard a snapping sound and the rumble of rocks moving.

Bits of granite pelted her in the back as she continued on up onto her feet and whirled, in time to see the last of the rocks settle into place blocking the entrance.

The forest dwellers who had released them let go of their grips on the rock and landed gracefully, holding their ground as Xena braced her legs and put her back against the nearest stone wall.  She kept her hands at her sides and just watched the two of them, both a deep golden in color and about the same size.

They were, as her earlier attackers had been, naked. They bore no weapons, but the claws she could see extended on their hands were sharpened, and colored with an ochre that glinted in the sun.  They separated and took up positions across from her, watchful but not immediately threatening.

Of course… Xena returned their gaze with a cold stare of her own. Which one of them was the more dangerous was a matter of opinion.

One of them slitted his eyes at her. “Take away that armor and steel, and you’d be meat for dinner.” He growled.

Xena chuckled at him. “Take away the armor and steel and I’d be a real angry naked fighter in a very bad mood. You don’t wanna try it.”  She cocked her head, hearing the soft rustle of grass as more bodies approached.

Bodies rose out of the grass in a semi circle around her, and she pressed her shoulders more firmly against the rocks.  There were now six of them, but instead of attacking, they just stood and waited, arms held slightly out from their bodies, claws exposed.

Gabrielle was, Xena noted mournfully, going to be upset at her. She’d promised to stay out of trouble, hadn’t she?

Ah well.  “Now what?” She addressed her adversaries. “Someone going to start playing dance music?”  Deliberately, she turned her back on them and walked to the rock pile, taking hold of a likely looking one and tossing it over her shoulder. “Waste of granite.” She muttered, picking up another rock and chucking it to one side.

“Stop!”

Xena chucked another rock.  She sensed a body closing on her, and chose her next stone carefully, setting her boots in the ground with a slight twist before she swung around and released it, whipping her arms forward and sending the rock slamming against her gold coated adversary’s chest.

She flexed her hands, facing the tightening circle with baleful eyes.

“Hold.” A deeper voice behind them stopped the circle’s motion.

Xena looked past the now still forest dwellers to see another approaching, this one with almost black fur, taller, and definitely older. He gazed dispassionately at her, then clicked his claws together causing the others to back off.  “You will come with us.” He addressed Xena.

“No.” Xena replied. “I don’t pal around with people who try to bury me in rocks. Just a quirk of mine.”

The newcomer flexed his hands. Xena merely put her fists on her hips and waited, one eyebrow hiked.  “We just want to talk to you, human. Nothing more.”

Xena turned and looked at the rocks, then at him. She snorted.

“A way to get you to stay long enough to listen.” The forest dweller said. “There are things you do not understand, and you should, before you meddle in them.”  He stepped forward and held a hand out, palm up. “Come and gain a greater knowledge.”

Xena regarded him for a moment, then shrugged and walked towards him, reaching out and laying her hand on top of his and tipping her head back to meet his eyes squarely. “All right.” She said. “But if your idea of giving knowledge is a blind attack, you’ll get what you deserve in return.”

The forest dweller’s dark eyes glinted for a moment. “Leave your weapons here.” He said.

“Sure.” Xena shot right back. “If you cut your hands off and pull your eyeteeth and leave em next to them.” She said. “Wanna?”

His muzzle wrinkled faintly, into an almost grimace. “We could just kill you.”

“You could try.” Xena acknowledged. “But if you’re gonna, do it now, because I want to get back to the village before sundown and I’ve got all these rocks to move first.” She kept her hand steady on his and waited, her senses trained on his body language in acute alertness, knowing at this distance she’d only have a bare second to react.

He closed his fingers around her hand, then released it and dropped his. “Maybe you will leave this valley with less pride and more grace than you entered it with.”

Xena let her own arm drop to her side. “Maybe pigs’ll fly, but you’ll have to take em up to the top of that ridge to see it.”  She let her voice toughen. “Get moving. If you’ve got something to say, let’s get it over with.”

He was grinding his teeth. Xena could hear it.

The forest dweller turned without another word and started to walk, curtly gesturing the others to walk before him.  Xena dusted a fragment of granite off her sleeve and followed, hoping she wasn’t getting herself into something she was going to live to regret.

**

Continued in Part 4

Champion

Part 4

Gabrielle walked through the forest, her boots quiet on the path as the leaves brushed against her shoulders. Unlike Xena’s meticulous tracking, she made no attempt to find her partner’s passage along the ground knowing full well her skills weren’t nearly up to it.  Instead, she followed her instincts, a faint, almost imperceptible tugging on the corner of one part of her mind that just told her go this way.

She had used the long trip to the north to work on this new, but growing little skill of hers.  She had always been able, at least for a long time, to sense Xena when she was in some great distress… in pain, or grief, or of course, in great joy. High emotions traveled down the connection they shared, but under normal circumstances their bond remained a quiescent presence in the back of her head, waking only when Xena was in very close proximity.

So, on their journey, Gabrielle had begun to probe this untested skill, closing her eyes as Xena left to go hunting in the evenings, waiting for her to get some distance off, then tracking her through the wilds using only this instinct.

It worked, to her surprise, rather well.  She just thought about Xena, put an image of her into her mind’s eye, and then concentrated. A little… itch… would manifest itself in the direction she needed to go, and when she followed it, inevitiably she found her soulmate busy about her hunting tasks.  The first time she’d bumped into her, Xena had turned, and put her hands on her hips, and given her just the weirdest look.

Gabrielle had teased her about her losing her edge, to where she could now easily follow her. But only long enough to see those dark eyebrows arch up into her partner’s hairline and an indignant look spread across her expressive features.  Then she’d spilled the beans, before Xena started getting any ideas, like that she needed to spend the night drilling.  Xena had been intrigued, but not surprised because, as she’d told Gabrielle, she’d been doing that for years, following the bard through all sorts of travails.

And when she’d said it, it had been so obvious to Gabrielle. All those times, all those last second rescues… of course Xena had known how to find her. So she’d felt a little silly, but Xena had ruffled her hair and told her she was glad Gabrielle was catching up to her.

The bard paused to listen, hearing birds and animals moving around, and nodding to herself. Xena would have been able to identify every one of them, but to her, just hearing them was the important thing. Xena had taught her that the wild animals were excellent guardians, and as long as she could hear them nearby, chances were nothing big enough to hurt her was in the area.

The path started upward, and she leaned forward, following it’s faint mark up the slope.  Dori hadn’t been pleased at her leaving, but once she’d told the toddler that she was ‘going to get Boo’ the child had settled down happily with her new little playmates to wait for her parents return.  Gabrielle had briefly considered taking her daughter with her, given what had happened the day before, but she reasoned that she’d intimidated the minders and there wouldn’t be a repeat during the short while she’d be gone.

Near the top of the ridge, Gabrielle stopped and removed the waterskin from her belt, taking a sip from it as she considered her choices. The easier path would be to take the shoulder, and come around the side of the next valley. However, her instincts were pushing her towards the crest of the ridge, and seeing as it was the most difficult way to go, chances were her partner had picked it.

Xena was just like that.

Gabrielle pushed the stopper back into the waterskin and secured it, wiping the back of her hand across her mouth. She pushed off the rock she’d leaned against and started the climb to the top, putting her boots carefully on the mossy granite as she moved from step to step. She used her hands to take hold, lifting her body and steadying it as she moved. The rocks were slick with moisture, and carried a rich, nose tickling scent that almost made her sneeze.

Her legs were cramping by the time she reached the top and she pulled herself over the last rock to lay on her belly just before the crest, catching her breath. Curiously, she tugged herself forward, peeking over the edge of the ridge into the valley beyond. “Hmph.” Gabrielle swung her legs over the rock and climbed down the other side, studying the ground before her with an increasingly perplexed look. The path broke off not two bodylengths from her on both sides, and fell off down a sheer cliff, far down to a shadowy green mystery below.

Gabrielle went and sat down on the edge of the path, leaning her elbows on her thighs and looking cautiously over.

A bit of rock, dislodged by her leg, tumbled down into the trees far beneath her. Gabrielle edged back a trifle, feeling her heart begin to pound at the sight.  Heights had never been an easy thing for her to bear, and she put her hands behind her on the path, and pushed herself backwards until she was able to sit cross legged on the stone, a safe distance from the ledge end. The granite bit through her lambskin leggings, and she removed several sharp pieces, gingerly tossing them from her as she considered her options.

Her Xena-sense told her that her partner had come this way, and yet.. looking at the sheer drop off, it was hard to fathom where she’d gone from here.  That she was alive, and unhurt was not in question, Gabrielle would have known it if she’d been in trouble. If she closed her eyes and concentrated, all she got from her soulmate was a restless edginess, the hint of the darkling passion so much a part of her when she fought.

Gabrielle flipped over onto her belly and crawled to the edge of the precipice, peeking warily over and scanning the valley.  All she could see from this distance was trees, a thick carpet of them that covered the valley floor, and the silver cascade of a beautiful waterfall.  She looked on either side of the cavern walls, searching for the slightest hint of a path down, and saw nothing but flat, slate surfaces that even Xena’s powerful fingers couldn’t grab.

Below, and to the right, a ledge picked up and meandered down the side of the walls, barely a body width in some places.

Gabrielle judged the distance, between the end of the cliff she was on, and the start of that  lower path.

Would Xena have leaped it? Could she have? Gabrielle tilted her head and considered the angle. Yes, she could have. The bard decided. That didn’t help her though, because while her partner could cross that open space, she, Gabrielle, most assuredly could not and therefore she was stymied in her mission to follow the warrior.

Well. Gabrielle sat up and folded her legs under her again. She studied the edge of the path. If Xena went down the valley, then it was just up to her to find a way to follow. She reached out and touched the granite wall, running her hand along a solid crack that formed a shallow V in the stone.

With a little nod, she pulled herself to her feet and climbed back up to the ridge, beginning a careful search.

**

The cave stank. Xena had extraordinary senses for a human being, and she winced at this assault on them as she followed the strange forest dwellers into the dark entrance to their lair.

Inside, the only light was provided by glowing lichen, draped over the rock’s surface and bathing the interior in a very eerie greenish haze. Xena disliked it immediately, and found herself squinting around her. With a frown, she closed her eyes and triggered her other senses instead, her ears picking up the sounds of a number of large bodies, and a greater number of smaller ones.

The whisper of rats, and the soft clicks of insects brought her eyes open again and she found her eyesight grudgingly adjusting to the dim light.

Immediately, she wished it hadn’t. The inside of the cave was full of glowering faces, glinting eyes watching her closely around a central stone circle.  Half eaten carcasses were set to one side, their surfaces crawling with insects. The stench almost turned even her experienced stomach, and she took a few steps to one side, away from the worst of it.

Scattered around were rough made nests of leaves and branches, each large enough to contain one forest dweller, and wound through with vines to hold them together.  In the rear, Xena could detect the faint sound of water trickling, but she doubted the forest dwellers inside used it for anything but drinking.

Shoving down the sincere desire to throw up, Xena put her hands on her hips instead and eyed the tall, dark furred forest dweller who seemed to be the leader of the bunch. “All right. I’m here.”

“Sit.” The forest dweller took a seat in the center of the stone circle, on a slab of rock almost like a throne.

“I’m not going to be here that long.” Xena told him. “It smells too bad, and I’m afraid those bugs might mistake me for your dinner.”

The forest dweller stared stonily at her.

Xena was aware of the silent bodies that had come in behind her, and were now blocking the entrance. She folded her arms and ignored them. Her instincts were telling her she wasn’t getting out of here without a fight, but there was nothing in her nature that resented that.

Perhaps the forest dwellers knew that.

“You are Xena.”

“I am.” Xena agreed. “That all you wanted?”

“They say you are Ares Chosen one.” The forest dweller’s voice dripped doubt and contempt.

“He wishes.” The warrior chuckled briefly.

The dark one stood and walked over to her, circling her with patient, feral steps. “Are you saying you are not?” He asked. “That you have lied, to all our people?”

“I never lied.” Xena replied quietly. “I never said I was. You did.”  She swiveled to follow him as he circled her, watching him closely. “I never claimed to be anyone other than who I am.”

He spread his arms, extending his claws, and laughed. “And who are you?” He asked. “You are just a human, after all. It is as I expected…. Lestan lied.” The golden eyes snapped open, and focused on her. “He deserved death.”

Xena felt her warrior instincts rise. “I can count on the fingers of this hand.” She held up her left one. “The number of people I’ve known in my life who deserved death.”  She closed her hand. “And I killed all of them. Lestan didn’t deserve what happened to him.”

“You … don’t understand.” The forest dweller circled her. He turned and held his hands out to her. “My name is Bellas. I am a true son of Ares.” With a sharp gesture, he whisked his claws past her face, just missing her chin. “I…. am his Chosen.”

“No you’re not.” The warrior shook her head. “Trust me. Ares wouldn’t put a tip of his leather boot in this place.”

A sharpened claw extended towards her. “Liar.”

“No.”  Xena evaded the paw and ducked under it, turning and drawing her sword in one smooth motion. With a twist of her wrist, she whipped the blade into an tight pattern as she leaped onto the stone platform, the greenish glow flickering off the blade as she cut a swath in the moss, sending bits of it around her like fireflies. She completed the turn, keeping her motion supple and fluid, sliding the blade from her right hand to her left and twirling it over her forearm before she reseated it into her sheath. “But once up on a time, he was my teacher.”

As she stood on the stone, in the circle, she felt suddenly the dark power in her surface, the part of her the was a part of him, that reveled in the blood and she spread her arms out much as Bellas had, gathering the eerie glow to her. “At one time in my life… *I* Chose Him.”

Bellas faced her, backlit from the cave’s entrance. “Then you will stay here… and teach us.” He lifted his hands, and the forest dwellers, naked and wild, closed in on her. “Or you will die.”

Xena drew her sword. “One of us will.”  She felt the air grow close as the forest dwellers approached, massing now almost two score.

A low growl rose.

“If you kill me, you get nothing.” Xena said.

“If I kill you, I get everything.” Bellas replied. “And I will listen to the screams of the little one bound to you as she feels you ripped between my claws.” He smiled a toothy smile at her. “Can you hear her? Your weakness, one who chooses?”

Xena didn’t wait for them. She drew her blades, and let out her battle yell, and went for the blood.

**

At first it was almost more than she could handle. Xena kept her center of balance low, and shoved her way through the snarling mass of fur, trying it keep from being knocked off her feet. Falling, she knew, would be tantamount to a death sentence.

Her heartrate picked up as she twisted and turned, feeling the tips of claws scrape against her skin, ripping the cloth over it and scoring her underneath.

Her boots grabbed scant surface under her, the rock covered slime and grunge she tried not to think about. She ducked under Bella’s outstretched arms and slammed her body against his, making some space to stand in. Claws grabbed her, puncturing her armor, and she responded with a vicious sword thrust that sent a spray of hot blood as she yanked her arms backwards.

Roaring.

The sound, and the smell were overwhelming. Xena wanted out. She started hacking at anything in front of her, ducking in pure instinct as she felt an impact on her back, then flipping her sword in her hands and stabbing backwards.

She felt the blade enter a body and grate against bone.  A hot form slumped against her back, and she leaned forward, kicking back and shoving the body off her as she evaded a frontal attack by two forest dwellers twice her size.

“Kill her!”

Xena fixed on Bellas’ voice and charged towards it, bowling over the two forest dwellers before her and sending them sprawling over the rocks  that were the only thing keeping her alive. She leaped onto the nearest and threw herself through space, slashing downwards and tumbling in mid air as she drew the chakram out and cut through the back of Bellas’s thigh.

He let out a howl and grabbed for her.

Xena let herself keep falling, and landed on her back

Bellas leaped on top of her, extending his arms out and slashing at her face. He fell on top of Xena’s boots, which she’d tucked up over her and now he found himself blocked from reaching her. Frustrated, he leaned over and lunged, not understanding the sudden, dimly seen grin on the warrior’s face.

Xena uncoiled her legs, shoving against the rock and arching her back with all her strength. Her adversary catapulted backwards, slamming against the rock wall and sending a shower of moss and insects over the floor.

Over her. Xena scrambled to her feet and shook herself vigorously, just barely having time to set herself before Bellas came at her, his eyes red with anger.  He’d picked up a piece of stone and now he threw it at her, roaring at the top of his lungs as he lead the rest of the remaining forest dwellers at her.

Xena hadn’t lived as long as she had by being stupidly courageous. That she left for the heroes in Gabrielle’s tales, the ones who died so gallantly in some stupid way or other. She knew that surviving was the ultimate goal, and so she dropped between two of the rocks and leaped, close to the ground and under the forest dweller’s deadly arms.

Her shoulders brushed two heavy bodies on either side, but she got through and saw a clear space, turning almost in mid air and slipping through a break in the attackers. She felt a clawed hand catch her leg, but her armor shed the grasp and then she was clear.

Daylight. She bolted for it, knowing none of the forest dwellers could match her speed.  With a howl, they turned and chased after her, claws scrabbling in the grunge of the cave.

“Coward!” Bellas yelled after her. “We shall find you! You won’t escape this valley!”

“Yeah, yeah.” Xena reached the entrance and dove through it, glad beyond reason to see the sun, and feel the wind against her face.  The rocky ground wasn’t easy to run over, and the forest dwellers gained on her until she picked a path and leaped up onto a rock, then up onto another, jumping from stone to stone with a agility of a mountain goat.

She reached a ledge, then doubled back and leaped over the heads of the chasing forest dwellers, sheathing her sword and reaching out to grasp a tree branch with one hand. The bough bent under her weight, then recoiled. She released it and went with the arc, grabbing a second branch and hauling herself up higher, out of the range of the forest dwellers.

They started throwing rocks at her. Xena dodged behind the tree’s trunk and looked around, spotting another tree close by. She ran down a branch and stooped at the end of it, pushing off and leaping out ward. Mid way she pulled her body into a flip, twisting around and watching as several well aimed rocks slid to either side of her. With a grim smile she caught the outer branch of the next tree and got her balance, then ran down it towards the bole.

When she got there, she circled it and looked back, watching for her followers.

But they were gone.

Xena went very still and extended her senses. The wind brought her nothing, but the stench rising from her clothing, brought from the cave would be an effective killing of any scents. She cocked her ears, though, and closed her eyes, allowing her surroundings to infuse her.

Nothing.

Xena frowned. The forest dwellers hadn’t seemed to her to be that competent in woodcraft, not after she’d seen how they kept their lair.  She concentrated again.

Nothing.

Then she looked up, to find Bellas standing not far from the tree, staring at her.   He slowly extended an arm, and pointed a blood covered claw at her.

“We will see who deserves Ares attention. Run, then. We will catch you. We will hunt you.”

And then, as Xena watched, he faded into the landscape, and disappeared before her very eyes. She focused on where he’d been, and strained her senses, and finally… finally, she caught a hint of a musky scent. Then it was gone, leaving her alone in her tree, with only the wind to keep her company.

Xena leaned against the tree trunk, not at all in a good mood.

**

Gabrielle made the climb up to the crest again, hauling herself over the edge and resting a moment before she got up and adjusted the loops of forest vine over her shoulders.  She felt quite proud of herself, and gave the vines a pat as she dragged them over to the stone wall and dropped them to the ground.

“Okay.”  She picked up an end, then paused, grabbing onto the rock for support as she felt a surge of energy come through her connection with Xena. She closed her eyes, and let herself feel it, this flavor very different from the one she’d felt before.

Xena was fighting, but not enjoying it. Not a good sign. Gabrielle opened her eyes and turned her attention to the vines, looping the end she’d picked up into a stout knot and tugging on it.

The sound of rocks moving every so slightly made her start, and look up, her body reacting automatically when she saw the large, furred figure easing through the gap and blocking her way.

It was a stranger, someone she didn’t know and she turned her back to the wall, setting her boots squarely and letting her center of balance come up over the balls of her feet. One hand reached out to take hold of her staff, but she waited, watching the newcomer warily.

He stopped, and his body straightened, as though he was as surprised to see her as she was to see him. He paused and put a clawed hand on the rocks, studying her for a long moment. “This is a sacred place to us.” He told her. “Humans are not tolerated here.”

Gabrielle considered the words. “I’m looking for a friend.” She glanced over the side, down into the valley. “Down there.”

The forest dweller also looked. “No human lives there.” He stated simply.

“My friend is there.” The bard said.

The forest dweller frowned. “Leave.”

Gabrielle gave him a gentle, though regretful smile. “I can’t. I need to find my friend.” She said. “I’m sure you wouldn’t leave a friend someplace they weren’t… tolerated… would you?”  She paused. “Rufus?”

His muzzle wrinkled. “I do not know you.”

“Well.” Gabrielle held at bay the urgency now tugging her through her link with Xena. “Let’s see. In this part of the world, among your people, there are probably two humans everyone knows. One of them is really tall, has dark hair, gorgeous blue eyes, and carries a sword.” She cocked her head at him. “I’m the other one.”

“Gabrielle the Bard.”

“Good guess.” Gabrielle set the knotted part of her vine into the crack in the rock, tugging it down until it felt secure. She pulled against it, already feeling the sweat gathering on her palms.

Rufus came towards her, looming over her. “I told you this was a sacred place.” He said. “Your kind is not welcome here, Gabrielle the Bard.”

“Well, I know.” Gabrielle pulled the coils of vine towards the edge of the precipice. “But you see, Xena’s down there and I need to find her, so I’m afraid I’m going to have to ask you to make an exception for me.” She grunted, shoving the vine over. It uncoiled as it went down, and flapped it’s way against the rock, making an unpleasant sound as it tumbled earthward.

“You don’t seem to understand.” Rufus came closer. “You need to leave.” A pause. “Now.”

“Okay.” Gabrielle looped the string tied to her staff over her head, letting it rest across her back. She took hold of the vine and, without stopping to think about what she was doing, she walked backwards until she was at the very edge.

“Stop!” Rufus reached for the knotted end. “If you continue, I”ll release this.”

Gabrielle looked him right in the eyes for a long moment. “Then I’ll die.” She stated softly. “And you’ll have killed me, despite the fact that I”ve only ever been a friend to your people, and risked my life for them.” She took a breath. “I’ve always believed that your people were better than mine in some ways. Was I that wrong?”

Rufus stared at her.

Gabrielle glanced behind her, unable to ignore the actual fear now coming through her bond. She swallowed hard, pushed her terror to the back of her mind, and stepped off the ledge, letting her arms catch her weight on the vine.

It bit into her hands, and she felt her shoulders take the sharp jolt. Instinctively, she wrapped her legs around the wriggling vine, and tried not to panic. Then, slowly, she started to let herself down.

A rock hit her in on the head and she looked up, finding Rufus there looking down at her. There was a knife in his hand.

Gabrielle closed her eyes, and felt the burn as the vine slipped through her fingers.

Another rock hit her. She ignored it, and slid her boots lower, swinging through the air and slamming her shoulder against the rocks.  She felt a tug on her lifeline, and a jolt of terror hit her as she looked up to see Rufus kneeling next to the edge, one hand on the vine.

Xena.  Her mind formed the words. I think I just guessed wrong. If I did, I’m sorry. I just wanted to get to you.  She imagined the vine parting, and the fall through the air. She knew the leafy green surface, looking so soft from this high up, would greet her with hard, sharp arms and end her life with in seconds.

Drawing a breath, she looked up once more. Rufus gazed calmly down at her. His knife caught the sun as he lowered it towards the vine.

Gabrielle scrambled downward, and looked to her right, shoving off against the wall with panicked legs. She felt the vine begin to give, and she pushed off again as she swung back towards the wall, gaining momentum all the while.

One more swing..and she felt the vine part just as she hit the wall. She released the vine and pushed off against the wall with all her strength, lunging into the air towards the small ledge that seemed impossibly far away.

I have to get there.  Her mind panted. For Xena.

**

Xena stood under the waterfall, letting the icy thrumming power beat against her body with indifferent mercilessness. She breathed out as hard as she could, forcing even the memory of the cave’s stench out of her lungs and held it for a moment, coughing before she inhaled a chestful of water scented air.

A shiver ran down her spine, and as she looked up, fear came barreling down her link with Gabrielle and just took her to her knees in the water before she could catch her balance and gasp with surprise. A moment later she surged straight through the front of the waterfall and dove into the water, using it’s momentum to propel herself ahead faster than she could have otherwise.

She cut through the rapids, and angled towards the far shore, bouncing off rocks before she grabbed hold to a half submerged branch and hauled herself out of the water.  She shook herself hard, then broke into a run, dodging branches in the thick forest as she responded to a nameless call.

And as abruptly as it had started, the terror ended.

Xena slowed, her heart beating so fast she could hardly breathe, and focused on her soulmate.

Nothing.

She stopped, and rested her hand against the nearest tree. “Gabrielle?” She whispered the name.

**

The air screamed past her, and Gabrielle twisted in it, reaching out frantically and stretching her body out towards the ledge that was coming up fast. If she missed it, there was nothing but the forest below and even if she was lucky enough to come close….

No more time. Gabrielle brushed against the stone wall as she fell, and bounced off, careening wildly down the slope and grappling for a handhold, for anything to break her fall. She didn’t even feel the pain yet.

Her hands hit something solid and she gripped instinctively, her body falling past her and almost pulling her arms from her shoulder sockets. Her jaw hit stone, and her head snapped back, almost making her black out but somehow she held on, ending up hanging from both hands as pebbles rattled past her down to the forest.

“Augh.” Gabrielle spit out a mouthful of blood. She sucked in a breath, then got up the courage to open her eyes.

The layered rock of the ledge was before her, from the tapering end she was hanging from thickening into a full sized slab. Slowly, she lifted her head, examining the rock clutched in her fingers. Gods.  Her shoulders already ached, and her hands felt slippery.

“Okay.” She whispered to herself. “Gabrielle, you just have to do this. There’s no other way.”  She focused an image of her partner into her dream eye and slowly contracted her arms, pulling herself up. The strain was incredible, and for a moment, she didn’t think she could do it. Her body slipped down again, and her grip loosened.

But that image was there. As though she could see those blue eyes looking into hers, she could see the expression change and a memory surfaced that had haunted her for years.

No. Gabrielle felt a growl work it’s way up out of her throat, and she pulled herself up again. I am not going to do that to her, again.  She got her chin up over the ledge and paused, panting, her arms trembling. Then she arched her body and threw a leg up over the edge, scrabbling with her boot to get a grip on the uneven surface.

Her foot struck a ridge, and she found purchase, her powerful leg muscles pulling her body up and over the edge of the precipice and rolling her back against the stone wall.

She lay there, with her eyes closed, just being thankful. Her cramped hands curled against her belly and the copper tang of blood from her bitten tongue filled her mouth. A lot of things hurt. But she made the effort to open her eyes and look back up at the upper ledge, to see Rufus looking down at her.

Even from where she was, she could see the shock. Slowly, she lifted one hand and made a gesture that even given their difference in species, he would understand.

His head pulled back out of sight.  Gabrielle managed a pained, wry smile, before she rolled over and straightened her body out, trying to assess what she’d done to herself.

**

Xena leaned her head against the bark, feeling her heart rate settle back to normal. She could sense, just faintly,  worry, anger and dismay from Gabrielle, but not the stark terror as before, and she decided that something definitely had happened, but as was her wont, Gabrielle had dealt with it in her own way.

However, she also felt the need to make sure of that herself, and now she was faced with having that to deal with along with having a pack of wild forest dwellers tracking her with the intent to turn her into badger chow.

On top of that, she was drenched. Wet leather was never something she enjoyed wearing, even in the best of times and the cold wind blowing through the trees was causing her to chill. She looked around cautiously, uncomfortable with the knowledge that she was being hunted. It wasn’t something she’d had to deal with often, being the hunter more often, and she found the experience unsettling.

“Okay.” She spoke aloud, pushing off from the tree and squeezing out her overtunic. “First thing’s first. Get to the pass, move the rocks.”  She tipped her head back and studied the sun, it’s glimmering almost blocked by the trees.

Her ears picked up a tiny discrepancy.  Xena sighed, and snugged her belt tight, before she reached for the tree’s lower branch and pulled herself up into it, climbing high up into canopy to limbs that would just hold her weight.

Definitely not a forest dwellers.

“Sometimes an old Amazon trick works.” The warrior muttered, as she picked her way along the branches, able to walk from tree to tree through the incredibly thick foliage.  “Gabrielle, Gabrielle… what are you up to?”

Her weakness. Xena recalled Bellas’ words. It was true, and she’d known that for many years, as had any number of her enemies.  Gabrielle was her weak spot – the one thing she valued more than anything else on earth, the one thing.. the one person whose well being had no price too high for her to pay.

She’d come to terms with that long ago. Having Gabrielle’s love in her life was worth any risk, and she knew the bard felt the same way from her side of it. They’d both talked about it often enough and after everything they’d been through together, Xena knew it would take more than a pack of scruffy, tick infested forest dwellers to separate them.

The wind stilled for a moment, and her ears cocked, picking up an almost imperceptible crackling. She paused deliberately and turned, staring down through the branches to a specific spot in the green of the forest.

The faintest flicker of motion rewarded her, in the blinking of two golden eyes.

Xena turned her back on them, and continued on her way, towards the pass.

**

Her nerves finally settled down, Gabrielle leaned against the stone wall and borrowed a trick of Xena’s, moving everything from the toes up carefully to find out of she’d damaged anything critical. She was sore all over from her slamming into the rocks, and her hands were scraped raw, and her tongue was deeply bitten, making her head throb.

Not good. Gabrielle examined her shaking hands soberly. But, infinitely better than what might have been. She laced her fingers together and drew a knee up, resting her forearms on it. Taking a quiet moment, she silently thanked any of the gods who happened to have been watching out for her, and she thanked Xena, who had taken care that she was fit and capable of handling herself.

Okay.

With a sigh, she reached up and took hold of a rock outcropping, pulling herself to her feet with slow caution.  Her legs held, which was a good sign, and she straightened out her back with a grimace as every muscle in her torso protested.

The worst was the sharp pain along her spine where her head had snapped back, which made turning her head agony.  Gabrielle very cautiously rocked her skull from side to side, and winced at the throbbing, hoping all she’d done was bruise something.

“Pig farts.” The bard rubbed the back of her neck. “I’m gonna regret that little trip for a while, I think.”  She exhaled, and then booted her staff up to her hand and glanced down her hard won path. “Xena’s gonna kill me.”

She started off, keeping the image of her partner’s face in mind as she took a moment to look behind her, taking in the huge gap she’d gotten across.  A wry smile of self pride appeared on her face, before she turned and continued on her trek downward.

The path was uneven, and not kind to her battered body. She used her staff to keep her balance, staying as close to the mountain wall as she could and running her free hand over its surface. After a few minutes, she loosened up a little, and walking was more comfortable.

She curled her hand more snugly around her staff, glad of it’s support as the path slanted more steeply downward.  Below her, she could see the dense forest, and to one side a pretty waterfall whose tumbling waters already attracted her poet’s eye.

After a moment’s watching, she probed her link to Xena, relieved to find just a sense of… impatience.

Worry.

“About me, I bet.” Gabrielle acknowledged wryly. Her terror surely must have reached her partner, and now she suspected that her search for Xena had become a mutual trek, the two of them at either end of a powerful cord moving along it towards each other.

At the end of the path were two huge stones, the space between them forming a natural gate into the valley. Gabrielle slid a hand over the nearer boulder’s surface as she eased between them, leaning on her staff as she paused and looked into the valley from their safety.

It was beautiful. Her eyes drank in the lush green of the forest, and the riot of wildflowers dotting the earth nearby. The waterfall tumbled down across moss darkened rocks and provided as picturesque a view as she’d ever seen in her travels.

“Wow.”  Gabrielle walked out across the loam covered earth towards the water, and held a hand out to catch it’s spray.  It was cold, and it stung her fingers, but the scent was so clean and fresh she moved closer and knelt carefully by the pool at it’s foot.

Dipping her hand in, she scooped up a mouthful and tasted it, the cold, crisp taste almost tingling on her tongue.  It was delicious, and she took several more mouthfuls before she got to her feet and wiped her lips, feeling much better for it.

She spotted an almost invisible path that ran alongside the water through the trees, and decided to follow it, stepping across the stones near the pool and pausing as her eyes spotted a color out of place. She leaned on her staff and gazed down at the blood stain on the rocks.

“Hm.” Gabrielle leaned over and touched a patch of thick, dark fur stuck in the blood, and her fingers brushed a cut in the stone that it was buried in, the fresh, pale shade of the granite indicating it’s recent origin.

Nearby, a chip had been sheered off, and she picked it up, examining it’s surface. Then she slipped the stone into her belt pouch and stepped over the blood stained rock, her eyes now picking up more drops of rust on the ground leading towards the faint path.

Broken branches, also stained. Gabrielle realized someone had carried wounded.. or maybe worse.. bodies this way.

Something else caught her attention, and she went over to a tall, gnarled tree growing almost out of the rocks themselves. She found a gash mid way up the trunk and she reached out and touched it, removing a piece of fabric from it’s narrow clutches.

Just a scrap, but the color and texture was as familiar to her as the soft lambskin she was wearing.

Xena.

Frowning, she put the fabric into her belt pouch with the rock and started up the path, aware of a cold wind rising at her back.

**

Xena slipped around the rocks, and pulled her sword as the attack she’d felt in her bones came upon her. It was only one this time, dropping on her in silence. The pounce took her to the ground and she felt sharp claws rake her back before she rolled out of reach and came up onto her feet again.

To find empty space around her, and no trace of her attacker.

Only the stinging across her spine was left, no matter how hard she focused on the world around her, and Xena admitted to herself, though she never would have to anyone else, that the damn thing spooked her. She sheathed her sword, but removed her chakram from her hip and cradled it in her right hand, her fingers gently spinning the weapon as she kept moving along, towards the blocked cliff.

Her nape hairs rose, and she simply let her body react, whirling around and slashing out at eye level.

The chakram made contact, a spray of rich, red blood splattered across the rocks, and a hairy body slumped at her feet.  She barely had a chance to absorb her success when her reflexes flared again and she lifted her hand, this time deflecting two small darts with the edge of the chakram and sending them careening off into the forest.

“So much for doing things the old fashioned way.” Xena called out tauntingly.  She edged sideways and retrieved one of the darts, sniffing it as she let her eyes roam around the silently watching forest. “You’re wasting your time. That wouldn’t take down Gabrielle on a bad day.”  She tossed the dart from her, kneeling to examine her attacker.

He was already dead. She’d cut his throat with the chakram, her instincts always going for the kill after so many years of honing them. He was naked, one of the smaller forest dwellers from the cave, and he had an unusual, smokey brown coat.

Around his neck was a cord, black where it wasn’t covered in blood, and hanging on it was a polished bit of amber wrapped in gut. Xena touched it with a fingertip, before she rose and picked a new path, ducking under a shelf of heavy granite and slipping between two tall boulders.

The darts worried her though. Despite her brash words, enough of the natural soporific on it’s tip would certainly have an effect on her, and if the forest dwellers decided to pepper her with them en masse, she was in some real trouble.

If they attempted to attack her one at a time, she’d pick them off. Xena knew it, and she suspected the forest dwellers knew it now too.  That meant the next attack would be different.

Xena paused as her ledge petered out, and stood inside its safety while she considered her next move.  Nearby, a dark pool burbled, running down into a swiftly flowing creek. It looked deep, and it was going in the direction she was interested in.

Besides, she was already wet. Making her mind up, Xena tucked her chakram away and readied herself, then she bolted from the rocks and headed for the water.

A cloud of darts darkened the air around her, most missing, but she felt a few telltale stings on her neck and arms. She ignored them and powered towards the water, outracing a second volley as she reached the edge of the creek and leaped onto the rocks that bordered it, throwing her arms forward and diving neatly into the rushing stream.

The icy cold water closed over her, but despite it’s chill she welcomed it’s safety.  The current grabbed her, and she concentrated more on steering her progress and staying out of the way of rocks than actively swimming.

As she turned her head, she spotted flickering forms racing alongside the creek, trying to keep up with her. Reaching down as she surged along, she plucked a stone from the bottom and waited. After a few minutes, one of the forest dwellers slipped, and leaped up onto the rocks in full view. Xena grinned and half turned in the water, lifting her arm up and whipping it sideways. The stone hit it’s mark, and the forest dweller went tumbling off into the underbrush.

“Hope it was a thorn bush.”  She muttered, then grimaced as a dull burning started to emerge at the nape of her neck. She rubbed the spot, squeezing the skin in a meager try and getting the poison out, then had to stop when she realized she was coming to a set of rather wicked looking rapids.

Her hands were tingling. Not a good sign. Xena hoped it was from the cold, as she angled her body between two upthrust logs, dipping between them as the water shot her forward. The current half turned her, and she went under for a moment.

The shock of the water over her head sent a jolt through her, and she rolled back up, shaking the hair out of her eyes as she came back up into the air. She’d gotten a mouthful of river, though, and taste of vegetation and moss was thick on her tongue.

The rapids got rougher, and she could see the walls of the valley narrowing as it pushed her towards her goal.  A rock over hand, though, arced over the stream as it rushed along, and Xena could see her adversaries gathering on it.

The tingling was spreading up her arms, and Xena felt her breathing shorten. She cursed and flexed her hands, shoving aside the creeping lethargy as she took powerful strokes to bring her as far away from the overhang as possible.

It would be close.

Xena saw the vines draped over the edge of the rocks, and knew, suddenly, it would too close.

**

Gabrielle found herself in a sunken dell, her way blocked by a thick hedge full of heavy thorns.  She decided to rest a minute, and sat down on a fallen tree log, leaning her staff against it and resting her elbows on her knees.

She could go back the way she came, but that itch inside her head was getting stronger, and something inside her was telling her to keep listening to it. Her body was starting to stiffen up from her injuries, but she looked around the dell, searching for a way forward.

Across from where she was sitting there was a tiny break.  Gabrielle took a drink from her waterskin, then steeled herself and got up, trudging over to the break and thumping down next to it on her knees.

She peered through the branches. “This is more Dori sized, but what the hay.”  Looping her staff over her shoulder again, she crawled into the thorn bush, ducking her head slightly to avoid a patch of nasty looking points.

“Ow.” Gabrielle regretted the motion, as her neck seized up. Her elbows unlocked and she crashed to the ground, the pain jerking her body into a tight ball.  For a frightening moment she lay there, stifling a yelp, then slowly the cramping faded and she could straighten again.  “Ugh.” The bard put a cautious hand on her neck, and under the skin felt a swelling right where her shoulders started.

Not good.  She rolled over onto her back and extended her legs, grimacing until her spine relaxed and she could breath without hurting. Her eyes focused upward, and spotted a red robin sitting on a branch, watching her. “Hi.”

“Chick.” The robin warbled. “Chicka chicka.”

“Want to lend me those pretty wings?” Gabrielle suggested. “I’d bring em back, honest.”

“Chick!” The robin fluttered down and landed on her, hopping up onto her chest and cocking it’s head.

“Well, thanks.” The bard managed a smile. “I appreciate the compliment, and I’d love to stick around and chat, but I’ve got a partner out there that I need to go find.”

The bird cocked it’s head the other way, then lifted a foot and scratched it’s eye.

“Wish I could do that.” Gabrielle very slowly lifted her hand, and rubbed the bird’s chest with her fingertip. “You’re  a pretty little boy.”

“Chick!” The bird nibbled her finger, then decided he was bored and fluttered off back to the branch, where he went back to searching for bugs.

Gabrielle cautiously rolled over and got to her knees, careful not to move her head around too much. She was glad of the thick leggings tucked into her boots protecting her knees, and her travel shortened hair that evaded the thorns as she edged through the underbrush, working her way past inch long barbs as she moved further and further into the hedge.

A sense of urgency slowly started to build inside her.

Not for the first time, Gabrielle wished she had something like Xena’s chakram, as she tried to move faster through the brush, wincing as barbs caught at her skin.

**

The water closed over her head. Xena felt almost a sense of peace as she ducked out of the sight of her pursuers, down into the depths of the river. The current pushed her along very quickly, and she slitted her eyes open, idly watching the murky depths move past.

She bumped against rocks, and a bit of air escaped from her lungs, silvery bubbles brushing past her nose as they rose to the surface.

The water filled her ears, and she listened, hearing far off splashes.

The river had her, though, and she knew it. She closed her eyes and waited, hearing the splashes slowly fade off behind her as she passed through the narrows, the current dragging her body over the rocks on the bottom and thumping against her knees.

Pressure was building inside her lungs, and she could feel it. The urge to breath was getting greater, but the water was far, far over her head.

But she felt no panic. She waited.

The sounds faded, as her vision was fading, and her hearing was fading so that all she was aware of was the chuckling of the river around her, cradling her in it’s grip.

It became very peaceful.

Xena released the rest of the air in her lungs.

Then she let go of the rock she’d been carrying, and her body lifted up through the water, up from the murky depths through the pale green, up to the surface, and her head broke through into the sunlight.  She sucked in a breath, almost laughing at the irony.

She looked behind her, seeing the overhang far, far off and judging the stretch of river she’d spent underwater.

Without the dart’s drug, she’d never have been able to slow her body rhythms down enough to have held her breath that long.

“Irony, thy name is Xena.” She remarked wryly, as the current swept her around a curve, and the sun warmed her chilled to the bone frame.

**

Gabrielle crawled out from under the last of the bushes literally on her belly, pulling herself forward with her elbows.

The pain in her back had gotten worse. A lot worse.  She found a patch of soft moss and slumped down on it, trying to find a position that didn’t hurt enough to make her scream. It was like someone was driving daggers into her spine and she clenched her hands in the dirt as she felt the dampness of tears around her eyes.

She put her head down on the ground and closed her eyes, trying to will her body to relax. Her cramped position as she crawled had caused the cramps, she was pretty sure, and she figured if she maybe rested a little it would go away again.

At least she hoped so.  Gabrielle flexed her hands, grimacing at her scraped raw palms.  The sun filtered through the trees and splashed across her. She squirmed a little into a patch of it, craving the warmth that soaked into her skin and seemed to make her tense muscles ease.

After a few minutes, she let her eyes drift open and she looked around as the pain faded back a little. The glade she was in was beautiful, a rich scene of every shade of green speckled with little yellow wildflowers.

Xena’s agitation had calmed, and Gabrielle felt a small measure of peace enter her as she watched two butterflies flitter around the flowers, reminding her of the long afternoons she and Xena had spent at home, in their little private glen near Amphipolis.

Xena had always gotten their first.  Gabrielle knew that when she parted the thick leaves and walked the uneven steps down into the dell she’d find her partner already there, sometimes doing some light drills, sometimes hanging up side down from a tree, and sometimes just curled up in the grass waiting for her.

Today was no exception. Gabrielle shifted the bag she was carrying slung over one shoulder and ducked past the last branch, entering their hideout with a sense of utter pleasure at coming to the end of yet another busy day.

Xena was lying on her back , with her head pillowed on her folded cloak. She had her hands clasped across her stomach and she was looking up at the clouds with sleepy, half closed eyes.  “Hey, sweetie.” Gabirelle greeted her. “Gorgeous day, huh?”

Xena tilted her head and lifted a hand, waggling it.

Gabrielle walked over and sat down next to her, putting her bag down and leaning an elbow on her partner’s raised knee. “What’s wrong?”

“My last nerve hurts.” Xena answered, eyeing her grumpily.

“Ah. Been talking to the council again, huh?” Gabrielle opened her bag, and removed a packet, along with a bottle. “Xe, they don’t’ mean to be stubborn and obstructionist, they just…”

“Drive me nuts.” Xena growled.

“Well.” Gabrielle pulled the cork on the bottle and poured some of the contents into one of two wooden cups she’d brought. She put one down near her knee, and handed the other to her partner. “I used to drive you nuts once upon a time, too.”

One blue eye fastened on her. “I’m not in love with the council.”

Gabrielle chuckled. “You weren’t in love with me then.”

Xena eased herself up onto an elbow and sipped the wine in her cup. “Oh yeah? How do you know?”

The bard leaned harder on her partner’s knee. “Xena.”

The warrior rolled onto her side and curled her legs around Gabrielle, making a living hummock for her to relax in. She smiled when the bard took advantage of it and they drank together in silence for a little while.

“The harvest festival’s really looking like it’s going to be very successful.” Gabrielle finally spoke. “They… the elders came and asked if it was all right if they sent out runners about it.”

Xena’s eyebrow lifted. “They needed your okay for *that*?”

The green eyes twinkled soberly. “Well, not really, but they’re telling everyone I’m going to perform so…” Her nose wrinkled into a look of mild bemusement. “You know, I’m still not used to that.”

“I know.” Xena grinned. “Decided what to do yet?”

“Not yet.” Gabrielle admitted. “I may try to think up something new.”  She draped her arm over Xena’s hip and stretched her legs out. “Maybe something incredible with you in the middle of it.”

“Us.” Xena reached over and tickled her navel.

“Us.” Gabrielle repeated, putting her head down on her arm, and giving her partner a deeply affectionate look.

Xena toyed with a bit of pine cone. “I was.”

“Hm?” The bard swallowed a mouthful of sweet wine. “You were what?”

The pale blue eyes looked up and her, rich with shadows. “In love with you. I just refused to let myself believe it.” Xena said, with a tiny, wry smile.

“Oh.” Gabrielle said, nibbling her lower lip. “I guess the council’s out of luck then, huh?”

Their laughter melded and filled the glade.

Gabrielle enjoyed the memory, and her soulmate’s unexpected admission.  She hadn’t had that problem – she’ d known she was in love with Xena almost from the start, but her youthful uncertainty in herself had lead her to believe Xena didn’t look at her as anything but first, a responsibility and later a friend.

“Okay, enough daydreaming.” She stretched her body out very carefully, relieved that most of the cramping pain had faded. Rolling onto her belly she got her hands and then her knees under her and got up slowly, using her staff to manage to get upright.

She felt unbalanced. Gabrielle curled her hands around her staff, glad of it’s sturdy support as she took a tentative step.  Her back felt like it was just on the verge of spasming, but as she continued to take cautious steps, it seemed to stabilize and she found she could walk with relative comfort.

“All right. No more wild acrobatics for me.” Gabrielle could see a path through the trees ahead and she followed it, noting the slight incline. She’d crossed the bottom of the valley and  was now starting towards the towering cliffs on the other side, towards where she could also hear the thunder of another waterfall.

Her pace was slow, and it gave her time to study her surroundings. An odd look to a tree trunk caught her eye and she walked closer, touching a ridge on it that was worn and bare. A foothold? She tipped her head back and looked up, spotting a shadowy outline of a platform high up past the tree’s first branching. It was moss covered, and appeared to be wood.

Very much like a watch post in the land of the Amazons, in fact. Gabrielle judged the height of the foothold, and decided it belonged to the forest dwellers.  As far as she could tell, though, it was empty so she moved on, spying some thing else in the brush far more welcome.

Blackberries.  Gabrielle gently took hold of a bunch and twisted them off, fingering the large, juicy looking fruits with a wry grin.  She selected one and ate it, then gripped her staff and moved on, munching as she made her way up the gentle incline. “Okay, Xena. Where are you? Don’t make me walk all the way up the mountain again looking for you, huh?”

She could hear the echo of her words on the wind, and not much more.

**

Xena grabbed a passing branch and let the water’s pressure take her under it and up onto a soft, sandy bank on the outside curve of the river.  She curled up against the shelter of the fallen tree and leaned her head against it, the drug preventing her body from being able to throw off the water’s chill.

She was shivering uncontrollably and after a few minutes in the sun when that didn’t stop, Xena knew she had to do something about it.  With a groan, she lifted her head and peered around, then she forced herself to her feet and trudged towards a small stand of trees nearby.

Slipping between them, she felt a sense of relief not only to be out of view, but because the sturdy trunks blocked the wind.  She sat down in the middle of the little cluster and spread her legs out, leaning her back against the nearest trunk and wondering how long it would take for the herbs to wear off.

She closed her eyes, then opened them again as her teeth started to chatter. “Sssstop thhhat.” She growled to herself, irritated at her lack of control.  Xena glanced behind her, then she lifted her fist and slammed it backwards into the tree trunk, allowing the shock of the pain to cut through the drug’s somnolence.

It made headway. Xena slammed her hand into the tree again, in the same spot. This time the pain was much sharper, and the adrenaline surged through her, clearing her mind. “That’s better.”  The warrior examined her hand, which was bleeding from a gouge just behind her knuckles. “Ow.”

With a frown, she sucked it, cleaning the blood off and letting the copper tang work to rev up her senses. The shivers started to slack off, and now that her mind was clearer, she got up and drew her sword, going to the center of the small space and turning in a circle with the blade extended.

The tip just cleared the trees, but it was enough. Xena started a series of  basic routines, moving in the tight space with patient precision.  At first the drug blurred her reactions, but as she warmed up and her body pumped blood through her muscles, the shivering faded and a flush of heat went all the way out to her fingers and toes.

After a while if it, she slowed her motions, and paused, sheathing her sword with a satisfied snicking sound. “Much better.” She glanced down at herself, shook her head, then removed her overtunic and wrung it out between her hands, watching the stream of river water patter against the leaves.

Satisfied at last it was as dry as it was going to get, she put it back on and retied the belt, snugging it close to her body. Then she leaned on one of the trees, and considered her next move. She figured her water trick had bought her a little time, but she also knew that the forest dwellers knew where she was going, and they’d be waiting for her.

Another bout with the darts wasn’t in her battle plans.  Xena examined the rugged ridge in front of her, which was mostly granite outcroppings. Remembering her experience with the stone during her last visit in these parts, she was pretty sure she didn’t want to try and scale the ridge.

However.  Xena studied her other options. She wasn’t sure she had a choice.   She decided to make her way to the foot of the ridge by following the river on this side of the bank, keeping near the trees.  As she eased out from her hiding spot, and walked towards the water it occurred to her that it had been quite a while since she’d been completely on her own like this.

Usually, Gabrielle would be at her side, and she’d learned to automatically adjust her plans to take that into consideration. If the bard had been here now, climbing the ridge would not have even been an option, for instance.

With a smile, Xena remembered the last time she’d made a climb like the one possibly facing her. Damn, that was a long time ago.  She mused, thinking how much more…  well, innocent wasn’t a word she could apply to herself, but how much less complex her world had been back then.

How much less complex their relationship had been. She nodded silently as she walked. Gabrielle had still seen her through eyes that hadn’t seen Dahok. Hadn’t seen Hope. Hadn’t seen the betrayal between them.  She spared a wistful thought for the past, but her conscience wouldn’t let it rest.

Be real, Xena. You were never really comfortable with her thinking you were a hero, were you?  The warrior passed and concentrated, listening for the least bit of sound out of place. After a moment, she continued walking.  You were always wondering when the other boot would drop, and she’d see you for what you really were, and it would be over.

It was true. But Xena had been wrong, both about herself and about Gabrielle. She was capable of worse than she’d ever imagined, and Gabrielle…. Gabrielle was capable of seeing through that and loving her anyway, as well as revealing a dark side of her own that put them both on a more equal footing.

So.  Xena winced as her wet leathers scraped against her body. They say, what doesn’t kill ya, makes you stronger. They’re right. It did.  She probed at the quiescent connection between her and the bard, relieved to feel only a steady sense of purpose coming at her.   Keep coming, baby. Keep coming.

The river rapids were getting more vicious, and Xena looked out over them with a frown. She knew the mountain rose up in front of her, so what was causing the rapids? Usually she’d expect them before a waterfall, or running through a gorge. Here, she saw neither.

Where was the water going?

She barely had time to react, her body turning and her hand reaching for a weapon as two furry bodies came barreling at her, with sharpened sticks in their hands.

She could see the tips covered in poison.

Without a second thought, Xena turned and leaped over the nearest, then landed and shoved off again into space, arcing her body out over the water and plunging back into it’s chilly depths.

Guess I’ll find out what’s causing the rapids  She looked behind her, shocked to find the forest dwellers leaping in after her. They held their sticks in their jaws, and swam towards her with a look of stony intent in their eyes.

Shoving her sword back in it’s sheath, Xena turned and started swimming, steering her body between the rocks as she went for the fastest part of the current. It picked her up and flung her forward, taking her out of her pursuers reach.  She grabbed a floating limb and broke it off, then used it as a prow, guiding her way through the rapids.

The river banked slightly, and she turned with it, spotting two more forest dwellers waiting near the bank. As she watched, they fit their sticks into slings, and aimed, waiting for her to pass. She ducked under the water as she came even with them, and felt the touch of one of the sticks as it bounced harmlessly off her shoulder.

She surfaced and shook the hair out of her eyes, looking behind her to see two frustrated faces on the bank, and as she turned all the way around in the water, saw two more still struggling to catch up to her.

Xena was getting annoyed. She decided to wait for the next possible moment, and get out of the river. If the forest dwellers wanted a hunt, well, then she’d give it to them, only she’d be the hunter. She was tired of running.

Having made up her mind, she rolled in the water and started looking for a way out.  The rapids were getting very unruly, and she was having trouble keeping her head up and out of them. She ducked under for a moment, and got a noseful of water, surging back up and letting out an aggravated snort.

A yell caught her attention, and she turned her head, blinking water out of her eyes. The two forest dwellers on the shore were racing along the banks, carrying thick vines. At first she thought they were coming after her, then she saw them hurling the vines to the two in the water chasing her.

The two caught them, but the water’s power combined with their weight caused an unexpected result. The two in the water held on desperately, and when they got to the end of the vine, the rope went taut and pulled the two on the bank into the water.

They yelled in panic, and tried to grab debris along the bank. One of them got a grip on a limb, but it broke off and they all went tumbling along in the frothing surf.

Oh Great.  Xena almost laughed.  Just what I needed.  She turned and just barely evaded a huge boulder, sweeping around it and letting the current take her around another bend.

Then she saw what was causing the rapids, and she understood why the forest dwellers were trying to get out of the river.

Her heart came up into her throat as she stared at the onrushing river’s plunge into solid rock, the stream disappearing completely beneath the earth with a thunderous roar.

They were all trapped.

There was no way out.

Xena didn’t even have time to react before the river grabbed her and wrestled her into it’s clutches, taking her down and pulling her under into the darkness.

**

Gabrielle was climbing carefully up and over a rock carapace when it hit her. She dropped to her knees and let her staff drop, her hands clutching at her chest as she felt a wave of frantic fear and anguish wash over her.

“Xena!!!” The name was ripped out of her throat.   She could feel the panic rising, and knew if what she was feeling was coming from her partner, Xena was in real trouble. Breathing hard, she scrambled to her feet and grabbed her staff, ignoring the pain that shot through her as she set off at a run.

**

Xena just had time to suck down a large lungful of air when she was pulled under and everything around her went dark.  She felt something solid approaching and squirmed around, fending her body off from the wall just in time to prevent being knocked senseless by it.

It was chaos, and she was blind. She flipped around so that she was moving feet forward, figuring a broken leg was better than a broken skull, and wondered how long she’d last before her air ran out.

Her heart lurched, thinking of what Gabrielle must be feeling, sensing, on the other side of the mountain.

Then she didn’t have time to think of anything else, as the raging current slammed her against the rocks, battering her back and forth between the sides of the crevasse she was in before she shot forward again.

Her air was running out. She could feel the incredible impulse to breathe overtaking her and she struggled to push it back down, to give herself just a little more time.

To give them, a little more time. But the water seemed endless, and she smacked her head against the rocks. The shock made her half inhale, and water went down her lungs, and she knew she was losing it.

She focused down tight, and reached out, just a single, gentle caress that carried behind it all the force of the love she felt for her partner.

And then, the rock narrowed around her and she was propelled through a ring of rock. With shocking suddenness she found herself hurtling through air, instead of water, as the falls dropped out from under her into a huge cavern.

She barely had time to cough, and get a breath of air, before she was plummeting into the pool below, flat on her back. The water closed over her again, but she managed to turn and get her feet down before she hit bottom with a jarring jolt. She pushed off and broke through the surface again, finding herself still being swept along by the heedless river. It was pitch black, save a faint glow from the ceiling of the cave but she could just make out a finger of rock jutting out and with a fierce lunge, she flung herself from the water and grabbed hold of it.

For a moment, she just hung there, then she pulled herself up and sat on it, straddling the rock and coughing the water out of her lungs.

She heard a cry, and looked up. In the dim, greenish light she spotted a dark body flying through the water as she had, and then another.

They swept towards her. Xena glanced towards the dark hole the underground river rushed into, submerging once again into the rock.  The bastards had been trying their best to kill her, and Xena felt no sympathy for them at all.

So when she found herself flipping her leg over the rock and hanging upside down, with her hands reaching for the first of them, no one was more surprised than she was.

She gripped onto the fur of the first forest dweller and heaved, flinging him halfway out of the water and onto the low slope under her. He grabbed at the rocks frantically and got a grip. Xena released him and caught the second, almost losing her perch as he twisted and tried to hold onto her.

“Stop it!” Xena bellowed, yanking herself free and shoving him towards his mate.  She looked towards the falls, but didn’t see any further dark bodies, and presumed the other two forest dwellers had managed to get themselves out in time.

She reached up and pulled herself back up to a seated position on her rock. Below her, the two forest dwellers gasped and coughed.  Xena looked at the falls, then she turned and looked at the crack in the rock the water disappeared into.

It struck her that all she’d done is postpone the inevitable. There was no way to fight that current going out, and she suspected diving in and chancing the crevice was a death sentence.  So now she was trapped in this cave, in the dark, with two forest dwellers who wanted to kill her.

Xena sighed. Just wasn’t her day.  But on the bright side, she was still alive, and as long as that was true, maybe she could find a way to stay that way.

Somehow.

**

Gabrielle stumbled, and almost fell as the panic almost took her over and she stopped and leaned against a tree, one hand reaching out as though she could touch the partner whose distress she felt as if it were her own.  “Xe…”  She whispered, feeling a ghostly touch on her cheek that wrung a cry from her throat almost ripping it raw.  “Nnoooo….”

Then as though her prayer had been listened to, the fear faded, replaced with anxiety and relief.

Gabrielle pressed her cheek against the rough bark, as her legs threatened to collapse under her. Her heart was beating so fast, she couldn’t count the thumps and she felt sick to her stomach.  The stress of not knowing what was happening to Xena overtook her, and she started to cry, sobs jerking her chest  as she clutched at the trees’ support.

After a few minutes, she regained control and opened her eyes, blinking the tears from them as she took a shaky breath.  She gave herself a little more time to recover, then she wearily pushed away from the tree and exhaled, rubbing her face with one hand and running her fingers through her hair.

One thing occurred to her, as she went to retrieve her staff. She’d had a half formed idea of taking Dori with her to find Xena, and now she was extremely glad she’d decided to leave her rambunctious offspring in the village. Having Dori’s restless curiosity to deal with right now would have been just about too much.

“Xena… when I catch up with you, I’m gonna… I’m gonna…” Gabrielle gave up, and just started walking again, her injuries almost forgotten in her anxiety for her soulmate. “You’re in such trouble, you know that? Boy, when I get a hold of you….”

Gabrielle picked her way over a patch of bluebells, careful not to crush them. “When I get a hold of you, I’m never going to let go.” She finished her sentence with wistful self knowledge. “So you better just settle down and stop scaring the sheep poo out of me, okay?”

She rounded a small bend in the path, and started up another incline. The sound of the waterfall was getting closer, and she paused to listen to it, before she continued on.  She climbed up a short slope and maneuvered between two trees, ending up in another small dell.

Where she had to stop, because she was suddenly surrounded by forest dwellers.  They were all naked, and there were mats and gnarls in their coats she’d never seen in any of Jessan’s people before. They stood in silence watching her, and she leaned her weight on her staff, looking back at them.

They showed their claws, sharpened tips glinting in the sunlight, and bared their fangs.

“Hello.” Gabrielle decided to break the ice. “My name is Gabrielle.”  She cocked her head, and waited, letting her eyes wander from one to the other in gentle curiosity.  This wasn’t apparently the reaction the forest dwellers were hoping for by their fierce display, and they shifted, turning their eyes to the biggest of them, a male with a pale yellow coat.

“You are not welcome here.” The male stated. “This is a place sacred to our kind.”

Gabrielle nodded. “I know.” She looked around. “I don’t blame you. It’s very beautiful. I’ve been a lot of places, but this is one of the nicest I’ve seen.”

The male frowned, his muzzle wrinkling. “You must leave.”

Gabrielle returned her attention to him. “Well, I can’t.” She said. “I’m looking for someone.”

“You have come for Xena.”

The bard nodded. “That’s right.”

“She has shed blood in this valley. She will never leave it.”

Gabrielle digested this. “Then I guess I won’t either.” She said, meeting the forest dweller’s eyes evenly. “But you knew that. You know what we are to each other.”

“This place is sacred.”

“Xena is sacred to me.” Gabrielle answered flatly.

The male walked towards her, watching her warily. “We will take you to the cliff, and out of our land.”  He said. “You have done us no violence.”

The bard debated, then made her choice. She shifted her weight off her staff and whipped her body very unexpectedly around, catching the forest dweller across the side of his head with the end of her weapon, a solid hit that sent a crack echoing through the dell.

The forest dweller stumbled back, batting at his head in surprise as he stared at her.

“Now I have.” Gabrielle resumed her stance, trying not to grimace at the cramping the motion had cost her. “And I’m betting if Xena hurt any of you, it was because you tried to hurt her first. If you attacked her, knowing who she is, then you should have known what you were asking for.”

The forest dweller growled, and rushed at her.

Gabrielle remained stock still, standing her ground and meeting his eyes squarely. “Sure, go ahead. Prove to me that your kind is just as ugly, and lacking in honor as mine is.”

The male stopped.

“I already had a demonstration of that, back at the cliff. Go on. Give me another.” The bard went on, her voice strengthening. “Or get out of my way, and let me go find my partner.”

“She killed four of us.”

Gabrielle had felt it. “Did you attack her?”

“That is not the..”

“DID YOU?” The bard barked. “Because she didn’t come here for that. She came to find out who attacked our friends, to try and understand why.”

“She..” The male paused. “We were only trying to scare her off.”

Gabrielle felt very tired. “Are you really that dumb?” She asked.

The forest dwellers didn’t like that.  They muttered to each other in low voices.

“Did you even try to talk to her?” Gabrielle asked. “How would you feel if I had just come upon you and started hitting you. What would you do? You would fight back, right?”

The male rubbed the side of his head and scowled at her.

“Xena is a warrior. Just like you are.” Gabrielle gentled her voice. “She’s been fighting all her life. When someone attacks her, she defends herself, and sometimes that means people get hurt. Or they die.”

“She is not like us.”

“Isn’t she?” The bard asked softly. “Isn’t she really what you want to be?”

“Human?” The forest dweller barked in derision.

“No.” Gabrielle gazed steadily at him. “Ares’ Chosen.”

That brought a tense silence. Gabrielle straightened and picked her path, walking forward past the big male and heading for the edge of the circle. She could feel the nape hairs on her neck prickling, and she knew the risk of what she was doing.

But the fact was, to get to Xena, this was the way she had to go.  They would either stop her, or they wouldn’t.  She hoped they wouldn’t – she knew she couldn’t fight them even if she hadn’t been hurt.

It was a risk she had to take.  She had to find Xena. They had to get out of this valley.  She’d promised Dori she’d be back, and she’d bring her daughter’s beloved Boo back with her.

She just had to.

**

Continued in Part 5

Champion

Part 5

Xena climbed down from the ledge she’d perched on and started a slow exploration of the cave. The roof was covered with the same greenish lichen as the forest dweller’s cave had been, giving her just enough light to see something, but not enough for it to be clearly visible.

It was cold inside the cave, and her drenched clothing clung to her lending a chill to an already considerable discomfort. Her boots squelched as she walked across the rocks and she could feel her leather armor chafing in several places.

It was annoying. Xena found it eroding her already shortened temper, and she paused to glare at the forest dwellers who stirred at her approach.  She put her hands on her hips and faced them. “Don’t you even think about it.”

They stopped moving.

“Lift one claw towards me and I’ll cut it off.” Xena said. “Got me?”  She could just barely see the glowering expressions on their faces, but their eyes dropped, and she took that as answer enough.  Turning, she edged her way along the beach, the shattered granite pieces crunching under her boots.

The clear space was perhaps four bodylengths long, and curved like almost any beach she’d ever seen. Rising from it was a thick ledge of rock, which tapered out to the outcropping she’d pulled herself out of the water with.  Xena tipped her head back and reached up, feeling the top of the ridge with her hand.  She crouched, then leaped and got a handhold, hauling herself up onto the ledge.

It was fairly broad, with an even surface that sloped gently upward as she walked along it towards the cavern wall.  Xena put a hand out and touched the stone, feeling the cold dampness under her fingertips. It smelled of water, and moss, and though she carefully felt the rocks she didn’t encounter any breaks. The wall was solid all along the curve and she realized their little haven was indeed a prison instead.

At the end of the ledge, the walls dropped down into the water. There were no crevices, no corners to turn. The small spit of land was all they had.  Xena turned around and surveyed the rushing water. “Well.” She exhaled. “At least we won’t die of thirst.”

The two forest dwellers had been examining the waterline. They turned and looked up at her as she took a seat on the ledge. For a short while, they stared at each other through the gloom, then the two of them went back to carefully feeling out the slick rocks.

Xena let her hands rest on her thighs and considered her options.  The roar of the water was muted in here, more of a gurgling rush, but it paid testament to the power of the flow that passed through the cavern.  Strong a swimmer as she was, there was no chance of her going against it.  Slowly she turned her head to the inner wall. The water filled the tunnel completely, with no indication at all as to how far it went below. It could open up into another cave, or, as was more likely, continue on as an underground river until it found another outlet somewhere.

So she could jump in and maybe get lucky enough to end up in someplace even darker and more hopeless than this, or she could jump in and have her body surface someplace on the other side of the mountains to become a snack for a prowling bear.

Xena gazed straight ahead of her, trying not to feel the gut wrench of despair that threatened her at the edge of her senses. Feeling that, succumbing to it, would go straight through her bond to Gabrielle and the last thing she wanted to do was…  Xena stopped in mid thought. Gods.  A small voice inside her head spoke. If this is it, I won’t even be able to say good bye to her.

For an instant her breathing caught, then she grabbed control of herself with a fierce intensity, forcing the desolate thoughts out before they could hit her in the gut.

“This is all your fault.”

The accusation was bizarrely welcome.  “My fault?” Xena repeated, in a husky voice.

“Your fault. If you had not come here, this would not have happened.”

The warrior slowly lifted her head, to see the larger of the two forest dwellers facing her. “All right. It’s my fault.” Xena said. “I forced you to attack me without provocation, try to kill me, kidnap me, try to bury me under a rockpile, and then try to drown me.” She said. “My fault. No problem.”

“You lead us in here.”

“I should have just let you drown.” The warrior informed them. “More space for me.”

The forest dweller glowered at her. “This is a death trap.”

Xena looked around at the interior of the cavern again. “Yeah, I know.” She exhaled. “Dying wasn’t exactly in my plans today.”

“Your dying was in our plans.” The other forest dweller said. “We were going to nail parts of you to a half a dozen trees, after we pulled you apart and listened to you scream.”

Xena looked at him. “You and what army?” She scoffed. “You jumped me six times, and I killed what… eight of you? What makes you think you wouldn’t have been the ones to die?” She jumped off the ledge and undid her belt, setting her sword down in it’s sheath and ignoring them as she walked to the edge of the water and removed her overtunic.  She squeezed the fabric between her hands and watched the trickle that resulted hit the stream’s surface. “It would take more than a pack of half witted fuzzballs to kill me.”

The larger of the two snorted. “Because you think you’re Ares Chosen?” He mocked her.

“No.” Xena resisted the urge to whack him on the side of the head with her sword. “Because I have a family I need to get home to.”  She put her overtunic back on and belted it, then restored her sheath to her back.  Her eyes began another, stubborn study of the dark chamber.

“We will laugh at your dying then, and enjoy the thought of the misery of your family.” The smaller one said. “If we have to die as well, that at least will be good to see first.”

Xena turned from the water and stared at him, the faint green light flickering off her pale blue eyes. “You won’t.” She uttered. “I’ll stay alive as long as I can, and if that means I use you as food, I will.”

His eyes widened.

“Not that in touch with your wild side?” The warrior taunted hm. “Pathetic.”

He bared his fangs at her. “Eating you would only give me a stomachache.”

Xena smiled at him. “I suggest you cut the bacchae dung out.”  She resumed her patient search, watching the patterns in the moss as they traveled unevenly over the roof of the cavern. Midway over the stream, they separated and swirled, making an irregular circle around a dark patch.  She walked around to the ledge again and leaped up onto it, getting as close to the ceiling as she dared.  “Or I won’t take you out of here with me.”

“There is no way out, human.” The forest dweller snorted.

“Have it your way, fuzzbutt.”  The warrior stretched upward precariously. It was still just a dark patch.  Xena sat down on the ledge, and circled her upraised knee with one arm. She drew in a breath, held it, then released it. She drew in another, and carefully tasted it on the back of her tongue.  It held the smell of wet fur, the sweetness of the water, and the bitter tang of the granite on it. But if she concentrated very hard, she could almost detect something else.

Grass, and the barest hint of decay.

Now how, Xena wondered, would the smell of grass be getting in here?  More importantly, was it getting in somehow that she could use to get out? Looking around her, Xena acknowledged that the chances were slim, and that she was probably just lying to herself. But given the options of that, or sitting on the damn rocks waiting to die, she’d take self delusion and at least it would give her something else to think about.

Something else other than Gabrielle, on the other side of that mountain, heading towards her along a path that could only end in disappointment.

What would Gabrielle think when she saw the hole in the rock Xena had disappeared into?

Xena slammed a halt on the image again, and got up. She wouldn’t give up on her, that was one thing for sure. “Grass.” She spoke aloud, pacing back and forth, ignoring the two forest dwellers. “Where are you, hmm?”  She peered up at the dark patch, then stooped and scooped up a handful of shale.  With a sidearmed motion, she sent a piece towards the ceiling, hearing the solid ping as it hit.

“And she calls us half witted.” The bigger forest dweller muttered.

Ping.  Xena adjusted her aim. Ping.  She adjusted again.

Nothing. Then a far off snick. Ah.  Blue eyes fastened on the gap, far above her head completely out of reach.  She took a deep breath. It’s just a mountain, Xena.

Just a mountain.

**

Gabrielle stopped to take a drink, and wipe the sweat from her brow. The air was cold, but she was fighting against her stiffening injuries and the way was becoming tougher and tougher.

It didn’t help that she had a silent shadow behind her, making her shoulder blades itch.  The forest dwellers hadn’t stopped her, but that didn’t mean they weren’t going to, and the stress combined with her mounting pain and the worry in her guts was becoming difficult to bear.

Xena was in trouble. She knew it in her guts. There was no sharp anguish coming down their link, but at a deeper level, with some synergy they’d always had between them, she could feel the weight of whatever was happening laying on her soulmate’s strong shoulders.

Xena had never been able to hide that from her, not after they became intimate again. It was as though the lowering of that barrier exposed an intimacy of another kind. She knew when something was bothering her partner, and Xena knew when something was bothering her, and maybe because not paying attention to those feelings almost destroyed them the last time, neither of them ignored it now.

“Do you know where you’re going?” The forest dweller spoke up for the first time.  He was a male, tall and broad shouldered, with auburn fur and light golden eyes.

“Yes.” Gabrielle came to a fork in the path and took the upper one, leaning on her staff as a jolt of pain coursed up her back.

“We will follow you to Xena, and then we will kill you both.”

“Fine.” The bard replied shortly. “I guess that means you don’t know where she is, right? Aren’t you people supposed to be super trackers?”  Leading the forest dwellers to where Xena wasn’t didn’t really worry her – there weren’t that many of them and she had every confidence that between her temper today and Xena’s battle skills they could handle the lot of them.

“We know where she is.” The forest dweller told her.

Gabrielle edged around a boulder in the path, and continued up. Walking up the slope put pressure on her back, and the pain was starting to move down her shoulders. “Then why are you following me?”  She asked. “Why not just go there.”

“Perhaps we have our reasons.”

“Perhaps you’re lying through your fangs, and you have no clue where she is.” Gabrielle retorted. “I hope she kicks your butt when we get to her, let me tell you that.”

“We will kill you.”

The dialog was getting really boring. Gabrielle stifled a few choice statements, and decided on a different tack. “Why?”   Why was a strategy she’d used early on with Xena, after she got tired of the warrior’s gruff, often dogmatic pronouncements.

“What?” The forest dweller had drawn closer, and now he was walking just behind her, with the rest of them spread out behind. “What do you mean?”

“I said, why?” The bard repeated. “Why do you want to kill us?”

“You entered our sacred place.”

“So?” Gabrielle glanced at him.

The forest dweller looked at her as though she was missing something. “Humans are not allowed here.” He repeated slowly. “It is forbidden.”

“Why?”  At least the discussion was taking her mind off her difficulties.

“Why?”

“That’s what I asked.” Gabrielle said. “I mean, not that it’s not pretty here, understand? I think it’s just one of the nicest places I’ve ever seen, but it’s rocks and trees and a lot of water, you know?”

“This place is a very sacred place for our people.”

“Yes, you said that, but why is it sacred?” The bard asked. “I know where your people came from, and it wasn’t a cave. Is this where Ares and Aphrodite fought over you?”

The forest dweller was silent for a few steps. “No…” He finally said. “This is where we are one with the land.”  One long arm lifted, and indcated the forest around them. “This place… is where our soul lives. It’s where we can return to the core of what makes us what we are.”

Gabrielle digested that. “Okay.” She replied. “But why would you have to kill me… or kill Xena, for that matter, for being here? We’re not here to mess with this place.”

“Humans destroy all.” The forest dweller said. “You ruin the land, and kill it’s spirit.”

Was that true? Gabrielle considered the thought. “You mean because we plant and harvest from it, and put homes on top of it?”

“Yes.” Her companion said. “And you have taught those of us who have strayed to do the same. That is what we seek to change. Your influence.”

“My influence?” Gabrielle asked. “Boy, that’s the first time been accused of shaping a whole civilization. Wow.”

“Your people’s influence.” The forest dweller conceded. “You are insignificant.”

A pair of pale eyebrows cocked upward, as Gabrielle eyed him. “Okay, then why do you have to kill me, if I’m insignificant.” She lifted a hand and pointed at him. “Don’t tell me it’s because I entered your valley. I’m not here to steal it.”

The forest dweller scowled at her.

“What’s your name?” Gabrielle asked.

“Bird.” He answered, grudgingly. “You must die because many of those who have lost the way listen to you.”

“Ah.” Gabrielle grunted. “But I thought you said I was insignificant.”  She leaned forward a little, wincing at the ache in her thighs. “Which is it, Bird?”

Bird scowled at her again.

Gabrielle smiled to herself, and kept on climbing.

**

Xena swung her legs against the ledge, racking her brains to come up with a plan. Any kind of plan.  She’d guessed that the dark spot over her head was an open space, but it was so far above her that even if she could, by exerting every ounce of her ability, to leap that high there was no guarantee she’d find anything to grab onto.

Falling into the current meant a very probable death. Not an option.

She’d examined the cavern walls, looking for handholds to climb up and across the ceiling with. But exposure to the ever present water that ran down the walls as well as poured into the opening had rendered the granite smooth and slick, beyond even her skills at scaling.

So.  Xena studied the toes of her boots. Now what?  She decided to take stock of what she had with her, and unstrapped the oiled leather pouch from her waist and opened it.  Inside, she found a wrapped packet that smelled vaguely nutty and discovered an only slightly soggy trail bar inside. The parchment wrapping had kept it from completely disintegrating, and she gladly took a piece and munched on it.

Her flint and striker were inside, completely useless in her current circumstances. She set them aside and investigated further.  A short knife, her favorite, with a bone handle carved to fit her hand, one of Argo’s cheekpieces that needed fixing, and several rocks.

Xena peered at one of them, which was wrapped in something, and found a prickle of surprise lift the hairs on her neck. Carefully, she untied the string and opened the parchment, bringing it very close to her face to see what was on it.

The words, blurred by the water and in the dim green light were very hard to make out.

Hey! Bet you didn’t think you’d find one of these in here, did you!  I was sitting on a rock this morning watching you swim with Dori, and a crazy bird flew past and dropped this rock on my lap.  I figured it was a sign from the gods that I need to weigh down your pouch with more rocks, so here it is.

I was just thinking that these last few weeks have been about the most wonderful time I’ve had in a really long time. I always knew traveling with you was something I loved to do, but being all alone out here, just us and Dori has given me so much joy I can’t even tell you.

Or I guess I can tell you, because I am, right?

Hope you’re having as good a time as I am, sweetheart. I wouldn’t trade a second of our time out here for anything.

Love you.

G.

Xena lowered the parchment for a moment, rubbing her fingers over it very lightly as she stared off into nothingness. It occurred to her before she could block it off that this might be the last words of her partner’s she’d ever see.

Her lips tightened into a thin line.  She let the ache fade, and was glad the words had at least been happy ones.  Glad too, that she’d taken a moment that morning just to cuddle with Gabrielle before she’d left, in the dim light of pre dawn when the bard’s low chuckle of pleasure was more a vibration against her skin than a sound.

A brief moment of indulging in the sweetness of their love, a moment of peace, when she’d run her fingers through Gabrielle’s hair and felt the bard’s arms slip around her in a heartfelt hug.

She could still feel it, and in this dark cold place it brought her an unexpected comfort she wasn’t stupid enough to ignore.

But, she had things to worry about, so she carefully folded the parchment and placed it between her flint and striker, tying the string around them tightly to protect the little scrap.  Then she picked up the trail bar and finished it, wiping the crumbs from her thighs as she returned her attention to her predicament.

She was alive. That was the important fact. As long as she was, she had a chance of finding a way out, and if the worst eventuality came, and she hadn’t – well, there was always that second hole to dive into. She’d save that for a very last resort though.

Xena put her belt pouch back onto her belt and stood up, stepping off the ledge and landing on the beach with a light hop. She ignored the two forest dwellers seated next to each other and went to the waterline, kneeling next to it and cupping a double handful to drink.

“We should kill you now.”

“You should shut up before I toss you in.” Xena replied, not even glancing at them. She took another mouthful of water and swallowed it, then she stood up. The racing water licked at her boots, flowing over the edge of the beach, but mostly keeping to the deeper channel it had carved itself over the years.

Across the channel, she could barely see another slope, and a jagged ledge. She judged the distance, then turned and jumped up onto the rock shelf in back of her, taking two steps back and flexing her body.

“What are you doing?” The smaller forest dweller asked.

“Going over there.” Xena replied, setting her body in motion and bounding to the edge of the rock, crouching and kicking off into the air over the rushing current. Midway across, she curled her body into a flip, then landed it neatly on the opposite shore. “I hate the stench of wet fur.”

“You’re just scared of us.”

Xena didn’t even deign to laugh. She explored the other side of the cavern, climbing up onto the jagged outcropping that leaned over the current near where it plunged under the mountain again. Sprawling at full length, she examined the opening, reaching a hand out to touch the edge. A bit of the rock crumbled under her touch, the fragments swept quickly away by the rush of the water.

She cocked her head, and leaned close, listening with all the concentration she could muster. The spray of the water coated her with dampness, but she focused on the sound, searching for a thunder that might indicate a fall into another cavern.

But it gave up no thunder.

Xena rested her chin on the rock. Then she turned her head and regarded the outside opening. Getting up, she crossed back on her side of the chasm, climbing up the precarious slope towards the gaping hole. Experimentally, she stuck her hand in the flow and almost had her shoulder wrenched out of place.

The forest dwellers laughed.

Xena backed off, and turned her head, spotting a small boulder nearby. She climbed over to it and picked it up, grimacing as the weight strained her muscles.  Catching her balance, she moved back to the edge of the water and heaved the rock in, observing it’s fate intently.

The rapid flow grabbed it and despite it’s weight carried it along for a short space. Then the boulder sank under the surface, and her ears just caught a low thunk as it struck the bottom of the channel.

Well, that wasn’t helpful. She’d hoped to send the rock through the lower hole and listen for it’s landing. With a frown, she looked around for another victim. Near the far wall was a likely candidate, and she walked over to it and laid a hand on it’s surface.  She tugged on it, then jerked back as the ledge of rock above it shifted when it did.

The forest dwellers laughed again. Xena picked up a piece of slate and turned, whipping it across the channel with a vicious side motion. It struck the taller of the two, and he stumbled back. “I don’t see you doing anything to get out of here, so why not just shut up?”

“Bitch.” The forest dweller picked up the rock and threw it back at her.

Xena ducked it easily, and then went back to her boulder. She examined the ledge, finding a long, wide crack that went straight up the wall.  A rock hit the stone next to her, then  a second, and she looked over to see the two fuzzy jerks pelting her with everything they could get their claws on.

Damn it. Xena dodged a flurry of them, then put her hand son the ledge and pressed her body up onto it, getting to her feet just as she realized what a bad idea that was. The rock shifted under her and she kept her balance with difficulty, taking two steps forward and jumping just as the entire shelf collapsed unexpectedly with a loud roar that overpowered the water’s thunder.

A spray went up, and the channel surged around the rocks half blocking it, sending a huge wave up onto the other side and fairly swamping the forest dwellers. They yelled and clung to anything they could get their claws into, trying to keep from being pulled back into the current.

Xena crouched behind a layer of debris, enjoying the sight. The water level stayed up, traveling over the new rocks, and every time the forest dwellers tried to scrabble out of it, a surge would suck them back in.

Serves em right.  Xena chuckled nastily.  Teach me to be nice.

The water surged back across near her, the new level now licking hungrily at the ledge and drowning the small beach.  Xena jumped back, then climbed up onto the ledge, watching the water surge up onto the ledge and cover the tops of her boots.

She looked at the surface.

Then she tipped her dark head back and looked up.

Her eyes tracked around the cavern as she put her hands on her hips. An idea swirled into solid being in her mind, a chance filled with such risk it was hardly more viable than just leaping into the current would be.

Hardly.

She took a breath. But she’d need help. With a determined look, she raced for the edge of the rock and leaped outward, gaining the other side with a precarious slip of her boots on the mossy surface. Then she dove onto her belly and extended a hand to the floundering forest dweller nearest to her. “Hey!”

Golden eyes glared at her.

“Wanna live?” Xena extended her hand further. “Or die?”

The water roared past them, waiting for an answer.

**

Gabrielle felt her knees start to shake, and knew she had to stop and rest. She’d been walking uphill for a significant slice of the sun’s progress, and now she chose a convenient rock and settled down on it.

Bird and his friends halted, looking at her uncertainly.

The bard let her staff rest against her shoulder, and very slowly relaxed, wincing and leaning forward to rest her weight on her elbows as her back protested the position.

She let her bag drop to the ground, and rummaged into it, pulling out two wrapped packets. One held a thick pasty filled with minced rabbit and venison and the other two of Xena’s trail bars. She set the trail bars aside and took a bite of the pasty, propping her head up on one hand as she ate.

After a few awkward moments, the forest dwellers melted into the greenery, except for Bird. He settled down on the ground next to a tree and leaned against it. “I thought you were anxious to get to your friend.”

Gabrielle took another bite and chewed it, licking a bit of the juice off her lips before she answered. “I am.” She said. “But Xena wouldn’t appreciate it if I ended up not getting to her in one piece.”

Bird sniffed. “Humans are weak.” He said. “My kind would not have to rest.”

“Yeah, well.” The bard mumbled, around a mouthful. “I do better when I don’t start my day falling off a cliff.”  Her rumbling stomach settled down a little as she finished the pasty, but she knew herself better and she picked up a trail bar next.

At home, it hadn’t been that bad. Mealtimes had been regular, and she tended to carry extra reserves when she was around Amphipolis, since the routine was just so different.  But since she’d been traveling, she’d discovered all over again just how often she had to provide her body with fuel since all the walking had taken off any reserves she’d left home with.

It was a trade off, of course. She’d regained a lot of strength the last couple of moons and realized with a sense of pleasure that she could still walk all day long and not feel tired when they made camp at sundown.

She liked that. She found it also gave her more energy to deal with Dori’s antics, as well as enjoy Xena’s antics of an altogether other sort.

“You did not fall off a cliff.” Bird stated. “You would be dead.”

“Okay, you’re right.” Gabrielle agreed. “I didn’t fall off a cliff.”

Bird smirked.

“I jumped off.” The bard started on her second trail bar. “See, I had this amazing idea of getting a nice, long vine and climbing down it.”

“That’s stupid.”

“Well, you see, Xena was down here.” Gabrielle said. “I know she didn’t use a vine, she just jumped across the gap up near that ledge. But I can’t do that, so I had to improvise.”  She chewed her bar. “So I got a vine, and I wedged it into the rocks, and I was good to go.”

Bird shifted, and circled one of his knees with both long, furry arms. “We wondered how you got here. Now we know.  We can prevent anyone else from doing that.”

“How?” Gabrielle finished her lunch and took a swallow of water from her waterskin. “Cut all the trees down?”

Bird scowled.

“But anyway, I started to climb down and got into trouble.”

“I told you it was stupid. Vines break.”

Gabrielle put her waterskin away, and straightened slowly, using her staff to help her get to her feet. “Would have been fine, except one of your wonderful friends decided to try and kill me.” She exhaled, examining her possible routes. “He cut the vine, and hoped I’d fall to my death.”

“Too bad it didn’t work.” Bird commented.

Gabrielle looked at him. “Do you really feel that way?”

His amber eyes regarded her. “Yes.” He answered with surprising honesty. “I hate your kind, and I hate that you forced you way into this place I hold very sacred. I want to see you die. Yes.”

The bard leaned on her staff and gazed at the ground, deep in thought for a few minutes. Then she looked up at him again. “You know, I’ve never in my life killed anyone in anger.” She murmured quietly. “But I’ve risked death and injury, and the loss of those I hold most dear to my heart on behalf of people just like you.”

Bird looked warily at her.

Gabrielle turned and started walking off down the path, leaving him behind. “The first time I saw someone like you I didn’t know what to think.”

The forest dweller hastened to catch up to her.  “You thought you saw an animal.”

The bard cast her mind back, to that warm day on a dusty road near to sunset. “No.” She replied. “We saw someone in pain. In trouble. Unable to save themselves from a mob who did see them as just an animal.” Her eyes focused on the trail, picking the easiest path to spare her body the jarring. The pain in her neck was beginning to extend down her back, making it difficult to turn her head. “Xena and I just saw someone who needed our help.”

Bird snorted. “A weakling. No true one of our kind would need help from the likes of you.”

“Mm.” Gabrielle murmured. “He tried to convince us of that as well, when he came to. Tried to scare us off, and intimidate us.” She glanced at Bird. “He was just as full of sheep poo as you are.”

“Hey!” The forest dweller glared at her. “I am not!”

“Sure you are.” Gabrielle turned unexpectedly, coming face to face with him. She stood in his path, and held her ground. “Maybe you follow Rufus, but you’re not like him.”

“Yes I am!”

Gabrielle pulled her skinning dagger out of her belt, and offered it to him. “Then kill me. Rufus wanted to. You said you’d like to see it.” Her chin lifted. “Do it.”

Bird stared at her. “I told you, I’m waiting for you to take me to Xena. Then I’ll kill you.”

The bard extended her hand. “No. This is your only chance. Xena will kill you before you could put a claw on me, and you know it’s true.” Her eyes gazed steadily at him. “You want me dead? Prove you’ve got the guts for it. Kill me.”

Slowly, he reached forward and took the knife, glancing down at it. An old, carefully wrapped hilt looked back at him,  hawk’s head crest watching him with one onxy, beady eye.  He closed his fingers over it and lifted his gaze.

Gabrielle stood waiting, quiet and steadfast. “You want to hurt Xena? Go ahead.” The bard spoke softly. “I’m her key. Kill me, and you’ll take her to pieces as you never could with a sword.”

Bird licked his lips, his hand flexing around the dagger. “You’re crazy.”

“No.” Gabrielle shook her head. “I’m tired, and I’m hurt, and I’m not in the mood to put up with hearing you tell me how much you hate me any more. So go on, big guy. Do it. Prove you’re so much better than I am, and gut me.”

Bird stepped towards her, his face settling into stillness. He drew his arm back, and cocked his wrist, bringing the sharp blade up and even with Gabrielle’s chest.

The bard simply stood there waiting, looking him right in the eye.  A small puff of air tousled the pale locks over her forehead, and stirred the fur wrapping on her staff. Xena, I hope I guessed right, my love. If I didn’t, forgive me.

Bird struck. He whipped his arm forward, aiming the knife right at Gabrielle’s heart.

Gabrielle stood like a stone, trusting in a judgement she’d once had gravely questioned.

At the very last possible instant the blade turned aside, skimming up and past her head, and shearing off a shank of her hair. She felt the tug, and saw the wind take the strands away out of the corner of her eye.

Bird let his hand drop to his side, as his eyes studied her.  What he found in those mist green depths made the corners of his muzzle twitch, just a little. “You have great courage, Gabrielle of Potadeia.” His voice had altered, and deepened a little. “It is said, by some, that you carry far the more danger for us than does Xena.” He handed her back the dagger. “Now, I believe that.”

And without further discussion, he backed away, then turned and disappeared into the forest, fading between the trees as the leaves swallowed him whole.

Gabrielle was left standing there, slightly bemused, but with an inward smile.  She sheathed her dagger and turned, continuing up her chosen path with a much lighter heart.

Xena, I remember a time when I thought I’d lost the knack for knowing the truth in someone when I saw it. So much has happened to us, and so many miles of road are under our feet that somewhere along that long path, I’d thought I’d left that by the wayside somewhere.

That Kraftstar had stolen it from me. Or Hope surely had.

Once, I wasn’t even sure I was right about you.

Or about me.

Did I ever tell you how I lost my faith in myself? How worthless I felt? How empty and rotten whenever I remembered how that lost faith had cost you?

I guess maybe it’s the same way you felt about what happened to me, isn’t it? That it was all your fault.

Gabrielle picked her path carefully, stepping around a set of slippery rocks.  She leaned a little closer, noting boot prints near the edge of the damp ground.  Pausing, she measured her own feet against them, and allowed a faint smile to surface.

What let me regain my faith in myself, Xena, wasn’t coming to terms with what happened. Did you know that?  That happened a lot later.  I bet you didn’t know the only thing keeping me from that darkness wasn’t my faith… it was yours.

You knew me. You believed in me, long after I didn’t anymore. I remember watching you sit by a lake, when we were out there, both of us hurting so much and realizing suddenly as you sat there that I was all you had left.

Realizing how much I meant to you, no matter what had happened is what gave me the strength to keep going, to find that way, to give us both back what was stolen from us.

You gave me that strength to find myself again.

To find us again.

To learn, as you did, just how much forgiveness a loving heart was capable of.

Gabrielle found her second wind, and the pain started to recede a little. She focused her energy on her soulmate, the comfort of her resolve settling over her shoulders like a warm cloak.

I knew I was right about him, Xena. Just like I knew I was right about you.

I can’t wait to tell you about it.

**

They were all out on the near side of the cavern, the forest dwellers dripping water from their near brush and plainly seething at having to have accepted her help.  Xena walked away from them towards the water. “If we want to live, we have to get out of here.”

“We’d rather watch you die, before we do.” The smaller, darker one shot back at her.

Xena exhaled, wishing for once she had Gabrielle’s skills at negotiation. Or at least her patience. “We need to block that exit.” She stated. “The faster, the better. I’m getting pretty damn tired of the smell in here.”

“You’re nuts.”

Xena crouched on the very edge of the rock, watching the flowing water. “All right, smart boy. What’s your plan?” She asked.

The forest dweller came over to stand next to her. “Shoving you in there.”

“Try it.” The warrior responded, not even bothering to look over her shoulder.

“You think you’re so tough.”

Now Xena looked, giving him a withering glare so potent it cut through the dim green light without any trouble at all.  She stood, dusting her hands off before planting them firmly on her hips. “Y’know I didn’t want to have to take the time to do this, but it looks like I’ve got no choice, huh?”

The forest dweller watched her warily. “Do what?”

“This.” Xena dropped her hands and spun into a perfect roundhouse kick that nailed him in the jaw and sent him flying backwards. She caught her own balance and bounced forward as he recovered, following the kick up with a second, this time hitting him in the stomach and doubling him over.

She raised both hands over her head and laced her fingers together ,bringing her arms down and slamming them on the back of his head before he could straighten, dropping him to the ground.

“Now.” Xena grabbed handsful of fur and hauled him onto his back. She thumped down with both knees onto his chest and cocked her fist. “Am I tough?”

“Human bitch!”

Xena slugged him, putting pressure with her knees on his arms to pin him down. She felt bone crunch under her fist, and a spray of blood sent the scent of copper to her. “Well?”

“I’ll kill you!”  The forest dweller struggled to throw her off, finding leverage hard despite his much greater size.

Xena slugged him again. She felt her knuckles strike a tooth, and hear a crack. “C’mon. I can do this all day long.” She warned him, pressing harder against his upper arms. Her peripheral senses told her the other forest dweller was keeping a prudent distance, and she gave him points for brains. “Am I?”

“AYhyarrh…” The forest dweller twisted his body, but his bulk worked against him and Xena’s sinewy form was just in the right place and just heavy enough to frustrate his attempts to throw her off. He clutched at her shirt with his fingertips, blood and froth issuing from his broken mouth.

His adversary was pitiless. Xena switched hands and hit him again, ,this time impacting the other side of his face. She shattered his cheekbone and  his eyes almost popped out of his head from the pain of it. “Well?” She asked coldly, staring down at him.

He grunted.

Xena raised her fist again and waited, holding his gaze with icy blue eyes. “Am I?”

His lashes dropped suddenly, and he turned his head.  His hands fell to the rock, and turned palm upmost. “Yes.” The forest dweller whispered.

Xena waited a bit, letting him wonder if she was going to accept the capitulation. Then she got smoothly to her feet and stepped away from him, out of his reach. She looked at the other forest dweller. “Do we need to  repeat that?”

“No.” The dark brown head shook. “I’m not as stupid as he is.” He watched Xena warily.

“Good.” The warrior went back to the ledge. Out of their sight, she flexed her left hand, wincing at the ache from where she’d hit the tooth. Her fighter’s ego, however, smirked in supreme self satisfaction and some of the pent up tension caused by the situation she found herself in dissipated.

There had been a time in her life, recently when that satisfaction would have dismayed her.  When she had turned her back on that deepest part of herself and walked away from the skills she’d spent a lifetime building.

It had been a strange time for her. Almost a time outside time, when she’d felt like she’d been given a small piece of grace, in which to see herself as the person she might have been if things had been different.  Magical, in a way, that period had been as she accompanied Gabrielle through the last months of her pregnancy and experienced the first year of Dori’s life untainted by the bloodshed that had dogged her all her life.

Xena put her hand into the water, letting the cold liquid ease the ache. She could hear the dark brown forest dweller helping his friend, and she decided to give them a few minutes before she tried again to explain her plan to them.

A magic time, yes. One she looked back on with deep fondness, glad beyond reason of the sweet memories it had left her with.  She wondered, sometimes, if the war hadn’t threatened if she’d have been able to extend that period, or if the dark part of her, lying quiescent, would have lifted up it’s head anyway and driven her back to her true self.

She gazed at her hand, under the water’s surface. Because this was her true self. She knew that now, and had come to terms with the breadth of that knowledge since the end of the war.  Xena knew she could have gone back to her original decision, and put her weapons back into that chest but she’d chosen not to.

Gabrielle had understood.  In fact, the bard had told her, putting her arms around Xena and speaking to her in the gentlest, most loving voice she had, that she not only understood Xena’s choice, she agreed with it.

Xena suspected her partner had known all along the truth Xena had refused to let herself acknowledge.

I talk, you fight.  She could almost hear the note of childish confidence in her new little friend’s voice, and feel all over again the warm ache of budding affection the words had stirred in her heart.

With a faint smile, she withdrew her hand from the water and stood up, turning to face the two forest dwellers.  Her victim was seated against the far wall, his fur dripping with the water his companion had brought over to wash his injuries off with.

Xena reviewed her scant options, and decided on a direct approach. She stalked towards the two of them, taking pains to call up the menacing side of her personality and letting it settle over her skin like a cloak.

They both looked up at her as she approached, anger and truculence mixed now with a healthy dose of fear.

Good. Xena folded her arms across her chest. Now maybe we can get some where. “All right. Let’s talk.”  She kicked  a rock out of her way as she strolled towards them. “Only one way out of this place unless you’re willing dive in and take a shot at what’s beyond that wall. Anyone?”  She pointed at the inner tunnel.

The dark brown forest dweller’s nose twitched, and his muzzle wrinkled into a grimace. “Only water that way.” He said. “But you’re welcome to try, since you’re so tough.”

Xena snorted. “Unlike you, I’ve got a mind worth more than a sheep’s hoof.” She said. “The only other way out is that crack up there. It’s got fresh air coming through it.” She indicated the top of the cavern. “So we have to get up there to get out.”

“You’re nuts.” The other forest dweller rasped hoarsely.

“Like I said, got any better ideas?” Xena asked him.

“We can’t climb up there.” Brownie protested. “There’s nothing to hold onto. It’s just another way to die.”

Xena regarded the dark spot. “Right.” She agreed. “The only thing in here that’s gonna get us up there is that.” She pointed to the water.  “So we gotta get the water level up to lift us.”

“How are we going to do that?” Brownie asked. “You going to scare the water backwards with your attitude?”

It was a minute shift in attitude, but Xena recognized it when she saw it. She hadn’t spent half a lifetime leading soldiers without picking up some tricks along the way.  At some point, it just all came down to dominance and the ability to project your will.

She was good at that.

The warrior chuckled. “Very good question.”  Xena slowly turned around and studied the outcroppings and craggy edges of the cavern. “With a lot of damn hard work.”  She said. “First thing we need to do is start cracking rocks.”

“What?” Brownie stared at her.

Xena walked over to a boulder and knelt, putting her hand against it and pushing experimentally. It was heavy, and she sighed inwardly as she steeled herself for the effort of lifting it.  She got her arms around it and braced her legs ,then slowly pulled it towards her as she flexed her thighs and rose up off the ground.

Both of the forest dwellers rose up with her, watching her intently.

Ares nuts. Xena forced herself by an act of will not to stagger as she walked over to the rushing water, spreading her boots out for balance as she paused, then heaved the rock from her into the stream. It disappeared under the surface.

Brownie snorted.

Suddenly the surface of the flow near the opening changed as the rock settled into the opening. A wash rose up and split past it, having to work to get around this new obstacle. “Look.” Xena pointed down.

The forest dwellers looked. On the beach, the water rushed over the crushed rock, visibly higher than it had been when they’d arrived.

“We put enough stone there.” Xena indicated the opening. “It’ll close up and flood this place.”

Brownie looked at her. “And kill us. Good plan.”

Xena curled her hand into a fist and cocked her eyebrow at him. He stepped back a pace, out of her reach and she smiled in reaction.

“What if we can’t go through there.” The other forest dweller asked. “What if it’s a dead end?”

Xena had considered the thought. “Then it is.” She said. “And we die sooner rather than later. Got a problem with that?”

The injured forest dweller looked like he was going to say something for a minute, then he subsided. Brownie scratched his muzzle, and shrugged. “What the Hades.”  He said. “We’re dead anyway. Might as well go out clawing.”

“Good.” Xena faced the water. “But let me tell you I’ve got no intention of letting this damn mountain beat me.” She turned and faced them again. “I’m going to make it home.”

They were caught in those eyes. In that one instant, they went from adversaries to believing in those words and they didn’t even realize it happened.

But Xena did. “So if you drop the bs, I’ll take you with me.”

They blinked, then shifted, their fur rasping lightly on the stone. “What do we have to do?” Brownie asked. “Because I want to go home, too.”

“C’mon.” Xena didn’t take time to savor the victory. “I’ll show you.”  She turned and walked over to the ledge, and they got up and followed her, rounded ears cocked to catch every word.

**

It had become very quiet around her, as she made her way up the slope towards the rocky pass she could see looming in front of her.  Gabrielle could still hear a soft bird song nearby, but the wind had died down, and the trees had stilled their rustling around her somewhat.

She found herself wishing that her escort was still with her. At least the forest dweller had given her something to take her mind off the long, uphill path she still had to travel, and the increasing discomfort from her injuries.

Not to mention her worrying about her partner.

It wasn’t that she didn’t have every faith in Xena’s abilities. No one on earth knew better than she did how truly competent Xena was at very many things. But she also knew that despite how awesome her partner’s skills, she could, and had been, bested on more than one occasion when luck just ran out on her or things just didn’t work out her way.

No one was perfect. Xena would have laughed in derision at the thought of that word being applied to her. Gabrielle smiled wistfully as she picked her way up a muddy patch of ground. The longer she’d lived with the warrior, the more she’d come to understand  just how human Xena really was and it had developed in her a sense of protectiveness that most outsiders would have considered really sort of funny.

At one time, of course, Xena would have been outraged by that.

Now?

Now Gabrielle knew that the very acceptance of her mothering had been a turning point in their relationship, and she remembered quite clearly the night she’d found that out.

Long cold day, gonna be a long, cold night. Gabrielle pulled her cloak a little closer around her neck and shifted her hand on her staff, sparing a quick glance at the silent warrior walking next to her.

Xena’s breath was plainly visible in the crisp air, a gentle fog that streamed from her mouth and nose as she walked along. Her hands flexed slightly and a twitch ran along her cheekbone at the motion, catching Gabrielle’s notice.

She could see the faint furrow across Xena’s brow. “Long day, huh?”

Xena turned her head and regarded her. “Yeah.” She said, and then paused before she continued on. “I’m not looking forward to the ground tonight.”

Gabrielle felt a prickle of surprise. Was Xena actually saying what she thought she was saying? “Well.. me either.” She answered. “That place last night, boy, was that ever a rockpile.”

“Mm.” Xena grunted.  She ran her hand through her hair and paused to rub the back of her neck. “Yeah.”

They walked for another half candlemark Gabrielle was ahead by a step as they reached the top of a small hill, and she looked over, very surprised to see a curl of smoke rising up over the trees. “Xena.” She pointed. “Look. Is it a town?”

Xena stopped and peered under a hand shading her eyes. “Looks like a small one, yeah.” She agreed. “Path goes around past it.”  With a sigh, she pulled one of their waterskins from Argo’s saddle and took a sip, leaning against the mare.

Gabrielle looked at the town, then she looked at her friend. “Xena?”

“Mm?”

“Let’s stay there tonight.” Gabrielle realized after she spoke that she’d never quite said anything to Xena like that before. It was always.. ‘can we?’.  She waited with lightly held breath, watching the warrior blink a little as she thought. “I’ve got those extra dinars from the merchants we passed last moon. I could use a night inside.”

Xena hesitated.

“I think you could use a warm bed  inside too.” Gabrielle said, letting her hand rest on Xena’s shoulder. “I heard you tossing and turning all night last night.”

The warrior gazed at her with the faintest of smiles. “All right.”

It was a really odd feeling. Gabrielle lead the way down the path, and through the forest to the small hamlet with a sense of something changing with every step she took.  But she threw that all off and concentrated on dickering for a room in the tiny inn, a place so small it had only three private cubbies outside the public room.

The room was barely large enough to hold the two of them and their gear with the bed in it, but it was snug, and there was a fireplace and with the heat of the kitchen below them it was blessedly warm inside.  Xena put their bags down in one corner and knelt by the fire, starting to arrange the sticks inside with cold stiffened fingers.

“I’ll get that.” Gabrielle walked over and crouched next to her, displaying her newly purchased flint and striker. “I need the practice.”

“Have it your way.” Xena chuckled, standing and making her way over to the bed. She dropped onto it, extending her legs in front of her and starting to remove her armor. “I don’t think this place existed the last time I came through here.”

Gabrielle looked around. “No, it looks pretty new.” She indicated the roof. “The wood’s still uncured.”

Xena tipped her head back. “Mmph. You’re right. Good catch.” She got up and put her armor neatly on top of her bag. “Know something, Gabrielle?”

“Well, I know a few things, but not nearly as much as you do.” The bard joked, as the fire caught under her hands and started spreading it’s welcome warmth over her skin. “What?”

Xena dropped back onto the bed and rested her elbows on her knees. “I’m sore, and I’m tired, and I’m damn glad we’re here.”   Her eyes fastened on Gabrielle’s face. “You’re right. I needed this.”

If Xena had broken into a square dance, Gabrielle would not have been more surprised. She got up and walked over, sitting down next to Xena on the just barely big enough for two people bed. It was as though a layer of the warrior’s often icy, rough exterior was melting away in the fire’s heat and the bard felt herself becoming quite bold in response to it.

She laid a somewhat hesitant arm over Xena’s shoulders.  “Don’t worry. I’ll take care of you.”  For a minute, she fully expected the warrior to pull back, and she steeled herself.  But the blue eyes merely gazed affectionately at her, the dark shadows under them apparent in the fire’s growing light. “I’ll see what bargains I can get for supper, how’s that for a start?”

“Sounds good to me.” Xena answered. “Thanks.”

Gabrielle almost floated downstairs, full of a wondering pleasure as she collected their supper, giving up a bit more of her hard earned dinars to add a piece of honey cake to the platter ‘for my friend, Xena.’ She proudly told the innkeeper.

They ate  together, sitting on the bed in their shifts since the room held no other furniture. Xena let her head rest against the plain wood headboard while Gabrielle told a story around mouthfuls of mostly vegetable and a little rabbit stew.

They shared bread, which Gabrielle spread with honey butter, and traded sips of cider from a single wooden cup.

She produced the honey cake last of all, rewarded with a frank, gorgeous grin from Xena. “I thought you’d like this.”

“You thought right.” Xena said, breaking it in half. “Share with me?”

It had tasted so sweet on her tongue. No meal in a palace could have been more extraordinary. Gabrielle collected their plates and put them in a wooden basin to be cleaned in the morning. Then she turned, watching Xena stretch herself out on the bed, her length almost equaling it’s length and leaving on one side a comfortable looking spot just about Gabrielle’s size.

Just about her size. Gabrielle claimed the spot, settling next to Xena as their shoulders almost touched. She gently blew the candle out and pulled the covers up, the scent of sun dried fabric and Xena drifting up to her nose from under them.

She felt her heart race, and then slowly settle down.  After a moment, she turned her head to see Xena’s profile dimly outlined in the fire’s glow. “Feeling any better?”

“Much.” Xena answered, a smile shaping the word. “How about you?”

“Me?” Gabrielle could have laughed out loud. “I feel great.”

They fell into a comfortable silence. It was warm. There were no rocks, or bugs, or suddenly hooting owls.

Gabrielle felt a gentle, faint warmth on her ear. She knew it was Xena’s breathing.

“Gabrielle?”

“Hm?”

“Thanks.”

Gabrielle wiggled her toes in pure pleasure. “All I did was get some dinner and make a fire.” She said, however. “Anyone could have done that for you.”

“Mm.” Xena replied. “Not the way you did it.”

“Oh, c’mon, Xena.” Gabrielle laughed softly. “What was so special about the way I did it?”

“Wasn’t the what.” Xena closed her eyes, her voice dropping to a murmur. “It was the why.”

Gabrielle watched the flickering of the fire on the ceiling for a while after that, after Xena’s breathing had slowed and deepened, and she knew her friend was asleep.

She wasn’t going to sleep. Not for an instant. Not when she had the perfect night right here at her fingertips, all hers to savor.

Xena stirred in her sleep, rolling half on to her side.

Her hand curled around Gabrielle’s arm, clasping it lightly.

Was it possible to catch perfection? Gabrielle closed her eyes and let herself feel the moment, this moment of realization, of dreams for so long faded coming sharply into focus.

Was this really love, sneaking up on them?

Incredulously, Gabrielle grinned into the darkness, savoring a rare moment of joyous possibilities.

“Ah, Gabrielle.” The bard found herself still grinning at the memory.  “I wonder if I still have that bit of wood I took from that place as a memento?”  She shook her head at her younger self, but the smile remained, as the echoes of that joy resonated inside her.

She got to the top of the ridge, and paused, resting her weight against her staff as she gazed down on yet more rolling landscape.  Near the far wall, she could see the very end of the path heading into a gap in the rocks. Boulders lay around it, but her senses told her Xena had passed them.

“Right.” She took a cautious breath, and started down.  “Hang in there, Xe. Trouble’s coming.” She muttered. “And I’ve even got honey cake.”

**

Continued in Part 6

Champion

Part 6

“Are you sure this is a good idea?” Brownie eyed the slowly rising water with a dubious eye. His fur was covered in granite dust, and his claws bore the jagged chips from scrabbling at the rocks.

An equally dust covered Xena peered at him. The warrior’s hands were scraped and blood covered, and she flexed her wrists as she composed an answer. “No.” She picked up another big rock, clamping her jaw down the long muscles in her back half seized on her. She powered through the spasm, taking a step towards the water and throwing the boulder in. They’d cleared most of the freely movable granite, and now they were working on pulling cracked pieces of the cavern down.

Her back was not amused with her. Xena put that aside, though, and simply thought about just how pissed off her soulmate was going to be with her when she got out.  “No, I don’t, but we have very, very limited options, so we’re going with it anyway.”

“Ugh.” Brownie sighed, and trudged back over to the wall, where his partner, whom Xena had mentally named Blackie, was working on a heavy split ledge.

Neither forest dweller would volunteer up a name, as though by giving her that, they would be giving her some advantage over them. Despite their grudging willingness to help her plug up the water flow, they were only slowly backing away from their antagonism

Of course, Blackie’s face was still covered in blood from her, and she was sure the pain from her breaking his jaw wasn’t making it any better.  Gabrielle would have found a more conciliatory way of gaining their cooperation, Xena was sure, but sometimes faster was better, and she’d never been a patient person.  So she was stuck with the attitude, and a growing backache, and she decided she’d trade them for a scolding from the bard in a heartbeat.

With a sigh, she hopped up onto a ledge and vaulted across the water, landing on the other side and prowling over it’s dark recesses.  She knelt next to a crevice, and found a split, inserting her fingertips into it she set her balance and pulled backwards, feeling the strain all along her arms and shoulders. It didn’t budge.

Xena stopped pulling, and examined the split. Then she shifted and braced first one booted foot, then, lifting her weight up carefully, the other on the far wall. Concentrating, she focused her strength carefully, using her legs in conjunction with the coiled power of her body to separate the rock plate from it’s bed.  For a moment, nothing budged. Then she felt the slightest bit of give and she shifted her boots, then applied pull from a different angle.

Her fingers ached, but Xena threw off the pain, wanting that rock so she could put that much more rubble in that hole, and get that water just that much closer to the opening that might, just might if she was luckier than she deserved, lead her home. She growled low and deep in her throat, then surged backwards, arching her back and pulling with all her strength.

With a loud cracking noise, the slab came free. Xena felt the motion seconds before it moved, and she stopped pulling, letting her fingers slip off and kicking away from the wall to flip gracefully in mid air and land amidst a rumbling torrent of rocks. She hopped backwards a few feet as the boulders rolled forward, not really wanting one to land on her toes. She watched them stop moving, then she paced forwards with a satisfied grunt, pleased at the new supply of material.

However. Xena peered around the ledge. She was rapidly running out of rocks, and not nearly running out of hole.   She picked up a good sized specimen and walked to the edge of the water, blowing a lock of her hair out of her eyes with an annoyed breath. The channel was appreciably narrowed, and the water level had risen inside the chamber, now what had been the beach was long covered, and the water was lapping over Xena’s boots as she stood on the ledge.

She picked her spot, and tossed the rock in. A surge of water crested over it where it fell.  She looked up as Brownie and Blackie, working together, pulled a large, flat slab forward, it’s edge scraping against the granite ledge and setting Xena’s nape hairs right on end.  “Put it there.” She pointed to a lower area, where the water gushed black.

With a squeal of protesting stone, they complied, tipping the rock up onto it’s end, then pushing it into the water. It slid through the froth with a rumble, and settled into place causing a spray of water to blast back unexpectedly, catching Xena where she was standing and drenching her.

The cold water was a shock, and she leaped back, smacking her shoulders against the rock as she shook her head to clear the now wet hair out of her eyes. “Son of a bacchae.”

Brownie guffawed, pointing at her, and after a moment, Blackie joined in, their low chuckles sounding out over the thunder of the water.

Xena only just kept her temper from flaring, gritting her teeth and accepting that it probably had been pretty damn funny.   That had been a lesson hard learned on her early travels with Gabrielle, when the girl had burst into laughter at something she’d done or said and it had rubbed her still wary pride raw.

She didn’t like being laughed at, even by Gabrielle, and her soulmate had come to learn that, too, but she’d also woken up one day and realized she’d grown out of having a petulant fit about it when it happened.

At least when it was Gabrielle, that is. Or Dori.   Xena shook her head again, and swiped the wet hair back off her forehead. Not a couple of nitwit fuzzballs. She turned her back on them and went back to her rock pile, pausing for a moment to rest her hands flat on the wall and lean into a stretch that popped several bones in her back in place.

Perversely, she smiled at the sound. “You’re getting old, Xena.” She muttered to herself, finding an odd solace in the statement. “God’s blood my ass.”  She picked up another rock and hoisted it, then turned and made her way back to the rising pool. With a dry chuckle, she tossed the boulder in, watching it disappear into the slowly growing dam with a satisfied grin.  She dusted her hands off and went back for another.

**

Gabrielle struggled to the top of one ridge, and leaned against a tree growing proudly at it’s apex. The sun was starting to slant to the west, and she rested for a moment in it’s golden light, glad of the warmth against her skin.

Slowly, she lifted her waterskin and took a sip, resting her head against the bark as she tried to move herself past the growing pain in her body.  Her entire back had stiffened up and the throbbing in her neck from where she’d snapped her head back was starting to become so intense it was causing red flashes in the backs of her eyes.

That wasn’t good.  Gabrielle was no healer, and even she figured that out. She looked around at the very empty glade and found a semi flat rock of good height which she went over and sat down on. The surface had collected the sun’s heat and it felt very good against the back of her legs. She rested her chin on her hand and sucked slowly at the waterskin, wishing her search was over and her soulmate was near at hand.

She closed her eyes for a moment, and concentrated on Xena. Her ‘itch’ tugged her over the edge of the ridge and down, towards the far off thunder of a waterfall she could just barely hear.  The warrior seemed to be quiet now, the underlying anxiety still very much present but apparently her soulmate had found something to occupy her time in whatever circumstance she’d gotten herself into.

“Ugh.” Gabrielle had to force her eyes open, and she straightened, sucking in a sharp breath as a jolt of pain made her see stars.  A tendril of fear threaded through her heart, and she let her elbows rest on her knees again, willing away the agony tightening it’s grip on her.

Mind over matter. Isn’t that what Xena always said?  Gabrielle concentrated on taking slow, deep breaths, and trying to let her thoughts move past the pain.  She knew her partner could do it, but she also knew that Xena had learned the skill through a harsh necessity that she could only imagine on her worst days.

Okay. Gabrielle felt her neck muscles relax, as she called up her soulmate into her mind’s eye, mentally tracing the angular cheekbones and seeing the loving twinkle as she gazed at Gabrielle.  She could almost hear the ‘I love you’ in Xena voice as her heart rate slowed, and the pain didn’t exactly fade, but it moved into the back of her awareness.

Mind over matter? Gabrielle let her eyes drift open, soaking in the beauty as the sun’s rays poured through the leaves and painted a gorgeous pattern across her skin.  She spread her hands out into it, flexing her fingers and letting out a long breath as she felt herself center.

It wasn’t mind over matter. Gabrielle stood up and clipped her waterskin to her belt, taking up her staff and continuing on her way forward. It was Xena over anything else that mattered.   She topped the ridge and started down, glad to give her legs a break as she picked her way through the leaves following a barely seen track across them.  She shaded her eyes with her hand and peered ahead of her, judging the distance she had yet to travel.  Moving in the dark in unfamiliar ground wasn’t probably a good plan, at least as long as Xena seemed to be okay.

Sundown would find her at the foot of the mountain, near that waterfall. If it did, and if Xena was still okay, she reluctantly decided to pause for the night and get some rest. If it wasn’t, if she felt her partner more strongly, then she’d keep on…  Gabrielle  regarded the towering cliffs.  She’d keep on, and hope Xena hadn’t taken it into her mind to climb up over the mountain for whatever reason.

She sighed, and shook her head, letting her eyes scan her surroundings as she walked. To her mild surprise and delight, she spotted several wild apple trees just off the path, and she briefly detoured, examining the lower branches for a likely specimen. She saw several, and she used her staff to reach up and tap them smartly, knocking them off their stems and sending them groundward.

“Mm.” She put two away for later and kept one, buffing it’s green and red skin lightly on her shirt before she found a perfect spot and bit into it.

She’d always had a taste for apples, even before that wonderful night she’d spent in the old apple tree with Xena that had, she was convinced, resulted in the birth of their daughter.   Since then, she’d treated the fruit with a sense of reverent delight and ate it whenever she could.

This one was delicious. It was ripe, and crisp, and just sweet enough to quench her thirst as she munched it. She briefly wished Xena were there, at her side to share it with her, but resigned herself to sharing the other two with her soulmate when they met up.

Xena would like that. Gabrielle rolled a seed around in her mouth and felt it’s small sharpness against her tongue. Maybe they could even play around and experiment a little, and see if they could duplicate the intensity of the passion that had lead to Dori.

She thought about that as she turned sideways, to ease her body carefully down a slightly steeper slope. She’d been thinking of that a lot lately, about having another child. Gabrielle nibbled her way around the apple core.  She wasn’t really sure why, except that two seemed to her to be the right number of children for her and Xena to have… and their joint history was probably behind that.

Could she manage a little boy?  Gabrielle imagined that, imagined maybe a little tow headed son with Xena’s pale blue eyes entering their life.  Her lips curled into a smile, and she found herself wanting to move faster, anxious to rejoin her partner.  She’d broach the idea to Xena, and, well… they’d see what they could do about it.

Gabrielle let out a soft chuckle, allowing a brief surge of joy to fill her. She closed her eyes and focused on Xena, sending a bit of it her way before she picked up her pace and lengthened her stride.

**

“We’re almost out of rocks.” Brownie noted, wiping the back of his dust covered hand across his head. It left a dirty streak across his fur, but that was almost unnoticeable among the rest of the grime. “And we’re not out of hole. Now what?”

Xena was seated on the far ledge, the water running up to her knees.  It was darker inside the cavern now, as even the refracted light from the outside was dimming as the sun set. They were left with only the green glow from the moss, and the everpresent rush of water.  They’d filled the hole at least halfway, and the water current was now swirling uneasily around the cavern, rushing up unexpectedly against the far walls and flooding even the highest point of rock they had to stand on.

“We break more rocks.” Xena said quietly. “It’s working.”

Brownie gazed at the rising water, then tilted his head back to review the ceiling. “Yeah, it is.” He agreed reluctantly. He flexed his hands and looked over his shoulders at the wall, where Blackie was seated, his arms slumped near his furred feet in obvious exhaustion.

Xena watched as the water shoved against the far wall, undercutting the rockface there and sweeping away a few bits of granite. “Let’s give nature a chance to do some work for us.” She decided, knowing her companions were as tired as she was. “Take a break. Get some rest.”

Brownie sat down on the rock facing her, across the water channel.  His eyes were barely visible in the eerie glow, his outline just perceptible to her vision. “Okay.”  He tipped his head back again and peered at the moss. “Think that’s edible?”

Xena’s nose wrinkled. “Not for me.” She sighed, scooping up a double handful of the only sustenance they had, and drinking it down. If she drank enough, she figured, she’d get her stomach to stop rumbling and reminding her of how long it was since her last good meal.  The dam had backed the water up, and the current now felt less – she could at least keep her hands in it without any danger and as she watched it flow past her boot, a faint, familiar tingle alerted her.

Well. Xena regarded the two forest dwellers. They wanted to get in touch with their wild side, didn’t they? And she’d do better for something other than water in her belly as well. Pushing her sleeves up she bent her head towards the water, extending her senses and concentrating.

After a moment, she plunged her hand into the flow, tightening her fingers in a fierce grip around a squiggling body that almost pulled out of her grasp.  She yanked her body up and pulled the fish out, removing her dagger and smacking it on the head to still it’s struggling.

“Damn.” Brownie snorted.

Xena grinned, almost unseen in the gloom. “Hold your hands out.” She instructed, waiting until she saw a flash motion, then she lifted her hand and tossed the fish over to him. “Catch.”

He did, looking at the fish, and then over at her. They studied each other for a long moment, then he turned and disappeared back to where Blackie was sitting, the two of them mere whispers of motion in the glow of the moss.

Xena wiggled her fingers and smiled, then bent her head down again to listen. As she closed her eyes, something very much like a warm blanket settled over her shoulders, and she almost could swear she felt Gabrielle’s arms around her for a brief, gorgeous moment.

It hit her in a place so deep, it brought tears to her eyes and she was glad of the darkness, and the fact that the water separated her from the forest dwellers.  She rested her elbows on her knees and pictured Gabrielle in her thoughts, imagining her soulmate making her way towards her, sturdily walking, her staff clasped in one hand. Xena’s nose twitched, as she convinced herself she could almost smell the bard, then she sent a loving thought her way, clasping her closely in her imagination and ruffling her hair with the fingers of her right hand.

Then she released her breath, and let herself return to her rock prison, dipping her fingertips in the ice cold water and watching the ripples they made.

Fishing could wait few minutes, while she let love fill her belly instead.

Absorbed, Xena didn’t notice the wide, golden eyes fixed on her from across the cavern, staring fiercely over the water.

**

Gabrielle continued on until it was full dark, and she’d gained the relative safety of the cliffs.  She knew there was no question of the forest dwellers being able to find her – if nothing else, they could sense her presence. So she picked a spot under a shelf of rock, out of the wind and as sheltered from the chill as she figured she was going to get, and gathered enough fallen wood to make herself a small fire.

She would need the warmth, she knew, since she wasn’t carrying any of their bedding with her, though thankfully she had her cloak to wrap around her as the temperature dropped with the sun’s setting.  With a sigh, she held her hands over the crackling flames and rubbed them, then she stood and walked a little ways into the thick underbrush.  She pulled her knife out and carefully cut some leaf filled branches, keeping at it until the ache in her back made her stop and return to her little haven.

She put the branches down, then settled herself on top of them and leaned against a low slab of rock.

It was very quiet. The wind rustled the leaves outside, and she could hear the waterfall, but otherwise the darkness brought a somber peace to the area around her.  Now that she was still, and didn’t have her walking to keep her attention on, her injuries were making themselves known with a vengeance and she was very glad to put her head down on her arm and just lie there.

Her hide cup was sitting next to the fire, heated rocks bubbling the water, herbs, and dried roots and ends she’d had in her bag into a bit of soup for her.  She was looking forward to the warm broth, and the crisp apples she’d tucked away in her sack that would supplement it, but most of all she was looking forward to resting her aching bones for a little while.  The fire’s warmth filled her small cubby and she exhaled carefully, wincing at the stabbing pains in her back and wishing Xena was there to help her.

“Don’t be a baby, Gabrielle.” She spoke aloud. “You wouldn’t catch Xena moping around by the fire wishing *you* were there to hold her hand, would you?”  She closed her eyes and let the warmth soak through her, hoping it would relax her overly tense muscles. Despite her words, she suspected in her heart that now, after all these years together, Xena would indeed wish to have her nearby to comfort her even though the warrior could easily handle her own healing.

With a sigh, Gabrielle pried her eyes open and reached for her cup, stifling a groan as her back protested the motion. She cradled the cup in her hands and fished the rocks out, sucking the broth off them before she made a neat pile on her slab. She tucked her boots under a little more and sipped at the soup, savoring each mouthful thoughtfully as she watched the flames dance before her eyes.

It had been a very long time since she’d been out on her own, she realized.  A very, very long time…  Gabrielle cast her mind back, thinking of when the last time had been. Ah. On her way back to Potadeia, after waking up in the hospice.  Gods, that had been so heart wrenching.  Tears rose unexpectedly into her eyes as she relived the memory of those long, cold nights with only her last vision of Xena’s agonized eyes to keep her company.

I’m sorry. Xena, I’m so sorry.  Her first words to her partner had been mere soundless whispers, overwhelmed in the fierceness of Xena’s greeting.  If she closed her eyes she could still feel the power of the warrior’s arms around her and hear the painful hammering of Xena’s heartbeat in her ear.

She could hear the soft sound of gut felt relief, a noise unlike anything she’d ever heard coming from her stalwart soulmate before, and she remembered the odd feeling of strange joy she’d felt in being able to give Xena back something the warrior had given her, way back when, in a dank cave near an old temple.  It hadn’t been until days later, after they’d left Potadeia, after they’d solved yet another in a weary series of problems that she’d understood the true cost to Xena her sacrifice had been.

Then she’d understood how many pieces her partner had been shattered into, and just how overwhelming their reunion really was.

For both of them.

“Pah.” Gabrielle inhaled, shaking her head slightly. “Gabrielle, it’s not bad enough you’re out there, with a backache that would make Argo roll over, in the dark, in the cold, that you have to think about *that*?”  She firmly put the memories aside and focused on something more cheerful, the traveling escapades of her daughter.  “Oo… “ The bard was reminded. “I promised her I’d be back tonight with Boo. I am in so much trouble.”

Xena had come up with a new game, just before they’d entered the area around Cirron. Hide and Boo.  Gabrielle felt a smile crease her face as she thought about it. After they’d made camp, while she was putting together whatever Xena had scrounged for dinner for them, Xena would disappear.  “Hey Dori!” Gabrielle would ask. “Where’s Boo?”

Dori would then patter around, hunting for her buddy. Looking under rocks, inside bushes… places anyone would know were far too small to hold the warrior, but when she’d try them, a pebble would come flying out and bounce near her from Xena’s hidden fingers.  Dori would collect the pebbles, and eventually they would lead her to wherever it was the warrior had chosen to hide.

It was so cute.  Gabrielle would sit by the fire watching them, laughing as the toddler would find her buddy and jump on her, pebbles going everywhere as they rolled around on the grass.  The memory illustrated to her, in plainly brilliant tones, that despite the horrible struggles they’d both had in life, they’d won out.  They had each other, and they had Dori, and that had made all the bad dreams worth it.

A sound past her fire caught her attention, and she peered out into the gloom, one hand dropping down instinctively to rest on the smooth surface of her staff.

Out of the shadows, a tall, dark haired forest dweller stepped, pacing forward and stopping just shy of her fire.

Gabrielle released her staff, and let her hand fall on the hilt of her dagger instead. She knew her injuries would make using her long, preferred weapon nearly impossible but her fingers tightened around what she’d long considered her last resort.

However, she also had another weapon. “Hello.” She greeted her intimidating night visitor. “My name’s Gabrielle. What’s yours?”

The forest dweller regarded her in silence for a few beats, his head tilting just slightly to one side. Then he shifted his hands and folded his arms across his chest. “I am Bellas.”

Well, that was better than she’d expected. “Hi, Bellas. Want to sit down?”  Gabrielle said. “I’d offer you some soup, but there really wasn’t much.” She lifted the top on her pack. “But I’ve got some apples. Want one?”

Bellas looked at her as though he was completely convinced that she’d lost her mind.  Gabrielle gave him a kind smile, note entirely unused to the reaction. She met his eyes evenly, waiting for him to decide what to do.

He hesitated, then finally he walked over and sat down on the other side of the fire from her, resting his elbows on his knees and regarding her through the flames.

“Okay.” Gabrielle focused on him. “So, are we going to start with the fact that I’ve broken your rules to be here and it’s forbidden, and you’re going to kill me or can we just move past that part, and get onto something more interesting?”

Bellas’ muzzle wrinkled up a little, either in disgust or amusement, it was hard to tell which.  “Why are you here, Gabrielle?”

Ah, a why question. Gabrielle liked those.  “To find Xena.” She replied.

“You will not.”

The bard sighed. “Are we starting that stuff already? Sure I will.” She sipped her soup. “It’ll just take time.”

Bellas watched her closely. “All the time in the world won’t help you.” He said. “She is where you cannot reach her.”

“Well.” Gabrielle nibbled her lip thoughtfully. “I’ve followed her to some pretty out there places. I think you may be underestimating us.” She said. “Or lying.”

“She is in a cavern, filled with water. There is no way out, save to go deeper into the mountain, and drown.” Bellas stated flatly.

Gabrielle felt a prickle, and remembered the wash of horror that had flowed over her.

“She is doomed.” Bellas said. “You will never again see her, Gabrielle. She will die in there, slowly, or quickly as is her nature, but she will, in the end, die.”

For a long moment, Gabrielle didn’t even breathe. She stared straight ahead, through the flames, their orange tips reflecting off her eyes.

“She is doomed.” Bellas repeated, as though he wanted to make sure she heard.

The bard lifted her gaze and met his. “No she isn’t.”  Gabrielle told him, opening her heart and listening for her soul’s echo. “She doesn’t give up that easily.”  She stared at him. “If she’s really in there, she’ll find a way out.”

He shook his head. “You are a fool. There is no way out of that cavern.”

“There’s no way out for *you* from that cavern, maybe. But this is Xena.” The bard stated. “She has way too much to live for to let some rocks get in her way.”  And, if she concentrated, she could feel the anxious energy from her partner that, though troublesome, held nothing in it of despair.  If Xena really believed she was going to die, Gabrielle knew without question she’d know it.

She’d feel it. She’d sense the knowledge because Xena knew, as she did, what the consequences of that would be for both of them.

Somehow, she’d find a way.

The bard lifted her eyes again, this time with a cool sheen to them. “Did it make you feel good to come and tell me that?”

He blinked. “It had to be said.”

“Wasn’t what I asked.” Gabrielle retorted. “What difference would it have made? I was going to her anyway… I would have found out then. It wouldn’t have changed anything.”  She pointed at him. “You just enjoy hurting people, don’t you?”

Bellas frowned. “That is not true.”

“Sure it is.” Gabrielle said. “Well? Did it give you a jolly? Feel better now?  Let me guess.. Xena hurt your pride, so you’re returning the favor?”

“No!’

“Then why are you here?” The bard asked.

He stared at her.

“You know what you all are? A bunch of gutless cowards, who don’t deserve to be a part of the forest people I know.” Gabrielle said, her temper flaring with surprising suddenness. “You’re scum.”  She got up, shedding aside the pain for a moment as she picked up her staff. “Now, get out of here before I knock you sillier than you already are.”

Bellas jaw dropped visibly as he watched the short, blond human with a big stick advance on him.  There was a fierceness about her that was totally different than Xena’s, and perhaps because of her kind and gentle demeanor all the more unexpectedly intimidating.

“Out!” Gabrielle whacked him on the knee with her staff. “Move it!”

“You’ve lost your mind! I can kill you!” Bellas blurted, showing his claws.

“Yeah? Try it.” Gabrielle poked him in the chest with her staff, shoving him backwards. “That’s all you are, a bunch of wormy cowards.”

Bellas scrambled to his feet and backed away from her. “You are wrong, Gabrielle. I did not come here to hurt you.” He held up both hands. “I came to warn you.  I wanted to tell you to go no further… you have no need to. Your partner is lost to you, and death awaits you if you continue.”

Gabrielle grounded the end of her staff and curled her hand around the top of it. “You really don’t get it, do you?”

The forest dweller eyed her warily.

“Where she goes, I go.” The bard said, and then fell silent, just watching him.

Bellas studied her in return.  “Very well.” He said. “Then I will tell you this, Gabrielle. If your partner does come out of that darkness, we will be waiting for her. She has killed many of us, and for that, she will die.”  He backed off a step. “If you choose to go to her, then you choose to share her fate. Think about that, for your sake, and for your child’s.”

Gabrielle curled her other hand around her staff.

“We are not scum.” Bellas said. “But we are a people who are fighting against all you stand for.”  And with that, he turned and disappeared into the forest.

The bard watched him leave, waiting for the foliage to stop moving before she turned and made her way back to her leaf bed, sinking down into it and laying her staff across her knees.

So.  Gabrielle closed her eyes. That was the trouble her soulmate was in.  But it was true, that she felt no panic coming down their link, which meant Xena had a plan.  The bard relaxed. Not surprising. Xena usually did have a plan, and she was sure that whatever it was, the warrior would find a way to get back to her.

“In fact…” Gabrielle smiled to herself, picking up her cup and draining it. “I bet it’s going to make one heck of a story.”  She eased back down onto her small rock ledge and removed one of her apples, settling down to nibble it as she watched the fire burn down.

**

Xena had her eyes closed. Her head was resting against the rock behind her, and she had her shoulders wedged into a corner that kept her upright even in the light doze she’d managed to achieve. It was the darkest part of the night, and the only sound in the cavern was the rush of water past her and the faint snores of the forest dwellers.   She was on the other side of the chasm, and she knew the forest dwellers were not going to attack her, so she really could have slept if she’d wanted to.

And yet. Xena opened her eyes and studied the low, annoying green glow.  She found herself thinking more and more of Gabrielle, trying to imagine where her partner was, and what she was doing. Was she already outside the cave? Did she know what had happened to Xena? Or.. had she encountered the forest dwellers?

Xena knew the bard was safe. She could feel the gentle, even warmth of their connection just below her consciousness and there was nothing of terror, or strong emotion about it. Had Gabrielle stopped for the night? Despite the fact that she knew Gabrielle was more than capable of taking care of herself, she was not above a little anxiety about her being out in the forest, alone, without Xena there to protect her.

Was that fair to Gabrielle? Probably not, but Xena couldn’t help the way she felt. There had been times when they’d been separated, and Gabrielle had done just fine by herself. She had the ability to gather her own sustenance, she knew what herbs, roots and berries were safe to eat, she could catch fish, or even if she really wanted to, a rabbit, and the gods only knew she was far more capable of turning all that into edible meals than Xena was.

She was strong, and a very good fighter. She did not need a Warrior Nanny.

Nevertheless, Xena sat there in the darkness, trapped in a waterfilled cave, and fretted because she wasn’t able to be out there herself to take care of the bard. Ridiculous, really. The warrior exhaled, and closed her eyes again.  Maybe Gabrielle was even enjoying the chance to be out on her own for a night or two. She was probably writing some poetry, taking advantage of the silence of the night around her to prod her bardic muse.

Or maybe she was lying on her back gazing up at the stars, making pictures from them. Xena wished she could see the stars.  Though she’d slowly gotten over the worst of her dislike of being closed in, she knew she would never be comfortable inside someplace like this. Though the cavern was large, and the air moved through it freely, in the back of her mind were nightmares of being trapped under the stones of these very mountains with death closing in on her.

She looked back on that moment, as she had many times before, and reflected one more time whether her dying there, then, when they had only known the joy of their relationship together would have been such a bad thing.   She knew, despite everything, that Gabrielle didn’t regret her living through it, not for an instant. Truly. But sometimes Xena wondered if *she* didn’t regret it, just a little tiny bit.

Xena rolled her head a little to one side and studied a snail, patiently crawling across the slick, mossy rock.  “Is there a point to this?” She asked herself silently. “It’s not bad enough you’re stuck in a cave with two stinky nitwits and nothing but your fingernails to claw out of a mountain of rocks without thinking about *that*?”

No, there was no point, she decided. It was in the past, and anyway, the good stuff had been piling up pretty heavily again for a while now, so it wasn’t really the question it might have been back then.  Xena turned her thoughts to something more pleasant, like Gabrielle’s upcoming birthday.  She stretched her legs out a little, grimacing at the cold dampness of her leather boots, and crossed them at the ankles.  She wanted to do something special for the bard this year, since they’d be away from home

Assuming she got out of this mess, that is. Xena’s eyes opened, and she glared at the moss in irritation.  She tried willing the night to pass more quickly, but the darkness around her persisted and finally she folded her arms across her chest and tried to convince herself to get some sleep.

You’ll need it.

Xena’s eyes closed, and after a moment, an image of her soulmate formed in her mind. She could sense rock around Gabrielle’s still body, and hear the crackle of a nearby fire. It was quiet, aside from that, just muted night sounds from the nearby trees interrupting the peace every once in a long while.

Was it real? Xena felt a sense of fascination as she almost held her breath, so close did she feel Gabrielle’s presence.

She concentrated. Gabrielle seemed asleep, or nearly, her breathing was slow but Xena felt that there was something bothering her, as well. She lifted a hand, wanting to reach out and touch her partner, to break through the barriers separating them, and find out what the matter was.

As she watched, the bard shifted a little, then stifled a groan as she touched the back of her neck.

Gabrielle was hurt. Xena could feel it now, an ache that almost echoed the one she felt along her own spine, centered in the area her hand was resting on.

Now she could see more, as she focused intently. There were bruises all over her partner’s skin, and the injury on her back was hurting her badly, as she shifted again in an attempt to find a comfortable spot for herself.

Gabrielle. What have you done to yourself? Xena wondered. Did the forest dwellers hurt you? I’ll kill them if they did.  She vowed silently.

The bard settled back against the rocks, tucking her boots up under her and resting her head against one arm.

Xena didn’t really think about how unusual what she was doing was. It reminded her a little of the time she was dead, when she’d shadowed her newfound soulmate without being able to do anything about the grief overwhelming her.

Only this time… Xena imagined putting her arms around Gabrielle’s hurting body, and pulling the bard towards her to snuggle up against her chest.  She imagined the soft murmur of relief Gabrielle would utter, and in her mind, she gently ruffled the blond hair with her fingers, scratching the bard behind her ears and feeling her relax against her.

Was it real?

Xena could smell her partner’s distinctive scent, and though part of her knew she was still inside the cavern, in the dark, trapped in a place she had only a slim chance of getting out of  - the sense of being close to Gabrielle was undeniable.

She gave into it. Her breathing slowed, and she felt sleep creeping up on her, just as it was on Gabrielle whose chest exhaled in what could only be relief.

Gabrielle. I will always be here.  The words echoed softly in Xena’s mind. Always.

At last, they slept.

Gabrielle woke at first light, her eyes opening and her body shifting with a sense of dire disorientation. She was cold, a quick look told her that the fire had gone out, and her body was painfully stiff from sleeping in one position all night.

But.

A whisper of memory tickled her, and she looked around, at the stone wall at her back, and the small space she was tucked into.

Xena?

She could almost feel her partner’s recent presence, as though Xena had merely woken early and gone out to gather breakfast for them.  Yet, she knew the warrior wasn’t with her. It was a very odd sensation. With a small grunt, Gabrielle sat up and rubbed her face, glad at least that she’d been able to get some sleep.

Carefully, she stretched, groaning as she felt the pain in her back. The rest hadn’t helped it, she noted, but it also hadn’t worsened.  She eased out of her little cubby and stood up, very slowly working the kinks out of her legs as the dawn rays filtered through the leaves and speckled her.

After a moment she paused and looked around, still feeling the haunting presence of her soulmate and half expecting her to walk out of the forest. “Weird.” She spoke aloud, rubbing her arms to warm them. “Haven’t felt like that since…”

She stopped, and gazed at the rising sun, her throat suddenly dry.  Since Xena’s death, in fact. After the warrior had greeted her in the mists of the afterlife, and they’d come up with a plan to get the warrior’s body back…. She’d felt Xena’s presence very much like she just had.

“Xena?” Gabrielle spoke aloud. “This better not be what I think it is.”

There was no answer, save the rustling of the leaves.  Gabrielle paced back and forth a few times, trying to calm her sudden panic.  No, she realized, this time she hadn’t felt anything like last time. If something that dire had happened, she would have known.

She would have felt Xena’s passing, no question, no matter if the warrior’s spirit had remained behind.

Wouldn’t she?

She paced some more. Bellas had told her Xena was doomed. That meant, she argued silently, that she wasn’t doomed *yet* - but that he expected her to come to a bad end.  So that meant Xena was still okay.

Didn’t it?

Yes.  Gabrielle decided. She was okay, because Gabrielle would have known otherwise. She was in trouble, but she had a plan, and Gabrielle had better get moving to find her because if she had a plan maybe she also needed some help with it.

With a firm nod, she walked to the trickle of water that fell into a rocky pool near her fire. Putting her hands under it, she watched them fill, then she lifted them to her lips and drank deeply. Another handful, then she took a third and washed her face, letting the cold liquid wake her fully up.

With a sigh, she shook her hands to rid them of water droplets then walked back over to where her staff was lying, booting it up to her hand and lifting it to lay lightly across her shoulders.  Slowly, she twisted her body, loosening up tortured muscles and putting a distinct grimace on her face.

**

Xena jerked awake, feeling her heart rate rattling in her chest for a long moment before it slowed and calmed, her instincts fairly freaking out at finding herself in a dark, close rock chamber when her dreams had left her in a leafy glen.

In a camp, with her partner. Free, under the stars.

“Ares left nut.” The warrior muttered, rubbing her face. Her dreams had been pleasant, but all too real, and she hadn’t been pleased at waking up back in a place she hated as much as she did this damn cavern.

With a muffled curse, she turned and looked at the far wall, seeing the light of dawn slowly, dimly filtering through the water into the dark space she was in. It wasn’t much, but it was better than nothing and Xena got to her feet, glad beyond belief to see it.

Walking to the edge of the water, she stripped off her now dry overtunic and tossed it aside, then she sat down on the damp rock ledge and unlaced her boots. With a grunt, she pulled them off and threw them over near the tunic, then she stood up and unhooked her leathers, removing them and stepping into the swirling water.

The shock of the cold made her very essence tingle.  Xena braced her legs against the current and let the water wake her up as she scrubbed her skin to rid it of traces of mud and moss.

She realized, of course, that she’d just get muddier and covered in more moss as she started to work, but it was a long ingrained habit in her to start the day clean and she wasn’t about to break the habit now.

“Hey!” Brownie stepped to the opposite side of the chasm and shaded his eyes. “What are you doing?”

Xena gazed at him, one eyebrow lifting sardonically. “I figured you didn’t know much about bathing.” She commented. “Not with that stench.”  She scooped up several mouthfuls of water and drank them, grimacing a little at the mineral taste.

Blackie wandered over. “Are you naked?”

Xena looked down at herself, then up at him. She spread her arms out and lifted her hands, in eloquent if silent expression.

“Ares. You humans are ugly.” Blackie shook his head. “Uugh.”

Xena chuckled. “You’re not my type either, so don’t worry about it.” She finished her bath and pressed her body up and out of the water, shaking herself vigorously to rid herself of as much of the liquid as she could. Then she pulled her clothing back on and walked to the end of her side of the chasm. She flexed her hands, which were more than sore from the previous day, and looked at the remaining rocks.

It was going too slowly. Xena felt a well of frustration rising up in her, and she decided she wanted out, now.  Out of here, out into the sunlight, out and back to her soulmate, who…

Memory of the night before suddenly surfaced, and she remembered what she’d seen.

Well, she had to get out now, that was just that. Xena tipped her head back and regarded the cavern, searching for more cracks she could wedge apart. Her eyes fell on a ledge three times her body height from the ground, it’s length disappearing into the dark shadows.

She measured the ledge. Her head swiveled, and she measured the hole she was trying to fill.  Then she turned and approached the wall, leaping up and catching a handhold above her head.

She started to climb.

“Hey!” Brownie called. “What are you doing now?”

Xena didn’t answer. She just kept climbing.

**

Gabrielle picked her steps carefully, now that her path was leading her up into the mountains. She’d gathered a few more apples, and some berries before she’d started her climb, and she added one of Xena’s trail bars to munch on as she walked along.

The ache in her back had spread down her shoulders, and she could feel a sense of rawness where the lump in her neck was, where motion caused a very unpleasant jolting pinch that made her entire body seize up.

Walking wasn’t a picnic, and she was seriously hoping that nothing would require her to use her staff for anything more than a crutch.

She scaled up an uneven ridge and paused at the top to rest, then she planted her staff and leaned on it as she spotted a group of forest dwellers ahead of her.  They were ringed around the base of a waterfall, one that gushed out the tall, rock wall ahead of her and thundered down to create yet another gorgeous pool.

They seemed oblivious to her presence.  Gabrielle stepped over the ridge and made her way towards them, curious as to what they were doing. It seemed like there was at least a round dozen of them, and they all were standing around the pool and pointing up at the falls.

Gabrielle stopped just behind them and looked up, grimacing and stopping the motion as her injury protested. “Hi.” She said.

The forest dwellers whirled, and spotted her.  “You.” Bellas growled.

“Me.” Gabrielle agreed.

The forest dwellers glared at her. Gabrielle held her ground, returning their stares with a calm interest. She hadn’t done anything to them to provoke the attitude, and she figured if she just stayed cool, maybe she could find out where this cave Xena was supposedly in was.

“We have told you it is forbidden for your kind to come here.” Bellas said.

Gabrielle sighed. “I thought we’d gotten past that.”

“And here is why!” The forest dweller replied angrily. He pointed at the waterfall.  The rest of the forest dwellers muttered in agreement.

Huh? Gabrielle very carefully tilted her head and looked at the falls. There was nothing human made anywhere within her vision, and her brow creased in confusion. “I’m missing something.” She was uneasily aware of the crowd approaching her. “We don’t make waterfalls.

“Since your entrance to our lands, the waterfall has been dying!” The closest of the forest dwellers. “Look!”

“We should take her and throw her off the cliffs!”

The bard studied the waterfall. She could see rocks on either side of it’s flow that were moss darkened, indications that the flow had, in fact, reduced at some point.  “Wait a minute.” She protested. “You can’t seriously think I had anything to do with that?  Humans can’t change the course of waterfalls!”

“Explain it then?” Bellas said. “Explain why, since the moment you stepped into the valley, this fall, which feeds our people, and brings us life and sustenance, is failing.”

Gabrielle stared at the falls, then at him. “I have no idea!” She blurted. “Who knows? Maybe it was a landslide, or something changed in the mountain.. or..”

“Liar.” The short, dun colored forest dweller closest to her said. “Nothing has changed! You think we would not hear a landslide? Or the mountain shifting? Do you take us for fools!”  He glared at her. “The only thing that has changed is you being here.”

“Let’s find out.” Another forest dweller suggested. “Let’s take her to the top of the ridge, and throw her over. Then if the waterfall returns, we’ll know.”

“Wait a minute.” Gabrielle held a hand up. “This doesn’t make any sense.”

“It makes perfect sense.” Bellas said. “The legends say the humans will destroy this place. You come, and it’s dying. What else is there to understand?”  He gestured his fellows forward. “Brack is right. One way or the other, you must be ejected from here.”

Gabrielle took a step back. “Now, hold on.”

“Come with us, and I will take you myself to the cliff, and see you out to the outer valley.” Bellas said. “But if you refuse, then I will take you in pieces and throw you over.”

Sometimes, Gabrielle knew, talking really didn’t do the trick. So she turned and bolted, surprising the forest dwellers and giving herself a vital moment to get a head start.

“Get her!” Bellas yelled.

Gabrielle concentrated on running. Luckily, it was something she was pretty good at, and since she was far lighter, and much nimbler than the forest dwellers, she was determined to keep that advantage for as long as she could.

The question was, of course, since there were more of them, and she was in strange territory, would it really matter in the end?

The bard focused on her soulmate’s energy, and headed for that with an almost innate instinct. Xena had, for a long time now, been the only safety she’d ever put her trust completely into.

Now, despite Xena’s own peril, she might be Gabrielle’s only chance.

**

Xena reached up, her fingers searching for another handhold. She could see her objective just out of her reach, but despite all her attempts, the rock face remained obstinately smooth and ungrippable. Frustrated, she relaxed for a moment, and glanced down.

The ground was appallingly far away. She knew if she missed a grip and fell, despite her talent at landing, it was gonna hurt.

“Son of a Bacchae.” The warrior growled. She was aware of the forest dwellers on the opposite bank, watching her in the dimness with their excellent night vision. Looking like an idiot was never on her list of things to do, and she was very conscious of being stuck here hanging with no place left to go.

And then, it hit her. Her hands clenched down tight on the rock as a wave of fear almost swamped her, and she felt a gasp escape as she realized Gabrielle was in some kind of real trouble.

In trouble, and needing her.  Xena’s eyes opened wide and she stared up at the ledge, gathering herself without really thinking about it and shoving off from the wall towards the edge of it.  Her hands hit the stone, and she swung under it, feeling a shifting in the surface as it took her weight.  Uh oh.  Xena scrambled to pull herself up, getting boot’s purchase on the top of the ledge just as the stone let loose from the rock wall and plummeted downward along with her.

“HEY!” Brownie let out a startled yell.

Xena tumbled in mid air, working hard to get herself above the rock slide as it tumbled towards the water. Stones pelted her as she fell, and then she had just enough time to take a breath before it all hit.

The impact knocked her out. The darkness enveloped her and knocked the breath out of her lungs as more rocks piled up on top of where she lay.   A roaring sound broke in to her confusion, and she suddenly felt a cold rush up over her body that shook her out of her daze.

Water.

“Xena!” Brownie’s voice was close now. He leaped over the rubble and grabbed her around the shoulders, kicking some of the rocks off her and pulling her clear of the water and onto the far shore. “Holy Ares! You did it!”

I did what?  Xena blinked, lifting a shaking hand to rub her eyes. Her chest heaved, pulling air back into her body and she half turned to look back over her shoulder.

Her eyes widened to the limits of their ability.

The entire rock shelf had collapsed, filling the hole with staggering completeness. Wonderful, exactly as she’d planned it, however….

Now the cavern was rapidly filling with water, that had no where else to go.  Already, it was roaring in and covering the ledges, and the forest dwellers were in it up to their kneecaps.  “Right.” The warrior gathered her wits and got to her feet, grabbing hold of the wall to keep her balance. “Now we get to the highest point, and wait.”

“That was incredible.” Blackie blurted.

“It sure was.” Brownie agreed. “Wow.”

Yeah. Great. I meant to do that.  Xena winced, as an injudicious breath made a broken rib apparent to her.  All part of the plan.  “Figured it’d be the fastest way.” She muttered.

“No lie.” Brownie edged higher on the ridge as the water level increased. “Woulda taken us all day to do half of that the hard route.”

“Yeah.” Blackie muttered.

Yeah. Xena leaned against the wall for a moment, forcing herself past the pain.  The water was pouring in at such a rate, she had to keep pushing the forest dwellers further up the ridge just to keep it at mid thigh. “You can swim, right?”

Blackie looked back at her, his muzzle wrinkling.

Xena sighed. “Keep air in your lungs. It’ll help you float.” They reached the top of the ridge, and now could only stand, watching as the water swirled around their waists. It’s chill actually helped a little, taking the sting out of the long scrapes on her leg and easing the aches. “Okay, when it reaches your neck, just let go, and swim over to the gap over there.” She pointed at the dark spot in the ceiling.

“Why not try to swim out there?” Brownie asked, indicating the hole where the water was pouring in. “If we wait till it fills all up, it’s gotta stop, right?”

Xena looked at him. “One, how long can you hold your breath?” She asked, waiting a moment. “That’s what I thought. Two, we fell down the height of a tall tree.. how are you figuring on getting back up to the river level?”

Brownie sighed. “I’m just not sure that hole leads anywhere.”

Xena peered at the gap, then drew in a breath as the water topped her chest. “Me either.” She admitted. “But at least we’ll find out for sure now. C’mon.” She kicked away from the wall and started for the center of the cavern, swimming with powerful strokes of her arms.

**

Gabrielle scrambled under a set of bushes, then ducked past two low, overhanging limbs before she spotted a small crevice in the rocks and headed for it. She heard the forest dwellers behind her, the crackle of limbs being ripped off and the scrape of claws on rock that spurred her to move ever faster.

The pain was just an irrelevant thing. She focused on Xena, almost able to feel the pull of the warrior’s presence leading her on as she slipped between the narrow crags and edged her way up the side of the mountain.

“In there!”

Gabrielle glanced over her shoulder and managed a grim smile as she saw the first of her pursuers try to wedge his body into the space she’d disappeared into. She could see the wild rolling of his eyes, and the flash of fangs, as he extended an arm towards her full of impotent claws.

Sometimes, being little and short rocked. Gabrielle raced forward, pulling herself along with her hands as the crevice started upward. She could hear the forest dwellers circling, yelling as they searched for a way to follow her, and she knew, looking ahead, that she’d have to emerge eventually.

Question was, could she get to the top fast enough to be ahead of them or not?

“Just do it.” The bard told herself over and over again, reaching up and grabbing the edge of the rocks to gain speed.  She got to the end of the crack and got her feet up under her, shoving up and throwing herself out of the crevice and up onto an uneven ledge.

Out of pure instinct, she rolled and tucked her arms and legs in, then got her back against the wall before she looked around. For a moment, it was silent save for her labored breathing. Then she heard yells, and she got to her knees, peering over the ledge.

Below her, the forest dwellers were scaling the rocks, searching for a way to get to the ledge she was on. It was only a matter of time, but at least she had some of that. Gabrielle turned and searched for her own best path, finding a narrow bit of rock that lead further up to an opening.

A cave.   Gabrielle looked down, seeing the first of her followers gaining a hold on the lower section of the ledge she stood on. Well, there wasn’t much choice, was there? She turned and headed across the path, feelin the thump of her staff as it knocked against her back where it was slung.

She could just drop it, she reasoned, but she’d come to depend on it as Xena did her own weapons, and the gods knew, she’d probably need it before she was done with this.

Placing her hands flat on the rock, she inched along sideways, her boots scraping the small ledge, and kicking tiny pebbles off to bounce down the mountainside. “Don’t’ look down.” She muttered to herself, pressing her body against the stone.

She heard the yells get louder, but she had to concentrate on what she was doing or else risk falling off the mountain.  Then her boots reached the end of the tiny ridge she was walking on, and she looked down, to see the ridge start up again an arms length further.

Without thinking, she simply stepped across the opening, hopping to the far end of the ledge and easing onto a wider part of the path before she considered the consequences.

Her boot slipped, and she only barely caught her balance, turning to watch a bit of the ridge she was balanced on crack off and tumble down the mountain to land on the rocks below. The bits bounced off and continued on, but she imagined for a moment her body landing on that very same rock, and not bouncing anywhere.

“Yikes.” Gabrielle turned and grabbed the rocks again, pulling herself upward towards the cave opening. She could see the forest dwellers heading in the same direction, trying to cut her off.

Then she felt a surge of powerful emotion coming down her link to Xena, and she forgot all about the forest dwellers.  She scrambled off the ridge and onto the ledge near the cave opening, and broke into a full out run again.

**

Xena reached up and caught the edge of the opening, her fingers searching the rock for a handhold. She found one readily, and pulled herself up out of the water into the crack.  It was large enough to readily admit her, though it would be a squeeze for the two forest dwellers. “Grab the rocks!” She yelled, hauling herself up out of the way and reaching for the next hold.

It was dark. The scent of decay was getting stronger, too, and Xena’s nose wrinkled as she worked her way up.

“Water’s coming after us!!” Brownie coughed. “Too fast!”

Yeah. Xena climbed faster, finding craggy footholds as she worked her way up the rocks. She could hear the water sloshing into the opening, and the scent of it rose strongly to her nose, along with the wet fur of the two behind her.  She could feel the rock narrowing around her chest, and she grimaced. “Gonna have to squeeze up here.”

Brownie just coughed again. Blackie let out a yelp.

Xena found a small ledge ahead of her and she powered herself up onto it, glad to have a moment to plan her next move.

Then she wished she hadn’t. There was a gap of straight, smooth rock above her, with no handholds visible. Across from it, was a second ledge, higher up. “Okay.” Xena glanced down, to see both furry heads even with the ledge her boots were on. “I’m gonna jump. When I get over, you get up here, you jump, and I”ll catch you and pull you up.”

They looked up at her, their round, golden eyes just visible in the gloom. A slosh of water surged up between them, wetting them both and making them snort.

Xena smiled. “It’ll be all right.” She turned and measured, then crouched, and exploded away from the ledge, reaching out with both hands to catch the one on the far side. Her hands hit the dry stone and she grabbed it, pulling her body up and onto the ledge in one smooth move.

Then she continued the roll and got to her feet, bracing her boots securely, and readying herself for the effort of catching someone roughly twice her weight. “Go!”

Brownie had pulled himself up onto the ledge and now he hesitated for a moment, flexing his fingers as he stared across the chasm at her.

“C’mon.” Xena urged him. “We don’t have time!”

“I’ll pull us both down!” Brownie yelled back.

“No, you won’t.” The warrior told him. “Now JUMP!”

He jumped.  Xena reached out and grabbed his hands as he neared, hauling her body backwards and yanking him out of the air to her side. “Next!!!”

Blackie was just climbing onto the ledge, the water swirling rapidly around his feet as he stood. He put a hand on the wall and took a few breaths, coughing fluid out of his lungs.

“Hurry.” Xena warned.

“You could just leave us here.” Brownie commented next to her.

Xena turned her head and looked at him, then returned her attention to Blackie. “JUMP!”

Blackie jumped. He slipped in the water, though, and lost momentum, his hands only barely getting to Xena’s as she leaned forward to grab him.

For a long instant, it was a dinar toss as to whether she’d pull both of them back, or they’d both plunge into the water. But Xena’s balance won out and they ended up slamming back against the rocks. “All right.” The warrior didn’t wait for comment. She started climbing again, following the craggy opening as it tilted to the right, and got a lot stinkier.

It was a perversely encouraging sign. Xena felt the water lick at her boots, and she moved faster, crawling up the short slope where the darkness was now fading into merely gray.  She pulled herself up over one last piece of stone, and then stopped.

Blackie and Brownie crowded behind her, and stopped as well. “Oh.”

Xena stared at the small crack in the rock. It was barely big enough for her to put hand through, showing teasing flashes of a larger, empty space beyond.

With no way for her to get through to it. “Damn.” Xena uttered softly.

Blackie exhaled, a gust of warmth against her back that counterpointed against the cold of the water now creeping up her legs.

“Well.” Brownie murmured quietly. “It was a chance.”

Xena put her hand against the stone. Hating it. The water came up to her chest, and she knew she couldn’t hold back the truth anymore.  With a quiet sigh, she let her head rest against the rock and reached out.

**

Gabrielle got to the entrance of the cave a step ahead of the forest dwellers, and turned the corner, immediately wishing she hadn’t.

The inside was worse than any abbatoir she’d ever seen, worse even than a battlefield. Death was everywhere, and the stench was almost overwhelming.

But she kept going anyway. She skirted a carcass and jumped over something covered in rats, hoping like anything that she wouldn’t lose her footing and go down in it.

She got past the worst of it and found dry rock, running along a short shelf of it and climbing up onto a higher level as the first of the forest dwellers entered the cave after her. The closest lunged and almost caught her boot, but she yanked her foot forward and got up, running again up a slope towards the back of the cave.

Xena’s presence was getting stronger.  Gabrielle hoped she was close, or else she’d have to pick a spot to take a stand, and just do the best she could to defend herself.

She turned a corner, and spotted another ledge up a bit further. Her hands had barely touched it when she stumbled to a halt, as a gentle force reached out to her and stopped her in her tracks.

“No.” The sound wasn’t even speech. She vaulted to the top of the shelf and bolted, ignoring everything behind her.

**

“Hey, Xena?” Brownie said, suddenly.

The warrior opened her eyes and looked at him.

“You’re really all right.” The forest dweller said. “I’m sorry we tried to kill you.”

“Yeah.” Blackie added, tilting his head to keep his chin above the water. It was rising a little slower now, perversely prolonging their mortal ordeal. “You really are Ares Chosen, aren’t you?”

Xena sighed. “Yeah.” She admitted. “I am.” She put her back against the rocks and braced her boots against the crack in the wall, shoving against the unmoving stone out of pure, mean stubbornness.

Then the slim bit of light was blocked, and fingers reached in to touch her boot.

Xena reached forward and took them, knowing without a doubt whose they were.

“Xena.”

The warrior pitched forward and pressed herself against the crack, hearing so much in her soulmate’s tone she didn’t want the forest dwellers to share. “Yeah.”

“Gods.”

“Sorry.” Xena said, simply. “Stupid mistake.”

A soft, agonized sigh. “I love you.”

Xena stared through the crack for an endless moment. “Sweetheart?”

“I’m here.”

“Get away from the rocks, okay?”

“Xe, they’re solid.”

“I know. Get back.”

“I don’t want to leave you.”

“I know. Please.”

The warrior felt the grip on her fingers tighten, then she felt a warmth touch the backs of them that could only be Gabrielle’s lips. Reluctantly, the touch eased off, and the chill of the water took it’s place.

Xena closed her eyes, and braced her boots again. She reached inside herself and called on her will, secure in the knowledge that whatever the source, whatever the power she called on, she did it for all the right reasons.

**

Gabrielle was close to losing it. Her entire body was shaking, as she trembled on the very edge of a chasm she’d already fallen in once before.  It had happened far too quickly, her mind wasn’t ready for it, wasn’t able to process the suddenness of the reality of Xena’s dying.

Staring at the rock wall trapping her soulmate, she ripped her staff from her back and slammed it against the granite, attacking the uncaring mountain with all the strength in her body.

A forest dweller came up behind her. Gabrielle sensed him. She turned as he reached for her and swung her staff at his head, catching him in total surprise and splitting his skull open.  “AaaarrggghhH!” The bard felt the animal part of her emerge.   She set herself before the crack in the stone, and faced off against the rest of them, her rage removing any trace of fear from her.

They attacked. She hated them with such intensity, she moved with a speed far exceeding what they expected and with her staff as a shield she held her ground.

She shoved them back, and lifted her staff, letting out a wild yell as she felt a surge of energy from Xena, knowing what was coming next and crossing the line into not caring what happened to her afterward.

The forest dwellers surged back, Gabrielle set herself for the end, and they all were caught by surprise as a wall of water exploded from the rocks and blew them all off the rock ledge they were standing on.

Gabrielle found herself being thrown against the stone walls, slamming her already abused body until she was numb and senseless under the onslaught of water. She knew she was coming to a long drop, and she scrambled to grab hold of something as the ledge dropped out from under her and the water swept on by.

She fell.

In mid air, something big slammed into her, and the next thing she knew she was tumbling into a crevice in the cave as a wall of water cascaded over her, plunging to the cave floor below and taking the forest dwellers with it.

She didn’t care. She wrapped her arms around the solid, warm, soggy leather and metal covered item that had plucked her from the air and just didn’t care about anything else.

It didn’t matter. Not the pain she was in, or the fact that her throat was so raw she couldn’t speak, or the screams she could hear down below her. Nothing else mattered.

Nothing.

Xena hugged her soulmate close and blinked the blood out of her eyes, not entirely sure where she was, or what she’d done to get there, or what she was going to do next.  All she knew was that Gabrielle was there with her and at the moment, nothing else mattered.

Nothing.

She watched the back of the nascent waterfall, her eyes transfixed by the sunlight sparkling through it as she felt Gabrielle kiss her on the cheek with trembling lips.

Somehow, she found a smile somewhere for that.

**

Continued in Part 7

Champion

Part 7

Xena didn’t really know how long they’d been lying there, wedged in the rock crevice as the water poured over them. All she knew was that they were relatively safe, if wet and uncomfortable, and she was desperately grateful for the respite, however meager.

The niche she’d spotted at the very last minute was just a fold in the rocks, a lucky fold that undercut the ledge the water was flowing over and had given her the opportunity to grab the tumbling figure she’d lunged after and pull them both into some kind of refuge.

She had no memory at all of what had happened once the water had come up over her head in the trap. She remembered the cold sting as it covered her eyes, and then….

And then the next thing she’d known was falling down and out and chaos with the unnerving roar of water around her and the white hot pinpoint of emotion she knew was Gabrielle before her. She’d gone for the heart of it, and lucked out, and here they were.

Together. Xena drew in an unsteady breath. Her body protested the motion, daggers of pain punching her in the chest from her broken ribs. But she was alive, and Gabrielle was, and as far as Xena was concerned her life had gotten immeasurably better just in the last while knowing that.

Now, they had to move forward.

Gabrielle was shivering in her arms. She knew her partner was hurt, possibly more seriously than she had been earlier. But the more worrying to Xena was the sense of emotional chaos she could feel coming down their link.  Slowly, she shifted her grip, cradling Gabrielle as carefully as she could. “Hey.”

The bard merely huddled closer to her, her hands wrapped in the sodden fabric around Xena’s body.

“Gab?” Xena whispered. “Gabrielle?”

Her partner was crying. The warrior could feel the jerks in her breathing and she exhaled, squirming around just a bit onto her back and laying Gabrielle’s body over hers. This took the strain off the bard’s back, and she perceptibly relaxed, slumping against Xena’s chest and breathing a little easier. “It’s okay.” Xena murmured, easing her hands over Gabrielle’s spine and probing carefully. “Sweetheart, I’ve got you. You’re gonna be okay.”

“Auuggh.” Gabrielle managed a pathetic, aching sound.

“Easy.” The warrior said. “Easy, honey. You’re gonna be okay. I’m gonna take care of you, I promise. It’s okay.” She could feel the injury now, an ugly lump that was hot under her fingertips. Her own injuries got tossed into the back of her mind and she concentrated on getting her soulmate to relax her rigid muscles, which she knew were causing her utter agony. “Eeaaasy.”  She ran her hands lightly over Gabrielle’s skin.

“Ungh.” Gabrielle turned her head slightly, her breath warming Xena’s neck. “Xe.”

“I’m here.” Xena stroked her wet hair with shaking fingers. “I’m here, sweetheart.”

“Hurts.”

“I know.. I can feel it.” The warrior told her. “Did the forest dwellers do this to you, honey?” She could feel the tension very slowly relaxing under her touch, as she worked pressure points on  a body as familiar to her as her own. “What did they do to you?”

“Ugh.” Gabrielle exhaled slowly. “Hurt before, but now… gods.” She got out. “Breathing hurts.”

“Try to relax.” Xena urged. “It’ll help the pain.”

“Gods.” The bard coughed a little. “M…messed up.”

“Yeah, I know.” The warrior sighed. “But at least taking care of you is taking my mind off my broken ribs.” She attempted a bit of wan humor. “Silver lining, huh?”

Gabrielle groaned. “Xe, I’m lying on your ribs.”

“Just one more of my life’s little trials.” Xena finished her examination, leaving a deep pit of worry in her guts. Gabrielle was, in fact, seriously injured, all her attempts at reassurance aside. “Don’t feel a thing, honest.”

“Xe?”

Xena cradled Gabrielle’s head carefully, keeping it as still as she could. “Hm?”

“Love you.” The bard whispered. “Thanks for not dying on me.” Her breathing quickened a little. “Think I lost it…”

“Me too.” Xena reassured her. “Don’t worry about it. It’s over. It’s past.”

“Mm.”  Gabrielle’s lips touched the skin on Xena’s neck, pressing lightly against it. She was cold, and in enormous pain but it was hard for her to make that matter against the utter relief of being able to hear the music of her partner’s heartbeat under her ear.   That mattered. That made it okay. Xena was here, and now things could only get better.  She kissed Xena again, just because she could, and felt the answering pressure of Xena’s lips on the top of her head.

The thunder of the water pouring over her was starting to get on her nerves. Gabrielle opened one eye and looked at it, momentarily charmed by the sparkle of the sunlight caught in the flow.  Then she realized however pretty it was, the damn stuff was blocking their way out and she started trying to figure out how they were going to get out of where they were.

“Gab?”

“Mmm?”

“We have to get out of here.” Xena said. “We’re both too cold.”

Gabrielle had never heard her partner include herself like that before. It made her forget her pain for a moment, and she peered up at Xena’s face, seeing the slight tremor in her lips and the pale tinge to her skin. “Right.” She murmured. “Honey, I don’t think I can walk.”

Dark lashes flickered, and the pale blue orbs tilted down to look at her. “No, I know you can’t.” Xena said. “I’m going to have to hold you, and just jump.”

“Ow.”

“I know.” The warrior stroked her hair. “I know it’s bad, Gabrielle.”

“I mean, for you.” The bard objected. “Xe, you’re hurt.”

Xena looked around, then looked down at her, as one eyebrow cocked upward along with the edge of her lips on that side. It was as eloquent as an Athens bard, and Gabrielle had to manage a smile in reaction. “Okay, okay.” The blond woman relented. “I know, no other way. I get it.”

“I’m going to put you out.” Xena told her quietly. “Just until we get out of this place.”

Gabrielle gazed trustingly at her. “Do what you have to do, partner. Just be careful.”

Xena kissed her on the head again, with gentle passion. “See you on the other side of this thing, my love.”  Carefully, she pressed two points on Gabrielle’s neck, and felt the bard go completely limp against her. She knew she only had a limited amount of time, so she simply gathered Gabrielle up against her, holding her upper body as firmly as possible with one arm and shoved them both off the ledge and through the waterfall.

The water hit her like a hammer, but her forward motion drove them both clear of the flow and she was in free fall, orienting herself in mid air as she recognized her surroundings. The forest dweller’s cave was in shambles. Xena had only a moment to acknowledge a sense of vengeful justice before a slippery ledge was coming up under her fast and she had to get ready to land them both.

She hit with both legs slightly bent, and the force almost sent her sprawling. But Gabrielle’s injuries were foremost in her mind and she straightened up and leaped off the ledge to the next one, which was much drier and flat. Then she shifted her grip on Gabrielle, scooping her up to cradle her against her chest before she started down the side of the cavern.

At the edge of the rocks, she paused and gazed around her. Sodden, limp bodies were scattered around, obviously lifeless, and the ring of stones she’d climbed on during her last abortive visit were toppled.

Ruined.  Xena dropped her eyes to the quiet, pale figure resting in her arms and felt no remorse whatsoever. She hoped all the bastards had died in the flood.

Well, maybe not Brownie and Blackie. They deserved to survive, after going through what she had.

With that, she hopped to the next ledge and made her way to the cave entrance, stepping carefully through the thin racing of water that in the center poured out from the cave’s mouth.  The new falls gushed out over the stone, wrecking the forest as it carved it’s way ever lower, an irresisitable force that swept everything before it.

Xena stepped out into the sunlight. For a moment she leaned back against the granite wall, absorbing it’s heat and feeling a bit of pure joy as the colors of the world flooded back into her vision starved for them after being underground for so long.

Then she found her path down the side of the rocks and followed it, heading for the forest, needing a sanctuary for both of them.

**

Xena stumbled backwards through the thick hedge, shaking her shoulders with an aggressive snarl as she broke through the inner barrier and then almost landed on her back as the resistance to her passage vanished.

She wrenched her body around and almost groaned in relief, seeing an open, sun spattered space surrounded by thick yew hedges on all sides. She dropped to her knees in the center of it, and laid Gabrielle carefully down on her belly  on the soft moss covered ground.

After a moment to flex her hands, and get the feeling back into her fingers, she released the hold on her partner’s neck, and grabbed her shoulders as the bard’s eyes opened and she inhaled in shock. “Easy. I’m right here.”

“Augh.” Gabrielle whispered. “Where are we?”

“In a safe place.” Xena told her quietly. “I need to take care of where you’re hurt.” She moved the bard’s hair aside, and used her small dagger to cut through the fabric of her tunic, exposing her spine. “Damn.”

“It feels like damn.” Gabrielle said. “I can’t move without it hurting so bad I want to scream, Xena. What’s wrong? It wasn’t that bad before.” Her voice was tense, and had a hoarse tinge to it.

“Just relax.” Xena put a hand on her shoulder. “If you get upset, it’s gonna hurt worse.”

Gabrielle put her head down on the ground and tried to comply. She was glad to be out of the cave, at least, and very grateful for the warm sunlight dappling her body through the leaves. The pain was making her sick to her stomach, and for a moment she wished Xena would just put her out again.

With a sigh, she concentrated on examining the nearby view of Xena’s leg as the warrior knelt next to her. She could see gashes in the fabric of Xena’s leggings, and beneath that the rust of dried blood. Her ears also detected the fact that her soulmate was breathing a little more heavily, and it was almost a relief to transfer some of her worry over her own injury to her partner’s condition. “How are you doing?”

“I’m… all right.” Xena answered. “Gab, I need to build a fire. I’m gonna…” The warrior paused. “Too much swelling in there. I.. think we need to get it out.”

Gabrielle grimaced.

“It’ll make you feel better.” Xena promised, her hand coming to rest on Gabrielle’s with a gentle squeeze. “Just rest, and I’ll get some wood.”

Resting sounded like a good idea. Gabrielle concentrated on taking slow, deep breaths as she watched Xena stand and circle the little clearing, collecting fallen branches. Now in the sunlight, she could see how battered the warrior was, and the uncharacteristic slump to her shoulders. “Honey?”

“Mm?” Xena dropped an armful of branches down and went back to her searching, this time for tinder.

“You look crummy.”  The bard observed.

Xena returned and dropped back down to the ground, beginning to put together the wood. “I feel crummy.” She admitted quietly. “Been a long couple of days.. stuck in a dark hole with people wanting to kill me.”

Despite the pain, Gabrielle shifted and slid her arm out to one side, putting her hand on her partner’s knee where a ragged rent exposed it through the legging. The skin was warmer to the touch than it should have been. Xena seemed to appreciate the touch though, since she shifted closer.

“Scared for myself, scared for you… stupid damn forest dwellers being jerks…” Xena muttered.

Gabrielle stroked her knee with her fingers.

“Son of a bacchae.” Xena snarled at the flint and striker in her hands, which were still damp from their long immersion. “Stupid pieces of..”

“Xe.” Gabrielle watched the temper tantrum roil over her partner’s angular features. “Sweetheart?”

“What?” The warrior snapped.

“It’s not your fault you caught cold in there.” The bard rubbed her thumb in a circle. “Why don’t you just sit down and rest for a few minutes, let those dry in the sun.”

Xena sat down with a grunt of disgust, tossing the useless fire starters onto a sunny patch and letting her elbows rest on her knees. “Damn it.”  Now the hoarse note was very audible in her voice. She cleared her throat and propped her head up against one fist, her other hand finding Gabrielle’s and clasping it.

They sat there in silence for a while, two hurting souls finding solace in each other as the sun spread through their hiding place and burnished them both with golden light.  Finally, Xena picked up her flint and examined it, then she retrieved the striker and hunkered over the branches, sending efficient sparks down over them.

Gabrielle left her hand draped over the warrior’s knee, just wanting the comfort in the contact. The pain was getting worse, and worse, and she didn’t even feel like talking as a distraction from it.  After a few minutes, her eyelids fluttered closed and she heard the sounds around her fade out to a buzz.

A soft crackle made her open her eyes, to see a fire burning strongly nearby, shedding it’s warmth over her. Xena was rubbing her hands over it, and she had her dagger out on her knee. Gabrielle felt a shiver come over her as she looked at it, remembering the pain she’d gone through when Xena had tended her back injury during the war. “Xe?”

The warrior turned. “Almost ready.”

Gabrielle blinked at her. “I… don’t know if I can take.. you doing that.” She admitted, in a whisper. “S’gettting to me.”

Xena touched her cheek. “Don’t worry. I’m going to put you out. I can’t risk you jumping around when I’m trying to fix things.”

“Okay.” Gabrielle was almost ashamed of her utter relief. “Sorry.”

“Don’t be.” Xena pushed the disheveled blond hair out of her eyes. “We’ll get you fixed up, then I gotta go see if I can scrounge some herbs.”

“Ugh.” The bard exhaled.

Xena had been holding her dagger to the fire, and now she drew it out, the blade glowing a dull orange. She swiveled and settled next to Gabrielle’s sprawled body, and paused, meeting her eyes.

“You’re scared.” The bard whispered.

Xena hesitated, then nodded.

“For me?”

“It’s a bad injury.” The warrior said.

But Gabrielle merely gazed confidently at her. “You’ll fix it.” She closed her eyes and put her head down, waiting for Xena’s touch at her neck. “You can fix anything.”

Xena gently put the pinch on her, then she let her head rest against her upraised, clenched hands and acknowledged the terrible weight on her shoulders.  Then she exhaled and pushed her hair back and examined again the problem before her.

She was tired, and she knew she had a fever – the long days in the cold darkness had left their mark on her. But all that paled before the ugly swelling on Gabrielle’s neck, and without her stock of herbs, or even a rudimentary healer’s kit save a single bone needle she’d found inside her belt pouch and a short length of gut – she knew she’d better get it right the first time and not screw up.

She eased into a better position and pulled the fabric back a little more, exposing the injury. Gabrielle was completely relaxed under the pinch, and the sun now revealed the bruising that extended over most of the exposed parts of her body aside from her back. Xena shook her head sadly, then she checked the knife, the blade cooled now, and went to work.

“Gods, I hope I know what in Hades I’m doing.” The warrior spoke aloud, as she carefully probed the swelling, and inserted the tip of her knife into her soulmate’s skin. It almost made a sound as the blade parted it, and as she went a little deeper she her hands were suddenly drenched with Gabrielle’s blood as it erupted from the cut and spilled down the tanned skin of her back.

Xena pulled her knife back and put gentle pressure on the spot, wincing as pus along with a lot more blood came pouring out.  She spotted tiny flecks of bone, and she picked one up, frowning at it’s jagged sharpness. “Damn.”

After a few minutes, the blood flow slowed, and she washed the wound with squirts from the waterskin she’d filled from the stream just outside their refuge. Already, the spot looked better – the lump was gone, and the bard’s neck had regained some of it’s usual lines.

But the fragments worried Xena. She washed the wound out again and again, then, parting the sides, she peered inside it with anxious eyes. The white of Gabrielle’s spine was visible, and she saw then the area that had been crunched in whatever had given her the wound. A wafer of sharp bone was sticking out between two of the parts of her back.

That didn’t look right. Xena eased her fingertips into the cut and took a firm hold of the wafer, pulling cautiously at it and wiggling it out of it’s crevice between the round bones. The pressure had been driving it further and further in, and Xena knew enough about butchering to know that between the spinal bones was a string that held them together, and if that string was severed…

She lifted her hand and looked at the sharp slice. Gabrielle had come that close to an injury even Xena would have no hope of fixing.

The same injury as the forest dweller in Jessan’s story.

Gods. The warrior put her shaking hand down on her knee and took a moment just to breathe. There had been other chips of bone, she had no idea how many. “Gods.” She whispered, putting the bit down and going back to the wound. She rinsed it out again and again, parting the cut with her fingers as she tried to make sure she’d gotten out every speck of it.

Finally, she let the cut close, and got out her bit of gut and needle, threading it almost mechanically before she took careful stitches and closed the opening up.

She wiped the area, cleaning the blood off, then she took a moment to collect herself before she reached over and released the block on Gabrielle’s neck.

For a moment, the bard was still, then her eyes slowly fluttered open, bloodshot and exhausted as she lifted her eyes to Xena’s face. “Ugh.”

“It’s done.” Xena told her. “Best I can do for now, anyway.” She laid a hand on Gabrielle’s hip, watching her anxiously. “Move for me.”

The bard frowned, but she opened her hands and closed them, then she shifted, just slightly and wiggled a booted foot at her partner. “Mm.” She grunted low in her chest. “Not so bad.”  A look of pained relief crossed her face. “Better.”  She managed a rakish smile for her watching partner. “See? Tolja you could fix anything.”

Xena took hold of her hand. “Wasn’t good, Gabrielle. We’ve got to get you out of here, and back to where I can really take care of that.”

“Back to our daughter.” Gabrielle added, with a solemn nod. “Poor Dori.. I promised her I’d be right back with you.”

Poor Dori. Xena had to put that out of her mind for the time being. “First things first. We get out of this damn valley.” She said. “Lemme go see if I can grab some herbs… and more water.”  She squeezed the bard’s hand. “You..”

“Stay here and rest.” Gabrielle finished for her. “I will.” She reached up and stroked Xena’s forearm, which now seemed very warm to her touch. “I think you better take a little rest yourself.”

“No time.” Xena pushed herself to her feet and looked around. She staggered a little as her knees threatened to unlock and she shook her head in aggravation, feeling the heaviness settling into her chest with a sense of utter disgust.

She hated being sick. She hated it even more than usual because right now she didn’t have time to *be* sick.  She had an injured partner to take care of, a valley to cross, and damned mountain to get up. There was just no time for this bacchae dropping stupidity!

“Xe?”

Xena turned, to see Gabrielle gazing at her, one arm now tucked under her head, a relatively good sign. “Yees?”

“I’d rest a lot better if I didn’t have to worry about you keeling over. Please go get your stuff and come back.” The bard said. “Please?”

Bah. “Don’t move.” Xena gave her a wry smile, then she turned and shoved her way through the bushes.

Gabrielle exhaled. The pain was still there, of course, but now it was a totally different pain. Instead of the aching stiffness, shot through with jolts of agony when she stirred, the pain now centered on the back of her neck where Xena had cut her and it had a sharp, almost clean quality to it.

It wasn’t like she enjoyed it, but she recognized the difference and knew it for a good one. And, when she moved her arms and legs, she no longer felt like she was being ripped apart. Experimentally, she eased one leg up a little, taking some of the pressure off her upper body.

The change was very welcome. She knew she’d have to get on her feet so they could get out of the valley –  and besides, it was starting to look like she might have to share her invalid status with her very obviously going rapidly downhill partner.

What a pair. Gabrielle had to smile, very wryly. They were both in a lot of trouble, but they were together and together, they would make it through.  She swallowed, feeling the rawness of her throat from screaming, and she pushed aside the cold memory of that moment of madness.  Xena was right. It was over, it was in the past, and now they had lots of other things to worry about.

Far off, her ears suddenly caught a howl, rising over the trees in a mixture of grief and rage.

Lots of other things. Gabrielle realized grimly.

Lots.

**

“Ah.” Xena finally spotted what she was looking for, and dropped to one knee, collecting the fresh herbs and stuffing them into her belt pouch.  She found another useful plant nearby, and on further investigation, she also discovered something even more useful.

It was a nut, but one twice the size of her fist. Xena knew she could clean and break it open, and it would provide a cup for them to share some hot tea from.

Gods, she wanted that. Xena felt a little embarrassed at the craving for creature comforts, so she convinced herself she was doing it for Gabrielle instead.  Scrounging around in the underbrush she located a treat – a mint bush she immediately snatched up and near the base of a tree she spotted some mushrooms.

Now, Xena wasn’t fond of mushrooms, but she knew Gabrielle was, and after carefully checking them over to make sure they weren’t poisonous, she contentedly collected some.

Not having their gear was tough. She’d become used to having at least the basics and having nothing but her hands, and her weapons to work with made life a lot more difficult.  Holding onto the tree for balance, she stood and leaned against it, looking around for anything else that might be useful.

Her body felt drained. Xena could rarely recall feeling this tired before, fever or no fever, and she had to rest a minute, before she pushed off from the tree and started back to their little hideout. She was starting to shiver, and her head was pounding and she knew this was going to be a bad one.

Damn, damn, damn. Xena made her way back to the hedges. On the way she collected more firewood, laying it over her shoulders and plowing stolidly ahead through the thick leaf litter underfoot. She was aware of being hungry, but in a far off kind of way that she realized was a dangerous sign.  Her boot kicked against something and she looked down, then stopped and knelt by a distinctive stalk, putting her hand on it and tugging hard.

The soil overturned, releasing the plant and sending a rich, fertile scent to Xena’s nose. Hanging from the stalk were several large, well formed tubers. With a grunt, the warrior pulled up two more nearby, then got up and forced her way back through the hedges.

**

Gabrielle sucked on the waterskin Xena had left next to her, swallowing the water more to fill her belly with something than to quench any nagging thirst.  The familiar scent of the leather was also a little comforting, and she idly ran her hand over the worn surface, fingering the tiny pebble beads she’d threaded on it.

Xena had given her such a look for that. Gabrielle grinned a little, remembering the teasing. She also remembered stalking the warrior after it, threatening to string beads on her leathers, an outrage that had lead to them chasing each other around the meadow they all were camped in, much to Dori’s amazed delight.

She remembered the time they were traveling, and she’d had her cycles, and Xena had used this very waterskin to sooth them, heating it near the fire and teaching her a new skill she’d used ever since.

She remembered Xena laying her lap, drinking water obediently as Gabrielle held the waterskin for her, their eyes locked together in peaceful silence.

She remembered all the times they’d squirted each other, on hot days on the road.

The tapestry of their life together was made of so many colors… so many textures.  Gabrielle looked back on all the glories and horrors, and firmly told herself that this thread, no matter how nasty and gray it looked at the moment, would eventually be woven into that tapestry to be looked back on at some future date, when time had put it into perspective for her.

And then the knowledge of how close to being cut that thread had been came over her, and she bowed her head down, unable to shrug off the horror of it as it brought tears to her eyes all over again.

She didn’t even hear Xena approach. She just felt her partner’s presence surround her and the next thing she knew she was being cradled in Xena’s arms, her body half resting in the warrior’s lap. She could smell fresh dirt on Xena’s skin, and the solid reality of her skin and the thunder of her heartbeat brought Gabrielle back to herself. “Ugh… sorry.”

“What happened?” Xena’s voice sounded worried. “Did you try to get up? I found something I can give you for the pain, Gab… “

“No.” The bard sighed. “I just lost it there for a minute.” She sniffled. “Just hit me from around a corner, I guess.” She patted the very significant solidness of her partner’s thigh. “I’m okay.”

Xena didn’t let go of her. “I don’t think either of us is okay.” The warrior remarked. “But at least we’re going to Hades in a reed basket together.”

That brought a smile to Gabrielle’s face. “Mm.” She murmured agreement. “Let me try sitting up.” She suggested. “I think it’d be more comfortable.”

“You should lie down.”

The bard sighed. “So should you.”

“Anyone ever tell you you’re one stubborn woman?”

“Takes one to know one.”

Xena’s hands supported her as she settled crosslegged on the moss. She rested her elbows on her knees, her chin on her fists and found that it was, in fact, more comfortable. “That’s better.”

“It is?” The warrior queried, sounding mildly surprised and somewhat suspicious.

“Yeah.” Gabrielle confirmed. “Less strain on my neck. On the ground I was trying to keep my head up…or to one side.” She glanced at her partner. “Like this I can keep it straight and it’s not pulling on the stitches.”

Xena leaned behind her and checked her handiwork. “Hmph.”

Gabrielle wiped the tears off her face, and watched as the warrior sorted through the booty she’d brought back. It wasn’t much, and she could see the furrow in Xena’s brow, and the weary exhaustion showing clearly to her eyes through the stoic mask.  “So there.”

She reached up and gently stroked Xena’s face, feeling the warrior lean into the touch.

Xena looked at her. “That injury in your neck… came very close to making it impossible for you to ever do that again.”

Gabrielle froze. “What?”

Xena stuck the tubers into the fire, under the ash that had built up on the bottom of it. Then she pulled something out of her belt pouch and showed it to Gabrielle. It was a small, white sliver, dusted with rusty red stains. “This was in your spine.”

The bard’s eyes widened.

“If it’d kept going, it would have eventually cut right through.”

Gabrielle flexed her hand and stared at it. “I would have been…”

“Yeah.” The warrior said. “So if I tell you to lie down, damn it, Gabrielle, do what I tell you, okay?” She said. “Don’t’ argue with me on this.”

Gabrielle shivered, imagining for a moment what it might have been like. To be completely helpless… unable to move.. unable to even do anything with out Xena’s help.  “Gods.” She whispered. “But you fixed, it right?”

Xena’s hand touched her face, and she lifted her eyes to the warrior’s.  “I did the best I could. I don’t know if there aren’t more pieces in there.” She said. “That’s why I want you to do what I tell you, and just don’t push it, Gabrielle.”

“Okay.” The bard replied meekly. “But we have to get out of here.”

The warrior exhaled heavily. “I know.” She handed over the mushrooms. “Here.” She sniffled a little herself, and wiped the back of her hand across her face. “I need to make sure your back doesn’t start swelling again before we move anywhere.”

“Okay.” Gabrielle inspected a mushroom, turning it around until she found a perfect spot, and then biting into it.  She watched Xena carefully open the nut. “Mm.” She grunted. “You like the inside of that.”

“Yeah.” Xena poked her dagger tip in and loosened the nutmeat. “But that’s not why I kept it.” She set the meat aside and peered inside the nut. Then she took a handful of the herbs she’d collected and crushed them, dropping them inside the cup and adding water from the skin.

“Want me to get some rocks?”

“Just sit there.” Xena fished in the ashes of the fire with her knife and retrieved some glowing, hot pebbles. She maneuvered them onto the blade, then dropped them into the nut cup. Then she set the nut down into the ashes and exhaled.

Gabrielle quietly ate her mushrooms, knowing better than to offer Xena any. The warrior often claimed she didn’t like them, but the truth was that they made her sick, her skin breaking out into nasty, itchy welts unless Gabrielle cooked them very thoroughly.   The fact simply was that Xena hated to admit to any kind of weakness, even the silliest of them. “Want to put your head down here for a little while?” She patted her thigh.

Xena glared grumpily at her.

Gabrielle wasn’t in the least bit intimidated. She reached out and tweaked the warrior’s nose. “Cmon, tiger. Fighting with each other isn’t going to make either of us feel any better.”

The warrior rested her chin on her fist. “We weren’t fighting.”

Gabrielle patted her thigh again, and simply waited.  With an aggrieved look, Xena finally gave in and gracefully rolled onto her side, settling her head down on the bard’s leg while she swirled the makeshift teacup around with one hand.  “How did you hurt you neck?” She asked, after a moment.

“Well.” Gabrielle was glad to have something to keep her mind off her injury. Xena’s words had scared the dickens out of her. “I was following you.”

“Why?”

“Because Lestan asked me to.” The bard said. “He said he needed to talk to you, so I said I’d find you and bring you back.”

“You could have just wanted me bad enough.” Xena remarked.

Gabrielle chewed her mushrooms for a minute. “Yeah, you’re right.” She admitted. “I could have tried that, but I guess I figured it wasn’t a big deal, and I just went to go find you.”

“Hmph.”

Gabrielle leaned back cautiously against the tree she was sitting in front of, and draped her arm over Xena’s shoulder. Just the touch made her feel better, and she could see the slow relaxation of her partner’s body as well.  “Anyway, I found that ledge you must have jumped off.”

“Ah.” Xena turned her head and looked up. “You didn’t try to jump that, did you?”

“Xena, I’m crazy in love with you, but not crazy.” Gabrielle retorted. “No, I did not try to jump that.”  She said. “I got a big piece of vine, tied it off, and climbed down.”

“Hmph.” Xena returned to her swirling.

“Except that Rufus decided he didn’t want me to go down into this valley, and he cut the vine.”

That brought Xena’s body all the way around so that the warrior was lying on her back with a pair of bright blue eyes glaring right up at Gabrielle’s face. “He tried to kill you?”

Gabrielle stroked her partner’s cheek, rubbing off a bit of dirt on one angular cheekbone. “You’re so pretty.” She murmured, touching a fingertip to Xena’s lower lip.

“Gabrielle.”

“Yes, I think he tried to kill me.” The bard sighed. “But I was low enough… I just sort of pushed off the wall and jumped, and I caught that lower ledge thing.” She said. “I hit my chin on it and it knocked my head backwards.. that’s how I hurt my neck.”

“That son of a..” The warrior surged up, restless energy twitching all over her body. “I knew I should have just gutt..”

“Xe.” Gabrielle very gently pulled her back down. “I don’t give a rats ass about him.”

“Gabrielle, how ca.”

“Listen to me.” The bard leaned close, laying one hand on her partner’s cheek. “Listen to me… I almost lost you. “ The words came out in a whisper. “It was so close I could feel it, Xena. I don’t care about him. I don’t care about what he did, or what he wants, or anything else. Only you matter.”

Xena lay absolutely still.

Gabrielle leaned a little further, and kissed her, reveling in the living warmth of her lips. Then she backed off, to find those blue eyes still looking at her, only softened now, open and gentle as Xena was with her alone.

Even Dori never got this look.

“You scared me.” Gabrielle said, softly. “I woke up this morning and I could feel you around me… like the last time.”

“Last time?”

Gabrielle gazed at her mutely.

Xena’s look went remote for a moment, then sharpened. “I… was inside the cavern last night.” She said. “I just… was wondering about you and I closed my eyes… and I could see you.”

“See me?”

“Like I could… then.” Xena said. “I wanted to hug you.. I saw you were hurt.”

Gabrielle remembered, suddenly, that moment as she’s slipped into an exhausted sleep that she’d imagined the bliss of her partner’s touch and the wonderful comfort of arms closing around her. “You did.”  She stroked Xena’s face, moving the locks of dark hair out of her eyes.

They rested like that for a while in silence, touching each other. Twining their fingers together.

Then Xena took a sip from the cup, and offered it to Gabrielle. They shared the herbal tea, as Xena dug up the tubers and they ate them together. They finished them, and shared Xena’s nut, before the warrior spoke again.

“Think my fever’s getting worse.”  Xena stifled a cough. “I don’t have the herbs I need for this.”  She glanced up. “Might be able to find them on the way out of here.”

Gabrielle nodded. “We’ll just take it very slow, and easy.”

Xena also nodded. “If anyone comes after us, I’m not gonna have the luxury of asking questions.” She stated quietly. “Can’t take the risk, Gabrielle.”

“I know.” Gabrielle hugged her. “I don’t want you to take any risks. I won’t either.”

“All right.”  The warrior absorbed the hug. “Let’s get going, then.”  She sat up and checked Gabrielle’s neck, finding the wound dry, and cool to the touch. “Move slow, don’t twist your head.”

They packed up the meager supplies they’d found, and doused the fire carefully. Then, with the sun slanting westward, they made their way out of the hedges, and started on the path home.

**

Gabrielle paused to rest, leaning against the rough bark of a nearby tree as a roll of thunder echoed over their heads.  Xena put a hand on the trunk next to her and tipped her head back, regarding the sky with a concerned scowl, so Gabrielle took advantage of that to step closer and let her body press against the warrior’s.  She could feel the fever paradoxically warming Xena’s skin, and causing her to shiver and she huddled close, sharing her own body heat with her partner.

“Mm.”  Xena leaned her chin briefly on Gabrielle’s head. “Weather’s getting pretty chancy.”

“We made pretty good time, though.’ Gabrielle pointed out, glancing back the way they came. They were halfway across the valley, admittedly having traveled only over flat areas relatively easy to walk through. “We should take cover. Let the rain blow over, Xena. You don’t need to get wet again.”

The warrior stifled a cough. “You’re right.” She agreed quietly. “And you need to rest.”

Gabrielle remained silent for a few moments, then she exhaled. “Yes, I do.”

Xena circled her with one arm and gave her belly a gentle rub. “Okay. Let’s find some shelter. We’ll let the storm pass over, then keep going.” In truth, she welcomed the storm’s approach because it forced them to do something she knew was a good idea anyway. She’d noticed that Gabrielle had started to limp slightly and she’d gotten very quiet in the last candlemark. “How are you doing?”

“Hurts.” Gabrielle stated, briefly. “There’s an overhang over there, Xena. You think it’s big enough for us?”

The first big, fat droplets of rain were spattering around them as they gained the shelter of the small outcropping Gabrielle had spotted. It wasn’t large, but there was a niche they could sit on, and the ground sloped away from it slightly carrying the rapidly pooling water in the other direction.  Xena inched back as far as she could and settled Gabrielle between her legs, wrapping her arms around her as they watched the light rain turn into an impenetrable sheet.

Gods, it felt good to be sitting down, out of the cold wind. Xena felt a chill work it’s way through her body and she clamped her jaw muscles shut to keep her teeth from chattering. A heaviness had settled over her head and chest and the urge to give in and close her eyes was almost overwhelming.  She wasn’t sure what annoyed her the most – the fact that something as insignificant to her as this was affecting her so badly, or the fact that she was really having to fight not to give into it.

She put that down to the fact that after two days of Hades under that mountain, little food and little sleep, she was just too damn tired to throw it off like she usually did. But it still annoyed her.

Gabrielle, of course, had no such problem. She half turned and snuggled up to Xena’s chest, putting her head down on the warrior’s shoulder and closing her eyes. “I think it’s..” She paused. “I’m trying not to jar my back, and everything else is getting tensed up.”

Xena ran one hand lightly down the bard’s side, and grunted, feeling the knotted muscles just under her skin. She let her fingers start a easy rhythm over them,  working at the stiffened areas with practiced skill. “Wonder what Dori’s up to.” She mused. “Hope she isn’t getting into too much trouble.”

“Mm.” Gabrielle grunted softly. “Xena, do you think those guys are tracking us?”

“The forest dwellers?”

“Yeah.”

“Two of them have been following us for about two candlemarks.” Xena told her. “They’ve been staying back, just close enough for me to catch them.”

Gabrielle felt a distinct chill come over her. “On purpose?”

“Probably.”  Xena carefully moved Gabrielle’s hair out of the way and checked her injury.  The line of stitches stood out sharply against her skin and she could sense the discomfort Gabrielle was in from her twitchy restlessness. “Where does it hurt?”

“Everywhere.” Gabrielle sighed. “Why are they doing this, Xena? We never did anything to them that wasn’t good, and I know it.” She winced as Xena’s fingers carefully examined her back. “Ow.”

“Lot of bruising in there.” Xena said. “Headache?”

“Yeah.”

Xena finished her examination, cautiously pleased. “It’s not swelling up again. That’s good.”

“Yippee.” Gabrielle grumbled. “Then I feel totally sucky for no reason. Great.” She thumped her head very gently against Xena’s shoulder. Then she paused and pressed her ear against the warrior’s chest. After a moment, she pulled her head back and looked up at her partner. “Uh oh.”

Xena cleared her throat.

“I recognize that sound.” The bard’s eyes searched Xena’s face.

Having heard the rattling herself, Xena could only grimace in acknowledgement. The sickness had settled into her lungs, the same way it often did to Gabrielle and she was already beginning to have difficulty breathing. “Yeah. I’ve got just the thing for it back at the village.” She said. “Along with stuff for your neck. So the sooner we get there, the better.”

Gabrielle put her hand on Xena’s side, and gave her a comforting rub. “Sorry I was being whiny.”

Xena merely smiled.

“Y’know… I’m trying to remember just when it was that I knew I could whine at you and you’d love me anyway.” The bard went on. “When I knew you weren’t going to send me home, or leave me on the wayside somewhere…”

“I was never going to do that.” Xena commented.

“Well, I know, honey, but I didn’t know that then.” Gabrielle kept up her light stroking. “I look back at us then, and I have to wonder, what were you thinking?”

“What was I thinking.” Xena pulled her close again, and gazed over her shoulder at the rain. “It’d been such a damn long time since anyone had looked at me as anything but an animal… I don’t know. Maybe…  I think I was just so tired at that time in my life that it was a relief just to have someone not hate me.”

Gabrielle wondered for a moment what that must have felt like, and then, in her own experience, she found she already knew. “Yeah.” She leaned against the warrior’s body. “Xe, why are the forest dwellers doing this? It’s not really about going back to nature, is it?”

Xena was a trifle surprised at the change in subject, but she went along with it. “Nah.” She shook her head. “It’s all about power, Gabrielle. It always is. In the old ways, the strongest ruled.”

“Like Secan?”

“Not really, because he was twisted, and he found some people who were twisted like he was, but.. well…” Xena shifted a little. “One of the things civilization does to us is force us to share power, sometimes with people who are weaker, or less skilled, or poorer than we are.”

“Yeah.”

“That’s not natural to us, and it’s not natural to the forest dwellers.” The warrior said, placidly. “That’s not how nature works. The strong survive and breed. The weak die.” She added. “So if you’re a nice, big, very strong man, and you can’t have power because what you perceive as older, or weaker people have it, it’s natural to want to change that.”

“Xena, that’s anarchy. The person in charge should be the one who is most capable of being a good leader. It’s not about muscles.” Gabrielle protested. “Look at me, with the Amazons.”

Blue eyes gazed fondly at her. “Gabrielle, be honest.” Xena said. “Would the Amazons have listened to you if you hadn’t had muscle to back you up?”

The bard scowled.

“At first?” Xena added, hastily. “Not now. Now you lead them because you’re the best leader, and you’ve got the strength all around to do it.”

Gabrielle’s lips twisted wryly. “No.” She exhaled. “I know that. But that’s not right, Xena.”

“It’s not. It makes more sense to have capable people as leaders.” The warrior agreed. “But it’s not natural. So, I think we’re seeing the rebellion of the brawn against the brains here.”

“Ick.”  The bard sniffed. “Why can’t everyone be like you?”

Both of Xena’s eyebrows twitched asymmetrically. “What?”

“Brawn and brain.” Gabrielle said, succinctly. “And beauty too.”

“Gabrielle.”

“Tell me I’m lying.” The bard waited, and the silence lengthened. “Heh.”

Xena leaned her head against the rock. The rain came down harder, thundering against ground and bringing a scent of bruised foliage and rich earth to her nostrils.  She coughed, as the scents tickled her throat, and now the rattling in her lungs was apparent.  She let out a heavy sigh, and felt Gabrielle nestle closer, giving her comfort in the only way the bard had, here in the wilderness.

It made her feel better.  Xena watched as a flash of lightning turned the scene outside from gray to brightest silver, then winced as a crack of thunder vibrated her sensitive ears.   It was nasty out there.

She hoped their trackers were out in it.

**

The tapering off of the rain was both a blessing and a curse. Xena blinked her eyes as the now cuttingly cold wind blew down into the valley, swallowing against the raw sensation in her throat. It had gotten much colder, and though she was walking as fast as Gabrielle’s injury would allow, her body was shivering badly.

It had been a long time since she’d been this sick. She’d nursed Gabrielle through several tough bouts, but aside from a few slight fevers, and a stomach complaint or two she’d been healthy herself for quite a while. Her mind drifted back a little. Since she and Gabrielle had come home again, as a matter of fact, after they’d mended their relationship.

A gust of icy wind shook her and she put a hand out, steadying herself against the tree nearest the path. It took a good deal of her considerable willpower to keep going, forcing her legs to flex and move forward, then to bear her weight as she trudged along the rocky ground.

A warm touch surprised her, and she glanced to one side as Gabrielle wrapped an arm around her waist without a word.   The bard’s face was pale, and Xena could sense the tension in her body as she returned the gesture, carefully laying her own arm across Gabrielle’s back and avoiding the injured part of her neck.

They didn’t speak, but then, Xena realized, they didn’t have to.

The path started to slope upwards, and she tucked her hand around Gabrielle’s waist, lending her support as they climbed just as the bard was giving her the comfort of as much body heat as she could offer.  The muddy ground sucked at their boots, and as she leaned forward a little, Xena’s ears, clogged as they were, caught an irregularity behind them.

Without conscious thought, she whirled and got between Gabrielle and the sound, her hand finding her sword hilt and drawing it regardless of the chills that shook her.  She could feel the sickness slowing her reactions, but she drove forward and met the blade arcing towards her back with an instinct deeper in her than anything else.

Automatic as breathing. As much a part of her as her heartbeat. She swiveled her wrists at the last moment and deflected the blow, feeling the steel hit her blade and slide as she tilted it on an angle.  She turned with the motion, and whipped her leg up in a roundhouse kick, catching the forest dweller opposing her in the side with her boot.

He grunted and staggered back a step, then came after her again with determination.

Xena didn’t have it in her to bounce, but she took a step back and braced herself, fighting the exhaustion almost as much as the forest dweller. She met his charge and shoved him back, but her boots slipped in the mud and she lunged forward, dropping to her knees as he kicked out and caught her in the chest.

She saw red tinged stars, but caught his leg and twisted, letting her weight carry forward and hearing the crunch as his knee gave way in her hold.

His sword hilt connected with her head, but she moved just enough to make it a graze as she released his leg and slammed her own sword hilt directly upward into his groin.

She could sense the upraised sword over her, and she rolled to one side, but her instincts frantically warned her it wasn’t enough and she tried to orient herself.

The forest dweller roared, and brought his blade down. Xena got her arms up and her sword to vertical, but just as his blade scraped against hers she heard the sound of stone hitting flesh and the blow that might have cut through her abruptly deflected to one side.

Xena never looked battle horses in the mouth. She reversed her sword and stood up suddenly, driving the blade into the forest dweller’s stomach as he caught his balance and jumped at her. Hot blood showered over her body, and she yanked her sword back as the forest dweller collapsed at her feet.

It was hard to breathe. Xena staggered back and thumped against a nearby tree as coughing convulsed her, grateful for the bard’s hands on her as she tried to catch her breath.

Her knees buckled unexpectedly, and she dropped to the ground, feeling the chill as the wet dirt soaked through the knees of her leggings. The coughs shook her body, as Gabrielle put her arms around her and supported her with surprisingly tenacious strength.

“Easy, sweetheart.” Gabrielle whispered. “C’mon.”  She pulled Xena’s head gently towards her and stroked the damp hair. “Slow and light, just like you tell me.”

Her body didn’t want to listen. She could feel the need to suck air deep into her lungs, but she also knew that was triggering the coughs.  By a raw force of will, though, she managed to expel a breath, then take a much shallower one, releasing it and drawing in another in time with the motion of the bard’s fingers against her scalp.

It took several tries, but after a few coughs it worked and she was able to straighten up a bit and her head cleared. “Damn it.”

“Shh.” Gabrielle felt the hammering in her chest slowing and she took a shaky breath herself.  She’d only barely found a rock big enough to make a difference in time to throw it with all her strength at the forest dweller, deflecting him for just that instant Xena needed to recover.

She’d paid for it. Her back was on fire. Gabrielle ignored that though as she gave what comfort she could to her struggling partner.  “Easy, tiger. Easy.”  She felt the rigid shoulder muscles under her forearms relax, and there was a scrape of metal against rock as Xena shifted her still drawn sword.

“Let’s get out of the open.” Xena rasped, forcing herself to her feet. “Over there. Go.”  She kept hand on Gabrielle’s shoulder as she followed her to a thick stand of trees, slipping between two trunks growing close enough together to let them pass, but not their presumed larger followers.

Once inside she paused and collected herself.  Gabrielle stood very close to her, the bard’s presence a warmly tangible force she could readily sense. “Thanks.”  She leaned against a tree and patted the bard’s cheek. “You okay?”

“No.” Gabrielle had to close her eyes as she half turned. “I think I…”

Xena’s inhaled breath confirmed it. “Stay still.” She muttered hoarsely.

The bard gladly complied, leaning lightly against Xena’s torso as the warrior peered at her neck. She ran her hands slowly over her partner’s sides, her fingers working in light massage as she waited.  She found herself still shaking, wanting desperately for their trial to be over and the sudden desire almost brought her to tears.

Then it did, as Xena’s touch brought a savage jolt of pain and she gasped,  clutching the warrior’s shirt as she almost pitched forward into her.

“Sorry… sorry.” Xena whispered. “Broke the stitches open, Gab. I don’t have any more gut.” She carefully put her arms around Gabrielle and pulled her close. “C’mere.”

The bard settled against her, and Xena very lightly used her fingers to pinch closed the split skin on her neck, holding it in place against the flow of blood.  She felt Gabrielle’s head bump against her shoulder and, glancing down, saw the creases of pain etched across her face.

Anger rumbled through the warrior unexpectedly. A wash of dark energy from someplace deep caught her by surprise and pushed back the sickness threatening to overwhelm her as she railed against the circumstances that trapped them both here, surrounded by beauty and totally miserable.

Damn the forest dwellers. Xena allowed the anger free rein.

Gabrielle felt it. She tilted her head back a little and looked up, blinking the tears out of her eyes. “Yuck.”

“Mm.” Xena agreed, lifting her other hand and wiping a tear off the bard’s cheek.  She checked her partner’s injury, and found the blood flow ceased as she cautiously released her hand.  “All right. Let’s go.” She rasped, indicating a gap between the trees. “Stay close.”

“Like a prickly burr.” Gabrielle forced herself to move, leading the way through the dense forest mindful of Xena’s hand resting on her shoulder.

Behind them, they both heard a crash, and a low howl as their attacker’s body was found.  Xena stopped, her hold pulling the bard to a halt as well, and half turned looking back the way they came.

Another howl, deepening into a roar.

Xena’s eyes narrowed, and she unexpectedly let out a battle yell, the high, fierce sound ringing through the forest and bringing all other sound to an abrupt halt.

The echoes faded.  In the dense silence, Xena cleared her throat a bit, and then stifled a cough. They waited, but the roar didn’t return, and after a moment they continued on their way.

“Y’know, Xe…” Gabrielle clasped the warrior’s hand with her own. “That was pretty primitive.”

“Mmph.” The warrior grunted. “Hurt my throat.”

“You think it worked?”

“No.” Xena exhaled wearily. “But it made me feel better.”

“Mm.”

Ahead of them, the roar of the waterfall at the base of the cliff started to grow.

**

They paused at the edge of the thick trees, still safely hidden behind the heavy branches. Xena tipped one down just slightly to allow her to peer out, glad of their protection from the sharp wind. Ahead of them lay the two big sentinel rocks, and the steeply sloping path upward, it’s sharp cut just visible past the mist of the waterfall.

She turned, her breath catching slightly as she spotted Gabrielle just behind her, sitting on a fallen log with her head resting in her hands.  Xena walked over and sat down next to her, feeling a rare sense of helplessness in the face of her partner’s obvious agony. “Hey.”

Gabrielle didn’t lift her head. She merely leaned closer and pressed her shoulder against Xena’s. “It’s like fire, all up and down my arms.” She uttered. “Xe, I don’t’ know if I…” A slow exhale. “Gods.”

Xena slipped her arm around Gabrielle’s waist. “We’re almost out of here, love.” She said. “Just gotta get up that last bump.”

“Xena.” Gabrielle said. “That last bump almost killed me on the way down. How are we going to get over the gap? You can’t jump it, not how you’re feeling.” Her voice took on a faintly desperate hoarseness. “I just… I don’t know how we’re going to..”

“Shh.” The warrior rubbed Gabrielle’s side lightly. “It’s gonna be okay.”  She felt a cough coming on, an despite a good deal of willpower, it racked her hard, making it tough to catch her breath. “Damn.”

“Yeah.” Gabrielle whispered, releasing her head to curl one hand around Xena’s arm. “Xena..”

Gods, she was cold. The warrior closed her eyes for a moment and concentrated, then she opened them and gathered her strength up. “Has to be…” She was forced to stop by a cough. “Ramp. Something.” She cleared her throat and winced. “Got the horses down it.”

Horses?” Gabrielle lifted her head up and peered at her soulmate. “Horses.. are you sure they brought them here?”

Xena nodded, not trusting herself to speak lest she trigger another coughing jag.

“A ramp.” The bard repeated. “Well, let’s go find it, Xena, because we have to get out of here. Now.” Slowly, she straightened her back and eased herself to her feet, catching her lip between her teeth as she moved the wrong way.

Xena rose with her and they eased out from between the trees, the warrior pausing to study their surroundings intently before she continued forward. She swept the area with her eyes, looking for anything big enough to be a ramp to be hidden.  But there was only the open greensward between her and the waterfall, and beyond it the sentinel rocks that guarded the path upward.

Up from the grass, the rock lifted, it’s flat, planed surface showing no indication of any hiding place or cubby the forest dwellers might have kept something in.

They climbed closer and closer to the waterfall, it’s roar thundering through the trees that leaned towards it’s moisture.   Xena kept her head moving, using her eyes and her other senses as her hearing was blunted by the water, hoping they were far enough ahead of the forest dwellers to avoid another attack.

She didn’t want that. Xena flexed her hands, stiff and sore in the cold, and felt the ache creeping through her bones. The last battle had taken almost all of her reserves, and it was all she could do just to keep walking.

Of course, she’d fight if she had to. There really wasn’t any choice, since Gabrielle both didn’t have her staff, and wasn’t capable of using it at the moment.  But she was handicapped and she knew it, and she knew herself well enough to realize she’d stand a good chance of losing any fight she happened to get into right now.

That meant bad things for both of them.  Xena wished for her cloak for the nth time as she carefully skirted a patch of loose shale, reaching back to take Gabrielle’s hand as they climbed up a short incline that lead up to the falls.

There they paused, as Xena searched for a place to cross the water that wouldn’t get both of them soaked. She spotted a line of rocks, covered in mildly racing water and headed for them. A gloom settled over her shoulders, and she had to push aside the pessimism as the wind got colder and it’s raw harshness pinched her throat.

“You know, Xe.” Gabrielle trailed her, their fingers still intertwined. “It’s times like this I seriously regret stuff.”

Huh? Xena found her misery whisked away by the words, as she half turned in startlement. “Like what?” She asked, with a touch of hesitation.

“Oh, not being born with wings.” The bard sighed. “This would be so much easier, y’know?”

“Mmph.” The warrior grunted. “For this, yeah, but…” She shook her head. “What would you do with them the rest of the time?”

“Fan you when you got overheated.” Gabrielle pronounced solemnly.

Xena looked at her. “Are you trying to be funny?”

The bard nodded. “Beats breaking down into hysterical tears because my back hurts so bad I want to scream.” She sighed. “So let’s see, I can fan you with them, and give Dori rides so you can take a break once in a while.” Her jaw muscles bunched, giving her a look of determination as she carefully picked her way across to the edge of the water. “What else?”

“Handy source of quills.” Xena tested the first rock, finding it slippery with algae. She stepped onto it, wincing slightly as the cold water once again penetrated her boots.

“Ah. Good point.” Gabrielle latched on to the back of her partner’s overshirt and followed her into the current. “I like that. Whenever I’m in the mood to write, well, there I go. All I’d need is a little ink, and I’m set.”

“Good thing you don’t like to sleep on your back.” The warrior stepped to the next rock, swaying slightly as the water surged against her legs.

“Mm.” The bard muttered. “Ouch.” She said. “On the other hand, I’d drap em all over you. Glad you’re not allergic to feathers.”

Xena paused in mid stream to let Gabrielle catch up, a sudden, frank smile appearing on her face. “Hmm… perfect tickling weapons.”

The bard eased closer, meeting Xena’s eyes and returning the smile. “Would you pluck my feathers for that?” She asked, in a gently teasing voice. “Bad girl.”

“You got that right.” The warrior’s grin widened briefly, then she turned and continued on. “C’mon, chicken little, let’s get out of the water. My toes are freezing.”

“Bck bck.” Gabrielle bit off a grimace as she stretched out a little too far, causing her back to seize up. She got to the next rock, though, and now there was only one more before she could hop to the dry bank where Xena was already standing. “Was that a short joke?”

Unexpectedly, Xena opened her arms and wrapped them around Gabrielle as she limped into them. She gave the bard a hug, feeling a bit of optimism as they neared the tough end of their valley journey. “Hang in there. We’ll get out of here, you can bet on it.”

Gabrielle soaked in the moment, grateful for the support of her partner’s powerful arms, that lifted some of the weight off her back.  Despite the fact that they both smelled like river mud, and Xena’s overtunic was stained with blood up and down it’s length, it was a brief but delicious moment.

All too brief. Gabrielle felt the tension in Xena’s torso and she released her hold, just as Xena stepped and turned her body, her right arm lifting in a flickering motion as she snapped an arrow out of mid air not a hand span from Gabrielle’s head. “Damn!”

Xena whirled, and spotted a cluster of multihued fur headed their way. “Son of a bacchae.”

Then they were both running, the pain erased from Gabrielle’s mind as she concentrated on staying alive instead. Arrows peppered the air around them as they raced across the open grass, towards the tall standing stones. “Xena!” Gabrielle yelled. “Which way?”

“Through there.” Xena pointed at the gap, staggering a little as a cough robbed her breath.

“But..”

“I can hold them.” The warrior told her. “Go on through.” She ducked into the gap behind the bard, waiting for her to clear the other side before she turned and drew her sword. Just in time, as the forest dwellers let loose a volley of arrows that skimmed close by, bouncing off her blade and the rocks with crazed abandon.

Gabrielle skidded to a halt, grabbing at the rock wall as she turned and looked back the way she’d come. Between the rocks she could see Xena bracing herself for attack, the sun glinting over the warrior’s shoulder off her upraised sword.  Coming at her were a double handful of forest dwellers, armed, and angered, roars issuing from their throats.

Injured and sick, Xena was at more than a disadvantage, and Gabrielle knew it. Though she had every faith in her soulmate’s fighting skills, this battle wasn’t tipped in the warrior’s favor. “Xena!”

Xena turned. She gave the bard a brief, wistful smile. “Look for the ramp.” She said. “I’ll keep em busy.”

Gabrielle felt an impotent anger. At the forest dwellers, and at herself because of the pain that kept her from battling at Xena’s side. With a curse, she started scouring the area, looking for the gods only knew what.

Xena spread her legs out a little, making sure her wet boots had good purchase on the rocky ground. The forest dwellers had reached the water and were plunging through it, headed for her with murderous intent in their eyes.

The fever had taken it’s toll. The warrior could feel the shakiness in her body, and the lack of both strength and energy that made even lifting her sword an unusual effort. Her head throbbed, and she had to take only the shallowest of breaths or else break out into hacking coughs that were becoming more and more painful with each round.

The pain from her broken ribs made itself felt as she raised her sword and swept it into a mild figure eight, and as Xena looked at the first of the onrushing enemy, she knew that for one of the few times in her life, she wasn’t ready for this fight.

But.

It’s what I do.  Xena straightened up, and felt her balance settle, and she made the effort to shove aside everything save the  need to fight. She reached down deep inside her, to the dark core she’d avoided tapping since the war and hoped it would be enough.

She suspected it wouldn’t be.

Gabrielle glanced at Xena’s back, then she ducked around one side of the tall rocks, obeying the irresistible urge to abandon her search and stand by her partner. Her hand brushed a crease in the stone as she quickly looked for a stick she could use to fight with, and she stopped as her fingertips touched the warmth of wood instead of the chill rock.

She looked at the crease.

She blinked. “Xena!” The yell erupted. “Here!”

In an instant, the warrior was at her side, tipping her head back as she looked up the length of the rock. In the crease was tucked a thick wooden spar, notched on both ends, and she let out a yell of her own as her eyes measured it’s span.

Xena sheathed her sword and yanked at the spar, pulling backwards as it came loose, revealing a second beside it.  It took longer to pull that one out, since the stone niche held it tightly, and she heard the faint creak as a bit of the wood gave way and shaved off.

The forest dwellers left the water, and pelted towards them.

“Get over there!” Xena pointed, as she got the spar balanced on her shoulders, then knelt to get the other one. She felt danger at her back, and twisted, the motion almost wringing a groan from her as her ribs protested sharply. An arrow thwacked home in one of the spars, and then a second grazed her left ear.

She staggered to her feet under the weight of the spars and headed for the path upward. Already there, Gabrielle was facing her, a handful of rocks at the ready she was chucking over Xena’s head at the oncoming forest dwellers.

Xena motioned her upward, and they climbed as fast as they could, the path rising sharply and taxing their already strained bodies.

They reached the spot where the ledge broke off, and Xena dropped one of the spars, lifting the other so that it was straight up as she found the carefully chipped niche in the granite.

An arrow bounced off the spar, inches from her eyes. Xena looked back to see two of the forest dwellers kneeling beside the standing stones, taking aim at her while the others raced up the path.

She dropped the spar into place and let it fall forward, hoping to Hades she’d guessed right. The wood fell through the air, slamming into the rock and almost bouncing out of the niche before it rattled into place on the other side, forming a narrow, narrow bridge.

Too narrow for horses. Really too narrow for even her to walk it, but Xena put her boots on the surface and held her hand out to Gabrielle. “C’mon.”

The bard threw her last rock, then looked at the spar.  Her eyes lifted to her partners. “I can’t.”

“You can.” The warrior stepped back. “ You go first. I’ll hang onto you. Hurry, Gabrielle.”  She ducked another arrow, then she jumped forward and picked up the other spar, hurling it broadside down the path as the forest dwellers closed in on them.

Two of them fell off the narrow path, tumbling down the side of the cliff into the ravine below. The rest sprawled, scrambling to recover as the archers kept up their firing.

Xena tasted the bitterness of impending defeat, but she drew her sword again and whacked two of the arrows out of the air as she joined Gabrielle at the spar. “Move.” She urged the bard.

“Xena.”

“Gabrielle, just do it.” The warrior took a firm grip on her arm and moved forward. “I won’t let you fall.”

“That’s not what I’m worried about.” The bard snapped back, giving way grudgingly and sliding her boots out along the slim wooden surface. She reached behind her and tangled her hands in Xena’s tunic, knotting the fabric around her fingers.

“Let me loose, in case I..” Xena swatted another arrow from the air.

“No.”

“Gabrielle.”

“Gods be damned, Xena, I said no. If you fall off this damned thing…”

“You can’t hold me up, Gabrielle!”  Xena felt the frustration rising. The first of the forest dwellers reached the edge of the path and swiped at her, evading her return stroke as she slid forward. She batted another arrow down, this one just barely.

“I know that!” The bard yelled, equally frustrated. “What part of where you go I go wasn’t clear to you, Xena??”

Xena bit off a curse, as a cough almost unbalanced her. The forest dwellers started pitching rocks at her, the spar too slim for them to balance on. One tried, but jumped back.

A rock struck Xena, as she fought to evade two arrows, and still keep inching forward.  “What about Dori?” She asked suddenly, still trying to untangle her shirt.

Gabrielle was silent for a moment, as she balanced precariously, lifting her arms to help and gasping with the pain that caused. “She’ll..” She had to take a moment to breathe. “She’ll understand, someday.”  The bard finished very softly. “But I’ll be damned if we’re not getting out of this.”

Xena stopped trying to free her shirt. She slipped her arm around Gabrielle’s body instead, giving her as much protection as possible from the missles that were coming thicker and more furiously by the moment. Some evaded her blade, and started to connect.

Then her blood ran cold, as she spotted the forest dwellers carrying the other spar up towards her at a run, intent on ramming them off their slim bridge and off down the mountain. Xena looked forward, at the huge gap still left before the path picked up again, and then back at the onrushing enemy. The edge of the spar was aimed right for her head.

The forest dwellers let out a yell of triumph, knowing she had no where really to go, and Xena knew she had bare seconds left before the heavy wood would hit her, and drive her forward backed by the weight of the six forest dwellers behind it.

She sheathed her sword.

The spar came at her.

Xena clamped her arms around Gabrielle and lifted her up, forcing her will on a body that failing her as the cold wind slammed against her from one side, and the threat came at her from the other. She took a powerful step, then braced herself as the spar hit her on the back and shoved her forward.

She uncoiled her legs as it hit, using the force behind it to give her what her body couldn’t, momentum that tossed them both forward and up. Xena landed precariously on the spar again, then leaped forward one more time, her boots slipping but her forward motion just enough…

Just enough to reach the upper path, but with Gabrielle in her arms, she had no way to grab hold of anything.  With a savage effort, Xena twisted in mid air and landed on her back, releasing Gabrielle and pushing her further up the stone surface as her own weight pulled her backwards and she fought to keep her balance.

Her legs slipped off the path, and she scrabbled for a hold, her fingers catching a crag in the rock as she slid down the slope.  With a growl, she hauled herself forward again, feeling the impact as her boot caught on the spar behind her.

“Xena!!!!”

Gabrielle’s warning yell saved her life. The warrior rolled to one side, and felt the sting as an arrow slammed into the rock where she’d been a breath before. “Bastards!” Xena twisted onto her back and hooked her boot under the spar, flexing her thigh and jerking the wood from it’s niche and sending it tumbling down the slope just as one of the forest dwellers leaped to mount it.

He fell, screaming.

Xena scrambled away from the edge of the path, getting to her feet and almost pitching forward off them as her body nearly failed her, a wave of weakness unlocking her knees as she reached Gabrielle. “Around the bend!”

Gabrielle already had hold of her hand and was leaning forward, almost pulling her partner up the slope and around a bend that shielded them from the furious forest dwellers below.

A last arrow cut a lock of Gabrielle’s pale hair, as they dodged around the solid stone outcropping, the sun catching the golden strands as the wind carried it off.

They pressed themselves against the granite, and slid down it, to sit on the hard, stark rock path.  Xena let her head fall back, as Gabrielle took her hand and pressed her forehead against the warrior’s shoulder. It was hard to say which one of them was shaking more.

But they were safe.

For the moment, anyway.

**

Continued in Part 8

Champion

Part 8

Gabrielle hardly knew where to start worrying. She caught her breath and then turned to Xena, who was slumped against the rocks bonelessly with her eyes closed. “Xe?” Awkwardly, she shifted onto her side and leaned against the stone herself to take the pressure off her back. “Xena?”

Very slowly, the warrior’s eyes opened, revealing bloodshot orbs so full of misery it made the bard forget completely about her own injury. “Oh, sweetie.” She squirmed closer, putting her head against Xena’s and cupping her cheek. “We made it.”

Xena exhaled audibly, ending the breath in a cough. “Yeah.” She whispered weakly. “We sure did.”

“Xena.” Gabrielle ached for her, hearing a note of extremity in her voice she’d seldom ever experienced. “You did it. You got us out of there.” Gently, she pushed aside a bit of Xena’s hair and bit her lip slightly as she saw the lump at her temple and the trickle of blood running sluggishly from her right ear.

It brought back very bad memories.

She kissed Xena on the head and hugged as much of her as she could, feeling the fever’s heat on the skin pressed against her. “You’ll be fine, Xena. Just relax.”

The warrior’s rasping breath sounded far too loud to her, and Gabrielle wondered if the jolting stab of fear she felt in her guts was a cousin to the one Xena felt when she sounded just like that.  It made her mouth go dry as the essential fragility of even this most sturdy bit of humanity resting in her arms.

She massaged the back of the warrior’s neck, where the muscles were corded and tight and felt Xena slump against her just slightly. “Easy, baby.”

A puff of warm air tickled her ear. “Baby? Hah.” The grumble was a ghost of it’s usual self, but it was a grumble nonetheless, and welcome.

Gabrielle’s lips twitched into a wan smile. “Okay, you big, bad thing you.” She felt rather than heard the brief, silent chuckle. “Better?”

“Mm.” Xena pushed herself a little more upright, getting on knee up and leaning on it as she let her head slump back against the wall. “C’n you do me a favor?”

“Anything.”

“Leave this damn part out of the story when y ‘tell it.”

“This part right now?”

“Uh huh.”

Gabrielle gazed understandingly at her very bruised, roughed up, sick, and put upon partner. “Xe, can’t do that.”

Piteous blue eyes regarded her.

“You did it anyway. That’s the heroic part, remember?”

Xena stuck her tongue out and made a displeased sound. Then she sighed. “I’m about tapped.” She admitted softly. “Not sure I can stand up, Gab.”

“S’allright.” The bard curled up against her. “Let’s rest for a bit.” She eased her head around and studied the path, relieved to see a comforting amount of space between them and the top of the pass. It would be hard for anyone to sneak up on them, and she prayed to the gods no one tried.

“Gotta get out of here.” Xena’s eyes were closed again.

“We will.” Gabrielle untied the waterskin from around her waist and eased it between them, unstopping it and getting the spout up to her partner’s lips. “Here.”

Xena suckled it for a minute, and then nudged it back towards her. “You.” She blinked, studying Gabrielle’s profile. “How’s your back?”

The bard was quiet for a few breaths. “It hurts.” She finally admitted. “I… um... it’s like a burning all the way down to my knees.”

“Let me see.” The warrior pulled her closer and gently eased the back of her shirt down. “Ah.” She winced, and then sighed heavily. “Honey, we need to get out of here. Now.”

Just the endearment alone was enough to warn her. “I know.” Gabrielle replied. “Can you get up now?”

For an answer, Xena rose, using one hand curled around the rocks to pull herself to her feet while she lifted Gabrielle up with her. The energy came from her will alone, as she simply forced her body to do what she needed it to. They couldn’t stay on the path – the weather was starting to deteriorate again and the last thing either of them needed was to get caught in it in such an exposed place. “Stay by the wall.”

“The wall is my friend.” Gabrielle muttered, as she used the irregular surface to help her get up the slope.  “This was a lot easier the other way.”

“Ungh.” Xena grunted. She felt like her body was encased in heavy mud – every motion was an effort almost beyond her ability. Was it the fever? She lifted a hand off the stone and touched her head, grimacing as she felt the lump under her fingers. “Gab?”

The bard turned and looked at her questioningly.

“Could you…” Xena had to stop and lean against the wall. “Check my eyes.”

Gabrielle knew without question what that meant. She turned carefully and lifted a hand to tilt Xena’s head up slightly, almost on a level with hers due to the slope in the path. Intently, she looked into both blue eyes. “Close.”

Xena closed her eyes, welcoming the darkness that blocked the glare from the sun.

“Open.”

Reluctantly, she complied, watching Gabrielle’s face as the bard studied her. Behind the dirt, the lines relaxed, and tiny wrinkles appeared around her eyes as she smiled, giving Xena a reassuring nod.

One worry down. Xena managed a smile back. Having her brains rattled on top of everything else wouldn’t have been a good thing. “G’wan. Thanks.”

Stiffly, the bard turned and started upward again, her boots slipping a little on the loose rocks.  Xena put a hand on her lower back and supported her as they slowly worked their way up towards the pass.

**

The pain was getting to her, more than she could handle. Gabrielle stopped just shy of the top of the ridge, her knees buckling as she grabbed the stone with cramping fingers.

Xena caught her around the waist and kept her from crashing to the ground, bracing one booted foot up past the bard’s as she kept them both in place. “Gab?”

Drops of sweat fell into her eyes. “C.. can’t.” She muttered. “Sorry, Xe.”

“Just a little further, Gabrielle.” Xena coaxed her. “You can do it.”

The last rise seemed impossibly high. “Can’t.”

“Yes, you can.” The warrior disagreed. “Otherwise I’m gonna have to pick you up and carry you up there.”

Slumped against the rock, hanging on to Xena’s arm, Gabrielle half turned to look at her. “You can’t.”  Her voice cracked.

Xena looked at her with exhausted eyes. “Yeah.” She admitted. “But… “

“You will.”  Gabrielle finished, turning back around and focusing on the pass. She got her feet under her and started forward again, aware of Xena’s close presence behind her. Alone, she knew she’d never have made it.

The warrior coughed, the sound shaking her entire body.

Alone, Xena might never have made it.  Gabrielle gathered herself and made the last big push up to the pass, pulling herself up into it and onto level ground at last. Xena stepped up into the cleft behind her and they both exhaled in relief at the exact same time.

Together, though, there really wasn’t anything they couldn’t do.

Gabrielle gazed down into the green valley beyond, where nestled out of sight in the trees the forest dweller’s village waited.  Where help waited.

Where Dori waited.

The clouds were gathering overhead, and she could feel rain in the air that blew against her face. “Find another hideout?” She asked quietly.

Xena came to stand behind her, putting her arms around Gabrielle’s body and clasping her carefully. “Cave, just past those trees.” She said hoarsely. “Herbs nearby, I think.”

“For your cough?” Gabrielle looked back anxiously at her.

A half shrug. “For your neck.” Xena answered. “Let’s go.”  She held her hand out, and waited for Gabrielle to clasp it, then they both started down the steep path towards the trees.

**

They’d gotten lucky, for once this trip. Gabrielle looked around in almost disbelief at the thick mats on the floor of the cave, a legacy of the many hunters who had taken shelter here before they had.

It had a firepit, which now had a fire in it, and almost unbelievably, a stack of old, worn and faded blankets tucked in the back corner.

She looked up as Xena entered the cave, her arms full of something fragrant and green smelling. In the stormy light from outside, Gabrielle could see the stark paleness of her partner’s skin, and the deep shadows under her eyes

Dear gods, Xena looked miserable. Gabrielle started to get up to help her, but the warrior forestalled her by dropping down onto the mat next to where Gabrielle had been sitting, and releasing her armful of foliage.

“Ugh.” Xena let her elbows rest on her knees and cradled her head in her hands.

Gabrielle settled back down and started sorting the herbs. It felt good just to sit, and she absorbed the warmth from the fire as she set the dark, leafy ones aside and took the thin leaves and put them in the nut cup she’d saved.

“Hang on, sweetheart.” She poured water from her skin into it and set it by the fire to warm. A roll of thunder crashed outside, and the patter of rain darkened the dirt outside the cave mouth and the cool draft fluttered the flames as it brought the scent of wet earth to her. “Boy, we got lucky, huh?”

“Ugh.” The warrior straightened up and reached for the dark green leaves, shifting her body a little and starting to shred the into tiny pieces. A sharp smell, almost pleasant, came from them and Xena cupped her hands, bringing them up to her face and taking a deep breath. “Ah.”

Gabrielle paused. “I thought these thin ones were for you.” She gave the warrior a look.

“They are.” Xena hoarsely agreed. “Just wanted to make sure I had the right ones here. Couldn’t smell them that well outside.” She looked up. “Can’t stay here too…” A cough stopped her words, and she gave into it, the harsh sound rattling the inside of the cave and making Gabrielle wince in sheer sympathy. “Long.” The warrior sighed, clearing her throat unhappily.

“Mm.” Gabrielle swirled the cup a little, warming the water. “You think they’ll be coming after us? I thought we trapped them back there.”

“The one’s on that side.” Xena rested her head against her fist. “Rufus wasn’t. Can’t take a chance… might go after Dori.”

The thought had crossed Gabrielle’s mind more than once. “The forest dwellers won’t let him hurt her.” She put a hand on Xena’s knee. “She’s special to them, Xe.”

“I know.” The warrior said. “But can we trust that?”

Gabrielle removed the cup from the fire and handed it to Xena, remaining silent as the warrior lifted it to her lips and drank it down without a pause, even removing the leaves from the bottom and chewing them. “Eerrgh.”

Xena looked up, a stalk of grass poking out of her mouth and making her look like a beaten up, sick pony for a moment. “Just wait.” She poured a double handful of the shredded green leaves into the cup and added water to it.

“That’s a lot.” Gabrielle complained.

“You’re in a lot of pain.” Xena replied. “I need to pack the cut on your back with those.” She pointed at the third stack of herbs.

“Oh.” The bard studied the warming cup. “Those’ll put me out, won’t they?”

Xena nodded, fishing a few hot stones from under the fire with a stick and dropping them into the cup to heat it faster. “Need to steep.”

Gabrielle got slowly to her knees, then she stood up, walking to the far wall where the blanket where. She rested her hand against the stone and carefully leaned over to pick them up, pausing when her back almost seized up on her.

“Gab?”

The bard waited, then turned and took a deep breath before she walked back over to her partner. She dropped some of the blankets and kept two, shaking them out and settling them over Xena’s shoulders.

Both of their noses wrinkled at the musty scent. “Guess I’m not that clogged up.” Xena sniffled. “Unfortunately.”

“Yeah.” Gabrielle combed her fingers through the warrior’s hair, pulling it back and gently massaging her scalp with careful fingers.

“Mm.” Xena let her head drop forward, and leaned back just slightly against the bard’s legs.

“Headache?”

“Like you wouldn’t believe.”

Gabrielle’s hands worked a little lower, kneading the knots she could feel in Xena’s shoulders. She dropped to her knees and rested her chin against the warrior’s head, just sharing some of the skin on skin contact that tended to relax both of them.

And it did. She wrapped her arms around Xena’s neck and felt their breathing slowly mesh, and their heartbeats even out and steady.

“Thanks.” Xena murmured.

The bard leaned to one side and kissed her on the cheek, then nibbled her ear. “I love you.” She said. “Even when we’re in the biggest pile of piggy poo, I love you.”

Somewhere, Xena found a smile and dredged it up for that. “Likewise.”

Gabrielle eased herself down on the mat next to her partner, gazing quietly at the ground until she felt a gentle nudge on her arm, and looked up to find Xena holding the cup out to her.

She took it, guiltily aware of welcoming its promised oblivion. She was so tired, and the pain was so grating, and the thought of just a little rest was irresistible.

Besides. The bard smiled to herself. If she were out cold, Xena would be forced to rest next to her.

Gabrielle drained the cup quickly, getting the taste of the herbs past her throat before it had a chance to protest. They left a taste in the back of her mouth anyway, and she washed them down with some cold water as she pulled the rest of the stack of blankets over.  They weren’t much but…

But…

Xena caught the cup as it fell from the bard’s fingers and eased her down onto the blankets, rolling her onto her belly and throwing one of the threadbare cloths over her hips and legs. “Atta girl.”

For a moment, she just sat there, her hand resting on the bard’s shoulder, as she waited for the herbs to fully take effect. She wanted Gabrielle far under before she put the poultice on her, since the juice from the fresh leaves would sting unmercifully.

The last thing Gabrielle needed was to feel that, right?  With a careful sigh Xena eased upright, knowing her body was right at the borderline of giving up on her.

It took her only a few minutes to crush the remaining herbs in the cup with the hilt of her knife, and spread the resulting green mash onto the wound on Gabrielle’s back as the bard slept.

It was a strong astringent, and it would draw out any swelling, she hoped. At the very least, just keeping Gabrielle still would help and now she…

A cough racked her. Now she could rest, herself.  Xena took a breath, and it triggered another cough, this time rendering her nearly airless before it finally let up and allowed her to catch her breath.

Gods, she was cold. She pulled the thin blanket around her with hands that shook visibly.

“No time for this, Xena.” She whispered to herself. “No time.”

Xena looked around at the interior of the cave. The storm outside had darkened the place, and the fire filled it with friendly warmth that invaded her stricken lungs and eased her breathing somewhat, after a few minutes.

Her chest hurt from the coughing, and her head hurt from the fight, and everything else hurt from… everything else.

Damn it.

Xena crawled over to Gabrielle’s side and collapsed onto the mat next to her. She drew her sword and laid it across her knees, then she draped her arm protectively over the bard’s back and put her head down on the musty bundle of blankets alongside her partner’s.

Resting sounded like a damn good idea for her, too. She’d lie here while Gabrielle slept, and let her body recover while the herbs hopefully eased the rattling in her chest.

A gust of smoke from the fire irritated her eyes, and she closed them.

At once, without her vision, her other senses rushed into fill the voice and sounds became evident to her that hadn’t been before.  The rush of rain outside, rattling against the stone in an almost hypnotic rhythm, and the crackle of the fire, and the lash of the tree limbs in the wind.

She could hear Gabrielle’s gentle, deep breaths and feel the beat of her heart.

She could hear her own heartbeat, in the exact same rhythm.

At last, the pain lifted, and the exhaustion faded, and she drifted off into a blessedly peaceful gray twilight where they only sound she was aware of was the echo of Gabrielle’s voice saying she loved her.

It was like beautiful music that simply carried her away.

**

The sound of a tree crashing to earth at last nudged Gabrielle towards consciousness. For a long moment she had no idea where she was, as her eyes opened to see only dimness around her, the fire burned almost to embers and the day’s light faded to solid dark outside.

Her body was stiff. Even flexing her fingers hurt, but it was the ache of hard usage she knew all too well that overshadowed the pain of her injury and Gabrielle breathed a sigh of relief as she felt a lessening of the savage vise that almost had put her in tears earlier.

She reached out and prodded the fire, rewarded by a flare of light as she carefully turned her body and peered at the figure lying still next to her.

Xena was curled on her side, a hand draped over Gabrielle’s hip and the other tucked under her head. Even from where she was, the bard could hear the strained sound of her partner’s breathing, and she eased closer, nestling her body up against the warrior’s.

Restless, the warrior twitched, her breathing coming faster and her hands clenching as she seemed caught in a dream. As the bard watched, she became more agitated; ripples of motion shuddering down her arms.

The fever was evident through the thin blankets, and Gabrielle bit her lip a little as Xena sensed her presence and uttered a soft cry. “Easy, honey.”  She stroked the warrior’s arm and got under the covers that were draped over her.

Xena pulled her closer and exhaled, the rattle in her chest painfully evident. She was shivering, even in her sleep and Gabrielle worked her body and limbs as much around her soulmate as was physically possible.

Despite the discomfort and the hard ground there was something so ethereally wonderful about coming into this kind of contact. No matter the sickness, no matter the harsh, scratchy blanket – when she put her arm around Xena’s waist and curled up against her chest it was just Elysia.

It was her place. The spot where she belonged, that she’d gained through long trial, lost, and then regained with the resolution to never lose this place ever again.

She’d fought to the depths of Hades for this spot.  She let her cheek rest against Xena’s bicep and slipped her hands under the rough, tattered tunic the warrior was wearing, rubbing her ribcage with careful fingers.

She could feel the bones under the skin. The last few days had cost her soulmate; had cost both of them and worn their bodies down in their struggle to stay alive and together.  It would take far longer to heal, and she wanted that process to start soon. Now.

But there was Rufus to deal with.

Gabrielle sighed, her thumbs tracing old scars she could feel on Xena’s flesh, faded and faint, but very perceptible under her intimate touch. The warrior uttered a moan suddenly, and started twitching again, this time with much more violence.

“Xe?” Gabrielle tried to hold her still, but the dream escalated into something horrible as Xena let out an agonized yell and her body writhed. “Xe!”

Instinctively, the bard knocked aside Xena’s sword a flickering second before the warrior lunged for it, her body responding powerfully to some unseen threat. “Xena!” Gabrielle bellowed, hanging on as best she could.

She tried to pin her partner down, but even sick, even that weak Xena shrugged her efforts aside as though she were nothing but a feather. Gabrielle got her knee between the warrior’s and held on, wondering what to do next just as the body under her abruptly relaxed and went still.

Gabrielle panted a moment, and caught her breath. “Sweetie?” She leaned over and whispered into Xena’s ear. “Honey, are you okay?”

For a brief instant, there was no reaction, then Xena coughed and shifted, her eyes fluttering open to reveal glazed blue orbs dulled with fever.  “Xe?” Gabrielle repeated, gently.

Xena stared at her for a long moment without seeming recognition. Then, unexpectedly, a tear rolled from her eye and dropped to the ground and she exhaled a long breath ending in a cough.

“Oh, honey.” Gabrielle cupped her cheek with aching sympathy. “Are you okay?”

The warrior groaned softly. “Damn.”

“Was it a bad dream? Sounded like it.” Gabrielle soothed her. “But you’re okay now, right?”

Xena gazed at her, blinking her eyes as the tears continued to fall. A look of profound sadness crossed her face and she reached out take Gabrielle’s hand, holding it as though it were precious.

“Hey.” The bard leaned closer, concerned, searching Xena’s face as she looked up at her.

“I...” Xena whispered. “Never wanted to hurt you.” A tiny shake of her head. “How could I?”

Ah. Gabrielle exhaled, silently. They each had their deep wounds, didn’t they? “Honey...”

“Never wanted to hurt you.”

“I know that.” The bard rested her head against the warrior’s. “I never wanted to hurt you, either. But that’s in the past, Xena. We’re here, now.”

The tears continued to fall as Xena’s eyes watched her face in the dim light. “All my fault.”

“Xena.” Gabrielle tightened her grip, pulling her jaw down so they were eye to eye. “Stop it.”

The blue orbs widened in fevered bewilderment.

“This is us. This is now.” The bard spoke with quiet force. “No more blaming.”

For a long string of heartbeats, Xena simply stared at her. Then the long, dark lashes dropped, the fire picking out the glints of crystal caught in them.

“Xe.” Gabrielle gentled her voice and her touch. “Let it go.”

A long exhale.

“Let it go.”

For a little while, they just sat there together.

Remembering.

Then, Xena’s eyes opened again, this time with an exhausted comprehension in them. “I… um...” She cleared her throat painfully. “Sorry. Fever.”

Gabrielle removed the last of the tears with her thumb. “Been there.” She acknowledged in a soft voice. “It’s okay.”

Xena rested her head against the bard’s shoulder. “Grmph.”  She uttered. “Thanks.”

“No problem.”

The warrior lay there for a bit, then she rolled her head to one side and looked past Gabrielle. “S’late.” She said, barely able to keep her eyes open. “Damn.”

The bard pulled the covers up more snugly over both of them. “It’s late, it’s still raining outside, and you’re staying right where you are if I have to sit on you to make you.” She pressed closer, feeling the shivers racking Xena’s body.

Xena huddled against her. “Bossy lil’ thing, arentcha.” She rasped.

Gabrielle felt a sense of relief at the feeble humor. “You bet your nasty old leather boots I am, honeybear.” She pulled Xena’s head closer and kissed it, tangling her fingers in the warrior’s dark hair and simply loving her.

Xena knew she should remember a time, not all that long ago, when the thought of accepting this kind of attention from anyone, much less from a half grown kid she’d picked up outside a small village would have been impossible.

But…. she realized suddenly she had no idea who that person was, who had shut off all contact with humanity.

The affection she could feel all around her, fairly thrumming through Gabrielle’s body as they lay together was as nourishing as any food and she gobbled it up without hesitation. The knots in her guts eased and her shivering abated a little, the lingering gray webs from her dream dissolving and slipping away.

The horror of Dahok’s temple, rearing its head so very unexpectedly. Xena curled her arms around Gabrielle and pulled her close in silent apology.

Let it go, she would.

In time.

**

Xena stepped out into a bright, cold morning, reluctantly taking in a lungful of the frosty air.  It hurt her throat, and she only barely stifled a cough as Gabrielle came out to join her.  Despite her long rest, she still felt thoroughly drained and moving was an effort.

However. They had places to go, and she was Xena, after all. The warrior squared her shoulders and lifted her head, gazing out over the forest and picking a route out.

“Damn it.” Gabrielle sighed.

Xena turned. “What?” She scanned the area quickly, half expecting to see something dangerous heading their way. Her illness had clogged up her hearing, and she was uncomfortably aware of the fact that she wasn’t up to her usual alertness.

The bard stepped up next to her and put her hand on Xena’s back. “No, it’s… you’d just made me a new staff, and damn it, I lost it again.”

“Ah.” Xena nodded. “I’ll get you another.” She cleared her throat, sore from coughing, and winced. “Promise.”

“I know.” Gabrielle said, as they started to walk. “I was using it more as a crutch coming up here than anything.” She chose her steps carefully, her body stiff and very painful as she tried to avoid jarring her back.

“Oh.” Xena watched her with a quick, sideways glance. “Hang on.” She eased between two large trees and paused, studying her options.

“Xena, it’s okay.” Gabrielle squirmed into the clearing after her. “I can handle not having one, don’t go… f…” The bard exhaled, stopping to lean against the nearest tree as she watched Xena select a branch and start hacking at it.

It was obvious the job was a strain. Gabrielle frowned, wishing the night’s rest had done as much for her partner as it had for her. The sickness had really taken hold of Xena’s body and it was almost painful to watch her move with such effort. “Honey.”

“Almost done.” Xena wiped her sword blade and resheathed it, making a mental note to sharpen the weapon later on. She took hold of the branch and pulled, using her weight to remove it from the tree. It broke loose with a crack, and she turned with it, measuring its length against Gabrielle’s body.

Satisfied, she walked over to where the bard was standing and leaned against the same tree, using her dagger to trim the branches and strip the bark off. A pile of the resulting flora detritus formed at her boots as the bard watched. “Better for you to use this.” Xena commented, in a husky voice. She stripped the last twig off and offered Gabrielle the staff.

The bard took it, closing her fingers around the still damp wood; it’s sharply green scent tickling her nose. As a weapon, it would be just barely useful – the newly shorn limb was too flexible yet, and it would take days of careful drying to harden it into something she could use in a fight.

But it made a great walking stick right now, and she gratefully leaned on it as they squeezed out from between the trees and started again on the path back to the forest dweller’s village.

After a few minutes, Xena eyed her. “Okay?”

Gabrielle jumped a little, having been deep in thought. She turned her head and gave her partner a slightly puzzled look, then realized what she was talking about. “Oh... gods, yes. Sorry, Xena.” She apologized hastily. “It’s perfect.”

“Umph.” Xena returned her eyes to the trail.

A memory of a time long past flooded into Gabrielle’s mind’s eye, and she smiled in reflex.

It had all started with waking up. Gabrielle opened her eyes to find Xena seated on her sleeping furs across the fire, two cups in front of her. She was putting something inside them and she looked up as Gabrielle sat up and rubbed her face.

“Morning.”

Gabrielle stopped in mid motion, her jaw dropping and her eyes popping open wide from their sleepy half closure. “Morning!” She replied. “Wow, it must be early!”

“No, it’s not.” Xena muttered, glaring at the two cups before she picked one up and thrust it at Gabrielle. “Here.”

As if in a dream, she scrambled to her feet and went around the fire, taking the cup and looking at it. “What is it?”

“It’s tea.” The warrior sighed.

“For me?” Gabrielle gazed at her surly traveling companion.

Xena gave her a look.

Gabrielle took the cup and went back to her furs, sitting down cross-legged on top of them and reveling in the luxury of not having to throw her things together and dash after the impatient warrior at the very crack of dawn.

She took a sip of the tea, and found to her surprise that she liked it. Usually things that Xena chose to drink were rarely to her taste, but this was good.  She took a few more sips of it before she dared to look up at Xena.

Mornings with Xena were never fun. The warrior hated being in one place during the daylight, and every second Gabrielle took in getting herself ready to travel was spent under the dourest of pale blue glares.

But today was different. Xena was apparently in no hurry to leave; in fact she was seated in just her leathers, with her armor still set to one side waiting to be donned.

The sunlight filtering through the trees around them made her tanned skin glow and the shadows moved as Xena’s body shifted, painting her in a very pretty way.

Today was different. Gabrielle curled her hands around her cup and wondered. She’d returned from the Athens Academy just a sevenday ago and now this sudden change once again made her feel a little nervous.

Was Xena thinking about how peaceful it had been with Gabrielle gone? Her eyes went to the cup, though. But if she was, why do this? Xena doesn’t make tea, she sure doesn’t make it for me, so….

Xena cleared her throat.  Gabrielle looked up with a start. “Okay?” The warrior asked, looking pointedly at the cup.

Huh? Gabrielle stared at her, then at the cup, then back at her. The warrior’s eyebrows jumped right up almost into her bangs before Gabrielle realized she was asking her a question. “Oh!” She stammered. “Oh... yes! Um... it’s great! Thank you!”

“Hmph.” Xena went back to her solitary grumpiness, drinking down her tea with slow deliberation.

Boy, was that rude of me or what? Gabrielle was a little horrified at herself. Xena must be rubbing off on me, huh? Then she was even more horrified at the fact that she’d thought that after Xena had taken the time to make her some tea and… Gabrielle tipped her head back and looked up at the sun. And let her sleep late.

Boy.  Gabrielle looked down at the cup, suddenly seeing it filled with something more precious than simple tea.  “You know what, Xena?” She gazed earnestly over at her friend.

“What?” Dour blue eyes looked back at her.

“You’re the best.” Gabrielle told her.

Xena leaned her arm on her knee. “The best what?”

“The best everything.” Gabrielle got up and went around the fire again, dropping to her knees next to Xena. “I told everyone at the Academy about you.”

“Yeah? What’d ya tell them?” Xena snorted.

“How brave you are, and all the amazing things you do, and about how great a fighter you are, and how be…” Gabrielle turned crimson and bit her tongue. “Ah, I mean how strong you are, and.... and…”

Aware of the intense scrutiny from her friend, Gabrielle looked down into her cup, wishing her blush would fade. Finally she lifted her head, to meet Xena’s bemused eyes. “Thanks for the tea, Xena.”

The warrior’s stern face suddenly relaxed into a smile, brief but genuine. “You’re welcome.”

Gabrielle decided she’d better keep her mouth shut before she got herself into trouble. She drank her tea instead.

“All those fancy bards, why’d you want to talk about me for, anyway?” Xena asked, suddenly.

It came out before she could think straight. “Oh, well, because I missed you.” Gabrielle blurted. “You know, I mean, we’ve been traveling together for all this time, and I just... um…” She peeked over at Xena. “Talked about you.”

“Least you didn’t try to talk to me.” Xena commented dryly.

Gabrielle bit the inside of her lip and looked guilty. “Well… actually…”

“Drink your tea.”

“But only when I was in bed at night.”

Xena looked at her. The eyebrows went up again.

Gabrielle found herself blushing.

It was just the most amazing morning.

**

Gabrielle chuckled, and shook her head. “Hey, Xena.”

“Hm?”

“Do you remember when I went to the Academy, that first time?”

“Uh huh.”

“Remember you making me tea after I got back?”

“Uh huh.”

Gabrielle flexed her fingers around her new staff, feeling the grained surface beneath them. “What was that all about?”

Xena paused, then started down a new path, to the right. She reached out and pulled some leaves off a nearby tree, examining them as she walked along in silence. What had that been about?

Oh. Right. Must have been that bit where she’d realized how empty her life was without Gabrielle in it. “Just felt like it.” She said, briefly. “Missed you, I guess.”

“It was really sweet.”

“No, it wasn’t.”

“Yes, it was.”

“Gabrielle, I’m sick. Don’t argue with me.” Xena growled, the effect ruined by a racking cough.

The bard shifted her staff to her left hand and rubbed the warrior’s back with her right. She opened her mouth to answer, when a sound brought both their heads up and around to listen intently.

What they heard gripped them both hard.

It was a very familiar howl.

**

“Ares?’ Gabrielle whispered.

“Sounds like.” Xena agreed. “C’mon.”

“I told him to stay with Dori.” The bard increased her pace as her partner did, until they were moving through the forest at a very respectable clip. Her back pain faded from her consciousness as the adrenaline kicked in and she knew it was doing the same for Xena.

“Almost sounds…” Xena cocked her head as another howl rang up over the trees.

“Like he’s calling us?” Gabrielle finished her sentence effortlessly. “Want me to howl back? Don’t you try it, with that throat.”

Xena was silent for a moment. “Gabrielle, I love you, but you sound like a rooster when you do that.”

The bard snorted, a single burst of surprised laughter that emerged without warning. She shook her head and gripped her staff more firmly, leaning on it as she followed Xena up a short incline.

They crossed a small stream, Xena’s boots kicking up the crystal clear water in a spray that caught the sun’s light and sparkled like diamonds. A half pace behind, Gabrielle found it in herself to frame the image and save it for later, the picture of her sick partner forging ahead in the dappled sunlight, determined and stolid, surrounded by nature’s wild beauty capturing her imagination with unexpected force.

She had moments like that. Gabrielle smiled briefly, remembering how those moments had grown far, and very few between at one point in her life. When the colors of life had muted and become grays, and her stories had left her.

How lonely it had been. Even after she and Xena had taken the first steps on their long road back to each other, she’d been unsure if that gift would ever return to her and she remembered with startling clarity the moment when she’d realized it had.

Speaking of. “Hey, Xe – it’s a little deep here.”  Gabrielle called out, struggling a little in the current as her unstable balance worked against her. “Let me hang on to your tail?”

The warrior stopped in mid stream and turned, hiking her eyebrows before she extended a long arm to her, catching hold of her outstretched hand and pulling her forward.  They forged together out of the stream and up onto the far bank, splashing onto the muddy ground as they heard the patter of fast approaching footsteps.

“Look out.” Xena warned, as the bushes rustled and Ares burst out of them, his dark coat vivid against the green. “Hey boy!”

“Roooo!!!!” The wolf bolted for her and leaped up to place huge paws on her shoulders.

“Easy.” Xena staggered back, almost breathless as a cough racked her. “Easy, boy.” She endured a slurping tongue for a moment, and then she eased the wolf down to the ground. “Whatcha doing here, hm? Where’s Dori?”

Gabrielle knelt carefully to greet their friend, riffling her fingers through his fur. It was damp, but as she pulled her hand back she was relieved to see it was only water and not anything more ominous. “Hi, Ares.”

The wolf licked her face with enthusiasm, and butted his head against her chest. Gabrielle hugged him, feeling around his neck. “No message.” She looked up at Xena. “You don’t think…”

“They’re out here looking for us?” Xena finished her words. “Let’s go find out.” She waited for Gabrielle to stand, and they started off again. “Find Dori, Ares.”

The wolf sneezed, and looked at her reproachfully.

“Ah.” Gabrielle exhaled. “I sense wildly rambunctious toddler behavior ahead.”

Xena chuckled softly. She put a hand on Gabrielle’s shoulder as they walked, stifling her itching desire to break into a run as they followed Ares through the trees. She was anxious to see their daughter, and she knew the bard was as well, but she could see the strain it was for Gabrielle to walk even this fast.

If she was being honest with herself, too, her filled up lungs were making walking tough as she had to really struggle to get enough air into her chest. Xena found herself constantly short of breath and the sensation wasn’t making her very happy at all.

The broken ribs weren’t helping either. She was beginning to suspect the two conditions might be related and that was spooking her more than a little.

A commotion suddenly broke out ahead of them and Ares danced in a circle, looking at them and then bouncing in place.

“I think…” Gabrielle started.

“Yeah.” Xena heard the shouts of alarm.  They reached a small ridge and as they stepped over the top of it and looked down the slope, a cluster of color popped out of the surrounding deep greens of the forest.

A dozen forest dwellers, on horseback were gathered, three of them in the act of jumping off their mounts and rushing towards the two of them.

Or not precisely towards them.   Xena let out an audible gust of relief as she spotted a bit of disturbance in the bushes, as though a small animal were crashing through them at a high rate of speed.

Ares wagged his tail.

Gabrielle spotted the motion and started towards it, making her way down the slope with heedlessly rambling steps. Xena followed her, and they reached the bottom of the hill just as the brush erupted and Dori popped out of it, spotting them and letting out an ear splitting squeal.

“Mama!!!!!!”  The child bolted for them in triumph. “BOO!!!!”

Ah. Xena felt a huge weight come off her shoulders, almost making her dizzy.  She lifted a reassuring hand towards the oncoming forest dwellers, and heard their shouts of relief. She recognized their young friend Tucker in the lead, and one of the nursery minders along with two of the older soulbonded.

“C’mere, sweetie.” Gabrielle dropped her staff and knelt, as Dori reached them and ran right into her arms. “Dori... Dori... hello sweetheart!”

“Mama!” Dori crawled right up her, throwing her arms around the bard’s neck. “Mama come back!”

“Ow.” Gabrielle gasped. “Easy, honey. Mama’s owie.”  She caught the child’s hands and removed them, then gave her a hug, pulling her dark head over and kissing it all over. “Of course we came back. I told you I’d bring Boo back, right?”

“Boo!” Dori pointed over Gabrielle’s shoulders, her voice excited. “Dere’s Boo!”

Gabrielle studied her daughter quickly, finding her apparently well and in one piece despite the smudges of mud and foliage that covered her skin. Her eyes were bright, and now were focused on the presence the bard could feel coming up behind her, and she released her hold with a knowing smile. “Go get Boo, Dori.”

“Eee!” Dori scrambled off her lap and rambled past. Gabrielle half turned to watch her as she ran, arms wide, towards the kneeling warrior.

“Booboobooboobooboo….” Dori giggled as she reached her buddy, climbing up into Xena’s lap as the warrior sat down on the ground with her. “Boo! Boo! Where Boo?”

“Right here, munchkin.” Xena rasped softly, cradling her daughter in her arms. “Right here.”

Dori patted her cheek. “Boo owie too?” She frowned. “Bad!”

Gabrielle eased over to them and sat next to her partner. The ground was damp, but it felt very good to be still, and she closed her hand over Doris’ booted foot as she watched the forest dwellers hurry towards them.

“Yeah, we were bad.” Xena ruffled Dori’s hair. “Your mama and I were both bad girls, Dori.”

“Bad.” Dori gave Xena a big hug anyway. “Love Boo and mama. No want owie.” She said. “Gots pipples to come gots, get mama and Boo, go home now.”

“Hi.” Gabrielle greeted Tucker. “Looking for us?”

The forest dweller flopped to the ground. “You have no idea.” He shook his head, round eyes flicking to Dori’s back. “She’s been driving us nuts for two days. Tried to run off, we had to finally put her in your quarters and guard the door, and she got out the window twice!”

Xena looked down at the innocent face tilted up at her. “Did you make trouble, Dori?”

“Yes.” The toddler agreed. “GO find mama. Gots  to go find mama and Boo, no good you go.” She pulled on Xena’s armor. “Missed you.”

“What happened to you guys?” Tucker asked.

“What didn’t.”? Gabrielle sighed, as the rest of the forest dwellers galloped up. Her jaw firmed a little. “Have you seen Rufus?”

Tucker blinked, then shook his head. “Not since you left, no.” He answered. “Why?”  He looked over his shoulder as the two soulbonded jumped off their horses and joined them. “You were right.”

“Of course we were.” Cessi snapped at him. “You think we just make this stuff up? Ignorant child.” She knelt stiffly next to Gabrielle and Xena. “Are you two all right?”

“Yes.”

“No.” Gabrielle gave her partner a look. “Xena, don’t insult their eyesight, okay?” She chided her. “We had some trouble.” She added, meeting Cessi’s eyes. “Xena’s pretty sick, and I’m a little banged up.”

The warrior gave her a dry, pointed glare.

“Anyway, we ran into some people who were trying very hard to kill us. Not fun.” Gabrielle went on.

“Humans?” Cessi started. “Here?”

“No.” Xena spoke before Gabrielle could.

Cessi drew her head back a little, glancing at Tucker and then nodding slowly. “Well, let’s save our tales for the village.” She seemed to choose her words carefully. “We have much to talk about, then.”

“How’s Lestan?” Xena asked in quiet voice.

Tucker snorted.

“Surviving.” Cessi smiled slightly, her fangs showing just a bit. “Wanting very much to speak with you, Chosen.”

Gabrielle was sure she wasn’t imagining the stress on the title. It boded nothing but even more trouble, but at the moment she was just looking forward to getting them both back to shelter and safety.

“Let’s get going then.” Xena said. She cradled Dori in her arms and got to her feet, tossing her dark hair back and squaring her shoulders. “Been a long couple of days.”

“Boo?” Dori tugged on her collar.

Gabrielle grabbed a bit of her partner’s armor and hauled herself up next to her. She recognized the veneer of stubborn attitude that had settled over Xena and knew better than to try and disrupt it. “Want me to take her?”

“No.” Xena set the toddler on her shoulders. “Hang on, shortie.”  She held on to the child’s feet with one hand, and put her other around Gabrielle.

“You want to take my horse, Xena?” Tucker offered shyly. “I can ride double with someone.”

“Or walk.” Cessi pointedly reminded him.

“Thanks – that’d be great.” Gabrielle accepted before her stubborn soulmate could refuse. “I had a little accident and my back’s killing me.”

“What happened?” Tucker asked.

Cessi put a hand on his arm. “Stories can wait for the village.” She told him. “I’m sure all will want to hear them.” She gave Gabrielle a meaningful look. “After our friends receive the care they need.”

Oh yeah. Gabrielle sighed inwardly, watching Dori tug on Xena’s hair. They were definitely not out of the woods yet.  “Right.” She answered, as Xena led the way over to Tucker’s tall mount.

She only hoped the trouble would stay at bay until they were ready for it again.

**

“Have I mentioned lately how much I love horses?” Xena remarked, taking s slightly tighter hold with her knees as she sat behind Gabrielle. They were halfway back to the village and between the warmth of the animal, the warmth of her soulmate, and the chance of being horseback Xena found herself in a much better temper.

For once, Gabrielle couldn’t argue with her. Though riding tended to bother her lower back, she found being off her feet with Xena’s arms wrapped around her helped her neck immeasurably. She patted the shoulder of their big mount, and glanced down at Dori, who was perched in front of her. “You love horsies too, Dor?””

“Yes.” Dori had a tight grip on the animal’s mane. She thumped him with her boots, appearing supremely pleased with her life at the moment. “Got mama, got Boo, got Guff, got horsies. All good.” She turned her head and looked up at her mother. “Mama, tell me where you go??”

Gabrielle had her hands free, and she used them to sort through the child’s dark, unruly hair. “Honey, you need a haircut.” She found herself simply glad to deal with minutiae for the moment. “You know where I went. I went to get your Boo.”

“You go dere?” Dori pointed towards the tall mountain. “Dat’s bad place.”

“Is it? How do you know that, Dori?” The bard noticed that her daughter was wearing a little pair of blue trousers and a woven shirt, common to the forest dwellers and their children.

“Yamma said.” Dori examined one of her boots seriously. “Said mama no good to go there.”

Yamma? Gabrielle wondered if she meant one of her caretakers, or perhaps Wennid. She glanced over at Cessi, who was riding next to them. “Was she a lot of trouble?”

Cessi wrinkled up her muzzle, making the fur bristle around her mouth in a comical expression. “She has a remarkable energy for one of your kind.” The older woman answered diplomatically. “This morning, she was very insistent that we come look for you, and we were afraid if we didn’t, she would.”

“For us?” Gabrielle gazed down at her pint size whirlwind. “Dori, did you want to come look for me and Boo?”

“Yes.” Dori nodded. “Wanted you.”

“Well, I’m glad you did.” Gabrielle sighed, leaning back just slightly against the warm body behind her. She could almost feel Xena’s silence, as she cradled one hand around the warrior’s fever warmed wrist.

“We felt…” Cessi hesitated slightly. “We felt that something had happened.” She said. “You seemed to be in distress, and Wennid and Lestan were terribly worried.”

Distress. “That’s pretty accurate.” Gabrielle murmured. “It’s been a very tough couple of days for both of us.” She looked over at Cessi. “Did you know what was in that valley? Those people?”

Cessi looked away. “We had heard rumors.” She murmured. “The young ones, the dissatisfied, yes. We had heard they had gone off somewhere, and good riddance to them.”

Gabrielle wondered if she really meant that. She felt Xena’s arms tighten around her and she remembered what the warrior had told her about her experience in the valley.  She realized with a shiver that Cessi’s words were truer that she knew and wondered what reaction the forest dwellers would have to their story.

They topped the ridge and the village came into sight, a spiral of smoke from the cooking hall rising over the green trees. Gabrielle had seldom seen a more beautiful scene, and she looked forward to getting into some clean clothes, as well as getting the herbs from Xena’s kit in her partner.

“Xena, did you find what you were looking for?” Cessi suddenly asked, addressing the warrior for the first time. “The men who attacked us?”

Xena felt the heavy haze of sickness lift a little as she turned her head to regard the forest dweller. “Might have.” She spoke briefly in a low tone. “Found the horses.”

Cessi nodded. “The story will wait. I can see you’ve had a rough time.”

Gabrielle let her hand drop to Xena’s knee, giving it a squeeze. She felt a warmth against the back of her head as the warrior exhaled, and the unhealthy sound of her breathing put a knot back in the bard’s guts. “Doing okay, Xe?”

“Yeah.”

“That’s what I thought. We’re almost there.”

“Ungh.” Xena distracted herself by moving Gabrielle’s hair out of the way and examining her neck. The place where she’d cut into her skin had closed up again, and seemed all right, with just a little swelling. However, she could tell by the way Gabrielle was holding herself that she was still in a lot of pain. What if she hadn’t gotten all the bone fragments out? “Gab?”

“Mm?”

“Any tingling in your hands or feet?”

Gabrielle was quiet for a moment, and then she shifted slightly. “Um... no.... just in my neck.”

“Hm?”

“Where you’re touching me.”  The bard added delicately.

Xena had to think about that. Then she chuckled briefly. “Nowhere else??” She leaned over and put a kiss right above the spot, nibbling the soft skin lightly.

Gabrielle cleared her throat. “Nowhere injury related.”

“Good. Just checking.”

“Mama?” Dori tugged on Gabrielle’s sleeve. “Where you go? Tell where dat was?”

They had just entered the village, and now a crowd was gathering. “Not right now, Dori.” Gabrielle told her as they came to a halt. “Not right now.”  She looked across the village to Lestan’s hut, where she spotted Wennid waiting anxiously in the doorway, watching them.

First things were first. “Cessi.” Gabrielle looked at their escort. “We’re going to head to our gear. We need Xena’s kit.” She felt the warrior take a breath to protest and squeezed her wrist in warning. “Please tell Wennid we’ll be over as soon as we can.”

Cessi hesitated, and then nodded. “I understand. Do you wish a healer?”

“No.” The bard took hold of the reins and turned the horses’ head towards their quarters. “Thanks for coming after us.”  She gave the rest of the group a smile, as they eased through the crowd and headed off.

First things first.

“Gab?”

“Don’t you even think about giving me a hard time about that, Xena.”

“Thanks.” The warrior felt a cough coming on that even her will couldn’t stifle, and it left her weak and shaking. She rested her head against Gabrielle’s and closed her eyes.

It was left to Gabrielle to lead them home.

“Mama?” Dori warbled softly. “Boo no feel good.”

“No, honey, she doesn’t.” Gabrielle got them as close to the cabin as she could. “Now, you’ have to be very good, and help me take care of Boo. Right?”

“Take care of Boo?”

“Can you get down?” Gabrielle whispered. “Xe?”

For an answer, the warrior shifted and eased off the horses back, keeping hold of his saddle as she got her feet on the ground. She gave Gabrielle a pat on the leg, and reached up to take Dori down from her arms. “I’ll make it.”

Gabrielle watched her anxiously, but relaxed a little as she saw the warrior’s steady stance. She got herself off the tall horse and they walked into the cabin together with Ares frisking after them. “Wow.”  The bard felt her knees start to shake as her eyes took in the familiar scene.

Xena set Dori down and walked over to her gear, dropping heavily to one knee next to her pack. The toddler followed her and peeked curiously over her shoulder as she removed her healer’s kit and sat down with it on the floor. “Glad to see this.” She glanced up at Gabrielle, paused, then she dug into her pack again and removed a packet of trail bars. “Here.” She tossed them at the bard. “You’re white as one of my mother’s sheets.”

“Gramma!” Dori thumped down next to Xena, splaying her legs out just like her parent’s. “Boo, you bring me rocks?”

Xena looked up from where she was mixing powdered, potent herbs into her travel cup. “Rocks? Whatcha need more rocks for?”

Dori poked her lower lip out.

Gabrielle sat down on the couch and tore into the packet, removing a trail bar and biting into it with a hunger she only now realized she was feeling. Relieved of the need to travel, her body now made its demands known. “I have some rocks for you, sweetie. Let Boo take her medicine.”

Dori poked her lip out further and looked sadly at her Xena.

The warrior finished mixing her herbs and dumped water into them, mixing them around and swallowing the resulting mess without even the slightest hesitation. Then she put the cup down and made a face, sticking her tongue out and wrinkling her nose. “Worse than I remembered.”

“Hah.” Gabrielle swallowed the last of one bar and started another as she undid the laces on her boots and pulled them off, with the socks beneath them. She stood up and unbuckled her belt, pulling her tunic off over her head carefully and stifling a gasp as she moved the wrong way. “Gods.”  She hissed, lowering her arm and letting the tunic drape over the back of the low couch.

Xena’s intake of breath made her look up, to find the warrior’s eyes on her, a look of pained consternation on her face. “What?” Gabrielle glanced down at herself and blinked. “Ah.”

She was covered, literally, in bruises and scrapes, including a raw set of marks right across her belly. “Ow.”

“Mama, owie!” Dori got up and came over, throwing her arms around her mother’s leg and giving her a hug.

“Yeah.” Gabrielle let her hand drop to her daughter’s head. “I’m gonna go wash off.” She added softly, as she started towards the bathing room. “C’mon, Dori. Want to help mama clean up?”

“Wanna help mama. Yes.” Dori followed her. “You want to hear Guff story?”

“Do I want to hear a story about Ares? Sure.” Gabrielle’s voice faded as they disappeared into the next room. “Tell mama the story.”

Xena let her head fall back to rest against the wall, feeling the herbs begin to take effect on her empty stomach. Something for the fever, and a good solid dose of the medicine she gave Gabrielle when the bard came down with the coughing sickness, and the potency of the herbs she was always very careful to carry made her eyes blink and her head feel a little light.

She was too drained to even cough. She let her hands lie slackly on her thighs and willed the herbs to work, knowing she couldn’t deny the illnesses grip on her body any longer. They were here, yes, and safe – but for how long? Xena let her eyes close. What would the forest dwellers say when they heard her story? Would they believe her? How many of them had she killed – most of them youngsters whose parents surely lived right here in the village?

Not that she regretted it – after all, they’d been trying to kill her – but it was one thing to know that and another to face the families here and admit to it.

Damn it. Xena opened her eyes and regarded her options, focusing on the couch as the better of the two. Lying down flat wouldn’t be a good idea. With a groan, she hauled herself to her feet and staggered over to the low piece of furniture, collapsing on it and leaning back with a sense of relief.

Carefully, she laid one hand over her belly and slowly let her body relax, her other hand closed around a small bit of stone.

Dori’s rock.

Xena felt a smile pulling at the tired muscles of her face, as she sat back to wait.

**

Gabrielle picked up a bit of their soap, opening the shower pull and letting the sun warmed water dampen her body before she used it. “So, Dori – tell me about Ares.” She watched her daughter amble about exploring the bathing room.

Dori walked over and picked up one of the linen towels, pulling it open and putting it onto her head. “Guff make a mess, mama.” She held the ends of the towel out and flapped them up and down. “He goto Yamma’s and gots cookies.”

“Uh huh.” The bard carefully washed her sore and battered skin. “He went into the kitchen? Like at home? Like Gramma’s kitchen?”

“Yes.” Dori agreed. “Pipples making good cookies there. Guff likes!” She pattered back and forth. “Guff gots all the cookies, den he run fast.”

“I see.” Gabrielle murmured. “And what did the people do about that?”

“Chase.”

Reasonable. “And what did you do, Dori? Did you help the people?”

Dori peeked out from under her impromptu hat. “No.”

“No?” The bard scrubbed what seemed like a month’s worth of grit out of her hair. “How come? You know mama and Boo always tell you to help people, Dori. Don’t we?”

“Yes.”

“So how come you didn’t?”  The water drenched her again, bringing a feeling of blessed relief.  After all her years on the road, Gabrielle had come to ruefully realize that love for exploring with her partner notwithstanding, she hated being dirty.

“Hide Guff, gots cookies.” Dori answered pragmatically. “Good!”

Gabrielle had to chuckle, despite herself. “Dori, that was a very naughty thing for you to do.” One last rinse, and she stepped away from the shower, capturing the linen draped over her child and removing it for her own use. “Those cookies didn’t belong to you.”

“Guff took!” Dori protested.

“You should have given them back.” Gabrielle winced as she dried off her shoulders. “That wasn’t nice.”

Dori pouted.

Gabrielle wrapped the linen around her body. sitting down on the sturdy wooden bench near the shower and resting her elbows on her knees as she gazed at her daughter. “Hey, Dori?”

The toddler came over to her. “Mama mad?” She asked wistfully, gazing up at her adored parent with big, round green eyes.

Paybacks. Gabrielle held back a smirk of self reproach with a strain at her will power as she clearly remembered a muck covered younger self looking up at Xena with much the same expression asking much the same thing. Are you mad at me?

It had been the first time, she remembered, that she’d seen that little smile, that little softening in the warrior’s face that she was relieved to mark down then as ‘it’s okay’ in her early guidebook to Xena.

A look she’d later come to understand as one of love.  Solemnly, she gazed back at Dori, reaching one hand out to touch her soft, round face. Ares was, after all, her friend and she’d stuck by him, hadn’t she? Self interest in booty notwithstanding? “No, I’m not mad, Dori.”  She told her child. “But you should think of how badly the other people felt, after they worked so hard on the cookies and then Ares took them.”

Dori’s forehead wrinkled. “Pipples felt bad?”

“How would you feel if you worked really hard on something, like a picture, and then someone took it away from you, just because they wanted it?” Gabrielle kept her voice gentle. “You wouldn’t like that, would you?”

“No.” Dori admitted.

The bard pulled her closer and kissed her on the head, hugging her. “Next time, think about that, okay?”

“Otay.”

Gabrielle released her. “Okay. Now, tell me – did you tell the people to come look for us?”

Dori circled her mother’s leg with one arm. “Yes.” She nodded. “Mama owie. Tell pipple to go find now!”

The bard gazed at her. “How did you know I was hurt, Dori?” She asked curiously.

Dori looked steadily up at her mother. Instead of answering, she just hit her own chest with her hand. “Owie.”

Could her daughter really feel when something happened to her? Gabrielle felt her eyes widen in wonder. “Well, honey, you were right.” She tweaked Dori’s small nose. “I was owie, and Boo was owie, and we weren’t have any fun.”

“No fun.” Dori shook her head vigorously. “Mama, you go get owie. How come? Make Boo owie?”

Ah. Gabrielle stood up and offered Dori her hand. “Sweetie, I know you won’t understand this now, but your Boo and I sometimes have to get owie because we try to help people.”

“Bad.”

“I know. It’s no fun for me, and it’s no fun for your Boo either, but we do it so other people don’t get owie.” Gabrielle told her. “Want to come help me take care of Boo? I know she’d like it if you helped me.”

Dori sighed, taking her mother’s hand as they walked out of the bathing room. “Make Boo all better, mama.”

The bard produced a sigh of her own as she spotted the tall, lean figure sprawled on the couch. . “We will, honey. We will.”  And they would, she was confident.

She just hoped it happened fast.

**

Continued in Part 9

Champion

Part 9

“Mama, want to help Boo.”

Gabrielle looked up from the fire. “You are, honey. Just keep putting the green stuff on Boo’s neck. That’ll make her feel better.”

Dori examined her slime covered hands dubiously. “Yes?”

“Yes.” Gabrielle assured her. “Go on.”

The strong smelling eucalyptus salve was pungent enough for the bard to smell from where she was, and she only hoped it was doing her sick partner some good. Xena was lying still on the couch with her eyes closed, though she knew the warrior wasn’t asleep. Dori had crawled up on the edge of the couch and was getting the salve more or less where it needed to go, patting Xena’s pale skin gently with her small hands. “Boo?”

One blue eye opened and looked at her.

“Owie?”

Xena nodded.

“Make better?” Dori held up her hands.

The warrior smiled, just a little. “Sure did.” She whispered huskily. “Thanks, Dori.”

Dori scowled. “No good.”

Xena glanced past her to where Gabrielle was messing with something in a pot. “Dori, you’re acting just like your mama, you know that?”

“Mama?”

The bard gave them both a severe look. “Don’t even start with that, Warrior Overprotective Princess.” She pointed her spoon at the sick woman. “If I had a dinar for every time you fussed over me when I had the sniffles, we’d own Athens.”

“Why’d we want to?” Xena closed her eye again. “What is that you’re making?”

“Can’t you tell?” Gabrielle inquired.

“No.”

Uh oh. The bard exhaled silently. Even with her worst case of head sickness, Xena never lost her senses. This wasn’t a good sign. “Acorn broth.”

Xena managed a faint snort.

“Mama!” Dori had run out of goop to put on her beloved playmate. “More!”

“Honey, that’s enough for right now.” Gabrielle sniffed the steam coming off the pot, nodding a little as the sharp, tangy scent made her mouth water. “Why don’t you get Boo some water?”

“Waver?” Dori looked up at the warrior. “Boo, you want waver?”

Xena forced her eyes open to regard her daughter. “Yeah.” She took one of Dori’s hands and wiped the salve off it’s small fingers. “I’d like that, Dori. Okay?”

“Otay.” Dori clambered off the couch and rambled over to their gear, putting both hands around a full waterskin and lifting it with difficulty, half dragging half carrying it back to the couch. “Boo Boo Boo….”

“That’s me.” Xena took the skin and uncapped it, letting it rest on her chest as she sucked at the spout. After a few mouthfuls she stopped and put the cover back on with lightly shaking fingers, the fever once again getting to her very core. “Damn it.”

“Bamn it.” Dori repeated.

One blue eye popped open, looked at the toddler, then rotated to meet her mother’s gaze from across the room.

Gabrielle  studied her, then sighed. “Just don’t teach her the ones from Sparta, okay?” She tested the heat of the soup she was making, then carefully poured some into one of their travel bowls. Adding a spoon, she got up, pausing halfway as her back protested, then straightening slowly before crossing over to the couch.

Xena edged over, clearing space for her to sit down and enforcing the matter by taking hold of Gabrielle’s arm and pulling as she started to kneel. “Ah ah ah.”

“Xe.”

“Sit.” The warrior insisted.

With a faint sigh, the bard complied, easing down onto the couch and finding herself enfolded in a living support as Xena rolled over onto her side and curled her body around Gabrielle’s back. “Mmph.” She set the bowl down while Dori clambered up and settled herself behind Xena’s knees. “Cozy.”

Xena put her head down on the pillow, glad of Gabrielle’s warm presence. She closed her eyes against the pounding in her skull and felt a simple sense of relief that the herbs had at least stilled her coughing.

“Hon, you need to drink some of this.” Gabrielle told her.

“Not really hungry.” The warrior replied.

“All the more reason. You’d never let me get away with that.” Gabrielle dipped the deep bowled spoon into the broth and scooped up some. She waited for her partner to opened her mouth, then poured the contents inside, managing to get it all in without spilling a drop.

Xena mouthed the soup, then swallowed it. To her tongue it was tasteless, but the warmth felt good and the spices seemed to be perking through the fog that had descended over her. She put her right hand on Gabrielle’s back and started a gentle massage, feeling the painful stiffness all up and down her spine.

It salved her conscience a little, being able to do something other than just lay here being spoon fed. The sickness had sapped everything out of her, though, and she knew she could really do little else. She’d never been this ill before, and it was starting to scare her just a bit.

Another spoonful of soup found it’s way into her mouth.  She could feel Dori’s head resting on her hip, and she was glad their daughter was behaving for once and not scrambling around all over the place. “Gab?”

“Mm?” The bard shifted a little under her partner’s probing fingers. “Damn, that feels good.”

Ah, a distraction. “Where are you hurting?”

Gabrielle sighed, just a little. “Everywhere.” She admitted softly, offering up another spoonful. “When I move, I get these sharp pains down my arms and legs.”

Xena’s eyes popped wide open. “When did that start?”

“On the way here.” The bard replied.

“Gabrielle!”

“What?” Gabrielle snapped at her. “Xena, you’re a wreck, and I’m a wreck. What would you like me to do? Get Dori and Ares to take care of us?”

Xena didn’t answer. Instead, she let her fingers work their way higher, her sensitive touch reaching a tense knot just in the center of the bard’s shoulderblades.

Gabrielle’s brows contracted, and she looked away. “Sorry.” She murmured. “Pain’s getting to me.”

“Mama?” Dori slid down and toddled over, putting her arms around her mother’s knees. “Mama mad.”

“I’m not mad, honey.” Gabrielle said.

“Mama yell. Mama yell at Boo.” Dori objected. “No good!”

The bard merely sighed and fell silent.

“Why don’t you lie down.” Xena suggested quietly, reaching over and taking the bowl from her. “Go on over to the bed and…”

“I don’t want to lie down on the bed.” Gabrielle muttered.

“Okay.” Xena lifted the bowl to her lips and swallowed down some soup. The hot liquid felt good in volumes, and she continued drinking until it was done, lightly rubbing the bard’s back in the meanwhile. She licked her lips when she was finished and set the bowl on the floor. “How about this.”

“How about you spank the poo out of me for being a cranky whiner.” Gabrielle had taken the few moments to collect her temper, lying in tatters by her feet. “Dori, don’t you listen to me, okay? I’m not mad at Boo, I’m just owie.”

“Boo fix.” Dori put her hand into the bowl her parent had set down and clutched a fistful of vegetables, which she stuffed into her mouth. “Boo, make mama good, so we c’n go get fishes and play.”

Xena shifted a little, making more room  on the couch next to her. “You…” She addressed her soulmate. “Need some heat to loosen up those muscles.”

“Should I go sit in the soup?” Gabrielle asked, in a wry tone.

“On the other hand, I need someone to make me stop this damned shivering.” The warrior continued blithely. “So, here’s the plan.” She wrapped an arm around Gabrielle’s middle and very gently tugged her down. “You give me some body heat, and I’ll keep your back nice and warm. How’s that?”

The minute Xena’s body curled around hers, she felt the vice grip of pain in her back relax. “Unnngh.” Gabrielle stretched her legs out and fit them along her partner’s, the ache in them easing as the warrior’s body heat penetrated her skin. “Xena?”

“Mm?”

“Have I ever told you you’re the best hot water bottle going?”

“Well.” Xena put her head down on the pillow again. “In that case, my life’s goals are complete. What am I gonna do now?”  She extended a hand to Dori, who gripped it as Gabrielle chuckled. “Hey, shortie. What’cha doing?”

Dori was climbing precariously up onto the couch, ending up sprawling over Xena’s head and over her side. “Make Boo better.” She explained.

Well. Xena exhaled. At least she was a lot warmer now.  She steadied her daughter as she found a comfortable spot, and had to smile as the toddler gave her as much of a hug as she could given the position she was in.

“Xena?”

“Mm?” She could feel Gabrielle’s body relaxing, and hoped that would relieve the symptoms she’d described. She didn’t want to contemplate the alternative. “Better?”

Gabrielle’s fingers wound around hers, as she draped her arm over the bard’s side. “Yeah.” She replied quietly. “You rock.” She paused a few breaths. “Thanks.”

A faint smile appeared on the warrior’s face.

“Have you thought about what’s going on here?” Gabrielle asked. “I mean… does it makes sense to you that Rufus would do.. what he did… to me… and then just leave?” She added. “I mean…. On the one hand, I can sort of see it because he knew I survived.”

“Did he?”

“Yeah.” Gabrielle cleared her throat gently. “I.. um.. made sure he knew how I felt about it. So anyway…he knew.. and I guess he also knew I’d find you, so him running off makes sense that way, but…”

“You think he figured I’d kick his ass for that?” Xena inquired.

“Wouldn’t you have?” Gabrielle asked, with a touch of hesitation.

“Damn right.” The warrior replied. “If I’d seen him do it, I’d have gutted him from crotch to neck and scattered his parts from here to Amphipolis.”

“A good reason to run.” The bard commented. “But… he didn’t know if or when we’d make it back out of that valley, did he?”

“No.” Xena said.

“So, why didn’t he come back here?” Gabrielle gazed at the fire, exhaling in relief as the last of the tension flowed out of her body under Xena’s gentle touch. She felt a bit ashamed of herself, to be honest. Despite the days of pain, she knew she’d seen Xena deal with far worse and she felt she’d let her partner down by giving into it.

Even knowing Xena would probably spank her for thinking that didn’t help any. After all, here Xena lay, so sick she could hardly keep her head up and she’d wasted her precious energy trying to make Gabrielle feel better instead of taking care of herself.

Rats. Gabrielle scowled at the fire.

“Well, I’m damn glad he didn’t right at the moment.” Xena admitted.

Gabrielle turned her head and looked back over her shoulder, seeing the pale skin and bloodshot blue eyes. “Me too.” She whispered, squeezing Xena’s hand gently. “Let’s hope he’s still running the other way out there.”

Xena stifled a cough, and nodded, her eyelids closing briefly in weariness.

“We need time.” The bard murmured. “That’s all.” She pulled Xena’s hand up and placed it over her heart, feeling the last of the anger and frustration slip away from her. This was not the place for it. Right here, in these arms there was only room for love, and for healing, and for her to bask in the knowledge that once again, they’d made it out together.

Dori was draped over Xena’s side, small fingers idly playing with a bit of the blanket as she sucked the thumb on her other hand.

Together. Gabrielle nodded to herself. Everything would be all right, now.

**

It was dark, and Xena was glad of it. She pulled the hood of her cloak more closely around her head and continued on her way towards Lestan and Wennid’s house, cursing the unsteadiness of her steps under her breath.

Sleep, and another big dose of herbs had at least allowed her this much activity, but it was a struggle and she knew it. Regardless, Lestan had needed to speak to her, and her instincts were urging her forward to check her old friend and make sure all was well with him.

She hoped Gabrielle would forgive her. Xena grimaced slightly. She’d given the bard a cup of herbs carefully calculated to put her down for the balance of the night, and after they’d taken hold she’d left her soulmate curled up with their daughter in the big, round bed.

After all, she wasn’t planning on being gone long. Xena glanced down at the black wolf trotting beside her, his ears pricked and alert. “Right boy?” She rasped. “We’ll just check things out, then head back.”

“Roo.” Ares licked his chops, having enjoyed the last of Gabrielle’s soup.

Xena cleared her sore throat and continued on, emerging from the small path that led to their cabin into the central square of the village. The big fire was lit, and spreading crimson tinged shadows through the darkness to catch on forest dwellers crossing the square in small clumps.

“Xena!’

The warrior slowed, turning her head as Tucker hurried across the ground towards her. She paused until he caught up to her, then resumed her slow, relatively dignified pace.

“Feeling better?” The young forest dweller hazarded a question.

Xena shrugged.

“You had us really worried there for a while.” Tucker went on in a rush. “Boy, I thought that kid of yours was going to go nuts! All she kept saying was ‘Go get mama. Go get Boo. Go get mama Go get Boo.”

“I get the idea.” Xena interrupted him.

“She’s really sorta cute.”

“Thanks.” The warrior stifled a cough.

“I mean, for a human.”

Xena looked at him.

“Well, c’mon. You gotta admit ours are cuter.” Tucker grinned at her.

“Not bad for fuzzballs.” The warrior uttered, wishing her walk was over. Her breath was coming shorter, and she felt a little dizzy. But Lestan’s window wasn’t far ahead, so she just bore down and got on with it. The air was getting colder and she folded her hands together under her cloak, chafing her chilled fingers.

“So.. what happened down there?” Tucker asked curiously. “I mean, did you find what you went for?”

Xena was silent for a few steps. Then she turned her head and regarded him from inside her hood, the fire catching bare glints off her pale eyes.

“We’re all kinda wondering.” The forest dweller scrunched his muzzle up, appearing slightly embarrassed. “I mean, I had a couple of cousins who went to the valley.”

And I probably killed them.  Xena realized. “Why not go see for yourself?” She asked.

He shrugged. “They didn’t want any part of us.” He answered. “So we said, fine. Go eat berries and raw meat and get worms from it. See if we care.”

They were at the steps up to Lestan’s house. Xena steeled herself for the effort to climb them. She put her hand on the railing, then she paused and looked at Tucker. “I found something.” She told him. “I don’t know if it’s what I went for.”

“Huh.” He grunted.

Xena turned and walked up the steps, her boots sounding with light scuffs against the wood. As she reached the door she squared her shoulders, and then rapped lightly on the surface.

“Come in, Xena.” Wennid’s voice traveled from inside.

With a twitch of her eyebrows, the warrior complied, pushing the door open and walking into the cabin. It was warm and quiet inside, with a distinct scent of venison in the air.  Xena walked through the outer chamber to the inner door, and peered inside.

Wennid was seated on the bed, with Lestan’s head and shoulders in her lap. The injured forest dwellers’ eyes were open, and as Xena entered he turned to look at her.

It made Xena smile in pure reflex. After all the death and anguish she’d been through the last few days, seeing this tangible example of her healing talents put a patch on the darkness floating around her soul. “Evening.”

“Xena.” Lestan’s voice sounded rough, but clear. “Welcome back.”

The warrior walked over to a sturdy chair near the bed and sat down. “Thanks.”

“What happened?” Wennid studied her. “You look terrible. How is Gabrielle? I heard she was hurt. We felt…” She hesitated. “Her emotions were very strong.”

Strong. Xena leaned back. “She’s all right.” She said. “Lestan, Gabrielle told me she came looking for me because you wanted to talk to me.”

“Yes.” The forest dweller took a breath. “But it is too late. You have already been where I would have warned you to stay clear of.” He painfully shifted, to get a better look at her. “And you have paid the price, I fear.”

Xena studied him for a moment. “ Your people paid a worse one.”

Wennid exhaled, her eyes drifting off to the fireplace. Then she looked back at the warrior. “What did happen? Gabrielle said you went in search of the raiders.” She added. “And, by the gods, Xena, can I get you something to drink?”

Xena could only wonder what she must look like for the forest dweller to ask. “I’m fine.” She said. “I followed the track of the horses. Found a way down to the valley.”

“Lot of crazy minds down there.” Lestan sighed. “Ares’ sword, I’m no progressive, but they’ve gone over the edge with all that back to origins stuff.”

The warrior felt very tired suddenly. She didn’t want to expend the emotional energy to explain to their friends that those crazy minds they were shaking their heads at were now just so many corpses. The renegades had seemed harmless to them.

“Xena?” Wennid slid out from under her soulbond and approached the silent woman, kneeling and putting one large hand on the chair arm.

With an effort, Xena looked at her. “They attacked me when I got down there.” She said simply.

“Ugh.” Lestan let out a small snort. “As I said. Idiots.”

“Did they say why?” Wennid asked gently.

Xena had to think about that. The experience had faded a little, already. “Said humans weren’t allowed in the valley.” She finally replied. “Not much talking.”

“Bull’s balls.” Wennid snapped. “That old horse story. Damn that Rufus.”  She put an unobtrusive two fingers around Xena’s wrist, keeping them there when a pair of pale blue eyes focused on her. “Xena, I think you should just go and rest. The story can wait.”

The warrior studied her quietly. “I killed most of them.” She said.

Wennid’s lips tightened, but she nodded. “Keep that to yourself for now. There were many here whose children went down there.” Her eyes traveled over Xena’s face. “You are sick.”

“Mm.” Xena nodded agreement. “Spent too much time wet.” She gathered her reserves. “Gabrielle… got hurt when she followed me.”

Lestan inhaled audibly. “Xena, I never meant for her…”

The warrior lifted a hand. “Don’t. Gabrielle would follow me to Hades for no reason at all.”

“Yes, she would.” Wennid murmured. “Was that what frightened her so?”

“No.” Xena relaxed a little, studying her hand lying open on her thigh. “Something happened to me. We got clear of it, though.” She shifted again. “She’s got a neck injury. I’m going to need to keep her quiet in bed for a while.”

Wennid and Lestan exchanged glances.

“Xena, you know you are welcome here for as long as it suits you.” Lestan rasped. “Whatever happened in the valley – that will wait for you to be well, and for your Gabrielle to heal her wounds.”

“Exactly.” Wennid agreed. “Let me take you back to be with her. You both need rest.”

And that, the warrior had to acknowledge, was the absolute truth. She could barely keep her head up, and she knew delaying much longer might result in something unacceptably embarrassing like having to be carried back to her cabin.

Damned if she was going to have that happen. “I don’t think Rufus is going to give up that easily.” She met Lestan’s eyes.

“He’s … got some strange ideas, but I always felt he meant the best for our people.” Wennid said.

Xena considered. “Maybe.” She put her hands on the chair arms, and prepared to stand up. “But he doesn’t mean the best for my people. He tried to kill Gabrielle.” She carefully pushed herself upright.

Wennid inhaled. “He dared?”

“He failed.” Xena found a tiny smile somewhere. “Gabrielle doesn’t kill easily. But I won’t forget that.”

Wennid and Lestan exchanged another, longer look. Then Wennid stood up and joined Xena as she started to leave. Neither of them said anything; the silence more telling than words would have been.  They walked to the door and across the outer chamber, exiting the warmth of the cabin into the cold of the night.

Far off, a storm rumbled.

**

She was lying on the ground, looking up as rain fell on her. It was cold on her face, but she had to endure it because no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t move any part of her body save her head.

It was terrifying. Gabrielle found herself gasping, water filling her mouth as it rained down harder and harder and all she could do it lie there.

Her body seemed dead. She could feel the water hitting it, but though she willed herself with all her strength to move, nothing did.

Water started filling the ground around her, creeping up her body.

She opened her mouth to call out, but even that was denied her as her breath barely responded enough to produce a gasp.

It rained harder. She could barely see now, the world around her just a mass of gray rain and dull green forest. Frantically, she looked around, blinking the water out of her eyes, her gaze falling on a tall stone statue nearby, its surface darkened almost to black from the storm.

Her heart stopped in her chest, as even through the rain she recognized the noble, chisled features on the statue, it’s eyes tilted skyward.

She knew somehow, seeing that – seeing the somber statue here in this clearing meant Xena was dead.

And as the realization hit, so did the grief.   Gabrielle forgot about the rain, not caring if it covered her or not as her heart shattered, and her soul screamed out in searing memory.

“Gabrielle!”

The voice, and the rush of emotion broke her out of her nightmare and pulled her up out of the gray, icy ground into firelit warmth, from the barren hollowness of grief to the vivid reality of Xena’s blue eyes drilling into hers as they opened.

After a shocked moment, she lifted her hand up and touched her partner’s cheek, pale but very much alive and released a shuddering breath as her body relaxed into Xena’s arms. “Gods.” The bard whispered. “Oh gods.”

Tears ran down her face as she was pulled against Xena’s body, aware of Dori’s anxious tugs on her sleeve on the other side of her. She pressed her ear against the warrior’s chest, hearing the rattling of her breathing but also the thunder of her heartbeat, powerful and rapid but slowing even as she listened.

“Mama? Mama!”

“Shh. Dori. Quiet. Mama’s all right.” Xena told her. “She just had a bad dream.”

Gabrielle closed her eyes and soaked in that voice. Just a bad dream, after all. She flexed her hands, which obeyed her readily as they’d always done and reflected that there were some times when it really was hard to tell the difference between her life and a nightmare.

This, fortunately, was not one of them. “Wow.” She sighed into Xena’s chest. “That really sucked.”

Predictably, Xena gave her a kiss on the top of her head, one of the warrior’s instinctive, favorite ways of giving comfort to her. It always had, too – from the very first time she’d felt that touch, until this, the latest of them.

The river! Gabrielle tried to catch her balance, but her momentum was just too much and she stumbled off the bank and into the raging waters.

A ghost of a yank at her back, or was it just her imagination?  She scrambled around in the water trying to find a way out, yelping as she crashed into a set of boulders in the middle of the rapids.

“Help!!!!” She yelled as loud as she could. “Xena!”

For a moment, a very horrible, nasty moment, she wondered if the warrior wouldn’t hear her. Not couldn’t, but wouldn’t, using this as an excuse to rid herself of a troublesome responsibility.

They’d been fighting a lot lately, after all. She’d gotten Xena in to just the worst pickle that very morning, and the warrior hadn’t spoken to her all day.

Another rock slammed into her, and Gabrielle realized she had no time to be thinking about that. She ducked a big branch sweeping down the overfed river with her, and tried to grab a passing stump, only to smack her hand into it instead with brutal force.

She saw stars.

Then she saw the rapids ahead turn into white terror, and faced the possibility that this might really be the end of her.

Oddly, she wished more than anything that she’d at least said goodbye to Xena.

The water tossed her over and she went under the surface, taking in a lungful of water before she could claw her way back up to the sunlight again.

Then a branch slammed her from behind and she went under again. She was getting very tired. Things started getting a little dark.

She realized she was drowning.

She was scared.

She wasn’t ready to die, yet.

Then a powerful grip took hold of her, and she was pulled out of the water so fast all she could do was close her eyes and hope she wasn’t going to hit the trees. She felt the leaves whip against her, and steeled herself for the impact, but…

But the next thing she knew she was on the ground, shivering, with a pair of warm arms around her and the smell of wet leather and brass overshadowing everything. “X….xena?” She gasped, her teeth chattering.

“Yeah. You’re all right.” Xena’s voice answered her.

“I… d…didn’t want to die…. “

“Wasn’t going to let you.” The warrior said.

And then Gabrielle felt Xena’s hand shift off her shoulder and cup her head, warming her wet scalp just above her ear. It felt… she’d never felt anything like it.

It was gentle and loving, two things she’d never expected from Xena.

She felt a light pressure against the other side of her head. It was warm. She couldn’t imagine what it was. Then she heard Xena sigh, and felt her breath against her scalp and she realized Xena had just kissed her.

Xena? Kissed? Her?

“You’re gonna be fine.” Xena said. “I just gotta learn to keep you away from those damn rivers.”

River?

What river?

Gabrielle’s eyes looked past the leaves of the bushes all around them, and in the shadows somewhere there between the flickers of sunlight, she spied her future.

She just hadn’t know it at the time.

“Are you all right, Gabrielle?” Wennid’s voice came from nearby.

Gabrielle shook off her daze, and put that together with the feel of Xena’s cloak on her. She realized the warrior had left her sleeping, and that, at least, explained why her dreams had rambled and gotten the better of her. “Yeah… “ She peeked out past Xena’s shoulder. “More or less.”

“Yamma.” Dori clambered past her mother to the edge of the bed.

With a soft groan, the bard sat up a little, freeing one hand from it’s grip on Xena’s body to clear her hair out of her eyes. It was dark, but the fire gave her enough light to see Wennid’s concerned expression and to catch the shaken look on her partner’s face.  “Sorry about that.” She patted Xena on the leg with quiet affection. “It doesn’t happen often.”

“Mama otay?” Dori crawled into her lap and hugged her.

Gabrielle gave her a kiss on the head. “Mama’s okay, honey.” She reassured her daughter. “I just had a bad dream, like you have sometimes.”

“Bad.”

“Yeah.” Gabrielle agreed softly, feeling Xena exhale behind her. “How’s Lestan, Wennid?”

“Doing well, little sister.” The forest dweller said. “He is speaking, though he is in much pain, and I fear he will be very sick for a very long time.”

“He’ll make it.” The bard told her with quiet confidence. “He’s a fighter.”

Wennid sat down on the plain, rugged chair from the worktable, pulling it next to the bed. “As are the denizens of this cabin, eh?” She put her hand on the edge of mattress. “You had us all very worried. I am glad to see you both, safe if not so very sound.”

Gabrielle felt Xena stifle a cough, and she looked over her shoulder at the warrior. “Honey, you look awful.”

“Thanks.” Xena muttered.

“I will have a meal sent over here, Gabrielle, and our healer.” Wennid told her.

The bard smiled. “I have a healer.” She laced her fingers with Xena’s.

“Yes, but your healer doesn’t have a healer, and methinks she needs one.” The forest dweller pushed herself to her feet. “We have a sickness, common to us in the wet season that resembles what you are suffering from, Xena. It’s nothing to trifle with.”

Her head hurt too much to protest. The wild dash she’d been spurred to on feeling Gabrielle’s terror had taken every last ounce of energy from her and right then, all Xena wanted to do was lie still. She rubbed her thumb against the bard’s fingers and closed her eyes.

“Thanks, Wennid.” Gabrielle felt a definite jolt of concern. “Xena took something for this, but if you’ve got other ideas, I know she’s got an open mind about things like this.”

A blue eye appeared. Open mind? About this?

“We’ll see what we can do for her.” Wennid patted the warrior’s leg. “How are you feeling, little sister?  I’m sorry it was one of my kind who caused you pain.”

Gabrielle took a moment to take stock of herself. After her long sleep, the sharp pains had once again faded, and only the dull ache around her neck wound remained. “Better.” She watched the forest dweller leave, then she turned her head to regard Xena. “Hi.”

Dori rolled over onto her back and yawned. “Boo no feel good mama. Make all better.” She climbed down off the bed and ambled over to Gabrielle’s pack, tugging the bag open and fishing in it for a toy.

Gabrielle studied her partner’s face.

“What she said.” Xena kept her eyes closed briefly, then cracked them open. “You all right?”

The shadows chuckled nastily at her, and a ghostly memory of her dream swept over her thoughts again. She buried her face into Xena’s shoulder for a long moment, breathing in the warrior’s scent as she waited for it to pass.

“Gab?”

“Bad dreams really stink.” The bard finally sighed. “Sometimes I really wish I had your imagination instead of mine.”

Xena blinked. “Make telling stories kinda tough.” She remarked pragmatically. “Went there, did this, killed that, went home. Bam. The End.” She idly scratched Gabrielle on the back of her head. “No fun, right Dori??”

“NO fun?” Dori looked up from the floor, where she was busy mashing Flameball’s head into the rug. “Mama tells good stories.”

“Mm.” Gabrielle wiped her eyes. “Oh, damn. I haven’t had one like that in a really long time.” She murmured. “All the stuff from the last few days caught up to me.”  She flexed her hand again. “Damn.” A soft exhale escaped from her.

“C’mere.” The warrior pulled her closer. “Forget about the damn dream.” She tilted Gabrielle’s chin up a trifle and kissed her, the light gesture unexpectedly deepening into a long moment of intense passion that left them both breathing hard.

“Dream?” Gabrielle whispered, giving into it. “What dream?”

Sick or no, Xena managed a smile.

And in that smile, Gabrielle saw her future; only this time she fully knew it. She lifted Xena’s hand and pressed her lips against the palm, watching the smile broaden and warm the warrior’s pale eyes. The cobwebs of her dream melted away in the face of reality. “Know something?”

Xena’s eyebrow twitched upward in question.

“I love you.”

“Gush.” Dori whacked Flameball’s tail against the bottom of the bed. “Gush gush gush”

“I love you too.”

“Gush.”

**

Gabrielle stepped out onto the cabin’s porch just as dawn’s light started to filter through the trees. She watched it a moment, then she sat down on the rough bench against the wall and pulled one knee up to wrap her arms around it.

It was quiet. The trees rustled nearby, and she could faintly hear the stirrings in the center of the village but the early morning seemed so far to be one of solemn peace.  She could feel it sinking into her and she welcomed it wholeheartedly.

The forest dweller’s healer had, as promised, come by last night. She’d brought with her a bag of herbs and a lot of advice for her very sick partner, and after investigating the offering thoroughly Xena had thanked the woman and actually taken them.

Gabrielle hoped they worked, and hoped the night’s rest had helped. She’d left Xena still asleep in bed, with Dori curled up next to her and decided to try and get a few of the kinks out of her very stiff body.

Xena’s breathing had seemed less labored when she’d woken, and a hand on the warrior’s forehead had shown that her fever had reduced. Gabrielle had known a sense of relief surprisingly profound and she made a note to ferret out the healer and thank her.

As for herself…. Gabrielle drew in a breath, then released it. Physically she felt better. Her body had lost some of it’s aches and the injury on her neck, though very tender, wasn’t bothering her that much. However, she found that she still felt a little unbalanced emotionally and she knew there were parts of their recent adventure that she had yet to deal with completely.

Maybe that was what triggered her dream the night before. With a soft sigh, Gabrielle got up from her bench and went to the railing, cautiously stretching her arms out to either side and flexing her fingers. That worked, so she glanced over head and reached up, catching one of the crossbeams and feeling her shoulders pop into place.

“Ick.” The bard grimaced, but kept stretching, twisting her torso first one side and then the other to loosen up the long muscles on either side.  She tensed her thighs, then relaxed them, feeling the blood start to pump and bring a warm flush to her skin.

In the chill of the dawn, it felt good. Gabrielle deepened her breathing, dropping her hands off the crossbeam and letting them rest on the railing as she lowered herself into a crouch, arching her back just a bit as she straightened back to her full height, raising herself up on her toes and then relaxing.

Not bad. Gabrielle rested her hands on the rail and gazed out over the peaceful scene. She still felt a bone deep exhaustion at the fringes of her awareness, but there was now a certain level of comfort she felt in her own skin, a sense of normality that was a step on her path back to herself.

She decided to take a walk through the village, and stop to get some fresh tea herbs to bring back for her soulmate. Waking sick was always a trial, but she’d found when she had the coughing sickness that a hot cup of tea went a long way towards soothing a body cranky on getting up.

Accordingly, she walked down the steps and onto the dirt path, her cloak settling around her with a solid warmth as the breeze ruffled her hair.  A hint of smoke filtered through the trees, growing stronger as she angled her steps towards the center of the village.

Forest dwellers were already at work when she emerged from the leaf shrouded path, and her presence was noted as they turned to greet her.  She lifted a hand and waved back, continuing around the fire and heading towards the big dining hall.

The entrance had been rebuilt, sturdy new timbers caught her eyes as she pushed the swinging doors open and slipped inside. Two of the cooks looked up as she came in, and one straightened and turned towards her.

“Gabrielle!” She exclaimed. “Wennid said you’d be abed the whole day. We were putting together a basket for you.”

“Well…” Gabrielle walked over. “I mean, thanks, but…”

“Gabrielle.” Wennid herself entered. “What are you doing here?” She put a furred hand on the bard’s shoulder. “You should be in bed!”

Both of Gabrielle’s blond eyebrows twitched, drawing together over a furrow that appeared in her forehead. “Um… we slept all night.” She protested. “I just came over to get some tea…”

Wennid took the basket the cooks had made up, and steered Gabrielle towards the door. “We have some here. Let’s get you back where you belong.”

“Wennid…” Gabrielle almost laughed as they left the hall.

“You don’t understand, do you?” The forest dweller asked her. “No, we never really did get to sit down and talk about what being as we are means, did we?”

Gabrielle thought back to the last few times she’d seen the older woman. “No.” She gave a half shake of her head. “We’re always so busy.” She said. “I know… I remember when we were here last time… when Xena was hurt. Lestan seemed to say it was okay for me to be with her but…” The bard paused. “How does that really work?”

“How?” Wennid asked, in a surprised voice. “The gods only know how, little one.”

“I mean, I guess, why does it work?” Gabrielle rephrased the question. “Does it really do anything, or is it just all that rest?”

Wennid was thoughtful for a while as they walked. “We think…. “ She stopped, then started again. “At least, I, and some of the others think it has to do with a sharing.” She said. “A sharing of that which makes us.”

“Ah.” Gabrielle murmured.

“In one who is not as we are, there is a force of life.” The forest dweller said. “But it is that one’s alone, you see? It is not given to another, just it is, what it is, and that is what that one has.”

“Okay, I think I understand what you’re getting at.” Gabrielle said. “Go on.”

“There is no way for one such as that to share.” Wennid replied. “So if they have a loved one, a mate, or a child – even if that mate or child is in need of some of that force, there is no way for a sharing to happen. There is no.. “ She waved her free hand. “Path.”

“I see.”

“But with us it is different.”

Gabrielle slowly nodded. “Sometimes, you need some of that energy.”  She said. “When you don’t have enough of your own.”

“Yes.” Wennid nodded. “So, if one of us is in need, then the other can give them part of that force, and that will help them heal themselves. Without enough of that force, no matter how good a healer attends you,  you cannot survive.”

Gabrielle stopped in mid walk. “But then… what if we both need it?” She asked. “Is that why Xena’s still sick? Because she’s giving me energy that she needs, so that my neck will heal?”

Wennid also stopped, and gazed at her. “Goodness.” She murmured. “I hadn’t thought of that.”

Well, DUH. Gabrielle almost slapped herself in the forehead. “Okay, well… my neck feels a heck of a lot better, so I think it’s time for me to stay out of Xena’s arms and feed her lots of hot tea and herbs instead.” She started towards the cabin again. “Gods.”

The forest dweller hurried to catch up to her. “Gabrielle, please understand. You’re both so different from us, that I sometimes…  I mean, really now. Most often it is not both partners who need this gift at the same time quite so often as you two do.”

That was probably true. “I know.” The bard sighed. “The trouble is, we’re always together, and always in trouble. That usually leads to one or both of us getting knocked around.” They passed from the central area onto the leafy path leading to her and Xena’s haven.

Wennid regarded her somberly. “Do you regret the need, at times?”

Gabrielle lifted a hand and let it brush through the leaves as she walked along, feeling their soft, yet rigid surfaces. “Sometimes?” She asked, in a soft voice. “I never regret what we do… because what we do is what has to be done.”

“And yet?”

They were at the steps. Gabrielle paused, her boot on the bottom one. “And yet, I sometimes wonder how much of our life’s coin is going to be spent on paying the price of the greater good.” She turned her head and looked squarely at Wennid. “Yes, it  gets old sometimes. I don’t like hurting.”

Wennid placed her hand on the bard’s shoulder and squeezed it. “You know, if I live to know you for a score or two more years, Gabrielle, perhaps I will grow to understand the smallest part of your kind.”

They turned and walked up the steps together. Gabrielle paused outside the door and let her hand rest on the latch, turning it softly and inching it open in total silence. She peeked inside.

Blue eyes were watching her, with just the faintest hint of wry amusement, and as she smiled in response, a shaggy dark head popped up over the edge of the bed and spotted her.

“Mama!”

“And then again… “ Gabrielle opened the door and motioned Wennid to follow her. “Sometimes I wonder how one person could be as blessed by the gods as I am. It balances out.” She knelt to receive Dori’s enthusiastic charge and felt her world settle into more familiar colors around her. “Anyone want breakfast?”  She glanced up at Xena.

The warrior lifted and waggled a hand noncommittally.

“What about you?” Gabrielle addressed her daughter. “Hungry?”

“Yes!”

“That’s my girl.” The bard stood and took her daughter by the hand. “Join us, Wennid?”

The forest dweller set the basket down. “For a small bit, yes.” She said. “I need to talk to you both, while we eat, though.”  She said. “It’s about Rufus.”

Xena and Gabrielle looked at each other, eyes meeting in swift, but profound communication. “Bout time someone started explaining him.” Xena commented, in a hoarse voice.

Wennid sighed.

Gabrielle wondered just how enlightening the day was going to end up being, with a start like this. Sometimes, she’d discovered, you got the darndest answers to the most innocuous of questions.

She suspected Rufus, however, was going to be anything but innocuous.

**

“Once up on a time.” Wennid began.

“Mama, a story!” Dori alertly pointed out. “You tell story too?” She was seated on her mother’s lap, sharing some bread and fruit. “Tell Boo and arrow.”

“Shh.” Gabrielle bounced her a little. “Listen to Wennid’s story, honey. We have to take turns, okay?”

“Boo and arrow?” Wennid allowed herself to be momentarily sidetracked.

From her nest of warm furs and hot tea, Xena uttered a hoarse chuckle. “Gabrielle’s signature tale.” She rasped. “It’s got everything. Amazons, bad guys, centaurs…”

“Xena saving my life.. you know, the usual.” Gabrielle gave her partner a tolerant look. “Go on, Wennid. If you get them started, we’ll never hear your story.”

The forest dweller fiddled with a biscuit. “As I was saying, once upon a time when our people had just begun to be, the way we lived was very different.”

“So we were hearing.” Xena commented.

Wennid glanced at her. “From those in the valley?” She watched Xena nod. “They’re full of pig’s dung. What they told you was just so much nonsense.”  An annoyed expression formed on her face. “Foolish.”

“They told us you lived like animals.” Gabrielle said.

“Trash.” Wennid shook her head. “We did not. We never did live that way.” She studied her hands. “But we didn’t live as we do now, either. We had no villages.” She said. “We had no places we came to at the end of the day. We went through the forest collecting what it was we needed to live and at night we made ourselves a shelter.”

“Sounds familiar.” Xena said, mildly.

“Mm… been there, done that.” Gabrielle agreed.

Wennid was silent for a moment. “We did not have leaders of wisdom.” She went on, quietly. “We lived in a very… fierce… way.  The one who was the strongest, lead the rest. There was no contention.” Getting up, she paced before the fire. “That one got the mate he wanted, he took the tribe where he wanted, and if anyone argued, they got beaten until they obeyed. Simple.”

“Ick.” Gabrielle made a face.

“It was a long time ago.” Wennid muttered. “But it happened that the strong ones started to bring up their sons to be as they were, and eventually one clan would be the leaders, always.”

Xena sipped her hot tea, breathing in the scent of the herbs gratefully as it penetrated the painful stuffiness of her head. “Sounds pretty human to me.”

The forest dweller frowned at her.

“No offense.” The warrior muffled a wan smile.

“Hmph.” Wennid resumed her pacing. “That way continued for many, many generations. Always, the leader’s clan produced many children, and the strongest of them would be picked to be the next leader.”  She gazed at the woven mats on the walls, reaching out to touch one with her fingertips. “It was a much simpler time.”

Gabrielle cut up a pear and gave Dori a slice. “Well, you know… sometimes it’s a lot easier when you have someone else to make your decisions for you.”

Xena remained silent at that, sipping her tea with a thoughtful expression.

“Mm. That is true.” Wennid sighed. “But you are as a child, then.”

The bard nodded. “Most of the time, children can’t wait until they grow up. I know I couldn’t. But then you find out growing up isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.” She put a slice of pear in her own mouth, then offered another to her daughter. Dori took it, stuffed it into her mouth, then reached up to pull her mother’s nose. Gabrielle smiled at her, looking up when the silence in the room made her realize she was being watched. “But it has it’s own high points.” She smiled.

“Very true, little sister.” Wennid said, gravely. “And so, we learned that lesson as well. One day, when we were still as children, a tribe of my kind met their first one of your kind.”

“Ah.” Gabrielle murmured.

“The legends tell us she was gentle, and kind.” The forest dweller sat back down, resting her hands on the table. “We had never known anything like her.” Wennid continued. “She was found injured, in the forest and though the one in charge wanted to kill her, others hid her and cared for her until she was well.”

Gabrielle offered Dori her cup of cider, aware of Xena’s silence.

“The writings say she didn’t speak for many days, but when she did, she spoke with such beauty it captured our souls, and made us think in a different way.”  Wennid said. “She told stories.”

A chill ran down Gabrielle’s back. “One of the ones in the valley… he said I was more dangerous to them than Xena was. Is that why?”

Wennid stared at her in surprise. “They spoke with you? I thought Xena said…”

Memories of the ordeal flashed before her eyes. “They spoke to me.” The bard answered. “They kept harassing me… following me… I guess they knew I’d lead them to Xena.” She rested her cheek against Dori’s head. “They told me they knew where she was, but they were lying, and I told them I knew that.”

Xena exhaled audibly.

“Well.” Wennid echoed the sigh. “Yes, in a way, Gabrielle, they did understand more than I thought they did because you are more dangerous to their way, if not to them, than Xena is.”

“Was.” Xena spoke the word with precise enunciation.

Gabrielle turned. “Honey, you’ll get better.” She reached out and tweaked the warrior’s ear.

“That’s not what I meant.” Xena told her quietly.

The bard’s smile faded. “Oh.” She felt a little stupid. “Sorry. Right.”

They were all very quiet for a minute, while Dori slurped up her cider and looked at them, with a puzzled frown.

Wennid cleared her throat. “So, it was written that this meeting, with this one, lone human changed us.” She said. “Those who had grown tired over the generations of always being the second best, or those who wanted a life other than what the leader wanted yet were beaten for that, or those who wanted to try a different way. A gentler way – they saw this human as the maker of a path for them. A new path.”

“Someone broke the cycle of violence.” Xena said.

“Just so.” Wennid agreed. “It took many years after that, and it was just a few at first. They stopped roaming, started building… things changed.” She removed another biscuit and took a bite of it, crumbs tumbling lightly down to dust the tabletop.  “We became farmers, and builders, and in the fullness of time, with a measure of peace in our lives, we were given the gift of the soulbond.”

Measure of peace.  The words echoed a little in Xena’s mind. Was that what had allowed her own bond with Gabrielle to finally grow?

“You mean, you weren’t before?” Gabrielle asked, curiously. “I thought it was a gift to your people.”

Wennid smiled, wrinkling her muzzle. “We like to believe that.” She remarked. “But the truth is, before this change, it was unknown to us.”  She rested her chin on her fist. “To make an increasingly long story short – when we uncovered some of those old caves while you were here the last time we also uncovered ancient writings of our people, from that period.”

“Ah.” Xena grunted.

“Rufus was the one who found them. He brought them back and spent the winter after that restoring them and studying their contents.”

“Ah.” Gabrielle’s tone matched her partner’s. “And he decided he wanted to bring back the old days.”

Wennid nodded. “True.”

“Why?” The bard queried.

Xena hitched herself up in the bed, the motion triggering a cough that lasted long enough to leave her breathless. She paused a moment to make sure it was over, then she leaned on her elbow and eyed the other two women. “He’s from the clan leader’s bloodline.”

Wennid smiled thinly. “He likes to think he is.” Her lip curled. “He claims he has proof – that’s why he’s collected such a following. It… “ She lifted a clawed hand. “Legitimizes him in some eyes.”

“Really?” Gabrielle murmured.

“Those who are young, or who do not have power, find him worthy of following.” Wennid told her. “And there is, still, a great number of such here.” She shifted. “So, again to make stories shorter, I am very concerned for both of you. Many people here had friends, loved ones, who went to that valley to follow Rufus’ new way.”

“He tried to kill Gabrielle.” Xena said.

There was a sad look in Wennid’s eyes. “His teachings… would be that since Gabrielle is human, it does not matter.” She put a hand out and covered the shocked bard’s. “To us, to the soulbonded, no manner of teaching could change how we feel about you.” Her eyes shifted. “About both of you.”

Xena’s eyebrows lifted.

“You saved my son.” Wennid told her, very simply. “Even if you were not as we are, and you were truly the enemy of my kind that so many believed you to be, I would love you for that, Xena.” She lifted a hand again. “For me, it is simple. For others, less so.”

Gabrielle released the breath she’d been unknowingly holding. “You think he’ll be back?” She asked. “Rufus, I mean?”

The forest dweller nodded. “Lestan fears exactly that.” Her eyes went to Xena again. “Especially now.”

“Taking advantage of my being sick?” Xena said grimly.

“Exactly.”  Wennid said. “I don’t know if we could stop him.”

Silence followed her words. Only Dori’s unconcerned burbling stirred the air as three sets of worried eyes met over her head.

**

Gabrielle sat on the couch, with Dori in her lap. Xena was resting in the bed nearby, dosed with another cupful of herbs that mercifully stilled the coughing that had started to get much worse again.

The bard suspected the worry left by Wennid’s words had something to do with that. Certainly the tension she now felt was aggravating the wound in her neck, sending small jolts of pain across her shoulders as she tried to relax them.

“Story?”

The bard found herself very glad of the distraction. “Sure. What story do you want to hear?” Gabrielle asked her daughter. “You don’t really want to hear Boo and the arrow again, do you?”

Dori giggled. “You like dat one.”

“You know, I do.” The bard settled back, wrapping her arms around Dori. “I like it because it was a very different thing for me to have to do, with the Amazons and because your Boo was so amazing when she came and rescued me.”

“Boo mazin?”

Gabrielle glanced to her right at the sleeping warrior. “Yes she is, Dori.” She told the toddler. “Sometimes she doesn’t even know how amazing she is. But we do, right?”

“Yes.” Dori squirmed around and faced her mother, looking up at her with big, green eyes. “Mama, you tell bout what you do down dere?” She pointed in the general direction of the valley. “Make good story.”

The bard gently pushed aside the thick, dark hair that obscured Dori’s forehead. “You need a haircut, my little scamp.”

Dori scowled. “Mama! Story!”

Gabrielle exhaled. “Dori, I can’t tell you the whole story.” She said. “Bad things happened. I can’t tell you those parts, because they’re very scary and they’ll make you owie.”

Dori put her thumb into her mouth and leaned against her mother. “No owie.” She said. “Mama owie, dat no feel good. Tell that?”

“That’s one of the really scary parts, Dori.” Gabrielle explained. “But I’ll tell you the parts I can tell you and not scare you, okay?”

“Otay.”

The bard collected her thoughts. “You know I went to the valley to find Boo, right?”

“Yes. Mama find Boo.” Dori answered. “You find Boo and bring back.”

“Right.” Gabrielle agreed. “So I went to find Boo. I had to climb up a big, high mountain, but I knew it was okay because I knew Boo had already gone there, and I was just following her.”

Dori watched her face intently.

“I got to the top of the mountain, and I saw a place where there was no way to get down from.” The bard rubbed a bit of berry juice off Dori’s cheek. “But I knew it was okay because even though I couldn’t get down, Boo could. You know how?”

“Fly?”

“Right.” Gabrielle said. “So I got a big rope from a tree, and I tied it really tight, and I climbed down so I could go and find Boo.”

Dori’s eyes widened. “Mama!”

It made the bard grin, seeing the wide eyed adoration. “You think that’s good, huh?”

“Yes!”

“Yeah, I thought it was pretty clever, myself.” Her mother confided. “But you know what? My rope broke, and I fell!”

“Oh!” Dori covered her mouth. “Dat’s a bad thing, mama!”

“You bet. I fell down, and I hurt my back.” Gabrielle said. “But I still had to find Boo, so I kept going and going, and going… I walked for a very long time through the grass and the trees. I past waterfalls, and little animals, all because I had to go find Boo.”

“Mama go find Boo.” Dori nodded. “You said. You said to bring Boo back.”

“That’s right.” Gabrielle said. “I had to search and search, and finally I went into a big , dirty, smelly cave. I knew that Boo was close by. Do you  know how I knew that?”

“Mama knows Boo.”

The bard smiled. “Yes, I do. But Boo was someplace that I couldn’t get to, and that made me very sad.”

Dori blinked, squirming around a little more and looking at her with some apprehension. “Mama owie?” She touched her chest.

Gabrielle stroked her hair gently. “Yes. Knowing Boo was someplace I couldn’t get to made me very sad, and very scared, honey. I didn’t want anything to happen to Boo, and I promised you that I’d bring her back.”

Dori hugged her. “Mama owie.”

The bard remembered that moment. Her eyes stung with tears. “Yeah.” She said, before she had to pause and swallow to clear the lump in her throat. “But you know what, Dori? Boo knew how scared I was, and she wasn’t going to let anything happen that was bad.”

“Boo!”

Gabrielle smiled in reflex. “So Boo knocked the mountain down, and made the water clean the dirty cave all up, and we climbed down the mountain and came back to get you.”

“Boo make the mowtain go down?” Dori’s eyes went wide.

“Yep.” Gabrielle assured her. “She sure did. She knocked that mountain right down, and we got out of the cave, and then we came back here.”

“Goh!” Dori bounced up and down. “Goh Boo! Goh Boo!”

Gabrielle grinned. “She sure did, honey. But Boo was in the water the whole time I was looking for her, and she caught a cold. Remember when you caught a cold?”

“Ick.” Dori made a face. “Bck.”

“That’s exactly how Boo feels about it, too. So we should be real quiet, and let Boo rest, so she’ll get better fast, right?” The bard gathered her up and hugged her. “We have to take really good care of Boo, because she’s very special, and there’s no one else like her.”

She felt Dori snuggle in close, and she rocked her a little as her eyes turned to her right towards the bed. Somehow, she wasn’t surprised to see Xena watching her from half-opened eyes as she lay curled upon her side with a pillow tucked under her head.

“Well, you are.” The bard correctly interpreted the twitch of her partner’s expressive eyebrows.

Instead of tossing the suggestion off, Xena smiled, and closed her eyes.

Dori turned her head and peeked at the warrior. Then she looked up at her mother. “Boo?”

“Shh.” Gabrielle rocked her again. “Boo’s sleeping, like a good girl.”

“Boo is good.”

“Yes, she is.” Gabrielle agreed. “How about you and I go over to the kitchen, and see what trouble we can get into. Would you like that, Dor?”

Dori wriggled happily. “Like to go with mama.” She stated. “Mama, c’n we go see baby horsies? And get buppits?”

Baby animals. Well, Dori loved creatures of all kinds, and it seemed an innocent enough request. “Sure, honey. First we’ll go see who we can talk to in the hall, then we’ll go see the animals.” She planned her strategy. Hopefully Wennid was wrong, and Rufus would just keep on going.

But if he didn’t, they had to be ready. Being ready for her meant finding out who were their friends, and who were their foes here, and just how many of the forest dwellers really believed Rufus’ claim.

And if he did come? Gabrielle glanced at her soulmate.  Fighting in the condition she was in would be suicide, no matter how extraordinary Xena’s battle skills really were. Not fighting was….

The bard stilled her thoughts along that line. If he did come, then what?

Gabirelle sighed inwardly as she stood up and took Dori’s hand. If he came, they’d have to deal with it. Just one more in a long series of things that she and Xena had been forced to deal with over the course of their lives.

But first things first. “C’mon, munchkin. Let’s go. You can watch mama do her bard thing.”

“Bart Ting.” Dori pattered after her contentedly. “Go mama!”

They left the cabin, shutting the door carefully behind them.

**

Continued in Part 10

Champion

Part 10

Xena woke to a sense of disorientation. She opened her eyes, wincing at the sting of the air against them as she looked across the room.

A stark, hazy dream had taken her to a far off place and it took her more than a moment to reconcile that memory with the warm, deeply colored vision before her and she went blank for an equal time in realizing where she was.

Disturbed, she curled her fingers around the pillow. It was quiet in the cabin and she knew she was alone, but the fabric still held hints of her partner’s scent and as she scanned the room, her eyes fell on Gabrielle’s bag and her scrolls resting on the table.

A blob of color caught her attention and she tipped her head back, finding herself abruptly eye to eye with Flameball, apparently left to keep her company. “Ah.” Xena murmured hoarsely. “It’s you.”  She reached up and fingered the tattered toes of the well loved and used toy, seeing signs of toddler teeth everywhere. “Damn.” The warrior spared some energy to laugh, just a little. “I used to do the same thing, ya know that?”

She let her hand fall to the pillow, feeling sick to her stomach from her dream, and the herbs she’d taken before sleeping.  Wistfully, she glanced at the door, wondering where her family was. It wasn’t really like Gabrielle to leave her asleep like that, though Xena acknowledged she’d done almost the same thing to her partner not that long before.

A cough racked her, and she decided lying down flat on her stomach wasn’t a good idea. With a groan, she rolled over and pushed herself up to a sitting position, leaning on one elbow on her pillow. Flameball tumbled down and thumped against her belly, and she picked it up, giving it a pat before she set him to one side.

The covers were all in a tangle, and Xena took a moment to straightened out the thick fabric, pulling herself up further and tucking the blanket around her outstretched legs. Then she ran her fingers through her hair, frowning at it’s disarray.

In fact. The warrior laid the back of her hand against her own forehead, grunting when she didn’t detect any heat. She decided she’d feel much better for being clean, and pulled the blanket off her as she rolled carefully out of the bed.

A wave of dizziness, not unexpected, hit her as she stood, and she patiently waited for it to fade before she trudged in the direction of the bathing room, picking up Gabrielle’s discarded, but dry towel.

Slinging the fabric around her neck casually, she entered the bath area, her stuffed nose getting a hint of their herbal soap as she walked over to the reservoir of water.  With a sigh, she put the towel down and stripped out of her shift, draping it over the wooden table before she picked up the small cake of soap and stood under the basin.

A pull of the rope sent a shower of sun warmed water over her. Xena leaned against the wall and closed her eyes, scrubbing her skin with the soap and repeating the rinsing. She’d been submersed in water for days, but this felt so different. She lathered up a handful of soap and washed her hair, tipping her head back as she let the warm water run over her head and down her body.

Ahh. Xena set the soap down and rinsed a final time, squeezing the excess liquid out of her hair as she stepped away from the basin. Much better. She picked up the towel and dried herself off. Just the act of getting herself clean made her feel more herself, and she rooted out a fresh pair of lettings and a tunic from her bag and changed into them.

Instead of going back to bed, she settled on the couch, putting her bare feet up on the low table.  Sitting up felt marginally better, and her head started to clear a little as well.  She decided some tea would help, and once again pushed herself to her feet and headed for the table Gabrielle’s scrolls were resting on.

She picked up the healer’s kit sitting next to them and started to remove some herbs from it, then paused when a bit of the writing on the scrolls caught her eye.

Normally, reading something in her partner’s writings without her knowledge wasn’t something Xena did. However…  She sat down at the table and rested her forearms on it, lifting the parchment and turning it towards the candle slightly for a better view.

Hey partner!

Xena felt comfortable in assuming the note was, in fact, addressed to her and therefore more than safe to read.

I really hope you’re reading this before I get back, because if you are, it means you’re feeling better, right?

Eh. Xena propped her chin up against her fist.

Listen, I’m sorry you’re alone right now, but Dori and I went out to see what kind of trouble we could get ourselves into.

Xena sat right up and both eyebrows hiked.

No, wait. That came out wrong. Erase it.

The warrior relaxed, but only slightly.

What I want to do is find out who our friends are, and who our enemies are here. I think Wennid is right, and Rufus will be back. If that happens, maybe I don’t want us to be in the middle of it Xena.

Slowly. Xena sat up and frowned.

Before you get mad, think about it. You never fight for fighting’s sake, when the stakes are life and death. You taught me the lesson of living to fight another day, remember?

I know you hate that. I wanted to put the idea in front of you in a way that you could think about it before we talked.  I’ll find out whatever I can, but if it looks like most of the people here want what Rufus is selling – Xena, we need to talk.

“After he tried to kill you?” Xena remarked to the empty room. “I don’t think so.”

I know he tried to kill me.

“How does she do that”

But in his mind, he was doing the right thing, Xena.

“Bull.” The warrior snapped. “Now you’re telling me that killing’s the right thing? Bite me, Gabrielle.”

Yeah, I know you’re pissed. Anyway, just think about it, okay? I’ll try to bring you back something nice for lunch, okay? A treat.

“Like that’s gonna make me feel better about this.” Xena snorted.

I love you.

Xena plucked at the edge of the parchment, exhaling a little as she reread the words.

I love you so much it’s like holding a bolt of lightning inside me.  I’m like the sky, when the lightning hits, and everything is outlined in gilded silver.

Think about what the sky looks like after the bolt ends.

It’s all darkness.

So that’s where this question is coming from, Xena. All I ask is that you think about it.

Xena swallowed, surprised by the unexpected ferocity in the statement.  If Gabrielle’s aim had been to make her take a step back, and look at the issue closely… well…  Xena got up and retrieved a cup, putting the herbs into it and going to the small fire. Gabrielle had left their water pot near the coals, and she picked it up and poured steaming water over the herbs to let them steep.

She paused to drizzle some honey from the jar on the table into the cup, then she went back to the couch and sat down, raising the cup so she could inhale the steam coming off of it.

She understood what Gabrielle was saying. She understood the evocation of the love that she felt in full measure in return for her soulmate. She understood that sometimes survival was your best option, pride be damned.

But for Gabrielle to say that – something must have happened inside the bard that Xena was only seeing tiny shadows of.  Something had broken inside there, something Gabrielle was trying hard to hide as she fought to do her part to keep them both on an even keel.

To hold up her end of their partnership, something the bard took very, very seriously. She’d been the junior member of their duo for a long time, had fought hard to make Xena realize she was a powerful, grown woman, and cherished the trust the warrior placed in her.

So for Gabrielle to write what she’d written meant that young, blond kid was peeking through the grown up façade and Xena was glad to realize she had grown sensitive enough to know that.

There had been a time when she hadn’t been and they had both suffered for it.

Xena took a sip of her tea, exhaling in relief as the warmth soothed her throat.   A  creak outside brought her head around, though, and she tensed as she waited for a knock. The intruder was not Gabrielle. The warrior’s eyes flicked across the cabin, finding her weapons in case she should need them.

She only hoped she wouldn’t cut herself with her balance being so off.

A knock.  Xena exhaled in mild relief.  “C’mon in.” She rasped, wincing at the sound of her own voice.  The intruder could still be trouble, but in her long experience she’d found generally trouble didn’t knock first.

Hades only knew, she never had.

The door opened, and Tucker stuck his big, furry head in. He looked around, then entered and closed the door behind him.  Xena watched him as he approached, noting that he took care to sit in the chair outside her easy reach. Or what he assumed was her easy reach.

His face was troubled.

Xena decided to cut the preambles, since she was tired, and felt like three day old horse droppings. “Yes, I did.”

Tucker blinked at her in startled shock. His rounded jaw sagged slightly.

“Every little bastard who came after me, no matter whose cousin, or son, or little brother he was. I killed them.” The warrior elaborated precisely. “Next?” She added. “Sorry if you knew any of em.”

The forest dweller got up and paced to the window. He stopped and turned, looking at her with wide eyes.

Xena extended her legs and crossed them at the ankle. She held Tucker’s gaze with placid coldness, showing no signs of regret, or guilt, or sorrow.

“You really mean that.” Tucker said. “You killed all of them?”

The warrior shrugged one shoulder. “I didn’t count.” She replied. “They knew who I was, and they chose to ignore that and attack me.”

“You went to the sacred valley.”

“Doesn’t change the facts.” The warrior said. “I chose my risks, they chose theirs.”

Tucker sat down on the windowsill. “Why did they attack you?”

“Damn good question.” Xena said. “They never really gave me a chance to ask them. One minute I was minding my own business, walking along, the next minute I had six of em jumping on me trying to tear me to pieces. You got any ideas?”

The forest dweller seemed to get over his shock. He crossed his arms over his chest and studied the floor, kicking at its wooden surface with one clawed bare foot. “My cousin was out there.” He said. “He said he went because if he stayed here he’d never be anything.”

“How old was he?”

“Fifteen summers.”

Kids were kids. Xena exhaled wearily. “When I was fifteen, I felt the same way.”

Tucker stole a quick look at her.

Xena took a long swallow of her tea, swirling it around in her mouth before she swallowed it. “Where were his parents?”

“Here.” Tucker said. “They’re soulbonds. He just could never get into that.”

So they’d let a child go off into the forest to follow a rabble rouser?  Xena shook her head. “I guess I can’t say much. My mother didn’t stop me either.” She remarked. “What’d he look like?”

Tucker blinked.

Xena lifted her eyebrows at him. “I look before I kill.”

Abruptly, the forest dweller pushed himself to his feet, walked to the door, and left without a word.

The silence descended on her again, and Xena turned a bit, swinging her legs up onto the couch and settling in to rest; and to wait for Gabrielle to return with whatever trouble she managed to get into.

**

Gabrielle decided to visit Lestan first. She walked together with Dori across the village, feeling the damp coldness in the wind against her skin. As she reached the edge of the path that led to the leader’s cabin she noticed a basket almost hidden under the low hanging foliage and detoured to check it out.  “Someone left their picnic out here Dori. Let’s bring it inside for them.”

Dori ambled amiably along with her, crouching down next to the wicker container as Gabrielle knelt and opened it.

The contents were not at all what she’d expected to find. “Good gods!”

“Mama, is it a buppit?” Dori peered inside with interest.

Gabrielle reached a fingertip in to the basket’s inhabitant, watching it grasp her hand with tiny fingers. “No, sweetie.” She whispered. “It’s a baby that’s like our friends.”

“Gaby?” Dori asked.

“Baby. Like you were.” The bard replied absently. “A long time ago, right? When you were really little? Do you remember that, Dor?”

“No.” Dori plucked at the wicker.

Gabrielle chuckled a bit. “Well, you didn’t stay that way very long.”  She wiggled her hand and cooed at the baby. “Hey there.”

So tiny, she was sure the little forest dweller had surely been only recently born, the baby stared back up at her with wide, round gold eyes that didn’t quite seem to focus.  “Oh, my gosh, you little cutie.” She felt a smile pull at her face. “What the heck are you doing out here?”

“Gabble.” The baby gurgled at her.

“Mama, c’n I play with the baby?” Dori stuck a hand into the basket.

“No, Dori, that’s not a toy.” Gabrielle looked closer. “She’s not a toy. Come on, let’s take her in to see our friends Wennid and Lestan, okay?”  She carefully picked up the basket and stood, keeping the top open as she stepped back onto the path and headed for the cabin.

Taking the steps two at a time, she strode across the porch and tapped lightly on the door. “Wennid?”

“Eh?” The forest dweller came to the opening, carrying a piece of linen. “Oh, hello there, Gabrielle. Wh…” She backed up as the bard entered, frowning as Gabrielle set the basket on the table and pointed at it. “What do you have there? Bad bread?”

“Gabble!” The baby squeaked.

Wennid’s eyes popped open. “Gods, that’s no bread.” She dropped the towel and raced to the table, peering inside the basket. “Great Hera. Where did you find this?”

Gabrielle was obscurely relieved at the response. “Outside on the path, just near the bushes. What is this, Wennid? Don’t tell me someone accidentally left a kid in a basket outside. I know your people better. They cherish babies.”

“Baby.” Dori climbed up onto the chair, determined not to be left out. “Go play? Take baby wif us to see horsies, mama.”

“We do cherish them, Gabrielle.” Wennid lifted the baby up and cradled it, studying it with anxious curiousity.  “I can’t understand it. I have no explanation. We didn’t have any women due… not this moon, at any rate…unless…”

Gabrielle’s ears pricked at the tone. “Unless?” She circled Dori with one arm.

Wennid examined the infant. “She is very small.” The forest dweller sighed. “There was one girl here in the village, a silly, mindless child who found Rufus’ ideas romantic.”

“Romantic?” Gabrielle questioned. “Wennid, I saw how they were living. No offense, but not even my wolf  would have found that romantic.”

“I know.” Wennid cooed at the baby. “She was a… well, at any rate, she ran off to the valley and paid the consequences for it.”  She glanced towards the inner door. “Lestan? Are you awake?”

A soft grunt answered her.

Gabrielle put a hand out. “What do you mean paid the consequences? Did she get hurt?”

Wennid looked at her. “She got raped by the lot of them.”  She replied softly, giving Dori a quick look. “She was almost due… I can only believe she had the child early, and just…”

“Left her.” Gabrielle finished for her, a momentary look of pensive memory on her face.

“Yes.” Wennid said. “Let me go show Lestan. He won’t believe it.”  She carried the infant into the inner room, rocking her a little. “Lestie, open your eyes.”

Gabrielle sat down in the chair, very quietly gathering Dori into her arms. She hugged her tightly, without speaking a word.

“Mama?” Dori sounded puzzled. She didn’t object to the hug, and put her arms around her mother to give her a return squeeze. “Mama good?”

After a moment, Gabrielle exhaled, sniffling a little and giving Dori a rub on her back. “Everything’s fine, Dori. I’m good, you’re good – we’re doing great.” She hugged her again, then she released the toddler and sat her down on her lap instead.

A moment where memory sideslipped her, and at the same time brought home with heart stopping intensity how life’s choices could come so stunningly full circle. “Okay, honey.” Gabrielle felt oddly exhausted. “Let’s wait for Wennid to bring the baby back, then we can go see the horsies, okay?”

“Go see Boo.” Dori objected. “Mama owie, we go get Boo, Boo make mama good.”

And didn’t that just describe her life to perfection?  Gabrielle ruffled her daughters hair. Then she ruffled it again, watching the thick, dark locks move, and feeling the texture of them against her fingers. It was so like Xena’s.  “How about we go see the horses, visit Argo, and then go tell Boo how Argo is. You think she’d like that?”

“Yes!” Dori nodded. “Bring Gogo back to Boo!”

“No, honey. Gogo can’t go through the door.  We’ll bring Gogo a carrot, and tell her that it’s from Boo.” Gabrielle looked up as Wennid returned with the baby, and found a smile for her somewhere. “Well?”

“He’s speechless.” Wennid sighed, taking the seat across from her. “I’m going to have to call a meeting of the elder council to figure out what to do with her.”

“Do?” Gabrielle asked warily. “Aren’t you going to take her?”

Wennid blinked. “Me? Good gracious, Gabrielle. I’m too old for a baby.”  She objected. “No, one of the younger women will surely volunteer.”

The bard opened her mouth to object, then she changed her mind. “Okay.” She said. “Well, I’ll leave her in good hands then. I don’t dare take her back to our cabin.”

The forest dweller looked up from the child, who was busy sucking on her fingertip.

“Xena’s a real sucker for a cute face.” Gabrielle smiled. “Besides, I don’t want her to catch Xe’s cold. So you’ll keep her here, right?”

“Ah… w… sure.” Wennid said. “Of course.”

“Where’s her mother? Is she staying nearby? I’d like to talk to her.” The bard continued.

“I’m not sure that’s a good idea.”

Gabrielle nodded. “All the more reason for me doing it.” Her eyes searched Wennid’s face. “I want to understand these people, Wennid. I want to understand why they hate me… why they tried to kill us, and why they hunted Xena and forced her to do something she really didn’t want to have to do.”

The forest dweller sighed. “She was staying in one of the old hunter’s cabins, on the far side of the village. Most of them were destroyed in the raid, but a few still held up. I don’t think she’s still there, though.”

Gabrielle got up. “Thanks.” She said. “First I need to see about a friend, though. Take care of the little one there, okay?” She tweaked the infant’s foot. “You be good, honey.”

“Gabble.” The baby wriggled. “Goo.”

The bard smiled at her, admiring the tiny snub nose and the pretty fur. “She’s a gorgeous color.” She touched the soft, light golden coat.

“Yes, she is.” Wennid agreed. “Her hair’s much as yours is.” She noted. “Did you wish so for your little one, Gabrielle?”

“No.” The bard answered, almost without thought. “I wanted her to look like Xe. I watch her watching Dori sometimes, and it’s amazing how much alike they are.” She looked at her daughter. “But I see me in her too.”

“Yes.” Wennid said, again. “She is well named.”

Gabrielle took Dori’s hand as she climbed down. “Speaking of, what are you going to call her?” She asked casually, pointing at the baby.

“Call her?”  The forest dweller looked down at her now kicking bundle. “Ah..well… um… I should let the one who will care for her choose that.”

“Uh huh.” The bard patted her arm. “Well, if you need any ideas, come find me, okay?” She gave the baby one last look, then she guided Dori to the door, leaving Wennid with a very thoughtful look on her face.

Outside, Gabrielle squared her shoulders and let out a breath. Emotion was still churning her guts, and she decided a visit to Argo was a good idea to settle things down before she continued down this new, and very unexpected path.

“Mama?”

The bard glanced down. “Hmm?”

Dori looked up at her, with big, trusting green eyes. “Dat baby no gots Boo.”

Gabrielle found herself smiling again. She started down the steps, holding Dori’s hand. “Nope. Only special babies like you gots Boo.” She told the toddler. “Let’s go get Argo some carrots.”

“Gogo.”

Was she putting off seeing the baby’s mother? Gabrielle gently booted aside a rock in her path. What would she say to her?

Thoughtfully, she studied the path as they walked along.

**

“Hey guys.” Gabrielle greeted Argo and Iolaus as they entered the stable. Both horses nickered at the sight of her, and cocked their ears as Dori squealed and headed for their knees.  The bard followed her over, and scratched both golden heads, smiling as Io shoved his nose into her side and snorted.

“Ah, you know I’ve got something for you, huh?” Gabrielle fished a bit of carrot from her belt pouch and gave it to the stallion, giving him a hug around his neck as he chewed it.

Argo stamped a hoof in outrage.

“Oh, I’m sorry madame.” The bard handed over the other half of her treat.  Being with the big animals made her feel better somehow, and as she stroked Io’s soft coat a few gentle memories of Xena being similarly comforted flashed into her mind.

Argo had, after all, been Xena’s only friend for a long time, Gabrielle knew. She’d first seen a glimmer of the warrior’s kinder, gentler side early in their travels when she’d taken care of the mare, in fact, and it had been that glimmer that had given her hope that someday she would see the softening of those blue eyes turned on her.

“Gogo, move!” Dori was tugging on the gold knee nearest her.

Argo dipped her head and nibbled at the child’s dark hair in equine indulgence, shifting her big hooves to one side as Dori walked fearlessly between them to get to Gabrielle.  “Dori, where’s your present for Argo? You didn’t lose it, did you?”

“Cowot.” Dori held up a tattered bit of almost orange. “Gogo, look!”

Argo arched her neck and examined the offering, then lipped it up carefully from the child’s fingers.

“Tell Argo who that’s from.” The bard prompted.

“From Boo!” Dori hopped up and down. “Gogo, Boo sent a cowot!”

Iolaus nuzzled her, looking for his share of the booty. Dori found a bit of root left and put it on her palm for the stallion to eat. Then she held her hands up. “Mama, go up on Gogo!”

Gabrielle knelt next to her and took her in her arms, then carefully stood up, trying to use her legs and not her back to lift with. It almost worked. She grimaced as she got Dori up to Argo’s neck, relieved when the toddler grabbed an enthusiastic hold of the mare’s mane and hauled herself up onto her back. “Ow.” The bard muttered under her breath. “I’m not sure that was smart.”

“Gogo Gogo.” Dori chanted happily, squiggling into a more comfortable position on the horse’s back. Her legs clamped into a secure hold and she sat up in a natural posture that promised future skills as a rider that somehow didn’t surprise her mother in the least.

Gabrielle slipped her arm over Argo’s back behind where Dori was sitting and leaned against her, still more comfortable on the ground then she ever would be mounted. “You having fun, Dori?”

“Yes.” Dori patted Argo’s neck. “Love Gogo.”

The bard put her other arm around Iolaus “I love the horsies too, honey.”  She said. “Did you know that Io’s daddy is here? Did Boo show you?”

“Yes.” The child nodded. “Boo take Gogo out and play with the other hossies, they ran real fast.” She told her mother. “Mama, c’n we go make Gogo run fast?”

Gabrielle sighed. “Not right now, honey. Mama’s not feeling too good.” She said. “Matter of fact, I…” She had to stop and lean against Argo, resting her head against the big mare’s neck. “Yeesh.”

“Mama.” Dori patted her head anxiously.

Gabrielle eased her shoulders straight and felt a soft pop in her back as something slid back into place and brought her blessed relief. “Ah.” She sighed. “I’m okay, Dori. Your mama’s just getting old, that’s all.” She rested her forearm against Argo’s back and leaned her chin on it. “How about we walk Argo around outside a little, hm?”

“Otay!’ Dori agreed enthusiastically. “Go fast!”

“No go fast.” Gabrielle unhooked Argo’s halter from the stall and led the mare outside, aware of Iolaus’ indignant nicker at being left behind. “You next, Io.” She called back over her shoulder.

They emerged into the cool air, and Gabrielle strolled casually along the path around the back of the stable into the grassy area beyond.  Several of the younger forest dwellers were standing by the far side of the grass, watching two of the remaining horses run in the field.

Argo snorted on seeing them, and tossed her head. “Ah ah ah.” Gabrielle warned the mare. “Don’t you even think about it, madame.”

“Mama, go fast!” Dori pleaded. “Gogo wants to go fast!”

“No.” The bard continued her amble, glad of the sun drenching her. She walked along the side of the rough hewn fence, watching the youngsters out of the corner of her eye.  There were three of them, and she judged them late adolescents. They watched her approach and Gabrielle’s finely honed sense of body language didn’t particularly like what she saw.

She suspected they were some of Rufus’ disciples.  A moment after the thought occurred to her, she found herself wondering a bit about her choice of descriptions for them. Disciples in her experience had become something she found profoundly disturbing. Was that fair to the youngsters? “Hi.” She greeted them, as Argo drew even with the spot they had chosen to stand in.

The one closest to her, a girl with rust colored fur answered. “There isn’t much grass. It belongs to them.” She pointed at the horses, still chasing each other not that far off.

“Well.” Gabrielle gave Argo a pat on the neck. “She’s not eating any, so I guess that leaves it all for them, doesn’t it?”  She remarked. “And besides, Argo’s always been welcome here. Why would that change now?”

She loosened her hold on the halter, and the mare continued to amble on, taking Dori for a short ride in the circle the tether Gabrielle held allowed her.  Gabrielle watched indulgently for a moment, then she turned her attention to the kids. “Well?”

The girl gave her a dour look. “We don’t like your kind.”

“My kind of what?” The bard kept a mild, interested look on her face.

“Humans.”

“Why?”

“What do you mean, why?” The girl asked.

“Why don’t you like me?” Gabrielle leaned on the fence, one ear cocked back to listen for Dori sized trouble.  “I don’t think I ever met you, did I? What’s your name?”

The girl frowned. “You’re making us into wishy washy weaklings, like you.”

“Uh huh.” Gabrielle leaned her chin on one fist. “How?”

“What?”

“How am I doing that? You’ve never met me before.”

The forest dweller exhaled in adolescent exasperation. “Not just you.” She said. “Your kind.”

“My kind.” The bard shifted slightly. “Okay, so let me get this straight. Short, blond women from backwater Potadeia are making you into weaklings?”

“You’re stupid.” The girl turned and walked off, shaking her head. After a moment’s hesitation, the two boys followed her, but they kept watching Gabrielle over their shoulder as they walked.

Gabrielle waggled her fingers at them and gave them a friendly smile. “Want some advice?” She projected her voice. “Make up your own mind. Don’t let anyone make it up for you.”

“Mama.” Dori arrived on Argo’s back just behind her. “Will you make Gogo fast, please?”

With a sigh, the bard turned. “Okay, but just a little.” She guided the mare closer. “C’mere, Argo. Make this easy on me since Dori’s too small to pull me up there. Yet.” Gingerly, she climbed up onto the fence rail, then slid onto the mare’s back behind her daughter. “Okay, where do you want to go?”

“Boo.”

“Ahh… what a surprise.” Gabrielle chuckled. “No, honey – let’s ride around in here, then we’ll let Argo rest and we’ll go see Boo, okay?” She tightened her knees and made the small noise with her tongue that Xena had taught her, and was rewarded by Argo’s amble progressing into a gentle canter.

“Wooeeee!’ Dori approved. “Go fast! Gogogogogogogogogogogo!!!”

Gabrielle wrapped an arm securely around her daughter and allowed herself to enjoy the moment, as the warm sun and the cool air battled each other all around her.  They cantered towards the two other horses, and with tossing heads they joined in the chase, their hooves beating out a soft thunder as the three of them raced around inside the paddock.

Riding Argo was always a little different for her than riding any other horse. Gabrielle thought that was because Argo was very definitely a part of her soulmate and she could remember the sense of joy and awe she’d felt when Xena had first let her start helping her care for the horse.

Not to mention ride her.

“Xena.” Gabrielle finished washing out their cooking pot carefully, drying it so the metal would not rust and putting her supplies inside it.

“Yes?” The warrior sat across the fire, sharpening her sword. The rhythmic sound of the steel rasping against the stone was becoming a daily feature of their evening camp, as they settled into to an odd routine and got used to each other.

“Why do horses run?”

The rasping stopped. Xena leaned her elbows on her knees and looked at Gabrielle, one of her dark eyebrows cocking up in a sardonic tilt. “What?”

Gabrielle put the pot away and walked over, sitting down at Xena’s feet. Not too close, but not too far away that she couldn’t see the warrior’s expression either. “Well, you know, I noticed as we walk.. well, I mean I walk, and you ride, that most of the other animals we see don’t really run a lot.”

“What kind of animals?”

“Oh, you know, like cows and pigs and…and…well, sheep. They sorta just sit around.”

“Like we’re doing right now?” Xena asked.

Gabrielle looked around her. “Um… yeah. Sorta.”

“If something were attacking us, would we be sitting here?” The warrior said.

“Uh.. no, probably not.”

“So the animals do the same thing. They don’t run unless they have to. Like if something is chasing them to eat them.” The warrior went back to sharpening her sword, evidently considering the matter closed.

Gabrielle squirmed around and got a little bit closer. “But that’s what I mean.” She examined the armor on Xena’s knee, noticing for the first time the little intricate whirls in the brass. “Oh, that’s pretty!”

“That’s what you mean..what?” Xena put the sword down again, her voice sounding a touch annoyed and slightly confused. “Gabrielle, what are you babbling about?”

Forget the armor, go for the horse.  Gabrielle got her thoughts straight. “Horses.” She looked up at Xena. “They run when they don’t have to. How come?”

“Ah.” Xena made a deep sound inside her throat, and scratched her jaw a little. She paused and took a deep breath, a habit before making a pronouncement as Gabrielle had begun to notice. “Beats me.”

Gabrielle blinked at her. “Beats you? Xena, you know everything.  What do you mean, beats you? I think you can even talk to horses.”

The warrior folded her hands on her sword hilt and regarded her young charge. “C’mon.” She put the sword down and got up, walking off and fully expecting Gabrielle to follow her.

“B… a…b…okay.” Gabrielle scrambled to her feet and went after the fast moving woman, catching up to her just as they got to where Argo was munching contented mouthfuls of grass. “What ar…ah… ek… Xena!”  Faster than that, she was lifted and found herself sitting on Argo’s back. “Hey!” She grabbed hold of the wiry mane in a death grip.

Argo lifted her head and looked around, blowing grass out of her mouth as if to echo the sentiment.

“Girl, show her.” Xena gave the mare a hefty slap on the rump and stepped back as she bolted, cantering across the long grassy slope that led down to the river they’d camped by. “Yhahh!” She yelled out, watching Argo bend into a turn. “Sha!”

The mare increased her speed, unheeding the wildly bellowing bit of humanity just barely on her back, making a huge circle and thundering back towards Xena’s laughing form.

“Help! Help!” Gabrielle squealed, only just maintaining her hold as she slipped around on the horse’s bare back. “Ahhhggg!!!!’

Xena let out a whistle, and Argo came right too her, sliding to a stop and sending Gabrielle sailing off her back.  For a split second, Xena almost let her hit the ground, then an insidious, slowly growing instinct intervened and she caught the kid, setting her on her feet with a thump. “There. Answer your question?”

Gabrielle struggled to catch her breath. “Tha… that wasn’t nice!” She exhaled, her hand on her belly, and then she looked right up into Xena’s eyes, too shaken and tired to dissemble. “That was mean.”

Xena chuckled. “C’mon, Gabrielle… you better get used to…” Unaccountably, the warrior halted, and her smile faded.

“I’m sorry I asked.” The girl turned and walked away, going to her little pile of ragged blankets and sitting down on them. Her eyes went to the fire and stayed there.

Argo wandered over and nudged Xena in the back.

“What?” The warrior asked, gruffly.

Another nudge.

“Cut that out.”

Argo turned her back and wandered off, leaving Xena standing in the last of the sunlight. She frowned, and after a moment kicked a rock out of her path and went back to her log. She sat down and picked up her sword, scowling at it.  “Well, I am mean.” She finally said. “You knew that.”

Gabrielle didn’t answer. She merely sighed, and regarded the fire.

Xena fiddled with the sword. “Hey, how bad could I be if I let you ride my horse?” She said.

The girl thought about that for a bit, then she turned her head and gazed at Xena. “You did let me ride her.” She said, in slight surprise.

“Yeah. I don’t know what I was thinking.”

They looked at each other in pensive silence. Gabrielle at last took a deep breath. “Well, if you figure it out, will you tell me?”

“Figure what out?”

“What you were thinking?”

Xena laid her sword across her knees and rested her forearms on the blade. “Gabrielle.” She spoke with uncommon seriousness. “If I ever figure that out, you’ll be the first one I’ll tell.”

“Really?”

“Really.”

The girl smiled, at last. “You know, you’re really not so mean on the inside.” She got up and rummaged in her bag. “I’m going to give Argo some of the apple I saved from the road today.” Her voice paused, and she glanced over her shoulder. “Is that okay?”

Xena just shook her head and sighed. “G’wan.” She said. “She loves em.”

Gabrielle stood and trotted after the mare, leaving behind a quiet campfire and a thoughtful pair of very blue eyes.

“Remember those apples, Argo?” Gabrielle asked the mare. “And that first ride?”

Argo snorted.

“Apple, mama?” Dori looked up. “You gots?”

Gabrielle laid the halter rein to one side of Argo’s neck and directed her to the far side of the paddock. They slowed beside a large, old tree whose branches dripped with the fruit within easy reach of the mare’s riders. “I gots.” The bard examined her choices and selected several large, round apples, handing one to Dori to hold. “Let’s bring one to Boo. I think she’d like that, don’t you?”

Argo had picked up a fallen apple and was crunching it appreciatively. The sound drew the other two horses over and they found their own booty in the grass as well.  Watching them, Gabrielle caught from the corner of her eye a straggle of forest dwellers heading for the big communal hut. Something about their attitude pricked her senses.

Gabrielle tucked the apples into her belt pouch and turned the mare. “But let’s go to the meeting hall first.” She clucked at the mare. “Maybe we can find out a little more about what’s going on.”  She directed Argo towards the hall. “Hang on, Dori – we’re gonna fly.”

“Whhheeeeeee!!!!!!!!1 Fun!”

Yeah. Gabrielle tightened her hold grimly, as the mare cantered towards the fence and gathered herself to jump it.  Real fun.

**

Xena gave up her vain attempt at resting and dressed, trying not to cough too much as she bent over to lace up her boots.  The effort was dangerously exhausting, and she let her elbows rest on her knees and cradled her head in her hands until some of her strength returned.

Not good. With a stubborn sigh, she slowly rose to her feet, keeping hold of the back of the couch until she was sure she wasn’t going to get dizzy, then making her way to the door and slipping through it.  The air outside was cold, and felt raw on her throat, and she almost turned back around and thought better of venturing out.

But then, she reasoned, she’d never done anything with caution in her life, why start now?  So instead, she pulled her cloak around her and walked down the steps, glancing up as Ares bounded over to her and frisked around her legs. “No jumping.” She warned huskily. “You thought me stepping on your tail was bad? See if you like me falling on you.”

Ares followed her as she negotiated the steps and started down the path, her senses reaching out to determine where her missing partner was.  She knew Gabrielle wasn’t in trouble, at least. But she just had a general sense of something not being right that wouldn’t let her rest until she’d ferreted out what the bard was up to and made sure everything was all right herself.

She angled her steps towards Wennid and Lestan’s hut, reasoning that Gabrielle might have gone there first, and she thought letting the village leaders in on what she’d told Tucker was probably a prudent idea. It had been the truth, but Xena had reviewed her words several times and she was beginning to worry that truth in that instance might not have been her wisest course of action.

Damn kids. The warrior sniffled, and felt a chill ripple over her.  Two forest dwellers appeared from another path and crossed in front of her, and she straightened instinctively as they glanced her way. They were older women, and after a moment’s brief surprise they approached her.

“Xena, should you not be resting?” One of the asked, with a look of what appeared to be genuine concern. “Wennid said you had the chest illness.”

“I was resting.” Xena told them. “But I need to find Gabrielle. Have you seen her?”

Both shook their heads.  “Not this morning. Can we help you look? We could find her, and send her back to your cabin.”

Stubborn pride reared it’s head. “No, thanks.” The warrior edged around them. “I’ll find her.”  She continued on her path. One thing she could always do was find Gabrielle. When all else failed, when everything she was doing fell apart, that at least, she could count on.

Xena frowned, beginning to suspect the fever was playing a little havoc with her mind. It wasn’t as if she was thinking unclearly – but the random rambling going on inside her was starting to worry her. Was she becoming irrational? Did running around out in the cold searching for Gabrielle really make sense?

The warrior sighed. Probably not. Her feet kept moving, though.  Her ears, clogged as they were, picked up familiar hoofbeats a few steps later and she looked up, swiveling her head around towards the barn as she spotted Argo’s outline headed towards the paddock fence.

She had to blink twice as she took in the two figures perched on the mare’s back. Gabrielle? Riding bareback? Jumping?  A thousand things went off in her head, and for a second she just froze in place as mental and physical instincts all fired at the same time.

She took a breath to yell a warning, and found herself caught helpless as a cough robbed her of breath. She could only watch as Argo reached the fence and leaped over it, landing neatly on the other side with her precious cargo.

The landing jarred Gabrielle. Xena could see it in her body posture, and she flinched right along with the bard in automatic sympathy. But her partner kept her seat, and from where she was Xena could hear Dori’s squeal of pure delight at the stunt.

She leaned against the nearest tree and just watched them. Gabrielle brought Argo to a gentle amble, smiling at their daughter’s happiness despite her own discomfort.  Xena smiled along with her, and also at the picture they made, not entirely surprised when the bard lifted her head from speaking to Dori and turned to look right at her.

The expression on her face was priceless. If Xena had caught her sneaking cookies from Cyrene’s kitchen back in Amphipolis the bard could not have looked more chagrined. Doing her best to look gruff, the warrior put two fingers between her teeth and let out a whistle, drawing Argo’s attention and her hooves towards her immediately.

Dori spotted her as she stepped out from between the trees to meet them and let out a squeal. Xena leaned against Argo and let the child capture her hand as she gazed past her at her mother. “Did I just see you do what I think I just saw you do?”

Gabrielle actually blushed. “Yeah.” She admitted. “That was pretty stupid, and it hurt, and I’m sorry.” She reached over and ran her fingers through Xena’s hair. “Do I get to yell at you now for being out of bed?”

“Gabrielle.” Xena found herself having to force the sternness. “I have a stupid head cold. You don’t.”  She cleared her throat. “You really want to risk spending your life not able to move?”

“Boo, no yell.” Dori frowned at her parent.

“Xena, I’m fine.” Gabrielle overrode her. “And it’s not just a head cold, we both know that.”

“Don’t give me that. I saw you when she landed.” The warrior argued hoarsely. “Damn it, Gabrielle…”

“Booooo….” Dori scrambled forward and reached for her. “No no no no no…”

“Dori!” Gabrielle grabbed for the toddler at the same moment Xena did and they ended up almost nose to nose with Dori between them. Gabrielle winced as her neck protested the posture as she watched her partner slump for a moment against Argo’s shoulder. “Xena, go lie down.”

“No.” The warrior replied stubbornly. “YOU go lie down.”

“Mama!” Dori squealed in frustration, unable to move. “Booo!!!!”

Gabrielle pushed herself upright and tucked Dori firmly under one hand. “Dori, hush.”  She said. “Boo is going to go rest.”

“Boo is not going anywhere, and neither are you.” Xena glared up at her.  “Except right back to that damn cabin, where my horse is going to take you just like I tell her to.”  She pulled Argo’s head around and looked the mare in the eye. “You’re gonna listen to me, aren’t you?”

Argo nuzzled her, the horses soft lips tickling Xena’s skin.

Gabrielle felt an aching tension seize her body, almost constricting her breathing. She closed her eyes and tried to relax, but an anxiety she hadn’t expected made her start shivering and she was shocked to find herself on the verge of tears.

“Yeah, well, at least someone does.” Xena sighed, giving the mare a hug before she turned to face her partner, readying herself to continue the argument.

One look at Gabrielle chased that thought right out of her head. “Gab?” She put a hand on the bard’s thigh, then moved closer and slid one arm behind her back. “Gabrielle??”

“Mama?” Dori wrestled herself around to face her mother. “Mama?” She frowned and turned towards Xena. “Boo, you make mama owie. No good!”

Xena went still, the accusation hitting her deep in a place she hadn’t expected. She let her hands drop to her sides. “You’re right, Dori. That’s not good.” She eased away from Argo and started trudging back towards the cabin.

Stopping when the pain in her heart tightened like a fist. She stood motionless for a few breaths, then she turned and walked back over to where Argo was still standing, coming up on Gabrielle’s other side and putting her arms around her waist.

Gabrielle’s body actually shuddered in relief. Her free hand dropped to grip Xena’s shoulder and she pulled the warrior closer.

Xena didn’t resist the pull. She rested her cheek against the bard’s belly and looked at Dori, who was sitting uncertainly in front of her mother, not really sure what was going on.  The warrior felt a certain sympathy with that, since she really wasn’t that sure either. She just knew they both were hurting, and it made no real sense to hurt each other any more. “Sorry.”

Gabrielle felt the gray haze around her fade out, replaced by the solid reality of Xena’s touch. “Me, too.” She whispered, rubbing the back of the warrior’s neck with slightly shaking fingers. “Dori, Boo never makes me owie. Don’t you ever say that.”

Dori stuck her thumb into her mouth, watching her parents with wide eyes. “Otay.”

Xena exhaled.

“Wow.” The bard lifted her hand and wiped the tears from her eyes. “I don’t know what’s going on with me. That’s the second time today I lost it.” She returned her arm to it’s former position draped over Xena’s shoulders.

“I think we better both go back to the cabin.” Xena said. “And I think we’d better get out of here, Gabrielle. Now. Before I get any sicker, or we get into something I can’t get us out of.”

The more she touched Xena, the more the panic faded, Gabrielle realized. “Is that a good idea? I don’t think everyone here hates us, Xena, I just… well, I guess it depends on if they find out what happened in the valley, and that…”

“They know.”  Xena interrupted her.

“They know? Wennid told them?”

“I told them. I told Tucker.” The warrior said. She tentatively reached her hand out to Dori, and was relieved when the toddler seized it and started tugging at her fingers.

“You told him? Why?” Gabrielle asked, in a soft voice.

“He asked me.” Xena admitted. “I’m…. not really thinking clearly, Gabrielle. Fever, maybe.”

“Mm.” The bard felt the last of her panic ease. “I’m not sure I am either. But that might explain why those kids were so hostile towards me.” She rubbed the back of Xena’s shoulder with her fingertips. “You really think we should r… just leave?”

Xena didn’t answer.

“They’re having a village meeting. That’s where I was going.” Gabrielle gently changed the subject. “I thought maybe I could just face them all and get things settled or at least come to a head.”  The bard exhaled. “Now, I don’t’ know.”

The warrior thought for a bit. “Good idea.” She finally said. “Let’s go.”

“Both of us?”

“All three of us.” Xena straightened wearily. “Let’s just go and get the damn thing over with. I’m too damn tired to let it fester any more.” She looked up at Gabrielle. “No more damned fences.”

“No more damned fences.” Gabrielle agreed. “Want a ride?”

Xena took hold of Argo’s halter and started walking. “Doubt I could climb up there. Just hang on tight.”

Gabrielle put her arm around Dori and did just that. The further they got, the more she became convinced that Xena might have had the right idea after all.

The only problem was, running didn’t come naturally to either of them. Gabrielle looked down at Dori, who was scowling unhappily, upset at what was going on.

Pig farts.  Sometimes life just really sucked.

**

Xena was now so worried, she was almost numb. The pressure to get them all out of what her senses were insisting was danger was close to overwhelming her, and she used the long walk across the village center to try and force some calm over herself.

Gabrielle needed her protection.  Xena concentrated on that. As much as she wanted to settle the score with Rufus, Hades, as much as she wanted to just crawl into a bed and stay there, she knew she had to get her family to safety.

Had to.

“Boo?”

Xena had thought she’d heard Gabrielle whispering to Dori.

“Booooo?”

They were almost to the meeting hall. Xena glanced ahead of her, then she paused and allowed Argo to walk past, bringing her even with her daughter. ‘Yeah?”

Dori reached out to clutch a handful of her hair. “Sowwy.”

Xena felt Gabrielle’s knee press against her shoulder as they walked. “Did your mama tell you to say that?” She asked the toddler.

“Yes.”

The warrior looked up at her partner. “You didn’t have to do that.”

“I know.” Grave, green eyes watched her. “But a few extra sorrys never hurt anyone.”

Xena pulled Argo to a halt as they reached the edge of the path that led up to the hall. She could hear a soft murmur of voices inside, but she paused and put her hand on Gabrielle’s thigh, wrapping the other one around Dori’s stomach. “That’s true.” She said. “Dori, I’m sorry you thought I hurt your mama.”

“Boo owie.” Dori looked sadly at her buddy. “No fun. C’n we go find fishies, Boo?” She scrambled off Argo’s neck and threw her arms around Xena’s instead. “No hurt no more. All bad.”

Xena glanced up at Gabrielle as she clasped Dori to her, seeing dark echoes in her partner’s eyes that brought everything into a clear, colorless focus. “Why don’t you stay here, with her. I’ll go and tell them we’re leaving.”

The bard hesitated, then the faintest hint of a smile pulled at the corners of her mouth. “How did you know exactly what I was going to say?” She stroked Xena’s hair gently. “Let’s all go.”

Xena stepped back with Dori tucked in the circle of one arm, her other hand clasping Gabrielle’s arm as she swung her leg over Argo’s neck and slipped down to the ground. She waited for the bard to catch her balance, then she put her arm around her and led the way towards the hall.

Gabrielle wrapped her arm around Xena’s waist. They walked up the steps together, and since Xena’s hands were occupied, the bard booted the doors open, putting as much attitude into that bit of physical action as she could on such short notice.

All talking stopped when they entered. Tucker and two others were standing up front, obviously cut off in mid argument. Wennid was standing up facing them, her posture indicating frustrated anger.

Xena and Gabrielle walked up the center aisle together, until they were opposite Wennid, where they stopped. Xena met her eyes as the forest dweller turned.

“Xena…we were just…”

“Bitching about me.” The warrior finished, in a dry, clipped tone. “Save it. We’re leaving.” She gave the rest of the crowd a bare glance. “Keep Lestan’s wounds clean and dry. Maybe you could get someone here to give a damn about him, and give you a hand.”

“Xe.” Gabrielle cleared her throat gently.

“What?” Tucker spoke up. “What do you mean, you’re leaving?”

“Deaf as well as stupid?” Xena asked him tartly.

“Hey!”

“Xena, please… it’s not… we were just talking about what happened… I was trying to explain…” Wennid held a furred hand up.

“Explain why she killed those kids? Sure.” Tucker said. “Go on, tell us.”

“Tucker, shut up.” Wennid snapped. “Those kids tried to kill them.”

“They were just kids!” Tucker yelled.

“HEY!” Gabrielle’s voice picked up volume so quickly, and so explosively it even startled Xena, who jumped slightly.  The bard’s roar brought a shocked silence as it faded, and everyone turned to stare at her.

“Mama loud.” Dori put one small hand over her ear.

Gabrielle disengaged herself from her partner and walked over to Tucker. She stopped just short of him and lifted a hand to point at his chest.  “I saw those kids.” She spoke clearly and forcefully. “I talked to them, and listened to them tell me how they were going to kill Xena slowly and let me watch.” Her voice rose again. “Don’t you TELL ME about those poor little children.”

“B..”

“They are seven feet tall, and they have fangs and claws. In case you missed it, or hadn’t checked lately. I DON”T” Gabrielle yelled at the top of her lungs.  “AND NEITHER DOES SHE.” She turned and pointed to her soulmate.

Another silence fell. The forest dwellers looked uneasily at each other, then at Gabrielle.

“SO CUT THE PIG TURDS!” Gabrielle finished her harangue. “I’m OVER IT.”

Xena lifted her eyebrow, impressed at the ferocity. She was also glad it was Gabrielle doing the yelling, and not her, since her throat was sore just listening.

“Go mama.” Dori burbled in her ear. “Bart ting.”

The warrior almost laughed. She took a better hold on Dori and stalked forward to join her soulmate, dropping a hand to her shoulder as she stood there facing off against the forest dwellers.  “Gabrielle is right.” She kept her voice steady by sheer will.  “I won’t apologize for defending my life. Or hers. Those kids were doing their best to kill me.”  She turned to sweep her eyes over the crowd.

Most of the gazes refused to meet hers.

“You asked me to come here.” The warrior said.

“She asked you.” Tucker muttered.

“To save a life.” Gabrielle said. “To help you. For that we got chased, and harassed and almost killed.”

Tucker stared sullenly at his feet.

“Xena, Gabrielle… please.” Wennid walked over to them, putting a hand on Xena’s arm with unusual boldness. “You can’t just go off. Please. You both need care and rest.”

“We’d get more of that out in the bush.” Xena told her. “Not here. I keep wondering when one more of these jerks..” She sent a glance Tucker’s way. “Jumps in my window with a spear.”

“Xena.”

“She’s right.” Gabrielle returned the support. “I’m more nervous here than I was out in the valley. Wennid, I’m sorry. We can’t stay here.”

The forest dweller looked honestly distressed. One of the other, older women also came over. “Xena.. “ the newcomer spoke gently. “Not all of us feel as he does.”

“More than you think do.” Tucker said. “Rufus was right…”

“Was he right when he tried to kill me?” Gabrielle interrupted him.

Tucker stared at her. “Yes.” He said. “He was right.”

Wennid’s jaw dropped in shock. “Tucker, do you know what you’re saying?”

“Yeah, I do.” He said. “He should have killed her, then they could have killed Xena, no problem. He was right.”

No one expected the violence. At least, they expected it from Xena – they didn’t expect Gabrielle to pick up a wooden chair and bash Tucker over the head with it, the forest dweller so unprepared he didn’t even lift an arm to defend himself.

Even Xena was caught flatfooted. She broke out of her shock in an instant though, and grabbed hold of Gabrielle as she staggered back from the force of her action, almost falling until Xena caught her. “That was really stupid.”

“Sorry, I..” Gabrielle stammered, shocked herself.

“I was talking to him.” Xena muttered. “I woulda gone for his crotch first. Head’s made of rock.”  She looked at Wennid.  “One thing I did find out in that valley.” The details suddenly came clear to her. “The attack here wasn’t some marauder band. They had your horses.”

Tucker staggered to his feet. “Liar!”

The crowd started to mutter. Wennid exhaled. “Did they truly, Xena?” Her voice was sad.

The warrior nodded. “That’s how I found them. I tracked the horses.”  She started to move backwards, drawing Gabrielle with her. “So ask yourselves… who knew your weaknesses? Who had a motive for wanting you scared, and feeling helpless? Who’s looking to take over, and how much of a coincidence was it that it was your leader who got hurt the worst?”

“Wait.” One of the younger males stopped her. “Are you saying Rufus attacked us?”

“LIAR!!!” Tucker screamed.

Dori clutched her around her neck, her eyes wide at all the yelling. “Think about it.” Xena felt her strength ebbing, and she tapped into her reserves.

“Xena.” Wennid held her hand out entreatingly. “Please. Don’t go. We need the truth you found if we’re to stamp out this madness.”

“Leave.” Tucker said. “Run like the cowards you are.” He wiped the blood off his face and stared at the back of his hand, stained with it. “We don’t want you here.”

The warrior kept moving slowly. “Sorry, Wennid.” She gathered Gabrielle closer to her, feeling the tremors in the bard’s body. “My family matters most. I’m not risking them here.”

The forest dweller followed her, as the rest started talking in low, disturbed tones.  “Xena… I didn’t mean for it to be this way. Please. Can we go back to my home and speak, just for a little while?”

“There’s nothing left for me to say.” Xena turned her back on them, and walked out, hoping her strength would carry her until they got to Argo.  She kicked the door shut behind them as they left the hall, and returned to the clean, pine scented air outside.

Where they were going, and what it would take to get there, she didn’t yet know.

**

“C’mon, Io.” Gabrielle buckled the bridle around her stallion. “Let’s go get you together with your mama, and we’re going to take a walk. How’s that?”

Io liked that. He didn’t really like being cooped up in a stable, and he pulled against her hold as he arched his neck towards the door.  Gabrielle eased his blanket over his back and tightened the belly strap, then she leaned against his solid form for a moment.

Then she pushed off and started to lead him out, the thoughts she’d paused to ponder too chaotic for her nerves at the moment.  The stallion snorted, eyeing the corner of the stable. Gabrielle glanced in that direction, for a moment not seeing anything that might alarm the horse.

In the shadows, though, she thought she caught a whisper of motion. She stopped and listened, cocking her head to one side, and the soft sound she’d thought she’d heard was repeated. “Is someone there?” She called out, with a touch of uncertainty.

There was another rustle, and the bard thought the sound was moving away from her. Instinctively, she followed, leading Iolaus behind her as she approached the far side of the barn. A stack of hay blocked her path, and she stepped around one side of it, catching sight of a bit of dirty gray fur. “Hey!”

The stranger scuttled further back into the shadows.

“Hey, don’t run. Why are you hiding?” Gabrielle asked, persisting in her attempt to see who it was. She moved further, the straw crunching under her boots. “Come out.. I won’t hurt you.”

She really couldn’t explain what was driving her. If someone wanted to hide in a barn, was it really her business to find out why?  Gabrielle sighed, and went a step further, putting her hand on the haystack and peering around the corner of it.

In the dark cubby behind the prickly stack she could see a forest dweller, a little smaller than most, and covered in matted, filthy fur that might have once been silver.  A pair of bloodshot eyes watched Gabrielle with sullen resentment, but the figure didn’t make any further moves to escape.

“Hi.” The bard murmured. “Are you okay?”

There was no answer. The forest dweller just curled up in a ball and ignored her.

Gabrielle hesitated, thinking about Xena, who she’d left in the cabin packing up their things. The warrior was waiting for her to come back so they could leave, to find the peace they both so badly needed.

And yet. Through all the confusion and the unexpected rage she’d found herself being swamped by Gabrielle could still feel the pull of another creature in need. It was reassuring in a way she hadn’t expected, and that led her to creep slowly forward, and kneel beside the huddled form. “Easy.”

Io nickered, peering over her shoulder curiously.

The forest dweller watched her from under slitted eyelids.

Gabrielle studied her, seeing even on the stocky, thickly furred body the signs of a recent pregnancy. Tentatively, she put her hand out and touched her shoulder. “I’m sorry.”

Warily, the head moved. “For what?”

“For what happened to you.” The bard said. “I saw your baby.”

The eyes closed and the woman pushed her hand away. “Shut up.”

Gabrielle rested her elbow on her thigh. “Listen, I know what you’re feeling right now, and I…”

“You?” The woman turned her head and glared at you. “Don’t you say nothing. You don’t know anything about this.”

With a sigh, Gabrielle weighed her options, and leaned a little closer. “You’re wrong. I do know.” She lowered her voice, keeping eye contact. “Maybe nobody else here knows, maybe everyone else is just pitying you, or thinking you’re a stupid kid, but you  know what? I know.” She put her hand out again, clasping the woman’s wrist. “I”ve been there.”

The forest dweller stared at her.

“I know what it’s like to trust, and have that trust betrayed.” Gabrielle said. “I know what it’s like to be violated. To be raped… to be lost.”

She had to wait a bit, for the lump to subside in the throat before she continued. The forest dweller waited with her, this time not throwing off her hand.

“Didn’t want that kid.” The woman rasped softly. “It’s just ugly. I just hated it. I hate everything.” She looked up at Gabrielle. “How could that happen to you with her around? Thought you had it made.”

Gabrielle fell silent for a few breaths. “Well.” She murmured. “Sometimes things just happen.” Memories clustered around her, and she jerked her head to one side, as though throwing them off. “Don’t let that make you hate your baby.  It’s not her fault.”

The forest dweller covered her eyes with one filthy hand. “Don’t want it.”

“Her.”

“It.” The woman repeated. “Any part of them is part of it. I can’t even look at it.”

The bard didn’t know what to say. She sat down in the straw and glanced at the far wall, understanding now at a very base level something about herself that she hadn’t really believed before.

Though Xena had.

“What’s your name?” Gabrielle asked softly.

“Who cares?”

“I do.”

The woman exhaled. “Ros.”

“Ros, you’re not going to believe me right now, and that’s okay.” The bard said. “I won’t lie to you and tell you I know how you feel about that, because it’s not true. I didn’t. “ Her hands were shaking, she noticed. “I loved my baby. I loved her with all my heart, and it broke my heart to lose her.”

Ros snorted softly.

“It might have been better if I felt like you did.”

The woman was surprised. She rolled over and looked at the bard, blinking as she saw the scattering of outside light catch in the tears on Gabrielle’s cheeks.

“But… here’s the part you won’t believe me on.” Gabrielle sniffled impatiently. “Someday, you’re going to really, really regret leaving her. Don’t do it.”  She looked the woman in the eye. “Take it from someone who’s been there, and done that. She’s your daughter. Love her – she’s worth it.”

Gathering herself, Gabrielle got up and headed for the door. Iolaus followed her eagerly, butting her in the back with his head to push her along. She gained the cool, fresh air of the outdoors and turned in the direction of the cabin, glad no one was around to stop or challenge her.

She had no idea if the kid would listen. After a moment, she wondered if she would have.  “Damn it, Gabrielle, let it go.” She spoke aloud. “Just let it go.”

Iolaus snorted, lifting his head and nickering as he spotted Argo near the cabin.  As she watched, the door opened and Xena came out, their packs slung over one shoulder and Dori pattering ahead of her.  The warrior looked out and caught her eyes immediately.

Gabrielle saw a lot of exhausted worry there.  She set aside her thoughts and slowed as Dori ran towards her, arms outstretched and a big smile on her face. “Hey, munchkin – where are you going?”

“Mama!” Dori wrapped her arms around her mother’s knees. “We go find fishes now! Boo take us real fast!” She warbled. “Go gogogogogogogo!!!”

“That’s right, sweetie.” Gabrielle took her hand as she joined Xena next to Argo. “We need to go, and find a nice spot with lots of fishes and berries and good things, and have fun.”  She rested her cheek against Xena’s upper arm. “Xe, we’re doing the right thing.”

“We’re doing it.” Xena’s voice was hoarser than it had been. “I don’t give a rats ass if it’s right or not.” She took Argo’s reins and took a deep breath before she bent down to lift Dori up and put her on the mare’s neck. “Hang on, shortie.”

Gabrielle walked along next to her as they took the path around the back of the cabin, leading out of the village through the trees instead of across the central square.  She felt eyes at her back, but decided not to turn to look.  It was quiet as they passed under the leaves, and the path took on a layer of leaves that muffled their footsteps.

Xena coughed, the harsh sound making Gabrielle wince in reflex memory.  She put an arm around the warrior, and felt the weight as Xena returned the gesture, once again the warrior’s touch chasing the ghosts away. “Where are we going?” She murmured.

“I don’t know.” Xena answered honestly. “I…” She paused, fighting down another cough. “We need to find a safe place. Rest up.”

They passed into denser forest. As the trees closed around her, Gabrielle found herself relaxing, wanting the solitude more than she’d reckoned. She pressed closer against her partner, recognizing the sense of fragility she felt threaded through her thoughts.

She hadn’t felt like this in a very long time.

“Xe?”

“Mm?” The warrior was plodding along, not bothering to hide the effort it took her.

“Think we can make it up the north slope there?”

Xena kept walking for a moment in silence. “Maybe. Why?”

“The cave we found up there.” The bard said. “With the scrolls. Remember?”

The warrior glanced up towards the side of the mountain. “Yeah.”  She murmured.  “I do remember. That damn place that caved in on me, and  you almost got us trapped in.”

Gabrielle chuckled wearily. “Would that be a safe place?” She asked. “If I didn’t trip the traps again, I mean.”

Xena’s eyes searched the treeline, a hint of relief softening the gaunt lines of her profile. “Yeah.” She nodded. “If we can make it up there. Good… thought.”

“I get them once in a while.”  Gabrielle smiled.

They continued in silence, saving their strength for a tough climb, with promised peace and safety at it’s end.

**

Continued in Part 11

Champion

Part 11

Gabrielle trudged into the room, letting her bags drop near the stone fireplace as she watched Xena light the torches, Dori at her heels.

It had been a very long, very hard day. But now they were here, and safe, and she felt her body want to dissolve into a puddle as she took in the not quite familiar outlines of the cavern they were standing in.

Someone had taken great care to make it a home. Gabrielle appreciated that. It had a fireplace whose chimney was a hollowed out crack in the rock, and there were stone channels carefully cut to bring in water from a source she could only imagine.

Near one wall was a table, strong and as well made as the one in her cabin at home. There was a bedframe, though anything that had rested on it was long since gone.

The chest that had held the scrolls she’d found had been removed, but otherwise the cavern looked much like it had the last time they’d been here. “Buh.”

Xena turned and let her body thump against the wall, her very expression so exhausted it almost hurt to watch her. “Glad we made it.”

“Me, too.” Gabrielle had entertained some doubts, as they’d made the precarious climb down the shaft into this little haven.  Argo and Ares they’d left outside, down the mountain in a secluded, small valley with plenty of grass for the mare, and rabbits for the wolf.  “Gods, I’m tired.” She sat down and opened her arms up. “C’mere, Doriboo. Give mama a hug.”  Mostly she wanted to distract Dori from trying to pull off her partner’s knee armor, the toddler’s yanking making Xena perceptibly sway.

Xena seemed to appreciate the thought. She pushed away from the wall and came over to where Gabrielle was sitting, taking the seat next to her and extending her legs out with a sigh.  “Damn, I ache.” She admitted quietly.

Gabrielle patted her leg. “Let me get a fire started, and we’ll have some soup.”  She got up, hurting herself, but knowing if Xena was admitting that, she must be close to the end of her rope. “Come on, Dori – help mama make dinner.”

“Yum.” Dori ambled after her willingly.

Wood had been left here from the last time, though the forest dwellers had told her they’d steered clear of the place since then.  It was dry, thankfully, and she stacked it neatly in the fireplace and pulled out a soft wad of tinder.  Keeping Dori’s hands back with parental instinct, she struck a few sparks, and blew gently on the tinder to get it going.

The weather had started to worsen on their way up the mountain and now, through the slim air shafts inside the chamber she could feel the cool dampness trickling down.  With a stifled groan, she sat down in front of the fireplace and tugged her bag over.  “Hey, Xe?”

“Uh?” The warrior grunted softly.

“Do we have everything you need? For your chest, I mean?”

Xena didn’t answer for a long moment. The she cleared her throat. “I’ve got you and her. Don’t’ need anything else.”

Aww.  Gabrielle found a smile somewhere hearing that. “That’s not exactly what I meant.”

“I know.”

The bard pulled her pot from their gear. “Dori, can you put water in this for mama?” She handed the utensil to the toddler, and watched her go for the stone basin. “Good girl.”

Dori threw the pot into the basin and clapped.

“Honey, I need water in the pot, not pot in the water.” Gabrielle removed a thick packet of dried herbs and vegetables from her bag. “Come on, you can do it.”

Dori splashed her hands in the water, delighted as it sloshed over the side and wet the pale stone to almost black. “Good!”

Gabrielle glanced over at Xena, who had her head propped up on one fist, and the hint of a tired smile on her face.   She felt very glad to be here, and alone with her family, knowing they all needed a time out, a bit of peace in which to heal and regroup. “You think that’s funny, huh??”

Xena nodded.

“Me too.” Gabrielle clapped her hands. “C’mon, Dori. Bring me that pot, right here!”

Dori clasped the handle and pulled the pot upright, then managed to tug it out of the water. It wasn’t easy. The water filled appliance was heavy, and it sloshed messily from all sides as Dori dragged it back over to where her mother was waiting. “Bck.”

“What a good girl.” Gabrielle rolled over onto her side and extended her arm, helping Dori haul the pot the last little bit.  “Oof.” She winced as her back seized up on her.

Xena sighed, getting up and walking over to the fire. She dropped down next to her partner and clasped her shoulders as she eased upright, supporting her.

Gabrielle moved her head cautiously, hearing another pop as whatever had gotten out of place slid back. She held still as Xena’s hands touched her neck, letting out her breath slowly as the gentle fingertips pressed against her skin. “It’s um…”  She bit her lip as a slight turn of her head brought pain back.

“It’s  a damn bad injury.” Xena told her.  “But now we’re someplace I can do something about it.”

The words felt like Elysia had just landed on her butt.  Gabrielle exhaled in something like relief as she dumped the dried stuff into the water and nudged it over the fire. “What are we going to do about you?” She watched Dori stoop next to the fire, and toss a bit of kindling into it. “Watch out, sweetie. That’s hot.”

“Hot?” Dori looked over her shoulder.

“Owie.” Xena and Gabrielle both spoke at once.

Dori blinked, then she carefully pulled her hands back and sat down, patting the stone with her palms. “Mama, where’s Guff?”  She asked. “Guff’s gots to got fishies.”

Slowly, Xena sat down, extending her long legs on either side of Gabrielle’s seated form. Then, in silence, she wrapped both her arms around the bard’s torso and exhaled.

“Guff will have lots of fishes where he is, sweetheart.” Gabrielle leaned back against the warrior’s body. She could feel the heat of Xena’s fever through her clothes, and the rasp of her breathing was almost painful. “You’re going to stay here with mama and Boo, and we’ll find Guff when we’re done having fun here. Okay?”

Dori considered. “Otay.” She scrambled around and started rooting in Gabirelle’s bag, coming out with Flamball. “Go get fishes.” She got up and headed for the water basin. “Go go go go go….”  With a happy warble, she tossed Flameball into the basin, then climbed in after him, splashing around with a delighted squeal.

Xena sighed.

“Well.” Gabrielle slowly rubbed her partner’s leg. “At least it’s shallow.”

“Uh huh.” Xena rested her cheek against the bard’s head. Her eyes slid shut.

“Xe?” The bard turned her head, and studied the drawn profile so close to her. “Why don’t you go lie down, and I’ll bring some soup over to you when it’s done?”

“Then I gotta move.” The warrior uttered. “Don’t wanna.”

Well, Gabrielle was finding her living backrest pretty darn comfortable, for that matter. She decided it couldn’t hurt for them just to sit quietly for a while, waiting for her soup to brew up and watching their daughter play in her impromptu bath.

A thought occurred to her. “How are you doing in here?” She asked her partner, remembering the conflict that had lead Xena into this cavern in the first place.

“Uh?” Xena didn’t seem to understand the question for a second.

Guess it must not be a problem. Gabrielle started unlacing one of Xena’s boots. She could feel the skin beneath the thick leggings, warm and dry to her touch.

“I’m all right.” The warrior murmured. “Bothered me coming down the shaft, but now it’s okay.”

The bard continued unlacing. She loosened the leather around Xena’s calf, then she tugged the boot completely off.

To her surprise, a coin fell out, clattering softly on the rock, then rolling to a halt near Xena’s knee. “You have a hole in your belt pouch, hon?”

Xena rested her chin on Gabrielle’s shoulder and observed the coin. “Huh.” She reached down and picked it up, examining it. “Where in the Hades did this come from?”

Gabrielle looked at it. The metal piece was stamped with an unfamiliar sigil, and as she turned it over, she could just make out a lion’s head on the reverse.  “I haven’t seen this one before.”

“I have.” Xena frowned. “But not for a long time. It’s from Sparta.”

“Sparta?” Gabrielle repeated. “Xena we haven’t been near Sparta for… gods, have we ever been near Sparta?”

“You haven’t.” The warrior said. “As for me… it’s been a while.” Xena took the coin and studied it. “Very strange.” She said. “Very… very strange.”

The bard drummed her fingers on the inside of Xena’s knee. “Could… we have maybe picked it up in Athens?” She hazarded. “And it was folded inside one of your tunics, or…”

“Ah.” Xena sniffed. “Yeah, could be.”  She took a breath, then regretted it as it triggered a coughing jag. “Ow.”

“Hang in there, tiger.” Gabrielle started working on the other boot, now that their momentary mystery seemed to be solved. Her soup had started to steam gently, and she could smell the spices in it. Her stomach rumbled in reaction, making her take a hand off Xena’s laces and reach for her bag.

Xena beat her to it, retrieving an apple and handing it over. “Here.” The warrior teased hoarsely. “You’re making my ears ring.”

“Tch.” Gabrielle took a bite of the apple, chewing the sweet fruit then pausing as she felt the sharpness of a seed in her mouth. With a mischeivious look, she tilted her head carefully to one side and extended her tongue slightly, daring Xena to remove the seed.

Xena glanced up at Dori, who was busy trying to drown her toy, then she gracefully dipped down and twined her tongue with her soulmate’s , deepening the contact as she removed the appleseed and took it into her own mouth.

She could sense the tingle in her guts, despite her illness, and with a rakish grin she swallowed the seed, returning to rest her forehead against Gabrielle’s.

“Y’know, that could be dangerous.” Gabrielle allowed herself to simply enjoy the moment. She poked her partner gently. “If you start craving honey on your fish, don’t blame me.”

Xena chuckled. “You’ll be the one craving.” She reminded the bard. “And it’ll certainly be your damn fault.”

Gabrielle chortled wearily. “We shouldn’t joke about that.” She turned her gaze to Dori. “She’d be so pissed if we gave her competition for our attention.”

“Mama.” Dori held up her now sadly dripping stuffed animal. “West. Ick. No good.”

The bard sighed ruefully. “Okay, honey. Now you have to let him dry or he’s going to smell like Guff when he gets wet.”

“Foo.” Dori’s tiny nose wrinkled.

“Okay.” Gabrielle tugged Xena’s other boot off, then she reluctantly released herself from her partner’s hold and got carefully to her knees. “Let’s get some dinner, then…” She had to pause, wincing.

“Then we rest.” Xena finished. “Be the first damn decent sleep for me in a week.”

Gabrielle patted her sock covered foot. She tweaked the toe she felt underneath there, and it wiggled. “You got it, partner. “  She climbed to her feet and headed for the wet, bedraggled toy and it’s equally soaked owner. “C’mon, bandit baby. Time to be good.”

“Good.” Dori sloshed out of the basin and pattered over to Xena, throwing herself into her buddy’s arms. “Booo!”

Xena and Gabrielle exchanged glances. Then Xena just smiled and shook her head.

**

“What are you doing?” Gabrielle was lying on her stomach, her head resting on a makeshift pillow. She could feel Xena manipulating parts of her back, but not being able to see her partner was giving her a twitch.

“I’m drawing a picture of a cross-eyed sheep on you.” Xena muttered, shifting a little and making the bed’s leather under strapping creak in protest.

“Ah.” The bard accepted the very mild rebuke with a smile. “Make sure you draw the tail going down, not up, Xena. You know I hate that.”  She felt a light tickle across her spine, and knew it was reassurance.

She put her head back down on her arm and tried her best to relax.  Dori was taking a nap in her folding cradle, and they all had full bellies from the pot of soup she’d made.  Even Xena had gotten down three bowls of it, and the hot liquid had eased her throat and made her voice sound almost normal.

It felt good to be lying down, not hungry, not cold, not wet, in the presence of her family, and safe. Gabrielle let out a very slow breath, her fingers ruffling the familiar furs they had brought with them. “Mm.” She felt a gentle easing across her shoulderblades, and just that quickly, something changed and a wave of sensation spread across her shoulders and down both arms. “Oo.”

“Felt something?’

“Yeah.” Gabrielle flexed one hand. “Strange. Not bad, just…”

“Was it like running warm water over your hands when you’re cold?”

Gabrielle thought about that. “Yeah, sort of. Just a tickling kind of feeling. It’s gone now, but.. “ The bard carefully arched her back, and rocked her head a little. “Wow, that feels much better. What’dja do?”

Xena sighed, easing down onto her side and wrapping her body around Gabrielle’s. “It’s what I’m going to do now that should be worrying you.”

One green eyeball rotated to watch her. “Oh?”

The warrior pulled her into a snug, secure hold. “I’m gonna make sure you don’t budge until that starts healing.”

Gabrielle found herself held quite still. “Ah.” She said. “That means I have to stay here?”

“Yes.”

“With you?”

“Yes.”

“In this bed?”

“Uh huh.”

“Hot piggy wonks.” The bard nestled closer to her. “Let’s just hope Dori keeps snoozing.”

“Hm.” Xena tucked a bit of the pillow under Gabrielle’s head, tilting it straighter. “Damn thing’s not as bad as I thought it might be. You’ve just got a lot of stress there, and it’s sore.”

Gabrielle felt her eyes start to drift closed. “I think that sort of describes me all over.” She admitted. “I’ve been in knots for so long I’m forgetting what it feels like to just be bored and normal.” Her fingers twined with Xena’s. “Kinda sad, huh?”

Xena used her free hand to stroke the bard’s upper arm. Now that she’d satisfied herself about how bad Gabrielle’s injury was she felt a lot more relaxed, and even the uncomfortable congestion in her head and chest seemed to ease.  “Nah.” She murmured. “It’s natural, Gabrielle. It was tough in that damn valley.”

“Mm.” Gabrielle made a small noise of agreement. “But we’ve been through tough times before, Xena. I never…” She fell silent for a bit. “I’ve never felt this… shaken up before.”

Was it true? The warrior puzzled over the words.

“You know what?” Gabrielle broke into the silence after a bit.

“What?”

“Remember the last time we were here?” The bard said. “No, I don’t mean do you remember it, obviously we both do, but I remember something you said, just before the fight with Secan.”

Xena thought back to that time. It was hard, like it always was for her to think about those golden months between the deepening of their relationship and the breaking of it. Everything seemed to have happened to someone else, someone she barely remembered sometimes.

“You told me you were too scared to fight.”

Xena’s eyebrows hiked up invisibly.  I did? “Ah.”

“You said the risk was so much greater for you, it made it hard for you to do what you needed to do. Remember that?”

Vaguely.  “Yeah.” The warrior replied.

“Maybe that’s how I feel.” Gabrielle said. “I… I mean, I always knew we took risks, Xena. I’m not an idiot.”

“No.” Xena rubbed her shoulder comfortingly.

“Maybe now, though, the risks mean more. I don’t..” The bard exhaled. “I don’t think I’ve become a coward, but I don’t know if I can keep…” She shook her head. “I don’t know what I’m trying to say.”

“You value what you have in your life and don’t want to lose any of it.” Xena replied succinctly.

“Mm.”

“It’s natural, Gabrielle.”

Slowly, the bard rolled over inside Xena’s embrace so they were facing each other. She rested her hand on Xena’s hip, and studied her face with quiet intensity. “I know it is.” She said. “It’s a completely normal thing for anyone with a lick of sense to feel.”

Xena nodded.

“But we’re not normal people with licks of sense.”

Xena sighed. “I know.”

Gabrielle tucked her head into the hollow of the warrior’s shoulder. “Heroes aren’t supposed to be selfish.”

Weren’t they?  Xena considered the question.  She supposed not,  Certainly, Hercules had never seemed selfish to her, but then again, she knew herself intimately, and she knew damn well she was far from selfish, so did that mean heroes just didn’t admit to it, or did it mean she just wasn’t one?

“The thought of risking you…”

“Me?” Xena interrupted mildly. “I’m not the one who was being pushed off ledges.”

Gabrielle just looked at her. “You know what I mean.”

Xena hugged her. “I know.”  She said again, with another sigh. “There is no good answer to that, and we both know it.”

The bard did know it. “Ah well. Maybe I just need a couple days to chill out.” She admitted. “I get really cranky when I’m hurting.”

Privately, Xena didn’t think so.  In fact, she thought it was possible it was time they turned their path towards home, and spent some time in the familiar confines of Amphipolis. It was one thing to have them two of them out wandering the world by themselves, but like it or not, they were a family now and they had responsibilities to each other, and to Dori that all the heroic rationalizations in the world would not change.

Strangely, it didn’t seem to bother her nearly as much as it was bothering Gabrielle.  Was there still that core of impressionable young kid inside her partner, that chunk of idealism that was getting chipped away through experience?

Xena studied Gabrielle’s profile, dimly seen in the firelight.  Then she smiled wryly to herself.  Yeah. “You’ll be all right.” She told the bard. “Get some rest.”

Gabrielle rubbed her thumb against her partner’s breastbone. “Are you going to be okay?” She asked, in a very low tone. “I’ve never seen you sick like this before.”  Her eyes lifted again, and they gazed somberly at each other.  “Y’know I’m a lot more worried about you than I am about me.”

“Likewise.” Xena smiled rakishly.

The bard had to smile back, but she pressed her lips against Xena’s shoulder a moment later. “I was serious.”

“I’ll be fine, love.” The warrior told her. “I need what you need. Rest.”

Gabrielle exhaled, a warm stream against Xena’s skin. “Promise?” she asked, after a pause.

“Promise.” Xena replied at once.

“Umph.” The bard grunted in some contentment, nestling closer and relaxing. After a minute, though, she lifted her head up again. “Y’know, I was talking to Wennid about this bond thing, Xena, and she explained all about that sharing energy thing and..”

“Gabrielle.” Xena interrupted her. “I love you.”

“Mm.” The bard blinked a few times. “I love you too.” She murmured. “Does that mean, Gabrielle, shut up?”

Xena chuckled soundlessly.

“I can’t help it. My mind’s all whacked out.” Gabrielle told her. “This stuff just keeps going over and over angb….mm.”  She had to stop talking as Xena’s lips covered hers.  A feather light touch drifted over her cheek, then Xena’s hand slowly moved down her shoulder and came to rest on her side.

“Let it go.” Xena whispered in her ear. “We’re all right.”

Gabrielle felt a certain tension in her relax at that. “Okay.”  She settled herself into the circle of Xena’s arms and surrendered to the exhaustion that was making her mind run in circles.  Xena had things under control.

She could trust that.

Her eyes closed, her body already giving in and slumping against her partner’s as she let go of the strangling anxiety knotting her guts.  Her heartbeat slowed, coming to match Xena’s, and she found herself breathing in the warrior’s rhythm despite her illness.

The world slipped away from her.

Xena felt Gabrielle drop into sleep, and she released a slight sigh of relief. Now that the bard was asleep, she could get rid of the nagging worries in her own head and compose herself to join her soulmate in the healing rest she knew they both desperately needed.

Something was chewing at her, though, and she spent a few precious moments rooting it out. It wasn’t about her own illness, or about the bard’s injury – nor was it concern about where they would go from here.

It was a coin.

While she’d agreed with Gabrielle’s suggestion that they’d picked up the coin in Athens, she knew perfectly well that if she’d had a Spartan coin in her belongings, she’d have known about it. Unlike Gabrielle, who tended to stick all kinds of things in her bags, and even more so when Dori was with them – Xena did not.  What was in her kit, was what she put in her kit, and every item in it had a purpose.

Well. The warrior stretched her body out, then curled it around Gabrielle’s again. Except for those little notes, and the honey balls. But everything else, strictly business.

So, where had that coin come from?

The fire’s embers had burned a little lower, before they no longer reflected off a pair of pale blue eyes finally closed in sleep.

**

Gabrielle woke in total darkness.  She opened her eyes, then almost panicked when even after blinking them the room remained inky black.  Instinctively, she turned her head towards where she knew the fireplace was, and strained, but there wasn’t even a hint of a glow from it.

“Okay.” She whispered to herself. “Don’t lose it.”

“Mama?”

The bard nearly levitated off the bed as the high warble sounded right near her. “Dori?”

“Mama, no see. Bck.”

Okay.  Gabrielle exhaled in relief. At least she wasn’t blind. “I know, honey. Let me get up and fix it, huh?” She laid her hand over the warm, powerful one draped over her side, reassured by the feeling of normal body temperature she felt there. “Xe?”

For a long moment, there was no answer. Then the tall body shifted, and Gabrielle felt it acquire tension as Xena woke in the same darkness she had.  “Easy, tiger. Fire’s out.”

“Ungh.” Xena grunted softly. “Dark.”

“Boo!’ Dori heard her buddy’s voice. She pattered around to the other side of the bed and tugged on the warrior’s shirt. “Boo! Hungry!”

Gabrielle felt her body being released from Xena’s hold, the touch only reluctantly retreating from her skin. “Okay, hold onto your little booties there, Ms. Doriana.”  Carefully, she pushed herself upright and swung her legs over the side of the bed, feeling more than stiff. “Ooch.”

“You okay?” Xena’s voice sounded husky, but more from sleep than sickness.

“Yeah. I think parts of me are still sleeping.” Gabrielle stood up, stretching her body out cautiously. “Boy..” She yawned, as she felt her way across the room to the fireplace. “Yow!”

“Gab?”

“It’s cold!”

“What’s cold?” Xena asked, anxiously.

“The fire.”  Gabrielle laid her hand in the ashes, and shook her head. In the darkness, she felt around her and collected wood and tinder, laying it down from touch alone. “How long were we asleep?”

“Boo. Hungry!” Dori tugged again. “Go go go go go!”

“Shh.” Xena picked the child up and cradled her. “Hey.. where are your clothes, munchkin?”

“Foo.” Dori squirmed into her lap. “No good.”

How long had they slept? Xena felt her brow crease, then she blinked as sparks drew her attention to the fire. “Can’t tell day from night in here.”

“You can say that again.” Gabrielle blew gently on the fire, relieved when the friendly glow increased and chased the shadows back again.  She lifted her head and looked around, lifting a candle from the table and lighting it as well.

“Better.”

Gabrielle stood and walked to the bed, studying the figure lying in it. The pale blue eyes met hers unhesitatingly, and the bard felt a smile cross her face at the sight of the warrior in her shift, a naked Dori sitting placidly in her lap.  She put the candle down and sat on the bed, running her fingers through her hair. “Whew.”

Xena licked her lips. “Dry.” She cleared her throat a little.

“Yum.” Dori looked up at her. The child’s hair was in utter disarray, and she had a smudge of something across her cheek.  “Dark too long.”

Gabrielle pulled her bag over and dug inside it. She removed a trail bar and held it up, grinning when Dori abandoned Xena and scrambled across the bed to retrieve it.  “Here you go, sweetie. Chew on this until I can find something else for all of us.”

Dori grabbed the bar and broke it in half, then started eating it, dribbling crumbs everywhere. “Mm.”

Gabrielle watched her indulgently for a moment, then she glanced over at her soulmate. “How about some hot tea?”

Xena put her hands behind her head and stretched her body out. “Yeah.”  She wiggled her toes.

“Feeling any better?” The bard asked, curiously.

Blue eyes flicked to her. “Are you?”

Gabrielle cautiously rocked her head from side to side, and then extended her arms fully to either side. A pleased smile crossed her face. “Yeah… it’s still sore, but boy.. not like it was.” She let her hands drop. “But you know what?”

“You’re hungry.” Xena supplied, with a wry twinkle.

The bard chuckled.

“Me too.” Xena admitted. “My head’s not as stuffed, and my chest doesn’t feel as heavy.” She reported. “Think my fever broke, too.”

“You sound better.” Gabrielle felt a wonderful sense of relief flow through her.

‘So do you.” The warrior said.

Gabrielle got back up and carried her supply bag over to the fire. “So, now that our mutual mother henning session is over, how about some stew? I think I’ve got enough dried meat and roots here for that.”

Xena rolled over onto her side and propped her head up against  her hand. She played with Dori’s foot as the toddler finished her snack. “Sounds great to me.”  She tweaked a small toe. “Sound good to you, shortie? Want some stew?”

“Um.” Dori crawled over and squirmed against the warrior. “Boo talk good.”

“I do?” Xena tickled her, making the child wriggle and squeal. “You talk good too, Dori. How come you took your shirt off, huh?”

“Wet.”

Gabrielle looked at the water basin. It seemed dry, but she could see faintly damp patches near the edge of it. “Did you go swimming, Dori?”

Dori looked at her, puzzled. “Gibbon?”

“Did you go find fishes?” Xena prompted, pointing at the basin.

“Yes.” Dori nodded positively. “No fishes. No Guff. No Boo, no Mama. Dark. All bad.”

“Uh huh. So you went swimming.” The warrior curled her arm around her daughter and hugged her, leaning over to give her a fond kiss on the top of her dark head. “Next time, just wake us up and we’ll make it light again, okay?”

Dori clutched at her hand, looking up at Xena with adoring eyes. “Otay. Boo make good.”

Gabrielle dipped her pot in the water and returned to the fire, adding everything she could find in her bag to it and setting it on to cook.  It would be makeshift, but they were used to that, and she had a packet of thick, dark waybread and some cheese they could have with the hot stew.

In fact… She removed the packet and set it on the table, opening one part of the wrapping and removing a chunk. Sitting down, she nibbled on it while she watched Xena play with Dori and knew a sweet peace that had been evading her for the last while.

She was okay.  Xena was okay. Dori was being impossibly cute. Her world was coming back into focus and even as she sat there in this underground chamber, she could feel normality sneaking up on her and giving her a friendly hug.

“Mm.”  Gabrielle chewed her bread. Good stuff.  “Hey, Xe?”

“Hm?” Xena looked up from her tickling.

“How long would it take for that fire to burn all the way down? I’m trying to figure out how long we were out.”  Gabrielle asked, curiously.  “I was just thinking – when we used to camp out, you’d kill the fire before we packed, and I remember it stayed warm for a really long time.”

The warrior considered the question thoughtfully. “Hard to say.” She ventured. “Good fire… in stone.. I’d have figured it to last at least a day.”

“A day?”

Xena nodded. “Uh huh.”

“So.. we slept longer than a day?” Gabrielle asked, in mild disbelief.

The warrior shrugged one shoulder, lifting her hand and watching Dori swing from it. “We were due it.” She said, smiling at the child.  “We’re better for it. No problem.” Hooking their clothing bag with one foot, she pulled it over and removed a jumper for her daughter. With some difficulty, she stuffed the toddler into it and ruffled her hair.

The bard slid her chair closer to the fire, putting her feet up on the stone ledge as she stirred the contents of her stew pot.  The warmth of the new fire was uneven as yet, and she didn’t want the somewhat flaring wood to burn anything.  “Not a problem, no.” She said. “It just always surprises me.”

Xena rolled out of the bed, taking Dori with her. She wandered over to their kit and removed a leather covered flask from her bag, bringing it with her to the table. She set it down, then let Dori down to the floor.

“Mama…” Dori went over to where Gabrielle was sitting and put her hands on her mother’s thighs. “You gots cookies?”

“Cookies? Don’t you want breakfast first?” The bard asked.

“No.” Dori seemed puzzled at the question. “Cookies.”

Xena chuckled, shaking her head as she took out two cups from her bag and put them on the table. She unstopped the flask and poured some of the contents into each cup.

“Ah, I see you’ve been hanging around your Boo too much, eh?” Gabrielle fished another trail bar from her bag and handed it over. “Here. These are almost as good as cookies.”

Dori accepted the bar and sat down to munch it.  “No loud here. Good.” She commented.

Gabrielle cocked her head. It was quiet within the cavern. There were noises far off, water, and perhaps some bits of rock falling, but the rock insulated them from most of the world outside.  She spared a moment to imagine what it might have been like for it’s makers, tucked here away from the dangers of the world together.

She wondered what they would think, of her and Xena here in their space. In their home. The scrolls had shown her a pair who had much in common with them, and for a moment she wished she could have met them.

Talked to them. She wondered what Ardwyn would have thought of her, of someone who could look her in the eye and say with all honesty that she understood all that she’d been through.

“Here.” Xena handed her over a cup.

Gabrielle took it and sipped, tasting the heady wine and smiling at the mild burn as she swallowed it.  She extended her cup to Xena and waited for the warrior to touch her own to it. “Here’s to another dawn, after another storm, with you and me in a safe port.”

The warrior inclined her head in acknowledgement. “Might even be dawn.” She allowed, with a smile.  “Later on we can go up and find out, and get some supplies.”

“Sounds good to me.” Gabrielle stirred her pot again, sniffing at the steam as the ingredients started to cook.  “Maybe we can get a fish for dinner.”

“Fishies!” Dori perked up.  “C’n I go play with the fishies, mama?”

“Not right now, sweetie.” Gabrielle told her. “Later.  You can go help Boo catch some fishes later, okay?”  She stifled a yawn, and sipped her wine as she regarded her bare feet on the ledge. “You know what?”

Xena had leaned back, resting one bare knee against the table. “What?”

“I like it here.”

Xena wasn’t surprised to hear that. Though she wasn’t fond of being incased in this much rock, she knew the security of it was appealing to Gabrielle’s ragged nerves and she frankly didn’t much blame her.  A few days respite wouldn’t hurt them.  “Sure beats the inside of a bush.”  She commented.

Gabrielle swirled her cup and smiled as she gazed into it. “It’s like being in our cabin, only without all the hectic mess at home.”  She said. “You know?”

Dori finished her trail bar and returned to pester Xena, tugging on the warrior’s arm in an attempt to clamber up onto her lap. “Bbbbbooooooo….”

Xena picked her up and circled her with one arm. “That’s me.” She agreed. “Whatcha think, shortie. You like it here??”

“Like it.” Dori repeated amiably. “Boo like?”

The warrior looked around her, at the high cavern ceiling and the sense of far off exoticness that the decorations and furniture raised in her.  The culture she’d found in the scrolls Gabrielle had rescued had intrigued her, and there were bits of evidence of that all over this cavern.

Well, Xena reasoned, she hadn’t had much of a chance to really look the place over before. Might be a good opportunity right now, right? “Boo likes.” She answered Dori’s question. “Boo thinks we can have lotsa fun here if we try.”

Dori giggled. “Fun!”

Xena smiled at her, then lifted her eyes and gave the watching Gabrielle a slight nod.

Gabrielle nodded back, in complete understanding. The she turned her head and gave the stew a mix with her spoon, the firelight outlining her profile in gilded crimson.

What would Elevown have thought, Gabrielle wondered, about Xena?  Would she resent having someone in her home who would have challenged her on her own terms? Or would she have found in the warrior a kindred spirit?

Ah well. The bard settled back with her cup, enjoying the warmth of the fire, and the peace of the moment. It was something she’d never know, but a question that bore endless wondering about.

Maybe there was even a story in there, somewhere inside her, that might even ponder an answer.

Gabrielle wiggled her toes, and smiled.

**

Xena stepped back and studied the results of her efforts.  All the lamp sconces had now been lit in the chamber, and the somewhat threatening interior had warmed into a golden friendliness.  What she had discovered was that the hollowed out space in the rock was larger than she’d initially thought – in addition to the big main area, she’d found three other smaller rooms, irregular in size, that had been taken over by the cavern’s original occupants and made into living space.

She still wasn’t feeling that great, so she limited her exploration to lighting the old oil lamps, using the oil she’d found in clay flasks buried in the back of one of the chambers.  Back in the central area, she could just hear Gabrielle’s voice as she told Dori a tale,  and she smiled as she heard the child giggle at whatever it was her mother was telling her.

Probably some dumb thing she, Xena, had done.  The warrior ducked her head around a bit of rock wall, and discovered yet another passageway.  After a moment of debate, she decided to postpone any further investigation and retreated back to where her family was.  “If I hear the word chicken, someone’s in big trouble.”  She said, as she entered the chamber.

Gabrielle looked up, the firelight glistening off her pale hair as she paused in mid word, caught virtually red handed.

Dori giggled. “Codoodle doo!”

“Uh oh.” The bard chuckled. “C’mon, Xe. It’s one of her favorite stories.”

Xena exhaled in mock aggrievance, slumping down into the seat next to her soulmate.  “Remind me to thank my mother when we get home for that.”

Gabrielle reached over and gave Xena’s knee a tweak. “It’s an adorable story.”

“I don’t hear you telling her about you and that pig.” Xena gave her a pointed look.

The green eyes twinkled. “One of the perks of being the bard in the family.”

Xena shook a finger at her, unable to repress a smile as Gabrielle stuck her tongue out in return.  With a sigh, the warrior sat back, letting her head rest against the back of the chair and easing one leg over the arm of it.

“Ready for more tea?”

Xena shrugged. “Not really.”

Gabrielle studied her partner. “Bored?”

A dark eyebrow quirked in her direction. “Do I look bored?”

“Uh huh.”

Xena rolled her head to one side and regarded her. “I am. I just don’t have the energy to do anything about it.”  She admitted.

Gabrielle bounced Dori on her knee a little, and gave her partner a sympathetic look. “Give it a few days, Xe.  It usually takes me a few weeks to get over this when I have it.”

The warrior studied the walls around her, a thoughtful look on her face. “Know what I was thinking before?”  She said. “Maybe it’s not being sick.”

The bard frowned. “Huh?”

Dori climbed off Gabrielle’s lap and went over to Xena, taking hold of her boot and sitting down on the warrior’s foot.

Xena flexed her thigh, giving the delighted child a ride.  “Ever since I got out of that damn hole, it’s felt like something was… missing.”  She lifted her hand and let it fall. “Maybe I traded something for moving that rock.”

Gabrielle curled up in the chair and rested her weight on one arm of it, watching her partner intently. “Traded what?”

Xena’s eyes went to Dori, then she lifted them and looked directly at Gabrielle.

“Puh.” The air came right out of Gabrielle and she blinked, caught totally by surprise.

The warrior went back to watching her daughter, reaching a hand out for Dori to catch as she rode up and down, giggling. She knew she’d shocked the bard, but she also knew the thought had been weighing on her and she was glad she let it out into the air.

What did it mean, if it were true? Xena remembered how difficult their escape from the valley had been, and how she’d felt doing it. As much as she’d always wanted to credit her fighting skills to pure guts and practice, she was now faced with the possibility that part of them had, indeed, been part of some more than human heritage.

“Gods, Xena.” Gabrielle finally spoke. “Are you saying you think the price you paid for getting out of that trap alive was…”  She looked at the warrior.  “But wait a minute. That makes no sense.”  She said. “Why should you have to give up anything for that, Xena? It’s not like you’re owed anything.”

Dori climbed up her leg and tumbled into her lap. Xena caught the child and hugged her, a wry smile on her face. “I dunno.” She looked up. “I just know how I feel. Not right.”

“Well, sweetheart, you’re sick.” The bard stated the obvious. “You were almost too sick to walk before we got here. Why don’t you give yourself a few days to get well before you start thinking stuff like this?”

It made sense. Xena knew it made sense. She also knew she was probably being alarmist for no real reason, and she had a faint suspicion that some small part of her was looking for just the reassurance that Gabrielle had given her.

Ew.  Xena got a grip on her ego and kicked it sharply.  “Yeah.” She chuckled and half shrugged. “You know how much I hate being sick.” She sat Dori on her lap and held a hand up to her. “Play pat me, Dor?”

Dori pounded both her small hands against the warrior’s much larger one. “Go! Go Go GO!”

Gabrielle sat back, watching them.  Xena’s admission had disturbed her, but as she’d chastised her partner she was willing to wait out Xena’s illness before she looked at it any further.

Besides. The thought came, despite her best intentions. Even if it were true, it was a trade off she, at least, could not.. would not regret.  Gabrielle rested her cheek against the chair back.  “Hey, Xe?”

The warrior looked up, and met her eyes over Dori’s head.  A tiny quirk appeared at the corners of her lips. “Yeah, I know. Innkeeper in Amphipolis.”

Unexpectedly, a broad grin split Gabrielle’s face. “You remember me saying that?”

“I remember everything you say. I have… “ Xena clasped both of Dori’s hands in hers. “Many skills.” She concluded. “Dori, how about you stay here with Mama and find out about the rooster and I’ll go get us something for dinner.”

“Codoodle doo!” Dori squealed. “Boo, c’n I come wif you to gots fishes? Pweese?”

“Why don’t you let me..” Gabrielle started, then stopped as she watched Xena get up with Dori in her arms. “I thought you said you were tired?”

“I did.” The warrior readily admitted. “I’m just going to go a little ways from the ledge. I saw some big geese near the lake. Maybe I can bag one. “

“Geese?” Gabrielle took Dori from her, not without a protest from the toddler. “Honey, Boo isn’t going for fishes. She’ll take you for them later, okay?”

“No fishies?”

“Geese.” Xena lifted her chakram off the table and held it up. “Grab a handful of herbs, and we’re all set. No sweat.”  She made her way towards the long rock corridor that led through the myriad of traps to the entrance. “G’wan – that way I don’t have to hear about that rooster.”

Gabrielle sat back down with Dori, watching until Xena’s tall figure disappeared into the shadows. Then she looked at her daughter. “Okay, where was I?”

Dori settled down and stuck her thumb into her mouth. “Codoodle doo! Go bite Boo!”

“Shh.” The bard glanced over her shoulder.  Her guts were still churning over Xena’s words, and she spent a moment fiercely debating whether or not she should go after her partner despite everything.  It wasn’t that she doubted Xena’s ability to take care of herself, but… “You know what, Dori?”

“Mama?”

“Do you think you and I should go find some berries while Boo is getting dinner?”

“Bebbies? Yes!” Dori’s eyes lit up. “Go mama!”

“Yeah.” Gabrielle murmured. “Go mama.”  She got up and retrieved one of Dori’s carry sacks. “Look at it this way, Xena… at least I’m not telling her how you got bit in the butt by a bird.”

**

Xena paused as she got to the top of the long, steep hole that led down into the cavern.  A wooden ladder had been left in the cave, and she’d lowered it down so they could descend, then drawn it down after them so no one could easily follow.

Now she stopped near the top of it, her hand resting on the rock slab that covered the opening. On the inside bottom was a carved handhold worn by the years and she fit her fingers around it, listening past the stone from long habit.

The climb up had taxed her slowly returning strength, and she used the moment of caution to catch her breath before she continued.

Part of her knew she was doing this just for pride’s sake. They had finished an entire pot of stew just a few hours before, and there were any number of things she could have scrounged other than the somewhat difficult to capture and wary birds.

Trying to prove you can provide for your family despite everything, Xena? Her conscience mocked her. Tch.

Oh well. With a sigh, the warrior pushed aside the rock and cautiously poked her head up through the hole in the rock. There was daylight coming in from the cave entrance, and it provided a good enough view to determine that it was safe to emerge.

So she did.  She got to her feet outside the hole, then used a boot to slide the rock cap back into place.  A gust of fresh, cold air blew in, and she went to the cave entrance, blinking in the sunlight as the  breeze blew her hair back.

It felt good.   Xena looked out over the open space, and had to admit that part of her restlessness was also from being under the rocks.  Certainly, she was far more comfortable than she had been on her last visit – many hours of patient, secretive visits to small caves near Amphipolis had seen to that – but even with the comforts of the cavern her heart still felt more at ease aboveground.

Hm.  Xena planned her route down to the meadow they’d left Argo and Ares in.  She started down the steep path, her boots sliding just a little on the loose bits of slate.  Her eyes flicked around her, studying the approach carefully, then moving on down to the bit of plateau as she decided she was satisfied everything was untouched and no immediate danger threatened.

And yet. Halfway down, Xena felt her nape hairs prickle.  She stopped and put her back to the wall, extending her senses in all directions.

Nothing.

Was her illness blunting her hearing and sense of smell enough to prevent her detecting something, or were her nerves still so jangled they were giving off false warnings?

Neither option appealed to her.  She stayed quiet and still, only her eyes  moving for a very long  moment. Then she spotted Argo down on the plateau, placidly cropping grass.

Her shoulders relaxed.  “Nerves.” She gave her head a small shake, and continued on her way. She trusted Argo’s instincts even more than her own, and especially now, more so.  All the same, she decided to get her errand done without any delay, and head back inside.

No sense in taking chances.

Right?

**

Xena spent a few minutes with her arms draped over Argo’s back anyway, enjoying the warmth of the mare’s body as she faced into the cool breeze. She listened intently, stretching her senses out and catching the faint sounds of birds, and small animals in the scrubby forest around the plateau they were standing in.

Nothing really out of place. A soft rattle of rocks intruded, but then it stilled, and wasn’t repeated. With a satisfied grunt, Xena turned and gave Argo a scratch behind the ears before she started towards the small lake near one end of the grass.

Io was grazing near the trees, and as she approached he lifted his head and whickered at her in welcome.

“Hey boy.” Xena greeted the stallion with a smile.  She had picked up her cloak before she’d left the cavern, and now she appreciated it’s solid warmth even despite the sun arcing overhead.  Though she hadn’t lied to Gabrielle about her improving health, she realized wryly that she still had a ways to go before the illness released it’s grip on her.

Giving Io a pat, she eased past him and went to the edge of the water, finding a moss covered rock to sit on as she reviewed her avian options.  The lake was small, but several birds were paddling around in it, none really large enough for her to bother with.

Then, as though arranged for her benefit, a flock of geese winged in over the trees and settled on the surface of the water in a brief klaxon of cries and splashes.  They were all large birds, and Xena amused herself by imagining the rich, spicy taste that Gabrielle would coax out of whichever one she caught.

And, the bird would supply quills for the bard. Xena perked up at this additional plus to her plan.  She eased her legs over the outer edge of her rock and let them dangle, removing her chakram from her belt and running her fingers over it’s smooth surface.

“Okay.” She addressed the geese. “Now, how do I do this, and not get wet?”  An idea occurred to her, and she re-settled the chakram on it’s clip and simply sat there, resting her elbows on her thighs and letting the peace of the forest settle over her.

It had always been a paradox for her. Xena knew herself to be restless and impatient, quick to act and very slow to wait for anyone or anything.  And yet, as a hunter, she was patience itself, giving nature as much time as it needed to become accustomed to her presence so that she could become a part of it long enough to grab herself some dinner.

So now she kept her breathing slow and even, hearing only the faintest rattle in it as several dead leaves clattered down around her and lodged in the folds of her cloak.

The rippling water almost brushed the soles of her boots.

Off to her left, a cicada resumed it’s chirping. Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted a squirrel, keeping one wary eye on her as he scampered down the nearest tree and started hunting in the leaves below it for some nuts.

The geese started drifting across the lake, dipping their beaks below the surface as they searched for small plants underwater.  Two of them circled near where Xena was sitting, and as the warrior remained motionless, they skimmed closer to investigate the algae clustered near the rock she was perched on.

Still, Xena waited. Even when the two geese came inches from her boots, their heads almost brushing the leather, she stayed perfectly still, allowing nature to encompass her.

Then her hands flicked out, so fast they were a blur and she closed her fingers around the two long necks, breaking them so quickly they didn’t even have a chance to realize what was happening.

Xena exhaled, glad she’d been able to suppress the cough that had started to build inside her chest. Her motions had been so swift, the rest of the flock had remained oblivious to what was going on, and nature was still going about it’s business all around her.

And it was in that moment, with her hunter’s senses still engaged, that she detected something out of place. Something she’d missed before, without the focus her chore had required of her.

It was a faint pattern, not even a sound or a smell, just a motion in the natural world that seemed to her just slightly out of the rhythm she expected. Very slowly, she transferred both geese to her left hand and let her right hand drop to her chakram, cursing inwardly the fact that she’d left the rest of her weapons inside the cavern.

Inside the forest, with all the trees – the chakram would be a chancy defense.

But wait. Xena collected herself. Why assume whatever was out there was an enemy? Ready to attack her? Maybe it was a bear, one of which she’d encountered on her last visit, just stocking up like she was.  Giving herself a shake, the warrior slowly stood, lifting her prizes from the water and swinging them clear so they would not drip and alarm the rest of the flock.

She stepped off the rocks and started back up the path, though she kept both geese firmly clamped in one hand just in case.

Just in case. Even bears needed to be defended against, and she had faint scars to prove that point.  Xena emerged into the grassy area, her eyes flicking over it and locating the two horses immediately. They were both standing together on the far side from where she was, and their heads were up as though they were watching something.

Watching, but not alarmed. In fact, Xena saw Io bob his head in a characteristic way that meshed with the prickling of her other senses that identified what the animals were looking at.

“Figures.”  Xena  twitched her cloak straight and continued across the open space. She’d made it halfway when another cloaked figure entered her field of vision and went to the horses, both of whom seemed very glad to see the newcomer.

Not surprisingly. Gabrielle almost always had treats in her pockets for the animals, and she had Dori with her who also almost always had some bit of carrot or root as well.

Xena didn’t try to make excuses for her soulmate’s presence, despite the basket slung over her arm.  “Hey.” She walked up behind then horses, sliding between them and coming face to face with her partner.  “I thought you were going to wait inside.”

Gabrielle scrubbed Io behind his ears. “Well, I was, but then I thought how great those geese would taste with that blackberry sauce I figured out at home, so I went to find some.”

“Uh huh.” Xena nodded gravely. “Did ja?”

The bard held up her basket. “Yep.” She looked down. “And I see you got the geese. Great. We’re all set.” She glanced back over her shoulder. “Right Dori?”

Bright eyed, Dori peered over at Xena, her fingers clutching Io’s mane. “Boo! Mama gots big yum!”

Xena looked past them. “Were you over there looking?” She pointed.

“No.” Gabrielle shook her head, frowning. “That way.” She turned and indicated a low, brushy area just behind them. “Why?”

“Mm.” Had she been hearing things?  Xena found the uncertainty maddening.  “Thought I heard something over in the woods there.” She admitted. “Probably wasn’t anything. A bear, maybe.”

“Ah… a bear.” Gabrielle looked around with faintly nervous eyes. “That’s right. There are bears up here. I forgot about that.”  She moved closer to the warrior. “How about we take our booty back to the cave, hm? I know you beat up the bear last time up here but…”

“Yeah.” Xena gave Argo a slap on the shoulder. “You guys be careful, okay?” She instructed the horses.  “Run if you see any bears.”

Argo nickered and poked her in the back with her nose.

They walked up the rocky path towards the cavern entrance, moving from the grassy ground up to the granite slope that led steeply up.

“Boo, what you got?” Dori peered curiously down at the birds in her buddy’s fist.  “C’n I play with it?”

Xena felt an itching between her shoulderblades, and only just forced herself to keep walking and not look back.  “No, shortie. You can’t play with this. We’re gonna eat them.” She told the toddler. “Mama’s gonna make a good dinner out of them.”

“Dinner?” Dori asked. “Yum?”

“Yum.” Xena agreed.

“Xe?” Gabrielle’s voice dropped an entire octave.

“Yeah?”

“There’s someone watching us.”

“I know.”

“It’s not a bear.”

Xena kept walking, obscurely glad to have her own instincts validated by Gabrielle’s. “No, I don’t think it’s a bear.”  She replied evenly. “But they’re not getting any closer. We’d hear them on the path.”

“Forest dwellers?”

The warrior shrugged, then inhaled. “Maybe.”  She murmured. “When I was in the valley… I could hardly sense them.”

Gabrielle felt her mouth go dry.

“That’s how they kept sneaking up on me.” Xena continued. “I just couldn’t focus on them, most of the time.”

“So you think..”

“No. I could pick up whoever’s back there.” Xena shook her head. “When I came out here, and then again when I was by the lake.”

“Mama?”

Gabrielle tweaked Dori’s foot. “Shh,  sweetie. Boo’s doing her warrior thing.”

“Wawwior ting.” Dori put her head down on her mother’s shoulders. “Go Boo.”

“Are we safe in the cave?” Gabrielle asked, in a low voice.

Good question. Xena stepped around her partner as they reached the entrance, turning naturally and looking back the way they came as the bard walked past her into the darkness.  The path behind them was starkly empty, all the way back down to the grassy area they’d been standing in. Her eyes swept the forest near the water, glints of the sun off it’s surface just barely visible through the trees.

Nothing.

Damn it. Xena focused her vision on the dappled leaves, seeking to look past them, to find the mystery she could feel just at the edges of her awareness.  But the shadows kept their secrets and after a long, still moment, she turned and followed Gabrielle inside the cavern.

The cap to the chasm had been left open, and Gabrielle was starting down the ladder, her jaw tensed. Behind her, Dori looked around anxiously, seeming to sense the tension around her parents. She put her arms around her mother’s neck and didn’t utter a peep.

Xena waited for them to clear the opening, then she followed, sliding the cap in place and then feeling around for the catch she knew was there. It rasped against her fingers, then as she pressed, shot into place, locking the cap into the rock with an iron rod.

They moved downward in silence, until they reached the bottom, and were standing in the outer chamber outside the myriad of traps the clever Elevown had put in place to protect them.

“I wonder.” Gabrielle spoke suddenly, her hands on her hips. “If these guys were what she’d put these traps in place for?”  She looked around. “Because it was something she was afraid of, that’s for sure.”

A gust of wind from some unknown chimney fluttered the oil lamps, stirring their hair and cloaks with gentle force.

Xena’s eyebrow rose, and she pointed inward. “Good question.” She rasped softly. “Let’s go see if we can come up with some answers.”

Turning, they walked together through the uneven corridors, following the light back into a tenuous safety.

**

Continued in Part 12

Champion

Part 12

“Xena…”

“I have no idea.” The warrior extended her legs, watching Dori clamber over them.

Gabrielle straightened up and half turned, resting her hands on one knee. “Okay.”  She paused. “Are we facing one problem here, or a whole bunch of them?”

Xena propped her head up against one fist. “You mean, is whatever was watching us out there part of our original problem, or is it a new problem, or was it one of the problems in the valley I just didn’t know it?”

The bard blinked after a moment. “Something like that, yeah.”  Her eyes searched her partner’s face.

Xena exhaled, a puff of her breath moving the shaggy, dark hair over her forehead. “Ask me again in a candlemark.” She responded.

“Okay.” Gabrielle got the message. She sat down and started sorting the goose feathers she’d plucked from Xena’s quarry into piles by size. “Hon, I really do appreciate this, but we’re going to be carrying these things for years there are so many.” She commented, in a lighter tone.

“Write more.” Xena replied. “Change quills every page.”

A grin tugged at Gabrielle’s lips, and she gave into it. “How about if I dye them and use them to decorate your armor, instead?” She suggested. “I could really spice up those breastplates with them.”

Both of Xena’s eyebrows shot up, as Gabrielle picked up a particularly long specimen and twirled it in her fingers, winking at her partner with gentle playfulness.  It soothed the warrior’s rattled nerves, and as she watched Dori climb industriously up next to her, she was able to turn her attention to the bard’s original question.

Dori sat herself down on her buddy’s lap and pulled her stuffed toy over, content to sit and warble to it while her parents did other, less interesting things. She liked this place. It was fun, but she wished Guff were here to play with. Mama and Boo were busy doing stuff, and she couldn’t get them to play. She didn’t like that. She wanted Boo to fly, but Boo was owie, and she couldn’t.

Being dark had been fun, for a while. An aminal had come, a little one, but it got away when she chased it. Dori thought it might have been one of the kind mama didn’t like. She liked them, though, and she liked how they squeaked when she got hold of their tale. Guff liked them too. He played with them, sometimes. Guff was fun.

Boo made her leg itch. She pounded Boo with her hand, but it made her owie, since Boo’s leg was hard. Nobody was like that except Boo. Even the fuzzy people weren’t. Boo hugged her, and she stopped trying to pound Boo, because she didn’t want Boo to stop hugging. She liked that a lot. Sitting on Boo was fun, too, because Boo was always moving around and making her bounce. It was almost like flying.

Mama was playing with feathers. Dori wanted to help, but mama told her she could play with them later. That was all right, since she was getting a Boo-hug instead. She thought that mama would rather get Boo-hugged instead too, but she had to finish playing with the feathers first. Mama was like that. She didn’t always play first.  Dori didn’t really understand that, but she knew mama liked her feathers, and drawing pictures with them.

Mama played different than Boo. Dori liked playing with mama, because mama made everything into a story. Even when Guff did silly things, Mama would say why, and it was funny. Boo didn’t make stories at all. Boo just did things with her that were fun. It was all fun, just different.

She was glad Boo wasn’t so owie. She didn’t like that. She wanted Boo and Mama to be good and happy, so they would all have fun. Playing was fun, but sometimes she knew Boo and Mama didn’t want to play, they just wanted to be quiet. “Boo?”

Boo looked at her. Dori liked that, because Boo’s eyes were so pretty. They were like shiny rocks. “Boo, you no owie?”

Boo smiled at her. Dori liked that too.

“I’m all right, shortie.”

Dori liked Boo’s voice. It made her happy. “Good!”

Mama came over with a handful of the feathers and sat down.  Dori liked that a lot. Mama made it smell good inside, too. Dori was hungry, and so she really, really liked the good smell. She hoped Mama would finish soon.  Mama got real close and leaned against Boo, and made Boo itch with a feather. Boo made a noise, and it was funny.  Dori laughed. Mama laughed. Boo pretended to be mad, but Dori knew she was laughing too.

Boo was like that. She would go look all mad, and make a mean face, but Dori could always tell when it was a real mad, or if Boo was just being funny.  Boo’s pretty eyes were happy even when she made that mad face.

Like now.

It was good. Everything was good now.  Dori was glad Boo and Mama had come back from the owie place. That wasn’t good. Mama had been really mad. Dori had cried a lot, because Mama had been so mad, and so sad.  It had been scary.  Dori was glad it wasn’t scary anymore, and Boo and Mama were here.

It was good, now.  Dori sat on Boo’s lap and was happy.  Mama put her leg up on Boo’s lap and was happy too.

Boo stole Mama’s feather, and made Mama itch.

Everybody laughed and had fun.

“You think she knows what happened?” Gabrielle asked, as their chuckles wound down. “In the valley?”

“Nah.” Xena examined the feather in her clutches. “I think maybe… if anything.. she was reacting to what you were feeling. She’s your kid, y’know.”

“Our kid.” Gabrielle reminded her partner. “You think she can feel that like I can feel when you’re upset?”

The warrior studied her daughter, then shrugged one shoulder since the other was occupied with lots of bard’s head resting on it. “I dunno.  What do you say, munchkin?” She asked Dori. “Can you feel when your mama is sad?”

The innocent green eyes looked back at her. “Yes.” Dori answered, matter of factly. “Mama sad, Boo sad, no fun. All bad.”

Xena ruffled her fingers through Dori’s hair. “Well, we’ll try not to make you feel sad too much, okay?” She said. “Your mama and I don’t like being sad.”

“Isn’t that the truth.” Gabrielle kept one eye on the fire, where the two geese were roasting. “Know what I want, Xe?” She asked, after a moment’s pensive silence.

Xena didn’t even hesitate. “To go home?”

“You really do read my mind, don’t you?” The bard said, with a touch of wonder in her voice. “That’s exactly what I was thinking.” She watched Dori clasp one of her fingers. “Do you want to do that, Dor? Go home and see gramma, and your friends?”

“Gramma?” Dori perked up. “Go see gramma, get cookies!”

Xena chuckled. Gabrielle sighed. “Insatiable.” She turned and put the tip of her finger on Xena’s nose. “Don’t say it.”

Xena grinned at her, but obediently kept her lips pressed together.

“Go gramma, yes.” Dori warbled on. “Want to go and play with our fishes, bring Guff, go fast on Gogo, go simming in Boo’s baftub.”

“Hm.” Gabrielle regarded her. “So, that’s two votes.” She turned and looked at Xena. “What about you, Boo? Wanna go sit by our fire, and sleep in a comfortable bed for a while?” Her hand slipped, almost unconsciously, over to rest on the warrior’s shoulder and she rubbed the cloth covered surface with her thumb.

Bone shifted slightly under her touch. The muscles on either side of Xena’s neck relaxed, and Gabrielle felt her lean into the pressure in a motion she realized was as unconscious as hers had been.  She also realized that in feeling that tension ease, her own body responded in kind.

So much synergy. Gabrielle laid her cheek down on her soulmate’s shoulder. What would I do without her? Her mind held it’s breath over the sudden question. Gods.  She closed her eyes briefly, then opened them, pushing aside the dark thoughts.

Xena’s gaze slowly shifted to her face. The firelight cast so many shadows over her, it almost made her expression difficult to pick out. “Home sounds good.”  The warrior said, pausing to reflect on the words. “Sounds damn good, matter of fact.”

“Yeah?” The bard smiled at her. “All right, then. It’s unanimous.”

Unanimous. Xena nodded in sober agreement. Taking Gabrielle and Dori home made so much sense, she really didn’t have to think much about it. They’d been out on the road for a long time, it was getting to be winter…  She exhaled cautiously. Home always brought it’s own challenges, but she knew at a gut level it was something they all needed.

Even her? Xena felt a wry smile appear on her face. Yeah, even though she knew damn well as the weather cleared she’d be restless and itching to go out again.  She regarded her boots and wrapped her arm around Gabrielle’s shoulders, pulling her closer and wishing they were home already.

Damn it, she hated being sick.

“How’s your head?” Gabrielle asked.

“Stuffed.” Xena admitted.

The bard pressed her ear against Xena’s chest and listened. “Well, your breathing sounds better.”  She offered. “Not as rattly.”

Yeah. The warrior observed the fire. The pressure on her lungs had eased, but most of it had migrated to her head, producing a less life threatening, and yet, far more annoying complaint. It was even making her ears ring.

Which could explain why she hadn’t heard anything approaching them, right?  Xena had to confess it might indeed be so.  She struggled inwardly between the utter impatience she felt with the weakness of her body, and the niggling worry in the back of her mind that her escape from the mountain had cost her a certain part of herself that she’d come to depend on.

Finally, she decided the question would wait until she was well. And then? Xena leaned her cheek against Gabrielle’s pale hair. She’d deal with the question’s answer when she had to.

“Those bones are going to make a great soup after we eat the rest of it.” Gabrielle commented. “With the stuff I gathered on the way out to meet you, we’re all set for a few days.”

“Zoup?” Dori had been quietly playing with the ties on Xena’s cloak. “Mama, you gots pitty fowers.”

“That’s right.” Gabrielle lifted the handful of blooms out of the basket she’d taken outside. She selected one and brushed Xena’s jaw with it, tickling her and causing the warrior to open her eyes in question. “Look at this one, Dori. What’s it the same color as?”

Dori made a grab for the flower, but it was lifted just past her reach. “Mama!”

“Ah ah… what color?”  Gabrielle teased, twirling the flower in her fingers. “C’mon, Dori. What’s it like.”

Grunting, the toddler stood up on Xena’s thighs and went after her quarry, thumping against the warrior’s chest as she reached for the flower.

“Hey!” Gabrielle held the item higher, but Dori’s height and reach defeated her intentions. “Bad girl!” She said, sternly, as the small hand reached for hers.

Xena lifted her hand off Gabrielle’s shoulder and removed the bloom, holding it up over her own head. Dori looked up at it, then at her, then pouted.  The warrior grinned at her. “Now, be nice and answer your mama.” She instructed her daughter.

“Boo!” Dori clutched at her. “Want that!”

“Nope.”

“Boooooooooo!!!!!”

Xena found a silver lining at that moment in her clogged hearing. “No.” She gave Dori a direct look.

“Yes.” Dori gave her one right back.

Gabrielle found her eyes going from one to the other in fascination.

“Doriana.” Xena’s voice dropped into a rumble.

After a moment, Dori poked out her lower lip, but sat down on Xena’s lap again and kicked her bootied feet out. “Otay.” She said.

Xena ruffled her hair with her free hand. “Good girl.” She said. “You can’t always have what you want, Dori.”

Dori blinked at her.

“Until you’re big enough, anyway.” The warrior conceded., elicting a faint chuckle from her partner. “Till then, you gotta listen.”

“Otay.” Dori repeated. “C’n I have fower now?”

Gabrielle snorted softly, hiding her face in Xena’s shoulder for an instant, before she composed herself and cleared her throat. “Ah ah ah… you didn’t answer my question, Dori.” She retrieved her flower from it’s guardian and twirled it. “What’s this like?”

Dori looked at the flower for a few seconds, then threw her arm up and pointed at Xena’s face. “Boo!”

“Boo what?”

“Boo Boo Boo.. “ Dori got back up and pointed, getting a small finger dangerously close to Xena’s eyes. “Dere.”

“Good girl.” Gabrielle rewarded her with the flower, which got clutched in Dori’s fist.

The child sat down and started ripping the petals off, gleefully tossing them all over the two of them.  “Petty fower!”

“Yep.” Xena caught a petal in mid air, looking bemusedly at it.  “Your mama always finds the prettiest ones.”  She looked up as her cheek was unexpectedly warmed by Gabrielle’s touch, to find the bard nose to nose with her.

“I sure do.” Gabrielle tilted her head slightly, and then they were mouth to mouth, as they kissed. After a moment, the bard drew back, watching Xena’s eyes flutter open before she moved closer again, her fingers gently stroking the warrior’s skin as they spent a little time in idle passion.

Dori studied her now unpetaled flower, and waved it. “Gush.” She addressed her preoccupied parents. “Gush, gush gush!”

Gabrielle broke off and peered at her. “You say that now. Wait till you get older.”  She advised, turning to give Xena one more nip on the nose before she got up to turn the geese.

The warrior watched her go with gently smiling eyes.

**

Gabrielle bit absently on the end of her quill, studying the words she’d just finished putting on parchment.  Next to her on the couch, Xena was curled up asleep with Dori in her lap where the child had settled herself after they’d eaten.

It was an adorable picture, and the bard wished she had the skills to capture the image with her ink. Dori had her head resting on Xena’s shoulder, and just looking at the two of them she could see just how much her daughter was growing up already.

Once, Dori had fit inside the curl of Xena’s arm. Now the child sprawled over the warrior, arms draped around her neck, and lengthening legs extending down off Xena’s.

Long arms. Long legs. That mop of dark hair whose twin capped Xena’s head. And yet, Gabrielle could see herself clearly in Dori’s face and mannerisms and she found herself smiling at the combination.

Still smiling, she went back to her writing.

Well, after all that, it looks like we’re going home.  I’m not really sure how I should feel about that, but I know it’s something I want.  At first, I thought we could just stay here for a while, but I realized when we got back from finding dinner that I really miss Amphipolis.

Not really so much the place, but the people. I miss mom, and Johan, and Ephiny and the gang. I guess it’s like the old saying goes – you always want what you don’t have.  When I was there, I wanted to be out here. Now I’m out here, and what do you know? I want to go back there.

Maybe it means I’ll never be totally happy anywhere.

Gabrielle paused and reread her last sentence several times. Then she carefully dipped her quill into her ink pot and continued.

That’s not right.  For me, for myself, as long as I’m with Xena I’ll be happy. It really doesn’t matter where that is.  I think it’s more that I won’t ever be totally contented either home or out here because there are things I love about being both.

I guess I have to come to terms with that, especially since now even thinking about Xena being in danger is scaring me so badly I can’t talk straight.

I can call it what I want to, and she can tell me I just need rest, but I can’t lie to myself. I’m terrified of losing her.

Look. Just writing that made me start shaking.

With a sigh, Gabrielle paused in her scribing, closing her fingers over the quill and rested her chin on her fist.  For a while, she merely sat there, her eyes gazing unseeing at the fire.

Then her head lifted, as she suddenly felt the inescapable sensation of being watched. Instinctively, she set her ink and parchment aside, spreading her arms and putting her body between her sleeping partner, her child, and the direction her senses were telling her the danger was.

She was weaponless, but it didn’t matter. Quickly, her chest lifted as she drew breath for a yell of warning, her eyes raking the interior of the cave to find what had triggered her nerves.

They fell on a gray fog, not two bodylengths from her, floating in space. The breath stopped in her throat, and Gabrielle stared at the apparition, whose smoky outline was shifting and changing before her, becoming less a cloud and more…

Human.

Before the bard could force the yell out of her guts, a face formed in the mist, with gentle, compelling eyes that momentarily stilled her fears.  A ghostly finger raised to ghostly lips, and after a charged pause, Gabrielle lowered her arms and waited.

The figure formed completely, and sat down cross legged on the floor.   It had dark hair, and a rounded face, with dark eyes and a ready smile. A woman, apparently, somewhat older than Gabrielle was, and yet still with a sense of youthful wonder about her.

She was also a little, unnervingly, transparent.

However, Gabrielle had faced down many things in her lifetime, and this was, by far, not the most frightening of them. So she rested her elbows on her knees and clasped her hands, studying her ethereal visitor quietly for a moment before speaking. “Hi.”

The figure’s lips twitched, then curled upward. “Greetings.”

The voice was a whisper that might have been the wind. It carried a lilt, a music though that caught Gabrielle’s sensitive ear immediately.

“You do not fear one such as I..” The figure said, softly. “It is strange to find so.”

Cautiously, Gabrielle eased off the couch and seated herself on the ground, in much the same position as her strange visitor. “I guess it must be.”  She replied, watching the expression shift and swirl a little on the woman’s face.

She was dressed in skins, wild garments topped by a thickly woven cloak folded over her body in a color that might once have been red.  The ghostly hands resting on her knees had strong fingers, but on her right hand, one was missing, leaving a noticeable gap.  She remained silent, studying Gabrielle with dark, shadowed eyes as they sat there facing each other.

Gabrielle nodded slightly. “I’m sorry we intruded on your home.”

The figure was surprised. “Know you who I am?”

The bard nodded with quiet confidence. “You’re Ardwyn.”  Her eyes flicked around the chamber, then settled back on the ghost’s face. “You lived here.”  Any lingering fear was driven off by a rising curiosity about this woman whose scrolls had touched her like few others ever had.

“Aye.” The ghost murmured. “Long it has been for me to seek the living, but come I did to see what noisy things as stirred in this place, after such a time.”

A thousand questions scrambled into Gabrielle’s head, all clamoring to be first out of her mouth. For a second, an echo of her own youth almost overpowered her, but she disciplined her tongue and considered carefully what to say next.

Like, her name for starters. “Well.” The bard said. “My name’s Gabrielle.” She paused. “That’s my partner, Xena, and our daughter Doriana behind me.”

Ardwyn’s gaze shifted, held, then returned to Gabrielle’s face. Then she looked again at Xena and Dori, before she spoke again. “Truly, if you be getting little ones so, then fearing such as me would bear no sense.”  She remarked wryly.

Gabrielle smiled, tilting her head as she conceded the point.

“How come you here?” Ardwyn asked, in a more serious tone. “What magic did you use, to so enter this place, so long left barren to me?”

Ah. Long, long story.  Gabrielle considered the base truth of the core of the tale. “We needed a safe place.”  She said. “This was the safest place we knew of, around here.”

Ardwyn waited in silence.

Okay.  “There was a time, a few years ago when Xena and I were in these parts. We found the entrance, and figured out how to get in.”

“I know not of this.” Ardwyn frowned.

“It was only a couple of days.” The bard said. “We found your scrolls… that’s how I knew who you were.”

The ghost stiffened. “Read you them?”

Gabrielle nodded.

“You dared so!” The ghost began to shift, swirling into a foggy nimbus, tendrils of which edged towards Gabrielle. The anger was palpable, but the bard didn’t move, keeping her body between the ghost and the couch with stolid resolve.

“Don’t.”  Gabrielle whispered, holding the dark eyes, which still hovered at head height just out of reach. “They were beautiful stories. I couldn’t help but read them.”

Ardwyn paused, still swirling restlessly. “My dreams, they were.”

The bard nodded. “I know.” Slowly, she reached over and picked up one of her own scrolls, holding it up. “I do a little writing myself.”  She explained, hesitating, then extending the scroll towards the mist. “I know how I feel, sometimes, when I have to put my guts out there for everyone to see.”

The ghost hovered for a long moment, then reluctantly settled again, solidifying before Gabrielle and reaching out to take the scroll.  She unrolled it, the parchment eerily vislble through her fingers and for a long time there was silence in the room.

Gabrielle waited. She’d learned over the years that when you were in a situation where you didn’t know what was going to happen, it really was smarter not to push things. Besides, it gave her a chance to really study a ghost for a little while.

Now, how often did that happen?

Finally, Ardwyn lifted her head and looked at Gabrielle, the anger gone from her eyes. “A thousand leagues, a thousand years have I come to look at last into the face of a neighbor.” She whispered.

Gabrielle wasn’t entirely sure what that meant, but it sounded positive so she smiled.

“Would you a new story from me, Gabrielle?” The ghost asked. “A sad one it will be.”

Now, the bard could sense the pain in the words, despite the odd rhythm. “Sure.” She replied softly. “I have a few of those, too.”

Ardwyn met her eyes and held them powerfully. “Aye, but change their endings you did.” She held up the scroll. “Were it only so for mine.”

Fate? Gabrielle realized the scroll Ardwyn held, picked by her at random from her bag, was the one which told the story of Xena’s death.

And rebirth.

A prickle of foreshadowing made her shiver. “Tell me.” She replied, in a gentle voice. “Sometimes there are ways of making a nightmare into just a dream.”

The fire flared a little, it’s flames snapping in muted visibility through Ardwyn’s shadowy form. “Will you say it then, to the fighting one, there behind?”

Gabrielle kept her gaze forward. “I don’t need to.” She said. “She’s listening.”

The ghost smiled sadly. “Aye. It was always such.”

And then she began.

**

Gabrielle wasn’t exactly sure when Xena’s boots came to bracket her hips, the warm leather pressing against her and bringing a sense of security with them.  She just knew that, at a point in Ardwyn’s story where she really needed to feel that touch, there it was.

“Thought we did, here in this place there would be peace.” Ardwyn said. “We bothered none, took only what our bodies needed… and for a time, it was so.”

“It’s a beautiful area.” Gabrielle murmured.

“Aye.” The ghost nodded. “But then, unlooked for, a people came and it was no longer a place of peace.” She paused, staring at folded, translucent fingers. “I cannot say it dismayed Elevown.”

Gabrielle simply gazed at her, in total understanding. She felt the faintest pressure from Xena’s leg, and she gave the ankle her hand was draped over a barely perceptible tweak in response. She knew if she looked behind her, though, that the warrior would still be to all appearances asleep. “Were they raiders?”

Ardwyn looked at her. “Beasts, they were.” She answered, bluntly. “Or so thought we.”

Beasts?  “Forest dwellers?” The bard asked.

The ghost was silent for a bit, a wash of anger and long remembered hatred startlingly evident on her face. “Beasts, they were.” She whispered. “First I saw them, mindless I was just taking up some herbs in the forest.”

Gabrielle waited, her throat going dry.

“Caught me, they did.” Ardwyn said. “Caught me and played with me as a pup with a stick.” Her voice was bitter. “Twould have been one thing had they killed me, but it wasn’t so.”

The bard felt at a loss. “I’m sorry.”

“As was I.” Ardwyn said. “But careless they were, and I got away. “ She continued. “Or almost.” Her eyes dropped to her hand. “Kept one bit of me, they did. With her ring on it.” The ghost fell silent for several heartbeats. “Hurt more to lose that then the finger.”

Gabrielle flexed her hand, unconsciously rubbing her thumb against the solid metal band around her own finger.

She remembered the moment she’d given that band up voluntarily, and how much that had hurt her. “It means a lot, I know. More than just the thing itself.”  She said. “It hurts to lose them.”

Ardwyn looked up at her, the ghost’s dark eyes full of the firelight.  “Loss, too, you know.” She said. “Found me, did my love, as I came back up to our home. It had been long since I had seen her so, afire to find  the beasts and slay them.”

Another press against her hip.  Gabrielle slipped her hand under the loosened laces of her partner’s boot, craving contact with her skin. Her fingers touched the smooth surface, and she felt Xena’s powerful calf muscles contract slightly in response. “I think that’s pretty natural.”

“Aye.” The ghost murmured, seeming to fade out a little. “For her it was. But we had been long in this land, and for me… I wanted only quiet, and peace, and I feared for her greatly.”  She said. “Run, I would have, but not Elevown. She went for them. She fought them.”

Ardwyn’s eyes lifted, and met Gabrielle’s, and they looked at each other in silence.

“She lost.” Gabrielle whispered.

“Would that I knew.” Even in translucence, the tears were evident. “Twas a sunset, soon after, she just never came home.”

The bard gasped softly.

“Waited, I did.” Ardwyn said. “Searched all I could find of her sign, moon after moon, but nowhere did I find her, living or dead.” She got up and paced, on feet that did not quite touch the ground. “Crazed, I was.”

“I would have been, too.” Gabrielle managed to get out.

“Last, I knew she must have left this world. Else she would have come to me.” Ardwyn turned. “Nothing would stop that.”

Gabrielle heard the hint of question in her voice, and it struck such a chord in her that she got up, giving Xena’s leg a pat as she did so, and crossed to where the ghost was standing.  This close, she could feel a faint chill from the fog Ardwyn was made of, and before she could think about how scary it was, she put a hand out and touched the ghost’s shoulder. “I read you stories.” She said gently.  “Nothing would have stopped her from coming home.”

The surface under her fingers was chill and not solid. It felt a little more so, however, as Ardwyn turned towards her and they came face to face, their eyes on a level.  All her fear dissipated when she saw the still raw grief in the ghost’s eyes, the loss still felt even after all this time.

“Found me again, they did. The beasts.” Ardwyn whispered. “Thinking I was they would slay me, and I welcomed it.”  A slight shake of her head. “The gods laughed at me. The beasts kept me instead, succored me… brought me to their kind and bade me teach them.”

Gabrielle’s jaw dropped slightly. “You.” She said, remembering the tale she’d heard. “You taught them our ways… you changed them.”

The ghost gave her a bitter smile. “So I did.” She replied. “My life it cost me.”  With a rippled, the ghost floated away,  leaving Gabrielle behind her. “Suffered with them two full seasons, did I until more of their kind found out about me, and hated my teachings.”

The bard sighed. “Must have been a lonely two seasons.”

Ardwyn turned and looked at her again, tears filling her eyes. “Wanting I am to say you no not, and yet… “

“I don’t’ know if I would have lasted that long.” Gabrielle stated, simply.

The ghost sighed, and returned, floating to a spot next to her and settling. “Limb from limb they ripped me, each on a leg, an arm. I felt it… I felt my body sunder. I felt life escape me. I welcomed it.” She said. “No matter the pain, no matter the horror of it… that darkness I wanted, oh, how I craved it, craved past it to get and find again that which I had lost.”

Gabrielle could feel her own tears rising.

“Surely, I knew she’d be waiting.” Ardwyn said, forlornly. “But traded I had a lifetime of darkness for an eternity of it.”

“Ardwyn.” Gabrielle reached out to her again, but the ghost’s eyes went suddenly past her, and grew remote and guarded. “No, it’s..”

“Darkness.” Ardwyn repeated, fading into a light fog. “Always.”

And then she was gone.

Gabrielle released the breath she’d been holding and relaxed her shoulders just as Xena’s hand fell on one of them. She turned to find her partner behind her, the warrior’s pale eyes studying the now empty place their visitor had filled. “Xe.”

“Yeah.”

The bard turned and buried her face into her partner’s chest, slipping her arms around her and hugging her hard. “Oh, gods.”

Xena didn’t speak. She didn’t need to. What was there that she could say? She put her arms around Gabrielle and returned the hug, as shaken by the story as her soulmate was.

After all, wasn’t it both their worst nightmares? Gabrielle’s terror of being left alone, and her gut instinct that they’d be parted forever after they died?  “Damn.” Xena exhaled.

Gabrielle let out a shaky breath. Her head was pounding, and she felt like her knees were going to give way at any second. “Gods, how awful.” She uttered.

“I know.” Xena rubbed her back comfortingly.

They stood embracing each other for a while, as the fire crackled nearby. Slowly, the tension around them faded, and the atmosphere of the cavern seemed to clear, returning it to the calm, peaceful place it had been earlier.

Gabrielle could feel it. She listened a moment to Xena’s hearbeat, then lifted her head up. “Xena?”

“Mm?” The warrior made a noise deep in her throat.

“Can we help her?” The bard asked. “Even if we can just find out…. I mean, someone has to know. Some one, some how, some tale, some note must exist somewhere that can tell us what happened to Elevown.” She looked up into her soulmate’s eyes, seeing a gentle, aching sorrow reflected back at her. “Cause you know, Xe..” Her voice broke. “If I were.. her.. and someone could… “

“Shh.” Xena cradled her head and pulled her close.

“Gods.” Gabrielle just let the tears fall. “We have to help her.”

Did they?  Xena pondered the question. No, they didn’t have to. Other than providing them an opportune refuge, the ancient pair had no claim on them.  But she felt a powerful urge inside her saying she should help. She wanted to help. The story had stirred her powerful curiosity, and it posed a question she wanted to see answered.

And it would make Gabrielle happy. Xena exhaled. Last but not least, it was the right thing to do, and either by long repetition or a true innate heroism, she found herself ready to try and find a way to get the thing solved and done.

Even if Ardwyn hadn’t seemed to like her much.

Xena gazed into the shadows, deep in thought. Then she tilted her head down and studied the bard’s tear streaked profile. “If anyone knows.” She rumbled softly. “It’ll be Rufus. Wennid said he’d gotten all the old writings about their past.”

Slowly, the bard lifted her eyes.  “Rufus.”  She murmured.

“Yeah.”

Gabrielle put her head back down on Xena’s shoulder and sighed. Her eyes slid shut.

The warrior tightened her hold, as their world once again shifted around them into a new set of challenges.

And risks.

**

Xena sat next to the fire, her mortar and pestle in her hands as she patiently crushed and mixed a selection of herbs.  A combination of dried and fresh scents lifted gently from the cup, strong enough to penetrate even her stuffed senses.

At her feet, Dori was sitting with two of her toys, moving them around and seriously relating baby tales to them, oblivious to her parent’s work over her head.

The warrior glanced down at Dori, then peered across the chamber to where Gabrielle was sitting with her scrolls, fiddling with a quill that had yet to scribe anything on the parchment’s surface. “Gabrielle?”

The bard looked up, firelight painting ochre shadows across her warm, green eyes.

“Thanks for picking up those dark green ones.” Xena lifted the cup towards her, and smiled. “Good stuff.”

A return grin flickered across Gabrielle’s lips. “Think it’ll help?”

The warrior nodded. “Should.” She mixed the herbs again, crushing the leaves into an almost paste. “Damn, I hope so. My head feels like it’s gonna explode.”

Gabrielle got up and walked over to her, sitting down and wrapping one arm around Xena’s waist as she laid her head on the warrior’s shoulder.

Xena peeked at her profile briefly. She didn’t really need the ill-hidden storminess in her partner’s expression to know something was bothering her – she could feel the knotting of Gabrielle’s guts in the pit of her own.  “I’ll get this down, and see if it clears up my head.” She spoke quietly. “Then maybe we can figure out where to start looking for Rufus.”

Gabrielle nodded briefly. “All right.”

The soft rasp of the pestle sounded very loud in the chamber.  Xena eyed the cup’s contents, then she leaned against the bard, bringing more of their bodies into close contact. “Feel like talking about it?”

A faint hint of a smile appeared. “That’s supposed to be my line.”  Gabrielle nudged Dori’s toy with the toe of her boot, watching the child clutch at her foot in response.  “I’m all right. Just a little tired, I think.” The bard continued. “I keep thinking about Ardwyn.”

“Mm.” Xena grunted. “Me too.”

Dori got up and put a hand on each of her mother’s knees, looking up at her with big green eyes. “Mama, c’n you fix Bupkin?”

“What did you do to Bupkin, honey?  Show mama.” Gabrielle replied, watching as Dori went and retrieved her toy, a little horse with, it seemed, a missing essential bodypart. “Where’s his head?”

“Gots.” Dori got down on her knees and crawled between Xena’s legs, searching for the missing head. “Was paying wif Bupkin and Oogy, mama… Oogy no good.”

“What did Oogy do, sweetie?” Gabrielle absently asked, examining the toy. “Gods, Xe… I think this is going to be one for your hands.”

“Oogy play bad, hit Bupkin. Bck.”  Dori crawled under Xena’s knee and stood up, presenting her mother with a bedraggled, stuffed horse head. “Dere.”

“Ah.” Gabrielle studied the horse, and the head, then she turned to her partner. “Trade?”

Willingly, Xena did so. She handed Gabrielle the mortar and pestle, and in return retrieved the broken toy.  Clucking her tongue, she leaned back and retrieved her needle and thread and set to work on it. “You better tell Oogy not to do that again, or I’m gonna have to get mean with him, Dori.”

Dori toddled over to her and watched the work in progress. “Bad cow.” She agreed. “Dankoo, Boo. Make Bupkin good.”

Xena looked up, and smiled at her. “You’re welcome, munchkin.”

“Boo makes everything good.” Gabrielle put her head back down on the warrior’s shoulder, leaning back alongside her on the couch. “That’s why we have to take care of Boo, right Dori?”  She mixed the herbs carefully.

“Yes!”

Gabrielle smiled at the enthusiasm, but she was aware of the attention focused on her and she knew her talk wasn’t fooling her partner.

Which, she admitted, was as it should be. Xena was the person she’d been closest to for a number of years now, and even setting aside their remarkable connection, they were each other’s best friend.  She’d stripped herself bare of barriers when it came to their relationship and even the thought of dissembling bothered her.

But.

Admitting what was bothering her bothered her even more.

Fish turds. Gabrielle mashed the herbs with some passion. A gentle nudge rocked her. She glanced to one side, to find Xena watching her, pausing to glance down at what she was doing. “Hi.” The bard ventured.

Another nudge.

Gabrielle exhaled. “We… I guess we have to find Rufus, huh?”

“Mmmhm.” Xena agreed.

“What if he doesn’t want to be found?”

The warrior mulled that over.

“I mean, is there some other way, Xena? If we can’t find him, or…”  Gabrielle paused, then sighed. “Okay.” She said. “He’s nuts, and dangerous. I don’t want to find him.”

“Ah.” Xena carefully stitched around the horse’s neck. “Thought you wanted to help Ardwyn.”

“I do.” Exasperated, more with herself than anything, Gabrielle set the cup down and leaned forward, scrubbing her hair with both hands, then resting her head in them.  She felt like throwing up. “Xena.”

“Mm?”

“Mama.” Dori squirmed between her knees and grasped her hands.

Gabrielle lifted her head and put her arms around her daughter. She rested her cheek on Dori’s head and looked at Xena. “I’m having a real problem facing the fact that I’m a selfish coward.”

Both of Xena’s eyebrows jerked up in unison, then contracted together in evident confusion. “What?” She said. “Gabrielle, what are you talking about?”

The bard gazed steadily at her. “I do want to help Ardwyn. I just don’t want to risk  anything doing it.”

One of the dark brows lifted. “And that makes you…”

“You know it does.”

Xena exhaled. “Don’t be idiotic. I’ve seen you risk yourself..”

“No.” Gabrielle cut her off with unexpected force. “YOU risk yourself for anyone… for the greater good.” She pointed at herself. “I..” She pointed at Xena. “Risk myself only for you. That’s the difference between us”

Xena blinked at her, in utter silence.

“So, I don’t know what you think about that but..” Gabrielle found her mouth covered, as Xena shifted.

“I think you’ve got a damn bad memory for bard, that’s what I think.” Xena glared at her. “Funny how you remember every damn positive thing I’ve done since we met but never remember any of your own.”

Slowly, Gabrielle lifted her hand and removed the fingers covering her mouth, folding them into her own  and pressing her cheek against them. Xena’s anger didn’t frighten her. She knew it was in her behalf and despite the sting of the words, they warmed her.

The blue eyes drilled into hers,  like twin anchors holding her solidly as her doubts whirled. “I’m sorry.” She finally murmured. “Xena, I’m scared, and I don’t know what to do with myself.”

Xena’s lips pressed together, and she stroked Gabrielle’s cheek with her thumb.

“I hate feeling like this.” The bard went on, in a half whisper.

“I know.” Xena said. “We’ll work it out. Just relax.”

Gabrielle hugged Dori to her as Xena slid over, and cradled her in a warm embrace. She hid her face in the curve of her partner’s neck, exhaling shakily.  She felt the pressure as Xena kissed her head, and the reassurance of the warrior’s aura of calm that settled over her like a soft blanket.

“I’ve never tracked a trail that cold.” Xena said. “But the answers to what happened to Elevown might be somewhere on this damn mountain. If we can’t find Rufus, maybe we can find something else.”

“Bad mens.” Dori squirmed in her grasp. “Boo fix.”

Gabrielle took a breath. “I’m just….” She opened her eyes, and looked up at Xena’s profile. “I’m afraid if we go looking for him, it’s going to end in a fight.”

“Probably.”  Xena acknowledged.

They looked at each other.  “Am I losing my mind?” Gabrielle asked, seriously. “It feels like it.”

Xena ruffled her hair with gentle affection. “I don’t think so.” She said. “Backhanded compliment, really.”

Gabrielle’s brows drew together in confusion.

“Nevermind.” The warrior leaned over and retrieved her cup, then she stretched an arm out for the pot of hot water and poured it over the herbs. The steam rose immediately, coloring the cavern with it’s pungent aroma.

Swirling the cup, Xena leaned back and pulled Gabrielle close again.  The bard curled up against her, with Dori in her arms and lapsed into a peaceful silence.  Looking down, she could see Gabrielle’s eyes half closing, exhaustion from the emotional tension overtaking her.

“Boo fix?” Dori looked up at her with wide eyes, unsure of what was going on.

Xena handed her back her toy, now fully restored, and watched the child hug it enthusiastically. “How’s that?”

“Good.” Dori looked at her toy happily. “Boo fix ev’rting.”

Well. The warrior sighed. Boo tries.

Real hard.

But sometimes she really did feel like the Fates were out there throwing cow patties at her with a catapult.

**

Gabrielle woke out of a hazy confusion, her hands reaching out only to relax when she realized where she was. The warmth she was leaning against was Xena, and the soft rumble she’d heard was just the warrior humming to herself. “Mmph.”

“Ah.” Xena replied. “You awake?”

“Eh.” Gabrielle’s eyes felt very heavy, and she gave into the impulse to close them again. “Sorry I fell asleep on you.”

“S’allright.”

“Where’s Dori?”

“Over there.” Xena said. “Snuggled up inside one of my tunics.”

Gabrielle opened one eye and peered across the room. A smile appeared on her face. “That’s m’girl.” She said, seeing the top of her daughter’s head poking up from a mass of rust colored fabric. “Y’know, she’s always done that.”

“Uh huh.” Xena agreed. “Remember when she was a newborn? You rocked her to sleep wrapped in whatever shirt I’d been wearing that day.” She riffled her fingers through Gabrielle’s hair. “Why?”

Why? “Well.”  The bard said. “I don’t know.. there’s something about you, about your smell that always makes me…”

“Gag?” Xena teased.

“Wench.” Gabrielle had to smile. “I’d be gagging most of the day, wouldn’t I?” She chuckled. “It’s just something I always found comforting… maybe because I love you so much, I don’t know. Anyway… Dori settled faster when I did it, so I didn’t argue.” Her eyes warmed. “I just figured she got it from me.”

“Hm.” The warrior went back to her task, fixing one the buckles on her chest armor.

Touch.  Xena concentrated on not slapping her young companion. Why must she always touch?

“Look, Xena!” Gabrielle grabbed her friend’s arm and pointed. “What is *that*?”

“It’s a monkey.” Xena kept walking, ignoring the small beasts. It was hot, far too hot for her temper this far south and she was yearning for the sun to go down so she could cool off.

“Oh! A baby!” Gabrielle gasped. “Xena, it’s so cute!”

With a sigh, the warrior halted, looking over into the bushes with ill concealed impatience. “Yeah. Nice. C’mon.”

“No, wait.. I want to see it.” The newly independent bard to be trotted off the road and down a small slope, bent on getting closer to the monkeys.

Xena sighed, and wiped her forearm across her brow, flicking her fingers to rid them of sweat as she waited on the ridge for Gabrielle to get bored with this newest diversion.  It was her fault, she knew. Bringing Gabrielle here, into an almost jungle with it’s brightly colored birds and strange animals was just asking for trouble.

So why had she done it? Xena wondered.  She could have taken them up into the mountains, where there was nothing more interesting to look at than rocks and a few bushes.

“Xena! Oh, look! Isn’t he cute?”

Yeah, yeah, sure, kid.  Xena left Argo standing on the road and made her way down the slope, arriving next to Gabrielle as the creatures she was watching swung closer to her.

It was a mother monkey, with her little baby. The infant was clinging to the mother’s fur, watching them with wide, incredulous eyes.  The mother monkey put one arm around him protectively, and chuttered at them.

“Oh.” Gabrielle gave the pair an incredulous smile. “Look at them, Xena. They look almost like us!”

“Speak for yourself.” Xena told her, with a smug grin.

Gabrielle blithely ignored the comment and edged a little closer. The baby monkey huddled against his mother, clutching her as he watched this strange being make noises at him. “Look at him holding on to his mama. It’s so human.”

Xena snorted. “Mama’s don’t have that much hair there. At least, none that I know.” She plucked at Gabrielle’s shirt. “You not telling me something?”

Gabrielle took a breath, and then she blushed unexpectedly. “I just meant it was natural.” She said. “It makes him feel good.”

Xena looked at the monkeys.  Then she looked at Gabrielle looking at the monkeys.  “Yeah, well, I wouldn’t know.”  She said, shortly. “C’mon. I’m hot and I want out of this damn armor.”

Gabrielle followed her back up the slope.

It was very late that night, long after the moon had set when Xena woke up. At first, she wasn’t sure why she’d jerked out of sleep, and she cast around with her sense to find what had disturbed her.  Their camp was quiet, her on one side of the fire, and Gabrielle on the other, but a soft sound out of place made her lean towards the now dimmed embers and listen hard.

Then she sat back, at a loss. The sounds she heard were muffled sobs, coming from the other side of the fire and given that they were alone here in the woods it had to be Gabrielle who was crying.

Why? Xena cast her mind back over the evening. No, she hadn’t been any meaner than usual, and Gabrielle had seemed fine before bed. So what was the problem?

With a frown, Xena lifted herself up from her furs and crawled soundlessly around the fire, peering through the darkness at her enigmatic little tag along.  Gabrielle was unaware of her presence, she was covered with her tattered blanket and curled in a ball, her hands clutching…

Xena squinted, then realized the lump in the girl’s hands was the toy wooden sheep she’d given her not weeks before for Solstice.

Gabrielle was hugging it.

Xena rested on one elbow in utter confusion. “Hey.”

The girl jerked, and looked over at her, tear streaked face wide eyed in shock. “Oh!”

“What’s wrong with you?” Xena asked, sternly.

Stunned, for a moment Gabrielle didn’t answer. Then she sniffled, and wiped her eyes with the back of her hand. “I’m… I didn’t meant to wake you up, Xena.. I’m sorry. I was just..um.. “

“Sick?”

“N..no.” Gabrielle stuttered softly. “Not really.. just… well, homesick.”

“Homesick?”

Gabrielle looked at her uncomfortably.  “Yeah, you know. Lonely, homesick.. like when you miss your family?”

Xena snorted. “Last time I went near my family, you had to keep em from stoning me to death. I don’t miss em.”

“Oh.” The girl seemed a bit crestfallen. “Well, yeah,  I don’t miss mine either.”

Xena looked at her, then at the lamb. Then she met Gabrielle’s reddened eyes. “You up like this a lot?”

There was no answer.

“That why you’re always so tired in the morning?”

Gabrielle’s eyes dropped.

With a sigh, Xena got up and walked over, then seated herself next to Gabrielle on her side of the fire.

On her blankets.  “C’mere.” Xena put an arm around Gabrielle and pulled her over, half tangling both of them in the thin blanket. The girl’s skin was chilled, and the warrior realized she must have been cold on top of everything with the fire burned down and frost in the air.

“B.. wha…”  Gabrielle stuttered as she was hauled bodily over and pressed against Xena’s tall frame.

“Pretend you’re a monkey.” Xena said. “Maybe it’ll make you feel good.”

Gabrielle froze in shock for a couple of seconds. Then she slowly relaxed, timidly resting her head against Xena’s shoulder, her lamb forgotten in the tumble of fabric.  They sat in silence together for a little while, watching the dying embers of the fire.

Hey. Xena pondered curiously. This wasn’t so bad after all. Having Gabrielle this close was actually kind of pleasant. “So.” She said. “Did it work?”

No answer.

Figures. Give her what she asks for, she doesn’t want it. Xena looked at her companion, only to find her fast asleep, a relieved little smile on her face.

With a sigh, Xena tipped her head back and regarded the stars. “Ook, Ook, Ook.” She muttered softly, mockingly at herself.  But as she closed her eyes, she had to admit she was smiling too.

Gabrielle absorbed the peaceful silence, recognizing a certain sensation of waiting floating in the air.

Waiting, for her, she reckoned.  For a very long moment she stared off into the shadows, then shifted slightly, her chin tilting up a bit in an attitude that Xena, certainly, would have recognized. “Hey, Xena?”

“Mm?”

“I was just thinking.”

“Uh oh.”

Gabrielle gave her a pinch on the inside of her leg, making her jump and stifle a yelp.  “Listen.” She said. “I was thinking about finding out more. I think… maybe Ardwyn might know things that might help us.”

Xena rubbed her leg. “Maybe.”

Gabrielle took a deep breath. “Maybe I can talk to her… but I don’t think she’ll come out of you’re here.”  She added. “So I had an idea.”

“Mmhm?”

“Why don’t you.. see what you can find outside around here and I’ll try to talk to her.” Gabrielle got the words out fast, shivering a little inside at the thought of Xena leaving.

And maybe not coming back.

Gently, the warrior leaned over and kissed her on the head. “Good idea.” She said. “Sure you’re up to it?”

Gabrielle seemed to find the dark corners fascinating from the way she was looking deeply into them. “I remember the last time we were here.” She said. “I remember watching you refusing to allow fear to take over your life.”

“Not always in smart ways.” Xena said.

“I can’t let this rule me.” The bard replied, softly. “I want to live up to your example.”

The warrior scratched the back of Gabrielle’s neck with light fingers, then moved her hair aside to examine the healing wound on the back of her neck. There was still some swelling around the area, and the line where she’d cut into Gabrielle’s flesh was still raw, though closed. Bruises extended around the bones of her spine, but the spot was clearly on the mend.  “How’s this feeling?” She touched the skin on either side of the spot.

“Pulls a little. Sore.” Gabrielle said. “But compared to what it was, it’s like a hangnail.”

“Mm.”

“So.. what do you think about my idea?”

Xena set her armor down. “I think it’s a great idea.” She said. “Those herbs cleared my head a little, so let me get my leathers on, and I’ll go see what I can find.”  She cupped Gabrielle’s cheek and turned her head so they were making eye contact. “If you need me, don’t do what I would. Call me. Okay?”

Gabrielle covered Xena’s hand with her own, then she turned her head slightly and kissed the warrior’s palm. “I will.”  She released her partner, and waited for her rise before she slid into the place Xena had occupied, curling up in the warmth from her body.

She watched the warrior stretch. Then Xena untied the shift she was wearing and stripped it off, walking casually to her gear back and removing her leathers from it. “Xena?”

“Yees?” Xena shook out the leathers and prepared to step into them.

Gabrielle drummed her fingers on the fabric. “I’m rethinking this idea of mine.”

The warrior paused, putting her hands on her hips. “I thought you…”

“Well, yeah, I did… but, um…” The bard let her eyes wander up and down her partner’s tall body. With just her undergarments, there was very little left to the imagination, and the firelight did very kind things to the tan, muscular surface.

Xena smiled, her eyes dropping slightly in acknowledgement. She shook the leathers out again and stepped into them, pulling them up and sliding the straps over her shoulders as the leather warmed against her body. The herbs had cleared her head a little, true, but she still felt lousy, and only the fact that Gabrielle had come up with her idea was prompting her to go back up the tunnel and out into the cold air.

Still, it was nice to see the look of sensual approval in her partner’s eyes, sick or no.  With a sigh, Xena sat down and tugged on her boots, pulling the laces taut before she settled her leg armor over them, tightening the buckles into a proper fit.

She stood up again, clasping the mantel with one hand as a brief spate of lightheadedness came over her. There was still an ache in her bones, and walking over to where the rest of her armor was, her already donned leg armor felt far heavier than it usually did.

Stolidly, she settled her chest armor over her head and buckled it, or started to before Gabrielle slipped under her right arm and took the leather straps from her fingers. “Hey.”

“My job.” The bard said. “Let me ask you, honey, are *you* up to this?”

“Yeah.” Xena slid her bracers on. “I won’t go far though.”

“Okay.” Gabrielle gave her a pat on the belly. “We’ll be right here waiting for you.”

With a snick, Xena seated her sword in it’s sheath into the clips on her back, and settled the chakram on he hip.

Oddly, she felt better for it, despite the added weight.  She slung her cloak over her and fastened the neck clasp, then headed for the stone corridor that lead outside.

Just before she got to the bend in the rock, she turned and looked back, pausing as she took in Gabrielle’s pensive form near the fire. The bard had her arms wrapped around herself, and as she looked up, caught in Xena’s gaze, the fear in her eyes was painfully evident.  “Sure you want me to do this?” She gave the bard an out, half hoping she’d take it.

A faint smile appeared on Gabrielle’s face. “I’m sure.” She said, in a soft voice.

Xena nodded in understanding. “I won’t be far.”  She lifted her hand, and made a sign with her hand. Then she turned and disappeared into the shadows.

Gabrielle lifted her own hand and repeated the gesture, then let her hand fall to her side. She looked around the cavern and exhaled into the deafening silence, before she went to Dori’s side and sat down next to her, gathering her daughter up into her arms and rocking her in a gentle rhythm.

**

Xena paused at the top of the cavern entrance, closing the capstone before she sat down on the dusty rocks and engaged her mind for a while.  She wasn’t exactly procrastinating, but she also didn’t have a big urge to move far away from the cave in case Gabrielle needed her.

To be honest, Gabrielle’s mental state deeply concerned the warrior. They’d both been through an enormous amount of stress in their life together, and she was beginning to wonder if it all wasn’t catching up with her partner.

A backhanded compliment, she’d called it, and meant that they’d gotten to a point where she’d given Gabrielle something she cherished so greatly, the fear of losing it was shattering her. The thought was a bit humbling, and Xena was not naturally a humble person.

So.

She respected what the bard was doing. Having been in a place very close to where Gabrielle was right now, she understood exactly what her partner was going through, and she knew to the nth degree the kind of stubborn strength it took to get over it.

However, her protective instinct when it came to Gabrielle was extremely strong, and it drove her nuts to know the bard was in there suffering, alone, and realize she couldn’t help her.

So, she decided instead of heading out into the valley, she’d sit here and try to reason out the problem first, and at least that would give her an idea of where she wanted to start looking.  Accordingly, she got up and strolled around the cave, examining the walls she hadn’t seen for years with interest.

Ardwyn and Elevown had left this outer chamber fairly untouched. Ledges had been planed off to store things, but she could see by the broken rock edges that if something had been kept here, it hadn’t lasted long.

Xena walked around to a spot near the rear, where stick and debris had piled up. She knelt next to it, and through her still considerable stuffiness, she could detect the faint odor of bear.  Irritated, she sniffled hard to clear her nose, but that only made the pressure worse.

“Damn it.” The warrior stood and rubbed either side of her nose, hating the restriction on her senses.  A thought occurred to her, and she glanced around, leaning one hand on the rock wall. Was this what it was like to be a regular normal person? She’d developed and honed her senses for so many years, she honestly didn’t remember what it was like not to have them.

Xena exhaled. Speculating was pointless. She knelt back down and examined the debris, moving bits of it aside. Satisified that it hadn’t been disturbed since she’d killed it’s owner, she got up and continued her tour.  Near the entrance, she spotted an irregularity in the rock and it drew her over.

In the relatively smooth rock face was a jagged hole, whose edges were cracked. All around the hole the smooth granite bore cracks, as though something very hard had made an incredible impact long ago.  Xena ran her fingers over the gap, feeling edges worn by time, yet still sharp enough to press an imprint against her skin.

Turning, she gazed across the cavern, looking up automatically to see if the clever Viking had set some long tripped trap she’d missed up until now.  The ceiling was low, but she could see the whole of it, and there was nothing up there that might have swung down to make this.  Xena cocked her head and looked at the hole, her eyes flickering back and forth as she tried to imagine what kind of impact had caused it.

Slowly, she straightened, judging angles. She reached over her head and pulled her sword out of it’s sheath, crouching a little, then clasping both hands around the hilt and performing a slow motion swing at the wall, swiveling her body and cocking her wrists as she completed the move.

The point of her sword ended up in just about the middle of the impact zone.  “Huh.” She relaxed, letting her sword come to rest on her shoulder.  A hole that size hadn’t been made by any sword, but her instincts told her it had been made by a weapon.

Mace?  Xena could almost see a horizontal slash mark in the rocks. No mace.  Something with a squared off surface had caused the damage. She drummed her fingers on her sword hilt. Then a memory struck her, and she made a low noise in her throat. “Ah… warhammer.”  She nodded, reaching out to touch the spot, remembering the hammer that had almost taken her head off as she’d tripped Elevown’s traps in her first visit to the cavern.

A warhammer then. A big one. Had the Viking wielded it? And if she had, what had happened here, that caused her to strike the wall like that?

Had she been defending that capstone, as Xena would have in her place?  The warrior smiled a little, acknowledging the parallel nature of the ancient pair with her and Gabrielle.  She’d read the scrolls Ardwyn had written, some of them even before Gabrielle had, in that long winter when they’d been stuck inside.

Back in that golden time.

Xena set aside the thought and ducked through the opening, moving from the back chamber of the cavern into the outer one.  Here, light from outside flooded in the opening, and the crisp air lifted her hair up and moved it back as it swirled through the cave.

Now that she was looking for it, her eyes caught other signs of a struggle. A burned patch of rock, near the far wall. Nicks in the stone. A long gouge that ran almost from the entrance to the back of the cavern.

A puzzle.  Xena felt her mind engaging in it, glad of the diversion.  Her guts told her Gabrielle was still relatively all right, so she investigated her new puzzle further, trying to conjure up in her head what had happened in the cave.

A fight, definitely. From a strategic standpoint, the cave was lousy to defend, because the opening was too big to block, and once your enemies were inside, it would be chaos.  So, did Elevown fight off as many as she could, then retreat to the inner sanctum, and then down the rock chimney?

Or, was that her intention, only she never made it?  Xena itched for more details, and she hoped Gabrielle was having success in coaxing Ardwyn’s ghost into speaking to her.  “That what happened?” She asked aloud. “They chased you in here, you sprung a trap, and it went bad?”

The thought of the Viking fighting desperately to protect her home struck a chord.  Xena walked to the opening and stepped out into the ledge, emerging into the sunlight and standing in full view.  She knew the light was reflecting off her brass armor, and the glint at her shoulder and hip that were her weapons.

Something was still out there. She could sense it watching her.  Was it the same something the Viking had faced all those years ago?

Would it now come after her? After them? Xena considered that sobering idea.  Sick as she was, could she handle it? Or would she end up doing as Elevown had done, fighting a losing battle in a lonely cave, separated from her beloved?

The Hades she would. Xena looked out over the verdant valley. For one thing, Gabrielle would never let her get away with fighting alone, which meant if it came down to the worst, it’d be the two of them back to back against whatever this was.

Together.

Xena tried to focus her senses. It was tough, but she kept at it and after a while, the air started bringing her a sense of the world around her.  For a moment, the wind died, and in that moment she felt it.

Clear and sharp, a hungry, malevolent presence. Driven by such a rage, and a hunger that even Xena, who was what she was, and whose life had been filled with darkness – even Xena recoiled.

Then it was gone.

Gone as though it had never been, but in that moment Xena had gotten a fix on where the dark energy was coming from. Slowly, she rotated to her left and looked across the valley, past the plateau where Argo and Iolaus were, past the stands of tall evergreens, to the end of the valley that sloped up into a crag topped peak that towered over the mountainside she stood on.

As she watched, clouds gathered around the peak and obscured it.

So.  Xena turned and made her way back inside the cavern. She walked back through the outer room and into the inner, laying her hands on the capstone and pausing for a moment before she shifted it around.

“I don’t know if you’re out here.” The warrior said aloud. “But if you are… we’re gonna find out what happened.” A pause. “Or else.”

Did the wind laugh at her? Xena decided her stuffed head was making her ears ring and discarded the notion.

Then she pulled the capstone aside and lowered herself down, catching the first footholds with care. She reached up and pulled the capstone back into place, shoving the catch home before she continued on.

**

Continued in Part 13

Champion

Part 13

Okay, Gabrielle. Get a grip on yourself.  Despite the words, it was still hard to breathe, and she found herself forced to almost gasp, so tight was the tension around her chest. A sudden, vivid picture of a small, dark cave lifetimes as well as leagues away popped into her head, and she exhaled as she gained a new perspective on something about Xena she’d never truly understood before.

She’d been afraid many times in her life. Given that they lived the way they did, and risked what they had, it was to be expected that she’d come to accept the occasional bout of terror and put it in it’s overall perspective.

However, she usually was scared in situations where it made sense to be. She was being attacked, Xena was being attacked, they were falling down cliffs… being scared in those situations really seemed a normal reaction.

It was a very different feeling to be afraid without cause. Gabrielle felt her body shaking, and a sick feeling began to grow inside her guts. Now she understood why Xena had so hated her own fear of enclosure – there was no rational fighting of this. It was a mindless, numbing terror that robbed her of any control.

And yet, Xena had fought it.

Just the thought itself calmed her. Gabrielle remembered watching the slow progress, as her partner forced herself to set aside her fears and by sheer will and concentration broke down the barrier that her mind had put around her and overcame it.

So it could be done. The bard inhaled, held the breath in, and released it. Terror didn’t have to win. If Xena could do it, than she could at least try.  She paused and gazed thoughtfully across the cavern. With a little help.

Gabrielle closed her eyes, and felt inside her for the connection that linked her to her partner, finding it warm and steady, just under her thoughts. A gentle emotion flooded through her, one of worry and concern, and carrying with it a deep love that she focused on and allowed to become the center of her world.

After a little while, she lifted her head and nodded slightly, feeling the fear still in her, but muted; no longer threatening to take her over for the moment.

It would have to be enough, the bard decided, for now. She had a task to take care of, after all, and a ghost to coax out. Arranging herself more comfortably, she held her hands up to Dori to play pat, ignoring the potential ghostly eyes and settling herself to wait.

It didn’t take long.  Gabrielle became aware of a presence nearby as she heard the soft sound of Xena’s sliding the stone back into place through the rock above her.  She waited for a moment, then she lifted her head and looked into the shadows near the back room; keeping her arms wrapped around Dori’s sturdy form.

Slowly Ardwyn’s features coalesced out of the darkness, and the ancient spirit drifted towards her, a hint of wariness apparent in her dark eyes.

“You don’t have to be scared of Xena.” Gabrielle said, in a quiet voice.

“Scared?” Ardwyn hovered a little closer. “The dead be not scared of the living, I think.” She studied Dori, who had her thumb stuck in her mouth and was watching the ghost with interested eyes. “Nor little ones of the dead, em?”

Gabrielle glanced at her daughter, and smiled. “She’s not afraid of much, no.” She agreed. “She gets that from Xena, I think.”

“Boo.” Dori said, immediately. “Were Boo go, Mama?”

“She just went outside for a little while, honey. She’ll be right back.” Gabrielle felt her throat close on the words, and had to swallow very hard to clear the lump. She ruffled Dori’s hair to give herself a moment to gather her composure, then ordered the dark, disheveled bangs into some semblance of neatness. “Don’t worry.”

Ardwyn approached them, settling to the ground just out of arm’s reach. “Why think you that I fear the dark one?”

“Well.” Gabrielle said. “You disappeared when she came in before, and now you came back when she left. You don’t know her, so I guess it’s not because you just don’t like her, so…”

Ardwyn seemed a bit discomfited by the words, but she remained where she was, hands folded in odd transparency before her. “She has much energy.” The ghost finally said. “She makes it difficult to be so.” A hand lifted and flexed. “For your eyes.”

“Ah.” The bard murmured. “Hm. I never thought of that.”

“Nor you should.” Ardwyn said. “Being not dead, it’s of no mind to you, is it now?” She added. “What call you the little one?”

“Doriana.” Gabrielle accepted the change of subject. “It means gift.” She gave the child a hug. “Because that’s what she was, weren’t you Dor?”

“Gif.” Dori agreed amiably. “Go mama!”

The bard glanced up to find Ardwyn studying her. “Did you ever want children?”

A quiet sadness played itself across the ghost’s face. “Time there was, aye, when it would have given us joy.” She said. “Were that time, though, neither us could take the notion of looking to someone to give that to us.”

“Mama.” Dori was apparently bored by the conversation. “C’n you gimme dat rock?” She pointed.

Gabrielle retrieved the stone and handed it over. “You little packrat. Just like mama, huh?”  She ruffled Dori’s hair again, then looked up at Ardwyn. “I know what you mean.” She said. “It was a hard decision – but as it turned out, definitely worth it.”

Ardwyn nodded slightly, watching Dori with her rock. “She’s yours then?” There was a faint tone of surprise.

“Ours.” The bard replied, with a gentle smile. “But I’m her mother, if that’s what you mean.” She conceded.

“Aye.” The ghost hesitated. “From the dark one, I’d have thought her.”

“Yeah, most people think that.” Gabrielle said. “She got Xena’s hair, and I think she’s going to be tall.. but she got my eyes, and everyone tells me she got my smile.”  She tickled Dori, and was rewarded with a squeal, a squiggle, and a delighted grin which she returned.

Ardwyn lifted up from her position and drifted closer, coming right up to Dori and studying her intently. After a moment, she looked up at Gabrielle. “How is this so?” She asked, in an amazed tone, jumping back when Dori reached out an impetuous hand and clutched at her. “Truly she is of you both!”

Gabrielle nodded, as though it was the most natural thing in the world. “Yes, she is.” She said. “I can’t really explain it, and neither can Xena, but we know Dori came out of the love we share with each other.” A pause. “That’s why we’d like to help you find some peace, if we can.”

The ghost looked up at her. “Know you how lucky you are?”  The question came as a whisper, not barely even a voice.

The bard nodded again, more slowly.  She kept hold of the squirming Dori, who was trying to get loose to investigate this new distraction floating nearby. “Stay here, sweetie.” She told the child, then returned her attention to Ardwyn. “I do know.”

Ardwyn moved a little closer, and her eyes became intense as they captured Gabrielle’s. “Still would you feel so, if the dark one went back to the darkness?”

Gabrielle frowned at the unexpected question. “Xena’s not really like that…” Her words trailed off at the sense of deep knowledge she found in the face looking at her.  Ardwyn knew.

But that decision, too, had been made for her long ago.  “Yes.’ The bard spoke with quiet clarity. “I would love her no matter what she was.” She said. “There is no place she would go, that I wouldn’t follow her.”

The shadows seemed to close in on the three of them. “Truly?” Ardwyn whispered.

“Truly.” Gabrielle replied, without hesitation.

The ghost’s eyes flicked to Dori’s face, then settled back on Gabrielle’s. “Then far more true your heart was than was mine.”

With an almost audible sound, Ardwyn disappeared, making Gabrielle jump a little and getting a surprised sound from Dori. “Hey!” The bard blurted. “Wait!”

“Bck!” The toddler wriggled out of her mother’s grasp, and patted the spot where the ghost had sat. “Mama, where go?”

“Ardwyn!” Gabrielle called out. “Come back!”

There was no answer, and no sense of the ghost’s presence, but as Gabrielle concentrated for it, her senses were swamped by a far stronger one.  Surprised, she lifted her head in time to see a dark figure appear from the shadows, the torchlight chasing them back to reveal Xena’s tall form. “That was fast.” She got out, still off balance a little.

“Boo!” Dori forgot all about the ghost.

“Mm.”  The warrior stifled a cough, walking over to take a seat next to them cross legged on the floor. Dori scrambled over and climbed into her lap, playing with one of the warrior’s hands happily. “Think I found the source of our problem.”

Gabrielle reached out to put a hand on her partner’s knee. “Did you hear any of that?”  She asked, ignoring the wider issue for a moment.

The look in Xena’s eyes told her.  “Enough.” The warrior said, her lips tugging up into a little grin.

“Nothing you haven’t heard before.” The bard acknowledged, with the same, small grin. “What do you think Ardwyn meant, though?”

Xena rested her elbows on her knees, as she watched Dori count the fingers on her hand with childish absorption. “All of em still there, Dor?”

Dori patted the much bigger hand in her grasp, then commenced tugging on the digits.

With an indulgent smile, the warrior returned her attention to Gabrielle.  “End of the valley, there’s a tall, single topped slope. Something’s going on there.”

The bard nodded slowly. “You think it has something to do with them?” She indicated the cavern.

Xena shook her head. “I don’t know. But I’m betting it’s mixed up with the forest dwellers, and maybe it has something to do with them. All I know is that if we want to find out what’s going on, that’s the place to look.”

Gabrielle considered the information.  She studied her partner’s drawn, pale face and knew the smart thing would be for them to simply leave the valley, leave the forest dwellers and their problem, and even Ardwyn’s problem behind and just go home.

But she also knew they weren’t going to do that, because at the core of it, that just wasn’t who they were. The thought was both frightening, and somehow, at some level, comforting at the same time. “Okay, but what do you think Ard…” She paused, as Xena covered her lips with the tips of her fingers.

“I think.” The warrior said, in a gentle voice. “That I just ended up luckier than the Viking did.”  She removed her fingers. “And I think we don’t know the whole story there, yet.”

Gabrielle slid over, and rolled onto her side, putting her head down on Xena’s thigh and draping her arm over the warrior. There was a comforting solidity there that touched her deep inside, a living strength that reminded her all the more vividly of Ardwyn’s words.

And her own.

The tears came, and they surprised her. She let them fall, in an odd sense of relief as Xena rubbed her back with a comfortingly strong hand. “Xena?”

“Mm?” The warrior leaned a little closer.

“Know what my problem is?”

Xena’s dark eyebrows twitched, and she cocked her head to one side. “Your problem? No, what?”

Gabrielle rolled over and looked up at her through tear filled eyes. “I want our life’s story to have a happy ending.” She said, meeting her partner’s gaze with an aching sadness, feeling in that the root of the unreasoning fear chewing at her guts.

Before she could think, Xena found herself cradling Gabrielle’s face in her hands, and felt her soul open. “It will.” She heard herself say. “I promise you.”

A stillness fell over the both of them, into which the chiming of two hearts unfolding drifted, dusting them with an unexpected patina of eternity.

“I promise.” Xena repeated, in the barest of voices.

Gabrielle felt her body relax, as she lay there, just living the moment.

Fear shook it’s head, and walked off into the shadows again, to find greener pastures where love held less purchase to sow his dark seeds.

**

Gabrielle knelt beside the bed, laying the long, soft strip of cloth over her shoulder before she rubbed liniment into her hands and started applying it to her partner’s throat. The strong scent tickled her nose, but she kept at it, only periodically meeting the gaze from the pale blue eyes watching her.

When she was done, she wrapped the cloth around Xena’s neck, and tucked the ends into the collar of the warm tunic she now had on. Then she pulled the covers up and neatly encapsulated the warrior in them. “There.”

“Gabrielle.”

“Shush.” The bard pulled a comfortable chair over, and settled herself into it, pulling over some of her scrolls and a quill.  Dori was sitting on a half a bear rug next to her, several toys scattered around her sprawled legs absorbed in being part of an infant story in the making, and the atmosphere inside the cavern had perceptibly lightened around them.

Gabrielle wasn’t sure exactly why, but she wasn’t sure she exactly cared.  “I know we’ve got a mystery to solve, and trouble to get into, but I’m just not going to let you do it while you’re sick as a dog, Xena. I’m just not.”

“I’m not..”

“Yes, you are.” The bard cut her off, firmly. “Now stop it. Save the tough routine for someone who doesn’t know you like I do.”

Xena folded her hands over her stomach and wriggled into a slightly more comfortable position. “That would be everyone.” She took a breath of the pungent liniment, and exhaled, already feeling better to be lying down under Gabrielle’s ministrations.

Not that she’d admit it, naturally.

She didn’t even feel horribly sick – not like she had a day or so ago. She just felt miserable and uncomfortable; her throat hurt and was scratchy, her head ached from the congestion, and the cough still hadn’t left her chest.

Whining about it would have made her feel a lot worse, but Gabrielle had neatly circumvented that by going into one of her solicitous mother hen modes, thereby giving Xena what she really wanted without making her ask for it.

That was one of the really nice things about being someone’s partner, Xena decided. You had at least one person you didn’t have to pretend for. “Gab?”

“Yeees?” Gabrielle leaned one elbow on the edge of the bed.

“Got some more of that hot tea?”

A charming smile appeared on the bard’s face. “For you, anytime.” She lowered herself down and gave Xena a kiss on the forehead, then straightened.

“Thanks for being a good nurse.” The warrior joked, with a wan grin.

“Thanks for not being a curmudgeon.” Gabrielle tweaked her partner’s nose. “Besides… “ She hesitated, then leaned over again, touching her head to Xena’s. Her voice dropped to a whisper. “You’ve done such a wonderful job of healing me. Now it’s my turn.”

Xena had no idea what to say to that, so she simply rubbed her nose against Gabrielle’s, coaxing a responding smile from the bard.

“You interested in hearing a story?” Gabrielle offered, straightening and sitting back in her chair.

“Stowie?” Dori’s ears perked up. “Mama, coodoodle doo!”

Xena rolled her eyes.

“No, honey.” The bard gazed fondly down at her daughter. “I have to tell a story your Boo likes now.” She said. “I’ll tell you the rooster story again later.” Her eyes shifted to Xena. “When Boo’s asleep.”

Dori got up and ambled over to the bed, holding onto the covers and peering up at her buddy. “Boo go sleep?” She queried. “H’come?”

Xena eyed the innocent face gazing at her. “How come?” She asked. “Listen, shortie. I can take a nap any time I want to, got me?”

Dori giggled.

“Aww.. so menacing.” Gabrielle chuckled, reaching over to move aside some of the dark hair that had nearly fallen into Xena’s eyes. “You’re such a little toughie, Xena.”

One dark brow twitched, then suddenly, the warrior grinned, and started to laugh.

Surprised, the bard blinked. “What’s so funny?”

Xena shook her head and kept chuckling. She circled Gabrielle’s leg with one arm, curling her fingers around the bard’s knee. “I was just remembering that time when you got sick.. when your throat swelled up?”

“Ungh.” Gabrielle groaned, wincing at the memory. “What brought *that* up?”

“You were trying to be so tough.” The warrior teased her. “Not ask me to help you.”

So true. The bard exhaled, rubbing the bridge of her nose with two fingers.  She’d been so determined to live up to Xena’s example, and suffer in noble, dignified silence.  “Yeah, I remember.”

Xena patted her leg.

“I remember feeling so lousy, I wanted to just die.” Gabrielle said. “And then, you came over and held on to me, and you had a cup of something hot you made me drink.”  A smile appeared. “Milk and honey. It tasted like ambrosia. It was amazing.”

Gods, how much she’d loved Xena that night. It had been a good thing she’d been unable to speak, because if she could have, she was sure she’d have spilled her heart right onto the covers Xena had tucked so warmly around her.

The warrior would have freaked out, Gabrielle was sure. Xena had just been acting on a moment’s kindness for her new, young pest and hardly would have welcomed a babbling declaration of love from her.

“Yeah.” Xena agreed softly, remembering the look in Gabrielle’s eyes when she’d tipped the cup to the girl’s lips, with an emotion that fairly stunned her. Unqualified love was something new in her experience, and yet, somehow, she’d known it when she’d seen it.  Gabrielle had been mutely delighted at her gesture, but seemingly unaware of the effect her reaction had caused on her companion. “Know what amazed me?”

Gabrielle lifted the pot of hot tea and poured a cup of it, mixing in some honey as she answered. “No, what?”

“How much I wanted to do that.” Xena accepted the cup and hitched herself up on an elbow, taking a sip of it’s contents. “I thought I’d lost my mind.”

“Boo, c’n I have dat?” Dori reached for the cup. “Good!”

“Ah ah.” Xena lifted it out of her reach. “It’s too hot, Dori. You’ll owie your mouth.”

Gabrielle poured a small amount of the mint and berry tea into a cup, and swirled it to cool. She handed it to Dori with a smile. “Here, Dori.”

“No.” Dori scowled. “Want Boo’s!”

“Honey, it’s the same thing.” The bard laughed. “Let Boo drink her tea, and you take this one.”

With a grumpy look, the child took the proffered cup and sniffed it suspiciously, then apparently decided it was alright and drank some, holding the container in both hands. “Mm.” She tipped her head back and the liquid obligingly gushed out, splashing over her and the floor. “Good.”

Xena chuckled silently, as she took her own, far more dignified sip.

Dori dropped the cup, and watched it bounce across the floor. She clapped her hands and laughed, pointing at it. “Mama! It go fly!” She scampered after it, inadvertently kicking the wooden item and sending it clattering even further. “Gogogogogo!!”

“Oh, boy.” Gabrielle draped an arm over Xena’s shoulders as they watched their daughter hop back towards them, cup clutched triumphantly in her hands. “She is so you.”

“Yeah?” Xena savored the tea. “When was the last time I did *that*?”

“Dughe gueh gueh… boom!” Dori threw the cup again, squealing in delight as it bounded off the floor and headed right for her mother’s head.

Only to be swiped out of the air with a negligent wave of Xena’s hand.

“Boo, good!” Dori clapped. “Gotcha!”  She hopped forward. “Dujg dujg… boom!” Her fingers clutched at cup hanging loosely from Xena’s grip. “Go go go.”

Xena studied the small terror at her bedside, then she tipped her head back and regarded Gabrielle, whose eyes were twinkling mischeviously.  “Yeah, okay.”  She conceded, settling back on the pillow with faint smirk. “You’re right. You got me.”

Dori clambered up onto the bed with tiny, baby grunts and plopped down on Xena’s belly, sprawling over her and kicking her feet out in a contented wriggle. “Gaboo.”

“Now *that*..” Xena pointed.

“Is me.” Gabrielle held up both hands in patent surrender. “Yup.” She reached over and ruffled Dori’s hair. “You’re ours, Dori. You know that?”

“Dup?”

“You’re half me, and half your Boo. What do you think about that, hmm?” Gabrielle asked her daughter. “Do you like that?”

Dori goggled at her, having no clue what she was talking about apparently. “Love mama.” She ventured. “Love Boo. All good.”

Xena curled her arm  around the toddler. “Works for me.” She said. “Hey, mama.. where’s my story?” Her free hand knocked gently against Gabrielle’s leg. “We want a story, right Dor?”

“Yes!”

Gabrielle felt a certain sense of herself settle back into place as she leaned back and braced one bare foot against the low stool near the bed. They would take care of the problem, yes, but…  She exhaled, and nodded. They would take care of it at their pace, and their schedule.  They would choose when.

They would choose where.

One of the things that had bothered her, she suddenly realized, was the feeling she’d had since the start of this that someone else had been driving what was going on – using her and Xena as part of some plan they didn’t really understand yet.

Well.  She poured more hot tea for her soulmate. Not anymore. “So.” She said. “What story would you two little pirates like to hear?”

“Cow.” Dori replied instantly. “Boo gots awwow.”

The bard made a face. “Sweetie, how about if I tell a new story this time, okay?”

“I’d like to hear that one.” Xena interrupted. “The arrow one, not the cow.” She clarified hastily, watching Gabrielle’s eyebrows hike up. “If you don’t mind.”

Gabrielle’s jaw dropped slightly. For Xena to actually request to be told one of her own stories was so unusual, it made the bard’s head spin. Especially that one, which she’d heard… gods… thousands of times at the behest of more people than Gabrielle could count. “Um..”

“You remember it, right?” The blue eyes twinkled gently.

“Yeah, sure.” Gabrielle let out a chuckle. “Okay… if that’s what you want.”

“That’s what I want.” Xena settled down to listen, closing her eyes as Gabrielle’s voice rose up, evoking in her the memories of that time that surfaced now somehow bare of the melancholy they’d stirred in her for so long. Now, she was simply able to listen, and remember the joy and the fear of those moments.

Was Gabrielle?  Xena made a note to herself to ask, before she let the story take her over, and away.

**

“And then you know what Boo did?” Gabrielle asked the enthralled Dori.

“Gotcha!” Dori squealed, clutching with her hand at an imaginary arrow. “Go Boo!”

“That’s right.” Gabrielle gazed fondly at her half-dozing companion. “Just in the nick of time, Xena grabbed that arrow out of the air and your mama was saved.” She reached over and tangled her fingers with the warrior’s. “And I was so happy about that, I grabbed your Boo, and I kissed her. Right in front of all the Amazons!”

“Gush!”

“And the centaurs.” Xena added, in a low burr. “Don’t forget the Centaurs.”

“Mm.” Gabrielle smiled. “You know, that still is one of my favorite memories.” She said. “Aside from being relieved at not being dead, or really hurt from that arrow, and aside from how great it was to see you after a month.. that was pretty cool, but not nearly as incredible as…”

“Kissing me?” Xena arched one brow, and chuckled.

“Wench.” Gabrielle tsked. “Actually, it was you kissing me back.”  She admitted. “I wasn’t really sure what you were going to do.”

“Gabrielle, c’mon.” Xena gave her a look. “Did you really have any doubts?”

Unexpectedly, the bard’s eyes dropped, as a faintly introspective expression appeared on her face. “You know, I think I did.” She replied, in a soft voice. “It seems sort of goofy now, that I think about it and I wouldn’t have changed what I did anyway but you know… “ She looked up. “There was a scary moment there for me.”

“Really?” The warrior asked, in surprised tone.

The bard nodded. “Yeah.”  She leaned against the arm of her chair. “I knew… how much I was attracted to you.”

Xena gazed benignly at her. “I knew, too.”

Gabrielle blushed unexpectedly, but grinned. “You calling me obvious?” She asked, as her partner chuckled.  “Yeah, I guess I was. But I didn’t…. “ She ran one finger down the wood of the chair arm. “Xena, I knew you loved me.” Her eyes lifted and studied the warrior’s face. “I just didn’t know if you loved me like that.”

“Ahh.” Xena rumbled softly. “So, my groping you in the bath wasn’t a big enough clue, huh?”

Gabrielle let her face drop into her hand, and released a soft chuckle. “Oh, gods.” She muttered under her breath. “How could I forget *that*? How did we ever get out of that mess… both of us were acting like… like..”

“People in love?” Xena offered, helpfully. “Minya sure figured it out.”

Gabrielle just shook her head and laughed.

It had been like a dream, really.

Sitting across the fire from Xena. Seeing those brilliant eyes fasten on her, and watching a smile appear; realizing she’d caused it.

Becoming shy, for the first time since they’d started traveling together of taking her clothes off.

The coveted touches becoming more frequent. Xena’s arm draped casually over her shoulders.

Sharing a cup, fingers tangled together.

The trembling in her guts at Xena’s lightest touch.

Every word, every glance.. even their now familiar arguments gaining a teasing edge that both of them knew was sharp enough to cut to the quick.

For the first time, the problems of others taking second place to what was going on between them.

“This is my partner, Gabrielle.”

A splash.  They were in a bath together, in a dusty village, between an army and a giant. Nothing really out of the ordinary, except that Xena had inexplicably stopped in the middle of a problem to have a wash.

Gabrielle wasn’t about to argue. So what if they were acting strange.

So what if the villagers they’d come to help thought they were a little crazy. Maybe they were.

“Why can’t you ever do anything the simple way?” Gabrielle asked. “We have a plan, it’s a good plan, it’s worked before…” She extended her legs out, enjoying the warm, fragrant water.

“It’s boring.” Xena picked up the floating bit of sponge and tossed it at her. “Get my back?”

It was a beautiful back. Gabrielle added some soap to the sponge and rubbed it over the smooth skin with an almost reverent motion.  Safe from Xena’s eyes, she could loiter here and revel over the symmetry and the strength of her, keeping up their teasing banter and knowing herself for a lovestruck fool. “You just want it to be your idea.”

“Gabrielle, I do not.”

“Yes, you do.”

“No, I don’t. I just like variety.”

Gabrielle got closer, their bodies just short of touching. “Oh yeah.. this from the woman whose eaten the same thing for breakfast every day for two years.”

“You’re the cook in the family.” Xena looked over her shoulder, with a smirk. “Not my fault you can only do it one way.”

“Yeah?” Gabrielle leaned on Xena’s back, just a little. “How would you know?”

“Oooo.” The warrior turned, and bumped her back, making Gabrielle sit down hard in the water and sending a splash of it everywhere.  “I think that’s a challenge.”

Gabrielle stuck her tongue out. “No it’s not. Let’s talk about the giant. Remember the plan?”

“Plan?” Xena plucked the sponge from her. “Here, turn around. I’ll show you a plan.”

Gabrielle turned, and felt the water swirl around her as Xena shifted position and moved in behind her, the warmth of the warrior’s body overtaking the warmth of the water as she began to clean Gabrielle’s shoulders. “So, what’s wrong with the mirrors, anyway?”

“I don’t like em.”

“Well, they sure like you.” The bard looked over her shoulder, with a cheeky grin.

“Ahhhh… flattery’ll get you nowhere, Gabrielle. Lookit these ears.”

Xena was talking. Gabrielle had no idea what she was saying, because the warrior’s touch now moved up to scrub around her very sensitive ears. The rough surface of the sponge moved over them, the matter-of-factness of the action making it’s intimacy all the more stunning. “Umfh.”

“Damn, Gabrielle. You could grow carrots in there.”  Xena nudged her over. “Where’d that soap go?”

“Soap?”

Xena grinned.  “You sitting on the soap?” She asked.

“Ah..” Gabrielle’s face contracted, as she felt around.

“I’ll find it.” Xena’s hand slipped below the surface, finding Gabrielle’s leg.

“Yow! That was me!”

“Hm. So it was.” Xena’s hand eventually emerged, clasping the round ball of soap. Her fingers tightened, and the soap popped out of them, falling back into the water. “Rats. Guess I’ll have to go find it again.”

“So.” Gabrielle held back a giggle by sheer will power. “I still think you just don’t’ want to use my idea.”  She turned, and leaned back, giving Xena a light splash with her hand.

Dangerous blue eyes narrowed. “Oh yeah?”

“Yeah.” Another splash, borne on wings of floating recklessness.

You’re asking for trouble, shortie.” Xena splashed her back.

“I live with trouble.” Gabrielle responded. “And without a frying pan.”

“oooo..”

The battle was on. Gabrielle thrashed at the water, giving as good as she got in a thunderous explosion of sound, a mixture of splashing liquid and yells of laughter.  She felt giddy joy bubble up from her, as she heard the unrestrained happiness in Xena’s chortles

Then a last wave of bath water doused her, followed by a sudden envelopment of Xena’s arms as the warrior dispensed with splashing and took her under the surface of the pool instead.

They thrashed around in the water, getting tangled in each other, both of them laughing so hard it was a miracle they didn’t drown.

Gabrielle surfaced, to find herself pinned to the wall, with Xena’s arms braced on either side of her, and the warrior’s nose inches from hers.  “Um… Hi.”

“I hear one more word about that pan… “ Xena warned, in a low purr.  “And you’re gonna find out what kind of cooking you can do with my juices.”

Gabrielle’s only answer was an almost dumbfounded grin.

“Okay.” The bard chuckled. “Yeah, I should have realized. You weren’t being real subtle.”

Xena reached out and clasped her hand. “You know something?”

“Now I do, sure.” Gabrielle grinned.

But Xena’s expression was quiet. “If you’d have chosen to stay with the Amazons, I would have understood.”  She said. “I wanted you to have other options.”

Gabrielle opened her mouth to speak, but held off when the warrior squeezed her hand.

“I wanted you to choose me because I was your best option, not your only one.” Xena added.

“Xena.” The blond woman’s lips pulled into a genuine smile. “You were always my only real option. Every other choice I might have made would have only been second best.”

Xena smiled back at her, charmed and a little surprised. “Ahh.”  She murmured.

“Gush!” Dori threw her hands up. “Gush gush gush!”

Both her parents laughed. “Everyone’s a critic.” Xena sighed, circling her daughter with one arm and reaching for the cup with her other hand.  “New story. How about one with Argo in it.”

“Gogo! Gogo!”

“She never minds me telling stories about her.” Gabrielle teased.

“She’s never been bitten in the ass by a rooster.”

“Hm. There’s a point.”

**

Gabrielle stood for a moment against the edge of the cave entrance, watching the sun start to come up over the ridge and set the mountainside on fire.  She cradled her staff in the crook of her elbow, and after indulging in the dawn, she continued down towards the small plateau where they’d left the horses.

The air was cold, and she could taste the dryness of it on the back of her tongue as she crossed out of the shadows into the golden pink light that was just starting to spread over the grass. As she emerged onto the plateau, she was spotted by Argo and Iolaus and both animals wheeled and trotted towards her immediately.

The bard paused in the middle of the open space and waited until the horses joined her, greeting them with a few friendly scratches behind the ears and a half an apple each. “Hey, guys.”

Argo stepped closer and butted her, then rested her jaw on Gabrielle’s shoulder, looking past her towards the mountain. No human speech could have been plainer, and the bard found herself smiling as she circled the mare’s neck with one arm and hugged her. “She’ll be here soon.” She promised the horse. “Make sure you ask her for the goodie she saved from breakfast, okay?”

Argo whickered.

Gabrielle gave her a pat, then released her and moved away a little, stretching her body out slowly as she walked. She settled her new staff across her shoulders and paused, twisting from side to side carefully as she loosened up still sore and tight muscles.

The grass felt dry under her boots, and she rocked up and down a little, before she moved her staff from her shoulders and let it roll down her arms, bouncing it up when it hit her wrists and catching it in front of her as she twisted her hands around to grab it.

The wood had dried some, and lost a bit of its springiness. Gabrielle flexed her fingers around it, spreading her grip and attempting to bend the staff, pleased when it resisted her to a higher degree than she’d expected. Maybe, she considered, the days of sitting quietly in the torchlit cavern had toughened it.

Satisfied, she very slowly started to move the staff into a series of gentle passes, keeping to an easy rhythm calculated not to jar her still healing body.   “Nothing like a little exercise in the morning, huh, guys?”

Iolaus broke into a trot, heading around her in a circle.  Gabrielle turned to watch him, keeping up her staff motions as she swept her chosen weapon around in a lazy figure eight. “Are you trying to make me dizzy?”

Her stallion snorted, and tossed his head, kicking up his heels as he playfully bucked around her.

It made Gabrielle smile, and she waited for him to pass her, then she extended her staff out as he came around again. “C’mon, boy… jump!”

The horse obediently gathered himself and leaped over the staff, landing with a thump that cut clods of grass out from under his hooves and showered Gabrielle with a tiny dusting of earth.  “Good job!”  The bard praised him, with a soft chuckle.  “What a good boy.”

Iolaus slowed to a halt, and snorted, then he ducked his head and came to meet her, shoving his nose into her chest with rough affection. Gabrielle grounded the end of her staff and greeted him, scrubbing him behind his ears and giving him a kiss on the nose. “Y’know, Io… I never thought I’d really get into horses. But you changed my mind.”

Io snorted again.

“No, really, you did.” Gabrielle insisted. “I really like you. You’re a really cool horse.”  She gave him another kiss on the nose, and patted his round, flat cheek.  Then she rested her arm across his neck and looked casually past him, her eyes flicking over the ring of dark trees that bordered the plateau.

Everything looked quiet.

Gabrielle stepped away from Iolaus and continued her staff work. She twirled the weapon, then crouched a little, throwing her weight onto her thigh muscles as she started a set of her standard warm up moves.

It felt pretty good. The bard eased slowly erect, cautious of jarring her neck, or causing the injury to be aggravated.  Though she could still feel a tightness through her shoulders and back, the wound itself only ached in a low, mostly annoying way.

She’d had worse, and lived with it. Gabrielle moved a little faster, sweeping the staff into wider arcs, working her way across the grass in a series of meandering circles. She could hear the soft rasp of the wind in the trees over the rustling of her own clothes and the scuff of her boots against the ground.

The thick, woven tunic she was wearing was more restricting than she was used to, and she spent a little time finding the limits of her motion inside it. Though she’d often pondered trading in her light clothing during her traveling days, since then she’d come to appreciate the freedom they’d given her to move in.

And, even though they were a trifle chilly at times, and offered nearly nothing in the way of protection from wind, weather, or smelly thugs, they did have one other thing that made the old rags pretty much priceless to her.

Xena thought she looked good in them.

She remembered the night, days after she’d gotten, to her eyes, the plain, rustic garb when they’d finally hit a town large enough to have an inn, and could scrape up dinars enough between them for a room and a hot meal.

Gabrielle let her bag drop onto the smaller of the two beds, walking past them to peer out the wooden shuttered window opening. The village below was lit with sunset, a dull blue haze from the evening cook fires seeming to drift languidly down over it in the still, warm air.

Coincidentally, Xena crossed the courtyard as she watched, leading Argo towards the stables. Gabrielle took advantage of her perch, her eyes following the warrior until she disappeared through the wide door.

Xena. Gabrielle turned and walked back across the room, pausing to glance around their temporary shelter. It wasn’t a bad looking place – plain, split wood walls that had thin, woven rugs hanging on them and a rough, but clean floor with a fresh layer of straw on it.

They’d definitely seen worse.  Gabrielle spotted a basin of water on a low table and headed for it, only glancing up and past it as she came even with the bowl.

She stopped, and blinked at the image reflected back at her in the mirror mounted against the wood.

Her eyes blinked several times. It had been a while since she’d really taken a good look at herself – aside from a glance at her reflection in whatever cold pool she was washing in out in the wilderness. Now she faced herself, and moved a little closer, peering at this new image with a sense of half embarrassed fascination.

The green woven top she was wearing hugged her upper body, and revealed tanned shoulders far wider, and stronger looking than she remembered. The effect leant a new tapering to her figure, as the low cut, well tooled belt on her skirt outlined a slim, muscular waistline that no longer carried even a hint of adolescent pudginess.

“Something wrong?”

Gabrielle almost jumped through the low, raftered ceiling. She turned to see a mildly amused Xena behind her, standing with her hands on her leather clad hips and watching her watch her own reflection. “Aum…um…no.”

The warrior let her hands drop and walked over, with that curious little swagger she always seemed to have. “Then what the Hades are you doing standing there gawking?”

“Oh.” Gabrielle felt herself blush in embarrassement. “No, I was just.. um..” She glanced back at the mirror.  “Checking out my new clothes.”

“Uh huh.” Xena rested her arm casually on Gabrielle’s shoulder, turning her so they were both facing the mirror. “Problem?”  She scanned her companion’s figure speculatively. “I told you they were fine. Didja think I was lying?”

Gabrielle gazed at the image in the mirror, her imagination now caught not by her new outfit, but by the sight of the two of them together. “No.. I didn’t, I was just... looking.”

“Uh huh.” The warrior repeated, nudging her with casual, rough affection. “C’mon. Let’s go find a bath. For what we paid, we should get separate tubs with hot water.”

Gabrielle followed obediently, her mind still whirling. “You think they’ll give us that?”

“No.”

“Good.”

Xena turned to look at her, in surprise. “What?”

“Nothing.” Gabrielle found herself in a surprisingly good mood. “Bath sounds great. Lead on.”

And Xena had. But not without giving her a very odd look.

“Okay, enough daydreaming.” Gabrielle found a few rocks in her path, and she used one as a low target, tapping the staff against it as she whipped the weapon back and forth in a now almost rapidfire motion. She circled her granite victim, spreading her hands wider on the staff and spreading her boots wider also, turning her back to the ring of trees just behind her.

The staff rattled against the stone, sending echoes up and into the cliffs above her, overshadowing the sudden thunder of hooves as Argo and Iolaus raced around, and the mare’s whinnying snorts.

Gabrielle focused on the exercises, the tip of her tongue appearing from between her lips as she felt some of the stiffness leave her, and her body warmed up.

A sense of danger injected itself into her concentration.  She felt her nape hairs prickle, and heard the warning screams of the horses, but she held her ground and kept her back turned to the forest.

A rush of motion.

At the very last possible second, Gabrielle turned, and dove for the ground, holding her staff out before her and grunting as it caught on the ankles of the tall, furred attacker now extended over her body in a ferocious assault.

With perfect trust, she dropped to the earth.

With perfect trust, she felt the forest dweller descending on her, and she didn’t move a hair.

With perfect trust, she exhaled, as a moving body swept in from her left, catching the forest dweller and throwing him to one side, expelling a cough from his body as a dark, swooping figure fairly engulfed him.  Gabrielle waited for them to clear her, then she tucked into a roll and got her boots under her, using her staff to lever herself to her feet.

Xena was straddled over her erstwhile foe, sword extended, point resting right against the jugular under the curved, furred jaw.

“Now.” The warrior growled softly. “We’re gonna start at the top, and you’re gonna talk to me, or I’m going to start cutting you into little pieces, useless bits first.”

Gabrielle leaned on her staff, and caught her breath, positioning herself just behind her partner, protective instincts at the ready just in case.

“Almost had you.” The forest dweller rasped, glaring at Gabrielle.

But the bard merely smiled grimly at him. “No.” She said. “You’ve got it all wrong. You weren’t hunting me.” She lifted the end of her staff, and pointed at him. “We were hunting you.”

The round, golden eyes shifted warily.

“And we gotcha.” Xena confirmed, with a very cold grin.

**

Xena shoved the forest dweller forward, pushing him up the path ahead of them, the horses, and a delighted Dori perched on Argo’s back.  She and Gabrielle walked in front of the animals, driving their prisoner before them with his hands tied behind his back, and thick leather shackles binding his ankles.

There was blood on the thick russet fur. The forest dweller limped as he walked, and one eye was swollen shut. Every so often, he glanced behind him, looking quickly away when he met Xena’s icy gaze.

They had been walking for two candlemarks, and were now a respectable distance from the cave. The path the forest dweller was leading them on was so faint as to be almost invisible, even to Xena’s sharp attention – and there was an air of uneasiness in the green shadows around them.

“You’ll never get what you want.”

Xena casually lashed out with one boot, and caught the forest dweller in the rear, with a solid thwack. “What’d I say about talking, fuzzhead?” She asked, catching the tiniest twitch of Gabrielle’s face at her action, not really a grimace, but the vague premonition of one. “Shut up, or I’ll close up that other eye.”

Their captive fell sullenly silent.

“Once we locate their den, then what?” Gabrielle asked. “There could be a lot of them there, Xena.”

The warrior snorted softly. “Yeah, they’re into that safety in numbers thing.” She commented. “We find it, we bring in enough muscle to clean it up. I’ll have all the proof I need, then.”

“You don’t know what you’re talking bout.” The forest dweller said, suddenly. “You can’t just.. ow!”

“Thanks.” Xena handed Gabrielle back her staff, which she’d neatly plucked out of the bard’s grasp to deal their luckless victim a solid blow to the back of the head. “Buddy, you’re just asking to be hurt.” She growled at him. “Just shut up, and keep walking.”

“It’ll be nice to get this cleared up.” Gabrielle said, after a gentle clearing of her throat. “Especially for Wennid and Lestan’s sake.”

“Bring some peace back to this damn valley.” The warrior agreed.

They walked along in silence after that for a while, the pace steady, but not overly aggressive.  It was after noon, all the same, before Xena glanced up and studied the sky, then she reached out and grabbed hold of the forest dweller’s wrist bindings, jerking him to a halt. “Hold it.”

The man stumbled and almost fell.  Xena shoved him towards a nearby tree. “Sit.” She ordered. “Gabrielle, take the horses and Dori over there. I’m going to fill our waterskins.”

“Sure, Gen’rl.” Gabrielle uttered, just barely audibly. She walked past her soulmate, bumping her lightly with her hip. “C’mon, Dori. You want to come down and sit with me?”

“Mama.. mama.” Dori was holding onto Argo’s mane, reveling in their long ride. “Go gets Guff, Mama. He go lost, may gets fishes.” The child explained seriously, as she allowed her mother to lift her free of the mare, and set her on the ground. “We go get Guff now.”

Gabrielle grabbed for the back of her jumper, catching a handful of cloth and only just preventing Dori from rambling off into the nearest bush. “No, honey… Ares is going to catch up to us. He’s just busy right now.”

Dori pouted. “Want Guff!”  She complained.

The bard eased herself down to a seat on a nearby flat rock, and pulled Dori over to her. “He’ll be here soon, I promise.” She said. “Are you hungry? How about some lunch?”

“Mm.” Distracted, the toddler began investigating the carry bag Gabrielle set down beside her.

Argo and Iolaus moved off, cropping the grass nearby. They kept a wary eye on the forest dweller, who had half sat, half fallen near the tree and was grimacing as he tried to find a comfortable way to sit tied as he was.

Xena wrapped the leather straps of the waterskins around her hand and headed for the trees, passing between them and disappearing into the shadows.  She threaded her way through the mossy boulders, following her ears towards the sound of running water.

“Ah.” Around a last bend, she spotted a small stream, burbling out of a pile of stones and heading off through the leaf litter down the slope. “Just what I was looking for.”  She knelt beside the spring and uncapped the skins, sticking the mouth of the first one under the water while she let her senses extend around her.

She was still stuffed up. It still felt like there was a layer of something… between her and the rest of the world and a more annoying sensation she could hardly imagine.  But the throbbing in her head had subsided, and the ache in her bones, so Xena concluded she really didn’t have that much to complain about.

Capping the first skin, she held the second to be filled, resting her elbow on her knee and letting her fingers dangle in the water, it’s chill sending tiny shocks across her skin.  Something caught her eye, and she leaned forward, peering into the creek as her brows contracted together.  “Wh…”

Just a flash of something – but Xena’s reflexes were quick enough to snatch a suddenly glittering item up from the water’s flow, her fingers closing around it as she pulled her hand back and opened it.

A coin.

The warrior quickly capped the second skin and set it down, reaching into her belt pouch and removing the coin she’d found in her boot. She compared the two, and held them up in the green filtered sunlight. Though battered, and bent, the newly found coin matched the one she’d mysteriously acquired.

On one side of the new coin, she found a cut, and she tilted her head, studying it. The edge was sharp, as though something had taken a bite out of it, and she pulled her hand closer, peering at the jagged corner with battle experienced eyes.

“Well, well.” Xena murmured. “Now where did you come from, hm?”  She pocketed the second coin, then picked up the bags and stood, turning suddenly when she heard a yell from behind her. “Gabrielle!” Her voice rang out, sharp and urgent. “Gabrielle!”

“Stop!” The bard’s response held a note of fear.

With a curse, Xena bolted for the clearing, breaking through the trees just in time to see the forest dweller disappearing over the far ridge, leaping into the air over the precipice in apparent complete disregard for his life.

Gabrielle picked herself up from the ground, Dori in her arms, and ran towards the edge of the rocks, joined by her partner as they reached the spot where the forest dweller had disappeared. They both peered over, only to see him swinging down out of a tree and leaping a crevice, starting to climb up into a rocky area full of caves and shadows.

“What happened” Xena asked, putting a hand on her partner’s back.

Gabrielle gazed after the forest dweller, then she turned to face the warrior. “He must have rubbed the ropes against the bark. He got loose, rushed me, then took off.” She explained. “I grabbed Dori.. he knocked me over.”

“He hurt you?”

“No.” The bard gave her partner a pat on the hip. “We ducked.”

Xena nodded quietly. “You all right?” She asked the bard. “Dori okay?”

“We’re fine.” Gabrielle reassured her again. “He wanted to get away more than he wanted to get us.”

They both watched the forest dweller until he disappeared. Then they turned to eye each other. “Can you follow him?” Gabrielle asked.

Xena gazed pensively at the spot, then cocked her head to one side briefly. “Guess we’ll find out.” She said. “Damn straight he wasn’t taking us where we wanted to go tied up.” She acknowledged. “Let’s see how he does now.”

Gabrielle nodded, getting to her feet as Xena did and joining the warrior as they returned to the horses. She started to put Dori back up on Argo’s back, but paused as Xena’s hand touched her wrist. “What?”

“Let’s wait a little while.” The warrior took Dori fro her arms and walked over to the rocks she’d been sitting on before it had all started. “He’ll double back. He knows we watched him go that way. Give him a chance to think he’s lost us, and we’ll save ourselves the extra walking.”

Gabrielle picked up their bag instead and sat down next to Xena. She pulled two apples and a handful of berries from it, handing Dori some of the berries as the child squealed in delight. “You know something?” She asked, as she offered Xena one of the apples.

“What?” Xena settled Dori in her lap, and took a bite of the fruit.

“You’re one smart cookie.”

“Cookie?” Dori’s ears perked up. “Gots!”

Xena popped a berry in the toddler’s mouth, and gave her a kiss on the head. “Am I?” She inquired, but with a pleased look on her face.

“Yep.” The bard leaned against her, resting her head on her partner’s shoulder. “I remember way back when… I would sit there in awe at the plans you came up with. They were amazing.” She turned her head and gave Xena’s shoulder a kiss. “You’re amazing.”

Xena eyed her, one eyebrow arching up expressively. “You sure he didn’t knock you in the head?”

“I’m sure.” Gabrielle took a bite of her apple and chewed it. “I mean, I’ve always thought that, Xena. It’s not like I had this revelation sitting here on a rock or something. I just wanted to say that to you.”

“GUFF!”

Both Xena and Gabrielle jumped, and the warrior only just kept Dori from catapulting off her lap as she surged upward. “Hey!” She grabbed at the child, who was squirming out of her grasp. “Hold on there, shortie!”

“Guff!” Dori pointed to the trees. “Guff!!” Her voice lifted imperiously. “C’mere!”

Gabrielle squinted towards the gap. “Is he really there?” She asked.

Xena produced a shrill whistle, grunting as the grasses parted to reveal the trotting form of their pet wolf. “Ares!”

“Roo!” The wolf spotted them and loped forward, tongue lolling as he arrived and pattered to a halt. “Roo!”  He nuzzled Dori, who grabbed eagerly at him.

“Guff! You go play, no take. You bad.” Dori scolded him, pulling at the fur around his neck. “Bad bad bad.”

“That’ll make things easier.” Xena remarked, picking up the dropped bindings lying draggled in the grass. She held them up for the wolf to sniff, watching his black nose wrinkle slightly. “Yeah, I know what you mean.” She ruffled his fur with one hand. “Good boy.”

Gabrielle turned her apple, taking another bite of it. “There’s no way he’s going to lose us now.” She remarked. “I don’t care how sneaky he is, we’ll find him.”

Xena thought about the half broken coin in her belt pouch. “Mm.” She agreed softly. “Just wish I knew what we’re gonna find with him.”  She bit into her fruit, pausing when her tongue encountered an errant seed.

She rolled it around on her tongue for a moment, lost in thought.

**

Xena lead the way through the trees, stepping cautiously across the thick leaf litter under her boots. There was no path discernable that she was following, save perhaps a slightly misaligned leaf, and the whisk of a dark, furry tail.

“Xe?”

The warrior paused and turned, waiting for Gabrielle to join her. The bard was leading their two mounts, moving single file since the trees surrounding them were too close for anything else. “You okay?” She asked the bard.

Gabrielle nodded, as she came even with Xena. “Yeah, I’m fine. I was just…” She glanced behind her to where Dori was happily perched again on Argo’s back. “What are we going to do when we get there?”

“Find out what’s going on?” Xena asked, in a slightly puzzled tone.

“With Dori?” The bard prompted. “Honey, we really can’t take her up there with us, can we?”

Xena studied the toddler. “We have a choice?” She countered.

Gabrielle continued walking, her eyes on the ground. She was quiet for a while, then finally she shook her head. “No, I guess we don’t.”

It was Xena’s turn then, to ponder for a bit. “I’ll put her on my back.” She said. “She should be safe there… safe as anywhere.”

The bard frowned. “What if we…”

“Gabrielle.” The warrior came to a slightly wider stretch of forest, and she dropped back a step to walk side by side with her soulmate. Her arm slipped around the bard’s shoulders. “I love my horse.”

“Well, I know but…”

“I love her too much to ask her to babysit my child.” Xena consciously gentled her voice. “She’ll be fine with me.”

Gabrielle settled her arm around Xena’s waist. “I’m not so worried about her being safe. I’m worried about you being safe, in the middle of a fight knowing she’s there.”  She admitted. “Especially since I know I’m not up to par at the moment, and neither are you.”

The warrior sighed.

“You know it’s true.”

“I know we don’t really have a choice.”

The bard sighed.

“This argument isn’t getting us anywhere.” Gabrielle stated.

“It’s not an argument. It’s just a discussion.” Her partner replied. “Besides, you don’t wanna hear my other plan.”

Gabrielle found the mock banter more relaxing than she’d anticipated. “I don’t? How you do you know I don’t? Maybe I want to hear this other plan.”

Blue eyes slid to one side and regarded her. “It involves her, and Argo, and Iolaus, and you staying together.”

“Uh oh.”

“In a safe place.”

“Xena, you suck.” The bard said, succinctly. “That plan’s going nowhere.”

A shrug. “Toldja.”

They walked on in comfortable silence, linking hands as the path continued wide enough for their passage. The ground was becoming more rocky, and it sloped upward, though not yet at a very harsh degree. Xena leaned forward a little, her eyes sweeping the earth with intent curiosity.

She stopped, then dropped Gabrielle’s hand and walked to the edge of a large bush, kneeling beside it and touching the dirt with the tips of her fingers.  After a moment, she studied the leaves with fierce intentness, getting her nose close to them, and half closing her eyes.

“W..” Gabrielle released the reins and stepped forward. “Xena, what is it?” She asked, in a worried tone.

“C’mere.”

The bard eased up behind her, and knelt, resting her hand on Xena’s back for balance. “What?”

“Look.”

Gabrielle leaned forward, peering into the shadowy vegetation. The bush suddenly held a sense of danger, and she felt her heart skip a time or two as she looked for whatever dark clue her partner had found. “Wh.. what am I looking at, Xe?”

The blue eyes twinkled. “Blackberries.” She handed over a nice juicy specimen. “You’re slipping, Gab. I could smell em even with my stuffed nose.”

“Tch.” Gabrielle took the berry, and slapped her soulmate on the bottom. “You little wench.” She groaned, stuffing the berry into her mouth nonetheless. “That was rotten.”

“No, they’re perfectly ripe.” The warrior disagreed, eating one to prove her point. “Figured we could use a break.”

“We?”

Xena chuckled, standing up with both hands full of the fruit. She gave up a fistful as a peace offering to the suddenly very attentive bard, then walked over to Argo’s back and held out a few to Dori. “Hungry, Dor?”

“Um!” Dori grabbed for the treats, releasing Argo’s mane and scrambling around her neck without heeding the fact that the animal stood a respectable distance off the ground. “Boo, dat’s good!” She held out a small hand, covered in purple juice. “More?”

Gabrielle wandered up on the other side of the mare, leaning on her back and munching quietly on her snack as she watched her partner and their child. Xena’s face was  a study in indulgence, a smile playing about her lips as she shared her berries with Dori.

In the green, leaf shadowed light that filtered through the thick canopy, the sharp planes of the warrior’s features were softened and gentled, and though she could still see dark circles under Xena’s eyes most of the pallor seemed to have disappeared.

“Xe.” Gabrielle uttered.

“Mm?” Xena glanced past Dori’s wriggling form at her.

“You’re right.”

“I am?” The warrior leaned one arm on Argo’s back.

The bard nodded. “She stays with us.” She tugged on one of Dori’s booties. “How are you doing, sweetie? You tired of riding yet?”

“Gogogogogogogogo.” Dori bounced up and down on the mare’s neck. “Go go fast, mama.” She flopped down on her back and waved her boots in the air, perfectly balanced and relaxed.

It made Gabrielle smile, for many reasons. She looked up past Dori, to find Xena’s eyes pinned on the toddler, an expression of frank delight apparent on her face. “What’s it like, to watch your image like that?” She asked.

Xena shook her head slightly. “It’s amazing.”  She admitted, with a little sigh. “Just damn incredible.” She gave Dori the last of the berries, letting out a chuckle as the toddler chewed with abandon and clutched her shirt with purple stained fingers.

Gabrielle finished off the last of her berries, and dusted her fingers off. “Are we done resting now?”

“I don’t know. Are we?” Xena eyed her. “How about you ride for a while, too?”

Rats. The bard’s nose wrinkled. She hadn’t though her growing weariness had been showing that much. “Okay.”  She glanced ahead of them. “Looks like it’s going to be clear for a while.. why don’t’ we all ride?”

For an answer, Xena ducked around Argo’s neck and came to Gabrielle’s side, taking hold of her at the waist and boosting her up onto Argo’s back behind Dori.  Then she leaped aboard Iolaus, and they started off, the two horses ambling along side by side.

At first it was simply peaceful. Gabrielle was secretly glad to get off her feet, and she scratched Argo’s shoulder as the mare did the walking uphill for her.  But after a little while, she noticed how quiet it was around them.

Too quiet.

A cold wind sprang up, blowing against them. It was as though something had woken to their presence. Gabrielle looked quickly over, only to find Xena looking back at her. “Here we go.” She said, wrapping one arm around Dori.

“Here we go.” Xena acknowledged, with a reassuring smile. She held up one hand, and extended it, waiting until Gabrielle joined her and their hands clasped together, fingers tightening into a powerful squeeze. “Let’s do it.”

Gabrielle gave her hand a return squeeze, then she gathered herself, tucking her staff under her knee and taking stock of her things. She removed the light carryback she’d had slung over her shoulder and tied it to Argo’s saddle.  “Let’s do it.” She whispered to herself.

Another sudden surge of fear made her throat go dry. She had an almost irresistible urge to grab Xena’s belt, and haul them both off in the other direction, away from this threatening mountain, and whatever waited at the top of it.

Almost irresistible.

**

It was nearly dark, and the air had grown thick with moisture before they reached the ridge. Xena dismounted from Iolaus and held her hand up, motioning Gabrielle to stay behind as she crept carefully up to the rocks that were scattered over the ground and kneeling, peered around one.

“Mama..”

“Shh.” Gabrielle tucked a fold of her cloak around the child, glancing up through the trees at the sky. The setting sun had robbed it of most of it’s light, but she could see the dark outline of clouds overhead, and realized an approaching storm was hastening the process.  “Oh, great.” She muttered. “Just what we needed after  a long day riding up a mountain, with her sick.”

“Mama?” Dori looked up at her. “Were’s Boo?”

“Right over there, sweetheart.” Gabrielle pointed at the warrior, who’s gray profile in the shadows almost blended into the stone.  “She’s looking out to see where we’ll go next.”

“Otay.” Dori drummed her heels, satisfied with the answer. “We go have fishes soon?”

Dinner.  Gabrielle reviewed what she had in their bags, and decided it was more than sufficient for them. One pack held smoked goose, and she had fruit and nuts she’d scrounged to go with it, and some roots she could roast, assuming they could find a place where Xena felt safe to light a fire.

A light scuff made her look up, to see Xena making her way back towards her, the warrior’s heavy cloak swirling around her legs as she walked.  “What’s the deal?” Gabrielle asked, as her tall partner stopped at her side, a hand coming to rest on her calf with comforting warmth.

“Next ridge, the tall one…” Xena turned, and pointed. “Halfway up’s a big opening. Ledge is big enough to hold half of Amphipolis.”

“Ah.” The bard nodded. “People there?”

Xena nodded, after a brief moment. “Fire inside. Lot of activity.”  A dozen forest dwellers, at least – agitated and restless, pacing up and down in fact. She hadn’t been surprised at that. “Our friend must have made it back.”

“And warned them about us?”

The warrior nodded.

Gabrielle exhaled. “Was doing that really a smart idea?” She asked, stretching a little to relieve the painful cramps in her back from the days’ riding. “I know he led us here, but now what?”

“Now what?” Xena tipped her head back, the hood on her cloak falling back to reveal her dark hair. “Now we find a place to weather that damn storm, and decide now what.”  She patted Argo’s neck. ‘Let’s get under cover.”

“Sounds good.” Gabrielle eased her leg over the back of Argo’s saddle and headed groundward, not even squeaking in protest when Xena took hold of her and helped her down to the ground. Her legs felt numb after the long ride, and it took a few painful minutes for her to straighten up as she held on to the mare’s tack. “Yeesh.”

“Mm.”  Xena rubbed her back lightly. “We might have to build a cover. I don’t see anything nearby.”

“Okay.” The bard unslung her bag, and exhaled, holding up her arms for Dori. “C’mon, sweetpea. You come help mama find branches, how about that?”

“Fun?”

“Sure, it’s fun.” Gabrielle lowered her to the ground, and took her hand. “Let’s see you pick the best ones. You know the ones Boo likes, right? The big ones?”

“Yes!” Dori pattered off, tugging her mother after her. “Mama look!”

Xena watched them for a moment, then she went about the necessary tasks of caring for the horses. The cave opening had worried her more than she’d let on to Gabrielle, though she was sure of the bard took a minute to look for herself no explanation would be needed.

There was no easy way up to the ridge, for one thing. Xena led the animals towards the densest part of the trees, squeezing through them until she found a small opening surrounded by tall, majestic trunks. The ground was fairly even, and on one side of the opening, a fallen giant lay on it’s side, one end propped up by two of it’s brothers about her height from the earth.

“Huh.” The warrior pushed back the edges of her cloak so she could set her hands on her hips. “Nice.”  She removed the horses’ saddles and set them down on the ground right under the fallen tree, at the point where it rested on the earth. Then she took a rag from her kit and rubbed the animals down, as the last few flickers of sunset escaped the clouds and dusted across her hands.

When she finished, she tucked the cloth in her belt and went off in search of her partner, following the sounds of crackling branches just off to her right. Overhead, the sky darkened, and a deep rumble made her look up in reflex.

She regretted it, when several very cold drops of water fell into her eyes, making her blink furiously as she jerked her head down and wiped her hand across her eyelids. “Great.” She muttered, as she pulled the hood up on her cloak and increased her pace. “Gabrielle!”

Silence.

Xena felt her heart bolt , jumping to a racing pace accompanied by a startling sense of panic. “Gabrielle!” Her voice lifted, and sharpened, and she broke into a run, cocking her ears to listen intently.

“Here!”

The bard’s answer came from closer than she’d anticipated, and Xena skidded to a halt nearly colliding with one of the trees.  She ducked under a branch and came face to face with her partner, who was nearly obscured by three branches full of pine needles. “Ah.”

“Want to take these?” Gabrielle nudged her. “Dori found a tree that must have just fallen over.”  She handed over the branches. “Did you want me for something? I heard you call.”

Xena felt a trifle silly. “Uh..”  She was caught flatfooted under the bard’s knowing eyes, and opted for the truth. “I just wanted to be sure you were all right.”

“You’re so sweet.” Gabrielle gently pulled her head down and gave her a kiss on the lips. “I’ll get more of these, then I want to check out that cave, okay?”  She caressed Xena’s cheek with the edge of her thumb. “So we can start planning.”

We.  Xena regarded the short blond woman boldly mucking about her person and smiled. She’d known it was true love she’d started feeling for Gabrielle when she’d found herself willing to allow her to be part of the decisions that ruled their lives.

“Go on and build your hut, so I can get some hot tea into you.” Gabrielle gently pushed her back towards the trees. “Move it, Boo.”

Ah, love. Xena took her branches and reversed her course, dragging the limbs as she made her way back to the clearing.  She’d known it was really true love when she’d started allowing Gabrielle to boss her around, and by the time she realized she was letting the woman call her pet names, she’d given up any attempt to salvage either her reputation or her dignity.

Pondering this, she started building their shelter, propping the branches against the fallen tree, breaking the bottoms to line them up evenly, and stripping the limbs off the broken parts. She used the smaller pieces to weave in and out of the bigger ones, glancing up as Gabrielle reappeared dragging five more branches and Dori behind her. “Good picks.” She complimented both her partner and her daughter.

“Thanks.” Gabrielle dropped the branches near her. “Xena, I looked at that cave. We need to talk.” She dusted her hands off, then started hauling their gear under the tree, as the rain started to penetrate the canopy.  “There’s no way to get at that place, and it’s crawling with fuzzies.”

“Yep.” Xena put another branch into place, working faster as it started raining harder. “Dori, get under there.” She pointed to the tree. “So you don’t’ get wet.”

“Gef wep.” Dori wandered over to Xena’s side instead, tugging on a limb. “Help Boo!”

“We can’t just walk up there.”  Gabrielle said, kneeling beside her and starting to strip branches. “Honey, I can help Boo, you go sit down, okay?”

“Having spent most of my adult life fighting, I did realize that, Gabrielle.” Xena said. “We need daylight to see what our options are.”

The bard was quiet for a moment, then she bumped her hip against Xena’s. “Sorry.” She handed over a fistful of fragrant sticks. “I’m just a little rattled… not really sure why.”

Xena skillfully wove the branches into a neat, thick wall of protection. “We’re on a hillside in a storm with people who want to kill us over the next ridge?” She hazarded, glancing over her shoulder as her senses momentarily prickled.  Argo and Iolaus had already moved off to shelter in a thicker patch of trees, she noticed.

A bolt of lightning arced between two clouds, making her nape hairs lift. With a grunt, she finished her work and pushed Gabrielle under shelter, sprawling after her just as the skies opened up and the rain came down with a roar.

They ended up tangled together in the small space, watching wide eyed as a wall of water blocked their view of even the nearest of the other trees.  Xena pushed herself back under the fallen tree, and scooped Dori up with one arm, pulling Gabrielle over her leg and into her lap with the other.  They all jumped as Ares scuttled inside with them, accompanied by the distinct smell of very wet wolf.

“Wow.” Gabrielle wiped a bit of now drenched hair out of her eyes. “That’s wicked.”

“Too loud!” Dori complained, holding her ears.

Xena stared out at the rain, momentarily humbled by it’s raw power. Then she tucked her cloak around her family, hoping the meager shelter would be enough to keep them from being washed away by it.

Maybe the forest dwellers would get off easy.

Gabrielle snuggled against her and rested her head on Xena’s shoulder, wrapping her arms around Dori and letting out a small sigh.

“Scared?” Xena whispered into the bard’s ear.

“No.” The whisper came back. “Not here.”

The warrior’s eyebrows went up. “Not here on this damn mountain in the storm from Hades?”

“Not here in your arms.”

“Hm.” Xena grunted softly.

“Gush.” Dori found a bit of Ares tail to pull. “Gush, gush gush.”

“Roo.”

**

Continued in Part 14

Champion

Part 14

The rain had slowly turned to ice, and then to snow as the night wore on. By dawn, they found themselves looking out at a world gone gray and white, and a deep, bone chilling cold that penetrated even their thickest cloaks.

Only the combined heat of their bodies was making a dent in the cold. Gabrielle let out a slow breath, watching the fog form before her as she shifted a little inside Xena’s arms. “Honey?”

“Mm?”

“What the Hades are we going to do?”

Xena had her chin resting on Gabrielle’s shoulder. She lifted it slightly and regarded the weather with honestly perplexed eyes. “I have no idea.”

The bard sighed again, glancing down inside the folds of her own cloak, where Dori was nestled asleep in her lap. “If this keeps up, we’re going to be buried in this stuff.”

The warrior regarded the thick blanket of snow on the ground, which was already starting to pile up outside their tiny shelter.  “I know.”

Gabrielle leaned back against her partner. “Xena, can I ask you an honest question?”

“You ever ask any other kind?”

“Are we crazy to be sitting here?”

Xena sniffled a little. “We’re here to help Ardwyn, remember?”

“I know that.” Gabrielle answered. “But we’re not going to help Ardwyn if we freeze to death, or you d… get sicker from the cold.” She felt her teeth chatter on the last sentence, and slowly clamped her jaw shut, accepting the jolt of fear the words triggered.

“Ah, Gabrielle.” Xena tightened her hold.  She knew the truth of what her partner was saying, and gracefully gave into it, saving her thoughts for another day. “Okay. Soon as it slows down, we get outta here. Get the horses, and get down the mountain. Weather’ll be warmer there.”

She felt Gabrielle’s body relax in her arms, but the bard kept her head down, her face burrowed into Xena’s chest.   There was almost a fog of confusion that the warrior could sense coming from the bard, and at the moment there was little she could do other than simply hug her and rock her gently as the snow continued to fall.

Should she keep them there? Her eyes scanned what little bit of the sky she could see, a darkly glowering overcast that showed no signs of breaking up. Or was it a mistake? What if the snow kept falling, and they were, as Gabrielle had suggested, trapped there?

Maybe she should get them out now. Xena craned her head and peeked outside the shelter, blinking as a scattering of snowflakes dusted her face.  Experimentally, she pursed her lips and let out a whistle, half of it cracking off as her chest seized into a cough.

“What are you doing?” Gabrielle whispered, moving her head and nudging the bottom of Xena’s jaw.

“Calling the horses. What do you think?”

Gabrielle tipped her head all the way back and made eye contact. “Are we leaving?”

“Yes.” Xena’s ears, though stuffed, picked up the crunch of approaching hooves in the new snow. “C’mon.” She started to shift to rise, stifling a groan at muscles cramped for sitting in one place so long. “Keep hold of Dori.”

“But…” Gabrielle bit her lip, as she tried to stand up and discovered the same problem her partner had. “Oww!” She had less reticence at displaying it however. “Son of a…”

“Easy.” Xena got upright, and ducked out from under the shelter, keeping her arms around her family and moving them along with her. Once outside, she straightened to her full height and stretched her back out, then took Dori from Gabrielle’s arms so her partner could do the same.

It was cold, but moving around helped. Xena cradled Dori as Argo and Iolaus trotted up, shaking their heads in annoyance at the steadily falling snow. “Whoa.”  She clucked at the big animals, who obediently sidled over and stood next to her. “All right. Let me get Dori up on Argo, then…”

Gabrielle rested her hands on Io’s back. “I’ll take her with me, Xe.” She said. “Listen, I’m sorry I got so weird again.” She plucked at the horse’s mane. “I thought I had that nailed down.”

Xena walked over and set the sleepy toddler on Io’s back, watching her pout as her warm nest was disturbed with cold snow and chilly horse hair. “It’s okay.” She tucked Dori’s tiny jacket around her. “Hang on, shortie.”

“Boo…” Dori let out a wail, rubbing her eyes with one small fist. “Bck!”

“Shh.” Xena ruffled her hair. “We’re gonna go riding. You like that, right?”  She stepped around Iolaus and put her hands on Gabrielle’s waist. “C’mon, mama. Up you go.”

Gabrielle put her hands on Io’s saddle and hoisted herself up, not resisting when Xena boosted her the rest of the way until she could swing her leg over the horses back and settle herself behind Dori. She took the reins up in her hands, and got her boots into the stirrups, tucking the front of her cloak back around Dori’s body.

She felt sick and offbalance. But she had the job of staying upright on the horse, and taking care of Dori to concentrate on, so she got herself settled, and turned her eyes to where Xena was pulling herself up on Argo’s back, neatly swirling her cloak as she did so that it dropped over the mare’s haunches as she dropped down into the saddle.

“Mama.” Dori twisted around and looked up at her. “Where we go?”

Gabrielle felt her shoulders slump, but she managed a smile for her daughter. “We’re going home, sweetie. We’re going to see gramma, and all your friends.  Is that okay?”

Dori’s eyes lit up. “Gramma? We go now?”

“Yep.” The bard felt slightly better, responding to Dori’s delight. “We’ll see Ephiny, and Eponin, and Cait.. wont’ that be fun?”

“Yes!”

Gabrielle looked up, to find Xena watching her, the warrior’s dark head framed inside the hood of her cloak throwing shadows across her face. The blue eyes were gentle, though, and there was no resentment there – only understanding so profound it almost brought tears to Gabrielle’s eyes.

Xena eased Argo over, and brought her side by side with Iolaus, then she signaled the mare to start moving. “If we take the south road out, we can by pass the village. We should be near Cirron by nightfall.”

Cirron, where they’d originally intended on going before the forest dweller’s scout had found them. Gabrielle felt a melancholy acceptance at the thought, remembering so many moments she’d had in the city and finding in herself a desire to dwell in that lost place for a minute.  “Okay.” She took a deep breath, and nodded. “That sounds good to me.”

They threaded their way between the trees, giving the horses plenty of rein and time to pick their way through the thick snow drifts already forming. “Easy.” Xena cautioned. “I don’t’ want either of them cracking a hoof.”

“Definitely.” Gabrielle agreed, flexing her hands on the leather. “Wonder if Cirron’s changed much?”

Xena glanced over at her. “Every place does.” She half shrugged.  “Bet they still have a big market, though.” She kidded gently, giving her partner a grin. “I remember going out and getting you that necklace.”

Willingly distracted, Gabrielle eased Iolaus up so they were side by side again. “Mm. Yeah, I remember feeling just… “ She nibbled her lower lip. “Giddy, I think. I just couldn’t believe what was happening with us.”

“Me either.” The warrior confessed. “I felt like a kid.”

A memory surfaced. “Oh.” Gabrielle exhaled. “You know, I just remembered being in that castle, taking care of all those wounded men and hoping to the gods I wouldn’t have to.. that they wouldn’t bring you in there.”

“Mm.”  Xena nodded. “I remember that, too. I remember seeing your face when I came in, and knowing inside my guts just how much I meant to you.”

Gabrielle felt a lump in her throat, and so she didn’t answer. She just pressed her lips into a faint smile, and nodded.

“I remember you taking care of me.” Xena went on, in a quiet, reflective voice. “When you touched my face, and I looked up, and knew I wasn’t going to deny what was happening to us anymore.” She paused. “Just wasn’t fair.”

“Fair?” Gabrielle murmured.

Xena was silent for a few lengths, as they went around a thick copse of bushes and down a small rise. “I..” The warrior glanced at her, then down at her hands. “I didn’t believe in soulmates.” She said. “Not then.” Her eyes lifted again and met Gabrielle’s squarely. “But I realized that I was.. um.. “

The bard’s expression gentled. “The one great love of my life?”

A half, almost self deprecating shrug. “Something like that, yeah.” Xena admitted. “And at the rate I was going… the way we were living, I just didn’t know how much time we’d have.”

Gabrielle gazed between Iolaus’ ears, lost in the memories of that time.

“And I wanted… to know what that kind of love felt like.” The warrior finished. “I never thought I would.”

The horses made their way down another short slope, skirting a rock outcropping that gave them a view over the next valley, with it’s ominous cave. Gabrielle pulled Iolaus up unexpectedly, and turned, gazing across the gap towards the other mountain slope.

The snow almost obscured it, but she could just barely see through the white a smudge of black that was the entrance, and the dark cones of trees that poked out above the ridge beyond.  After a long moment, she turned and looked at Xena. “Most people never do know what that’s like, do they?”

Xena eased closer, until her knee was touching Gabrielle’s. “I don’t think so. No.”

Gabrielle turned again, and looked across the valley, staring at the cave for several silent moments before she returned her gaze to her partner. “You know what?” Her voice was quiet, yet peaceful. “I think I forgot what we have isn’t a right, Xena. It’s a gift.”  She glanced down at Dori’s hooded head, then leaned over and kissed it.

“Yes, it is.” The warrior agreed, softly. “The greatest gift of my life.”

In the words, somehow, Gabrielle re-found something. She smiled, wiping the back of her hand across her eyes before she lifted her head and drew in a breath. “C’mon.” She patted Xena’s knee. “Let’s go find a way over there.”

Unsurprised, the warrior merely nodded, and edged Argo forward, already searching for a suitable path for the mare’s hooves. Gabrielle set Iolaus to follow, understanding the course they now took was in some part a touch of madness.

But that was all right. “Hey, Xena?”

“Mm?” The blue eyes appeared, as Xena turned her head and looked over her shoulder.

“You’re getting very good at that.” Gabrielle complimented her. “Thanks.”

White teeth flashed in a smile, visible even in the snowfall. “I had the best teacher.” The warrior replied, extending her hand and waiting until Gabrielle came up to clasp it.

They moved down the hill, heading for the bottom of the ridge so they could start the climb back upward towards the waiting danger.  Far from being their enemy, the bard realized, the weather was now their friend, hiding them in feathery clouds that blocked the forest dweller’s senses as much as Xena’s cold muffled hers.

It was, she acknowledged, all in how you looked at it.

**

They crouched under a canopy of leaves, near the last trees before the mountain arched up and exposed it’s flanks to open view. Here, the forest blocked the wind, and only infrequent flurries of snow drifted through the thick pine needles.

Gabrielle leaned forward with her elbows on her saddlebow, mindful of Dori’s curious head poking up  just under her chin. “What do you think?” She asked Xena.

Xena studied the area intently. It appeared quite barren, except…. “I think I’m wondering about that rock.” She indicated a tall, almost standing stone on the other side of the open space. Alone amongst it’s fellows it was clear of snow, not even a dusting holding to it’s surface.

“Wrok.” Dori warbled. “Boo go find wroks?”

“Boo found a rock, honey.” Gabrielle murmured. “I don’t think she can bring this one back for you though.”  She studied the stone. “What’s so special about it?”

The warrior glanced at her in slight surprise. “There’s no snow on it.” She said, after a brief pause. “Don’t you see that?”

Gabrielle rubbed the bridge of her nose, and grimaced just a little. “I do. Sorry.” She apologized. “I’m just not that used to this stuff. We don’t get into snow very often. So what does it mean?” Her eyes blinked, and fastened on the stone again. “No, wait, let me think.”

Xena waited.

“Nothing’s shading it, so… you think the snow’s melting?” The bard hazarded.

“Exactly.”

“Naturally?”

“Maybe.” Xena acknowledged. “But I’d put my bet on that being the back side of their hearthstone.”

“Mm. Ah, I see.” Gabrielle pointed. “There’s a crack there… see the heat?”

Now it was Xena’s turn to squint. “You’re right. Good catch.” She tilted her head. “Hard to see from this angle.”  She rested her forearms on the saddle. “All right. Let’s go along the fringe of the trees here, and see if there’s any other openings.”

Gabrielle shifted in her seat. “You mean, we’re not just going to charge into that big cave opening, yelling like banshees?” She asked, with a mild grin. “You’re getting sneaky in your old age, Xena.”  After she’d decided they should keep trying to help Ardwyn and Elevown, and after the gentle counseling from her soulmate, her spirits had lifted in a curious and unexpected way.

It wasn’t that her fear had vanished – she could still feel it twisting her guts. It was more that she’d found a way past it, as she burrowed down inside herself and got back in touch with a kid she used to know way back when.

Xena snorted.  “Gee thanks, kid.”

Gabrielle smiled at her. “Remember which one of us has gray hair.” She reminded her partner. “Can we get going? My knees are killing me.”

Comforted by the banter, Xena turned her attention back to their puzzle. “Okay.” She swung a leg over Argo’s back and dropped to the ground, feeling the snow crunch under her boots and slide it’s chilly way up her legs.

Speaking of aching knees. Xena  winced a bit, surprised at the stiffness.  The cold, she reasoned, matched with her illness still clinging on tenaciously to her. Putting the matter aside, she flexed her thighs and nudged the snow out of her way, crunching forward past Argo to the edge of the trees. She leaned one hand against the last trunk and peered outward, examining the terrain.

A moment later, she felt a warm hand on her back, and Gabrielle was at her side, Dori perched on her back with her arms wrapped around her mother’s neck. “All right.” Xena said, pointing to a dip in the snow. “Let’s move along that line there, and get behind those rocks.”

“Right behind you.” Gabrielle murmured.

“You all right with her?” Xena asked, pausing before she started forward. “How’s your neck?”

“Fine.” Gabrielle gave her a gentle shove. “Go on. Let’s get this over with.”

The warrior studied her for a brief moment, then she turned and started forward, moving quickly through the snow and breaking a trail for her soulmate to follow in. She cast her senses out, but with the wind, and the still thickly falling snow, she might as well have been underwater for all the information she got from them.

But the distance wasn’t great, and she could feel Gabrielle’s fist firmly clenched in the back of her cloak, so she plowed on as fast as she could, her boots tossing clumps of snow on either side of their path. The wind blew hard against her, and for a second she stumbled to one side, almost losing her footing on the rocks before she stopped sliding and got her balance again. “Pah.”

“Boo make fun.” Dori commented.  “Go fly?”

“No flying right now.” Xena muttered, shaking her head to clear the snow off it. “Better keep moving or we’ll turn into snowmen.”

“Women.” Gabrielle kept close, moving her grip from the back of Xena’s cloak to under it and fastening her fingers tightly around the warrior’s leathers instead. “You think there’ll be…ah.”

“Cover? Yeah.” Xena pulled them around the last bit of rise before the bare rock and they swung up and over a snow covered ledge into a semi-sheltered spot right up against their target stone.

“Hm. Yep.” Gabrielle released her partner and laid her hands on the rock. “Warm.”

Dori stuck her hand past her mother’s ear and patted the rock herself. “Good!” She warbled approvingly. “Like that. Where we go now?”

Xena edged between the tall stone and the next one, pushing her hood back and shaking the snow from her shoulders.  “Let’s see what we’ve got here.”

Gabrielle gladly followed, relieved to be out of the wind and mostly out of the snow. She leaned against the bare rock as she watched her partner explore, tentatively putting her hand towards the ripple of warmer air she could now see clearly coming from a gap in the mountain.

Curious, she leaned forward and cautiously sniffed, remembering the stench from the other cave. But the scent was clean, the brassy scent of heated rock and long burning wood that reminded her of their own hearth at home.

Home.

Gabrielle inhaled as a vision formed behind her eyes of the small, comfortable cabin on the slopes above the Amphipolis river, and she swore she could smell that distinct scent of the place she’d come to know as their home together.

“You thinking what I’m thinking?” Xena asked, peering past the hot air vent to a dark gap beyond.

“I’m thinking of being in bed with you.” Gabrielle replied. “Close?”

The warrior looked back over her shoulder. “Gaaabbriellle.” She rumbled softly. “You’re getting to be a wild thing in your old age.”

With a sigh, the bard laid her hand on Xena’s back.  “No, just the smell of that fire sort of reminded me of home, I guess.”

“Ah.” Xena nodded. “Yeah.” She leaned on the rock. “Well, let’s get moving so we can head there.” Her hand flexed. “Looks like a way down.”  One finger pointed. “It’s steep, but I think I can do it.”

Gabrielle cleared her throat gently.

“You could stay up  here. It’s nice and warm.” Xena replied, placidly.

“Kiss my bardic butt, Xena.”

“It’s not that warm.” The warrior chuckled wryly. “Yeah, I figured you’d say that. There’s footholds, but we’re gonna have to be very careful.” She peered down the chasm, then abruptly pulled her head back and stifled a sneeze. “Damn it.”

Gabrielle patted her back comfortingly.

“This damn being sick thing is getting real, real old.” The warrior muttered, leaning against the rock and rubbing the back of her neck. “I’m so tired of this.”

The bard got up behind her and gave her a hug. Dori also clutched at her and made little grunting noises. Xena turned and sat down on rock, scrubbing her face with both hands and attempting to clear her blocked head out without much success.

“Xe.” Gabrielle leaned over and gave her a kiss on the top of her head. “Take it easy, sweetheart.”

“Bah.” The warrior sniffled. “I’d give my right arm for a pot of ginger tea.”  She sighed, then pushed herself up onto her feet again. “All right. Enough whining. Let’s go.”

How we’ve both changed. Gabrielle bit back a smile, sparing a moment to cherish the knowledge as she carefully climbed after Xena, mindful of Dori’s weight on her back.  Carrying her daughter was straining her neck, but it was a kind of strain more muscular than painful, and she decided she could cope with it.

The entrance was irregular, but large enough to admit Xena almost upright, and the warrior only paused an instant before she entered and started moving downward.  Gabrielle waited for her to clear the way, then she followed the warrior inside, feeling the cold subside considerably the minute she got her body between the rocks.

“Mama.” Dori tugged her hair. “Dat’s good.”

“Shh, honey.” Gabrielle squeezed her foot, which was tucked under her arm pressed against the bard’s side. “You have to be very quiet, okay? We’re playing the hide and seek game.”

“Otay.” Dori whispered. “What we find?’

Good question. Gabrielle sensed Xena pausing, and she slowed, blinking as she peered ahead of her into the gloom. “Xe?”

“Gotta climb a little.” The warrior answered shortly, clearing her throat. “First handhold’s near your right hand.”

Gabrielle found it, fitting her fingers around the secure crack. “Okay.” She felt her boot grabbed and she shifted her weight off that leg, letting Xena’s sure hold move it where it needed to be. When the motion stopped, she stepped forward confidently, trusting the warrior’s judgement without question.

“Move your other hand nearer to me.”

The bard slid her fingers along the rock towards the sound, stopping when she felt a handhold. “Here?”

“Yup.”

“Okay.” Gabrielle moved forward, now able to see vague shadows as her eyes adjusted to the dim light. The wall was a sheet of gray granite, but in the faint reflection she could spot both her partner’s shadowy form, and the craggy holds she was working her way down with. “Go ahead, I can see you now.”

“Sure?” Xena’s eyes were twin flashes as they caught the light.

Gabrielle shifted her weight onto the holds, then moved down a level, demonstrating her ability to see the way.  She waited for Xena to move on, then she followed her carefully downward. “Dori, you just hang on, okay?”

“Mama, dis is fun.”

“Glad you think so.”

“Gab, you want me to take her?” Xena’s voice sounded suddenly louder, and Gabrielle felt a solid grip on her calf.

“No. It’s too close in here, Xe.” Gabrielle answered quietly. “If you have to fight, she’ll be in the way on your back.”

“Okay.” The warrior accepted the answer, and continued on her path. “Careful – water’s coming through the rock here. Slippery.”

Gabrielle took a better grip, aware that they were heading slowly, but surely into danger. “You think this’ll get us into the cave?” She lowered her voice.

“Warm.” Xena answered, patting the stone next to them. “Follow the heat.”

“Gotcha.”

Xena paused, and pressed her ear against the rock. Then she pulled her head back and nodded before she felt along the ledge for their next handhold. “Down further, there’s a level.” She uttered, slipping down and finding a solid purchase for her boots.

Gabrielle eased down next to her and exhaled, flexing her fingers as the ache in her arms subsided. They were on a small ledge that seemed to extend downward into the darkness and she took the precaution of hooking her hand inside Xena’s armor as the warrior started forward again. “Hey, sweetie?” She whispered.

“Mm?” Xena’s grunt was barely audible.

“We’re nuts, aren’t we?”

A very, very soft chuckle. “Just now occurring to you?”

“Mama!” Dori tugged on her ear. “I gots a bug!”

Gabrielle stopped short. She felt Xena stop in front of her, and she knew the warrior had turned around to look. “Dori.”

“Wanna see?” The toddler giggled, then squawked. “Boo!”

“I got her hand.” The warrior said. “Gimme that, shortie. Good girl.”  A pause. “Ugh.”

“Slug?”

“Beetle. Hate em.” Xena wiped her hand on her cloak. “C’mon.”

Gabrielle exhaled in relief. She only hoped whatever they were headed for was less potentially dangerous than the trouble they could possibly get into all on their own. “Xena, are you sure the answer’s here?”

Xena paused again, and rested her hand against the rock. “I’m sure.” She replied, lifting her head as she sensed again, though now far off, that dark and restless energy.

With a grim look, she continued on.

**

The chanting started when they’d climbed down for about another half candlemark.  Both Xena and Gabrielle stopped as the sound reached them, and Gabrielle glanced up in reflex, even though she could not see her partner’s profile in the dark.  “What is that?”

Xena pressed her ear against the stone for a long moment. Then she straightened up. “Stupidity.”

“Ah.” Gabrielle followed her blindly along the path, trusting her partner’s instincts to keep them both on it. “Don’t know that one. Can you hum a little of it?”

Xena cleared her throat, but managed a dry chuckle. “Sounds like they’re worshipping something.” She said. “Wonder what that might be.”

“Ares?” Gabrielle hazarded a guess.

“Guff?” Dori inquired hopefully. “Mama, Guff go bybye long time.”

“I know honey. Boo told him to go play for a while. He wouldn’t like it down here.” The bard replied. “We’ll go find him soon.”  She felt Xena slow, and gratefully she paused, leaning against the rock and inclining her body forward to take some of the strain off her back.

“Okay.” The warrior turned and leaned back against the wall herself, spreading her boots out a little and exhaling. “Now comes the hard part.”

Gabrielle merely rolled her head to one side and regarded the almost invisible woman.

“It’s getting damn close up there.” Xena said, in a quiet voice.

Ah. The bard reached out and took her hand. “How about you take Dori, and I go first?” She suggested. “I’m smaller than you are.”

For a moment there was silence between them, and Gabrielle wondered if her partner was going to let her ego get the better of her, as it would normally. She didn’t grudge Xena that – it was part of the supreme self confidence that made her what she was – but it did sometimes make her do things she really didn’t have to.

“Sweetheart, thanks for the offer.” Xena replied seriously. “If we were just out exploring a cave, I’d say yes in a heartbeat.”

Mm. Gabrielle felt mildly flattered. It was the nicest rejection she could recall from Xena.  “But, we don’t know if we’re going to run into nasties, and so the tough one with the big sword goes first.” She said. “Am I close?”

Xena squeezed her hand. Then she turned and started forward, keeping her other hand out to trace a path through the narrow rock passageway. She could still feel the warmth on her right, so she knew she was headed in the correct direction, but the steadily squeezing stone was starting to make her feel short of breath.

As if she needed that, with her head cold already clogging her up.  The warrior wrinkled her nose in some disgust, and continued on her way, very aware of the warmly clasping fingers wrapped around hers.  The ledge was sloping downhill, and as she cautiously put her boots forward, the walls began to brush her shoulders.

Xena swallowed. “Gabrielle?”

“Hm?”

“Do me a favor?”

“Anything.” The bard responded in a very positive tone.

“Next time I get any bright ideas to go near mountains, kick me.”  With a sigh, Xena turned slightly sideways and edged on. The ceiling lowered, and she found herself ducking a few steps later and she stopped, sucking in as much of a breath as her chest would allow without triggering a cough.

The air was cold and moist, but just at the edges of it she could detect a faint taste of living beings, a softly  musky scent that reassured her she was, in fact, not heading into a dead end.

Dead end.

Xena closed her eyes against the nightmare those words triggered, and she could almost feel the cold water once again creeping up and covering her head.

“Honey?”

Xena gave her head a little shake, and felt ahead of her carefully. The crack didn’t seem to be getting any smaller, so she crouched and continued on, feeling the rock reach out and snag her hair, tugging tendrils of it greedily. “Just making sure we’re not going the wrong way.”

“Okay.”

“Mama, dook!”

Gabrielle turned her head and sucked in a breath in pure reaction, her fingers clenching down on Xena’s with startling power. “Whoa!”

Xena whirled, one hand reaching over to clasp her sword hilt as her eyes searched in the darkness for whatever had alerted her soulmate. After a second, she relaxed as she spotted the problem, a huge glow worm half the length of her arm. “Damn. That’s a big one.”

“Good grief, what is it?” Gabrielle asked. “Xena, it’s huge!”

The warrior studied the invertibrate, then she made a thoughtful sound and reached out, plucking it from the wall with some difficultly and plopping it down on her shoulder. “Could come in handy.” She remarked cheerfully, turning and continuing on her way.

“Oh, gross.” Gabrielle muttered.

Perversely, the weird green glow now at the edges of her peripheral vision seemed to perk Xena up. She moved along a little faster, even though the rock walls now pressed in on all sides of her. Her nose wrinkled, and she sensed a shift in the path ahead as a puff of warmer air blew against her. “Shh.” She indicated ahead of her. “Careful.”

“I’m not the one in the front with a glowing ‘hit me’ worm on my shoulder.” Gabrielle whispered.

“Mama, want that.” Dori reached past her, fascinated by the animal resting on her precious Boo.

“Hush, sweetie. Let Boo hold it for now.” Gabrielle lowered her voice as much as she could, and refastened her grip on Xena’s armor as the warrior began to creep slowly forward.  Ahead, by the glow of the worm, she could see a bend in the passage, and she suspected whatever lay behind it would start to answer some questions.

Xena got her fingers around a sharp edge of rock, and very slowly pulled her head around it, looking past the turn. Ahead of her, she could see a dim light entering the rock, and a faint splash of crimson spilled across the floor from a jagged opening about a body length from the ground. “Ah.”

“Ah.” Gabrielle repeated, as she followed her soulmate around the corner, and they crept up to the opening together. The crack was just about Gabrielle’s head high, and she pressed against Xena’s body as she looked through it.

She blinked. Then she looked up at Xena. “What is that?”

Xena rested her forearms on the rock and reviewed the scene they were looking at. It was strange beyond her experience, and casting back into her memory, she could find nothing else she’d seen quite like it. “I’m not sure.” She admitted. “Reminds me of that other cave.”

“The smelly one?”

“Yeah.”  Xena murmured, leaning forward to get a better look. On the other side of the crevice was a large cavern, the back side of the one whose opening had given them both a good reason to worry.  In the very center of the cavern was a tall stone column reaching up to the ceiling, apparently part of the cavern’s natural structure.

But in the center of it, instead of dark granite, was a pure, glittering crystal.  Xena gazed at it, her eyebrows lifting as it began to pulse with light, drawing from an invisible source she could only speculate about. “Huh.”

“Sort of…reminds me of that cavern we were in, when we got these.” Gabrielle fingered the crystal at her throat. “Remember that, Xena?”

A cavern filled with beauty, in which she’d made a pledge whose echoes were with her still. “I remember.” Xena said, in a quiet voice. “But that’s no joining chamber.”

Gabrielle pressed against the stone. Past the column she could see lines of forest dwellers, all moving around, and making the low chanting noises she and Xena had heard. “What are they doing?”

“I can’t tell.” The warrior replied. “Some kind of ceremony.”

The chants were not quite words, Gabrielle realized, or at least, not quite words she could understand. The forest dwellers seemed to be pacing in front of the column, and in a sort of pattern, each would come up to the column and kneel, then get up and go back towards the cavern opening.  Another ring of them surrounded the column, obviously guards.

There were not one, but two fires burning – huge hearths on either side of the column. It produced a warmth in the air she could feel coming through the crack, crisp, dry heat that tickled her nose. “Xe, are they worshipping that crystal?”

It certainly appeared that way. Xena pulled herself up a little and stuck her head out for a better view. The light from the outside world backlit the moving figures, and made it hard to make out any features. She was also too far and at the wrong angle to see really what was going on.

But one thing she was sure of. The hair standing on end on her neck was enough to confirm that – the column was the source of the dark energy she’d located. As it pulsed, it gave out a prickle of that darkness, washing against Xena restlessly.

Did Gabrielle feel it? The warrior glanced down, seeing only puzzled interest on her soulmate’s face.  Dori too, was just curious, peeking past her mother’s head to see what was going on.

“Xe… this is creepy, but…” Gabrielle looked up at her. “I don’t get it. What’s going on? You said you felt something up here?”

Xena honestly wasn’t sure how to feel.  She could sense the crystal’s malevolence as clearly as she could her partner’s lack of it. “I do.” The power had a faintly familiar tang to it, but it wasn’t something Xena could put her finger on. Not Ares, not Dahok, not…

The bard examined the cave. “From that?” She pointed. “Or from them?” She indicated the forest dwellers.

About to answer, Xena hesitated when one voice suddenly rang out, and became audible to both of them. “Rufus.”  She uttered. “Let’s see what he has to say.”

“Mm.” Gabrielle agreed. She was silent for a second, waiting for the forest dwellers to gather around the dimly seen profile of the big forest dweller, when something else caught her eye. “Xe?” She tugged on the warrior’s cloak. “Look.”

Xena looked where she pointed. Even in the dim light, she could make it out, and it started her mind spinning.

At the base of the column, cradled in rock niches as though in a place of honor rested a long handled, ancient looking battle ax.

“Isn’t that like the one we saw in Ardwyn’s cave?”  Gabrielle whispered.

Xena looked up at the column, which pulsed more brightly as Rufus approached, shedding out waves of anger,

Frustration.

Utter desolation.

At last, Gabrielle felt it. She drew back and reached out for her partner. “What is that?”

“The Viking.” Xena whispered, as the pulsing light flared, reaching out hungrily. The pieces fell together all at once, unlocked by the ax giving the warrior the key at last to the puzzle.

A rumble went through the cavern, as the column flared to an almost painful degree. Gabrielle exhaled in shock, pressing her face against Xena’s shoulder in wordless horror, and Xena had to really wonder if that key wasn’t going to unlock something neither of them could handle.

**

“Are you sure?”  Gabrielle whispered, after a moment. “How do you know, Xe? That ax could have just been found around here.”

“I just know.” The warrior answered. “C’mon, maybe we can…”

Rufus’ voice stilled her words, and they leaned against each other to listen.

“Our time has come!”

“Uh oh.” Gabrielle uttered. “That never means good things.”

“Mm.”

“Our enemy has left – has run from us!” Rufus said. “This valley, the village, all that we covet, is now ours for the taking!”

Xena released a long suffering sigh.

“He wishes we ran.” Gabrielle growled. “That little spineless jerk.”

The warrior gave her a bemused look.

“Tonight we will fufill..”

“Our destiny.” Xena and Gabrielle spoke at once, in the same tone, with almost the same roll of the eyes.

“Our destiny.” Rufus echoed them. “Are you with me?”

There was a surprising silence. Xena poked her head out of the crack, and tried to see what was happening. A ring of the forest dwellers stirred, and one stepped forward, but the distance was too great for her to identify.

“Our enemy has not fled.” The forest dweller stated. “They are here. Near this cave. I have seen them.”

“He’s right.” Another voice spoke up, one Xena recognized as their friend from the forest. “You have not been here, Rufus. They trapped me. I escaped, and came back to say this enemy is coming here, coming to get us. To bring ruin on us.”

A low murmur of agreement sprang up. The column flared and ebbed, the light cascading from a bright white to an eerie flame red.  Rufus extended his arms and leaned back, as though he were absorbing it.

“Fools.” The big forest dweller laughed. “We are in no danger. There’s no one in the village to oppose us, and our erstwhile great threat is nothing but a helpless has been, running for home.”

Gabrielle winced in pure gut reaction. She didn’t need to look up, didn’t need to hear the soft half cough, half grunt that came out of her soulmate to know to an intimate degree exactly what nerves those words hit.

“But…”

“I saw them leave.” Rufus overrode him. “You were tricked, Belas. Sent back here to scatter us like children, and the fools that you are.”  The big forest dweller chuckled. “Look behind me – the goddess approves!”

The column was swirling with color, peaking and sparking with an almost audible thrum.  The display seemed to convince the forest dwellers, and with a low growling, they started forming around Rufus again and their chant rose up.

As the sound got louder, the light intensified in the column, and slowly pulses of it started to cascade out, flowing over the forest dwellers oddly like water.

Gabrielle swallowed hard, resisting the urge to move away from the crack as she sensed the roiling energy there. There was a cloying edge to it, a half seductive, half repelling quality that reminded her faintly of Dahok but without the overwhelming evil she’d always associated with him.  She put her hand on Xena’s arm and closed her fingers slightly, feeling the tension beneath her soulmate’s skin. “What are we going to do?”

The energy increased, and Xena eased her head back inside the opening, the sensations bombarding her making her uncomfortable and almost nauseous.

“We will fight!” Rufus suddenly shouted.

“Yes!” The rings of his followers answered.

“We will kill!”

“Yes!”

The column pulsed.  Xena covered her ears in helpless reaction, the anger and pure frustration she sensed in it raking against her skin like thorns.  It was pushing her, she realized, nudging and shoving and urging her to take it’s fierceness and act on it, finding in the warrior a synergy that set her very soul on fire.

“Xena.” Gabrielle sensed it. She took hold of her partner’s shoulders and turned her away from the crack, releasing them and capturing her face instead, clasping it between her hands. “Hey!”

For a moment, the blue eyes went ice, and Gabrielle knew an instant of fear.  But she held her ground, and her hands didn’t budge. “Xena.”

“Boo!” Dori gurgled, reaching past her.

The ice melted. Xena’s jaw shifted and her lashes fluttered closed, and then open again. She moved closer to Gabrielle and let her hands rest on the bard’s waist. “We have to stop this.” She said, with utter seriousness. “Gabrielle, we have to.”

“Okay.” The bard stroked her cheekbones with the sides of the thumbs. “Just tell me how.”  She glanced past Xena as the light intensified. “If that’s really a goddess.. what are we going to do, Xena?”

The warrior’s eyes flicked over her shoulder, staring back into the darkness. The faint glow from the worm lit her from below, casting eerie shadows against the harsh backlight from the cavern.  After a long pause, Xena met her Gabrielle’s gaze squarely. “I think we need to let it go.”

Gabrielle blinked. “Let it go?” She glanced towards the cavern. “Let that go?”

Xena nodded. “It’s Elevown. She’s trapped in there.”

“Xena, that’s evil. I can feel it.” The bard shook her head, once.

“No.” Just as intently, the warrior stared at her. “Think. What would I be like if I were in there?”  She whispered. “Trapped. Isolated.” Her hand lifted to Gabrielle’s face. “Locked away from you??”

Oh. Gods. “Okay.”  Gabrielle exhaled. “What do we do? We can’t just go running in there, there’s too many of them, Xena. Even for you.”  She wasn’t sure just how right Xena was, but something in her soulmate’s voice… her eyes, told Gabrielle that whatever the truth was, Xena believed she was right.

Xena wasn’t often wrong.  The few times she had been, though, had been devastating to both of them.

The chanting got louder.  Xena looked down, then she half turned and looked out into the cavern again. The waves of energy flowed over her again, but this time her sense of purpose let them slip aside as she studied the interior of the cave. “There’s no time for something complicated, Gabrielle.”

Gabrielle came to her side and looked at the column, a sense of forboding already clenching her heart as she waited for the rest.

“I’ll distract the forest dwellers. You grab the ax, and break the column.”

It sounded so simple. “Distract?”

“I’ll go for Rufus.”

A sickening sense of inevitability almost swamped her. “Yeah. That’s what I thought you meant.”  Gabrielle whispered. “It’s what I’ve been afraid of all along.”

Xena threaded her fingers into the bard’s hair, and cupped her neck. “It’ll be all right.”

Bloodshot green eyes looked up at her. “Promise?”

“Absolutely.” Xena replied, without a moment’s hesitation. “All I have to do is draw them all over to the other side, and give you a chance to get to the ax. That’s it.  Once you smash it, the fight ends.”

“Boo, what you do?” Dori was upset at the tension she could sense between her parents. “No fun.”

The chanting got louder again, and now they could hear a low rumbling.  “We’re out of time.”  The warrior whispered. “Sweetheart, trust me, please.”

“Trust has nothing to do with it.” Gabrielle got the words out, brushing past the warrior’s hands to envelop her in a hug, burying her face in Xena’s shoulder and holding on as tightly as she could.

Xena closed her eyes, blocking out the ravening energy licking at her from the cavern. She focused instead on the warm body clasped against hers and the sweet warmth of the love between them.

For that instant, she felt the pulses stop, almost as though the entity trapped in the column felt it.  Then the energy lashed out again double it’s strength, in eerie spite.  Xena tilted her head and gently kissed Gabrielle on the lips, and then she ruffled Dori’s hair. “Let’s get this over with.”

Gabrielle reluctantly released her, and stepped back, wiping her the back of her hand across her eyes. Every part of her was shaking, but she shoved that aside, and felt inside herself for some vestige of courage. “Okay.”

Xena touched her cheek gently.  Then she went to the opening, and peered through, hesitating briefly before she lifted herself up and eased through it to the other side. Once there, she turned and offered Gabrielle a hand through, grabbing the bard’s waist and lifting her down.

They crouched behind a ridge of rock, the only thing separating them from the wildly flaring column, and the ring of stimulated forest dwellers.

Xena drew in a breath, and then released it. She flexed her hands, and lifted them to her weapons, checking their position with automatic caution. “I’m going.”

“I love you.”

The warrior glanced back, to see Gabrielle’s face set, but her eyes brimming with tears.  She reached back and patted her cheek. “That’s why not even ten thousand of those bastards could keep me from staying with you. “ A smile. “You won’t have much time – run like Hades, okay?”

Somewhere, Gabrielle discovered a smile. “I will.”

Xena stood and hopped over the ridge, keeping to the shadows as she skirted the very edges of the cavern, working on getting as far as she could before the guards saw her.

Gabrielle gathered her tattered soul and grasped the rock, hoping her legs would be able to carry her through the fear that was making her shake like a leaf.

“Mama.” Dori whispered. “Dis is bad.”

“I.. I know honey.” Her mother answered, eyes glued on a shadow among shadows. “But you hang on real tight, okay? Mama has to go do something soon that’s going to be scary.”

“Scary? Where’s Boo?”

“She’ll be right back, honey. I promise.”

Dori rested her chin on Gabrielle’s shoulder, and put her arms around her mother’s neck. “Love mama.”

Gabrielle swallowed hard, and faced down her fear, squaring her shoulders as she reached down to make sure her boots were tied tight. “I love you too, honey.” She told Dori. “Get ready, because you and mama are going to fly.”

“Fly?” Dori asked, in a surprised tone. “You fly, mama?”

“When I have to, I can.” Gabrielle replied. “You watch me.”

Rufus was standing up on the platform in front of the column, his arms raised, exulting in the wild energy flowing around the room. He let  out a bass roar, lifting his hands with his claws extended. “Now! Now we..”

A shadow engulfed him. A flicker of motion that shed the garish light and knocked him back off the platform, to stumble backwards and land on his back on the hard, rock floor.

The chanting stopped, as the platform filled with a tall, cloaked figure, as different from Rufus as night was from day.

“Sorry to interrupt the party.” Xena drawled, drawing her sword and twirling it in one hand. “But I’ve got a bone to pick with you.” She pointed the sword at Rufus. “So, c’mon, big shot. Let’s see what you’ve really got behind all that hot air.”

Rufus leaped to his feet, shedding his shock as he took in his new adversary. With a roar of delight, he jumped forward, gaining the platform and facing off against her in the relatively small space. “My… pleassssuuurreeee….” He yowled, drawing his own sword, and throwing himself into the attack.

The forest dwellers circled them.

The column rippled violently, thrumming it’s energy.

Gabrielle knelt, and for the first time in years, prayed to gods she wasn’t at all sure she really believed in anymore.

**

Watch this space for updates.

Champion

Part 15

Xena set everything aside except for the foe in front of her. Promises to Gabrielle notwithstanding, she was in grave danger and she knew it.

Rufus was good, he was young, he was strong, and most importantly, he wasn’t sick.  He circled her with the air of a skilled swordsman, and they traded rapid, testing blows as they mapped out the area they had to fight in.

It wasn’t a big space. Xena leaped over a gap between two sections of rock and parried a powerful swipe, swiveling as she took the weight of it on her wrists and deflecting it to one side.  She set the limits of the area in her mind, then turned her attention to the fight, trusting her innate sense of space to keep her on solid rock.

It was tough. She could feel her illness weighing her down, and slowing her responses, her body straining to keep up with the urging her warrior’s mind insisted on. She edged to one side as Rufus locked his arms and swung at her, using his height to her advantage as she ducked under it.

It wasn’t what she was used to. Even when she was fighting men, there weren’t many who were much taller than she was. In this case, she was almost in the position that Gabrielle usually was in sparring with her.

Ah.

Xena jumped past Rufus’ extended leg and tumbled in mid air, evading a backhanded blow of his by a hair’s breadth before she landed and slashed out in her own attack, slicing a bit of skin, and a hank of hair off his thigh.

First blood. Xena could smell it, the copper tang cutting through her stuffiness and waking up her senses as few other things could. She followed up her advantage by reversing her course and surprising Rufus, as he expected her to keep going around his other side. She came back almost into his face and clashed her sword hilt against his, shoving him back and slamming the hilt into his breastbone before he lashed out with a fist and clouted her on the side of the head.

Ow. Xena didn’t even stop to think. She swiveled and booted him in the side with  a swift, vicious kick and used the momentum to spin herself out of his reach as he clawed after her.

A single claw caught her arm and broke the skin, stinging her with a brief jolt of pain but nothing more. Xena whipped her arm backwards, and the tip of her sword got past his guard and cut his chin, taking away another tuft of hair and a thick flap of skin that exposed the bone.

“Bitch.” He finally spoke, engaging her sword with his, in a flurry of clashes.

Xena felt the sting of them in her wrists and forearms, and she flexed her hands at the discomfort. The blade moved where she wanted it to, though, her grip slanting the metal with exquisite precision.

Skill. Skill, skill skill. Xena felt all those years of experience coming home with a vengeance as she sidestepped and turned, sliding under his swipe and using his momentum against him to send his blade flying off at an angle.

Opening up another angle, this one more deadly as she took advantage of his position and continued her motion around. He leaped back, but not before she sliced through the skin on his chest, drawing blood yet again. “Loser.”

He didn’t get mad, that she had to give him credit for. His muzzle crinkled into a snarl, but he kept his temper and balance, changing his strategy and working to back her off the small platform with a series of powerful, short strokes.

Xena could sense the crowd moving in closer, watching with hungry, avid eyes. She let Rufus force her back a step, her blade cutting and slicing just enough to keep his from touching her body.

For a little while, she let the reason she was doing this slip past her, concentrating on the now, and the need to know, to feel what his next move was. He was a good swordsman, his technique was a little unusual, but there were some definite solid skills there and Xena knew she had her work cut out for her to make a show good enough to captivate, and still stay alive.

The challenge sent a bolt of dark energy through her guts. It pushed back the exhaustion, and as she parried yet another determined attack, her body seemed to shift a gear.  Even her breathing eased.

He caught his hilt against hers, and shoved her backwards.

Xena’s legs took the strain, shifting and recoiling, her boots scuffling lightly on the stone as she held her ground – and for a moment they balanced there, strength against strength. Xena looked him right in the eye and smiled. Then she gathered herself up and pushed him back, unlocking her knees and releasing him as she dove under his outstretched arms to the ground.

He whirled.

Xena rolled to her feet and took a step forward, extending her blade and engaging his, tensing her forearm muscles and twisting the sword just enough to break the rhythm of his attack.

A touch frustrated, he whacked the end of his sword against hers, then shifted and raised his arms, chopping down at her from his much taller angle as well as from her offhand side.

Xena neatly turned, raising her arms and blocking the cut with her blade held over head, then pushing upwards, freeing her sword and sliding past him in a ripple of quicksilver motion.

She chuckled softly, letting her eyes flick to the crowd. As though mesmerized, they took  a step towards her, focusing on the fight.

Her eyes tipped past, to where the guards still stood, stalwart and upright, not budging an inch.

Damn.

How long could she keep this up? Xena took a deep breath and spread her boots a little, getting a better balance as Rufus renewed his assault, pouring a little more strength and a little less finesse into his motions.  He began a series of chopping blows, almost a whipping of his sword, relying on powerful arm and shoulder muscles to try and overwhelm her with the ferocity of it all.

Grimly, Xena set to work deflecting them all. For every stroke of his arm, she had a counter, for every cut, she had a parry. It was using what little energy she had, though, and she felt sweat starting to gather under her leathers.

Despite all that, it occurred to her suddenly that regardless of where she got her energy from, the skills it drove were, after all, hers, won by nothing other than long, hard effort. “Amateur.” She taunted, neatly ducking his last attack, then launching one of her own, stepping forward with small, but powerful steps as her hands moved her sword almost faster than he could deflect it.

Now he was breathing harder. “You won’t defeat me.”

“I already have.” Xena shot back. “I spilled your little game to Lestan’s village. You can’t charm your way in there anymore.”

“I don’t need to charm anyone.” Rufus paused, shifting his sword from his right hand to his left, and began his attack anew, from this completely different angle.

Child’s play for Xena. She tossed her own blade to her off hand and met his downstroke with an upstroke, using her momentum to pull the deflection around and throwing him off to one side. “All right. Charm’s a bad choice. Threaten. Con. Trick…”

“No tricks.” Rufus shook his head.

Instinct warned her, a prickle of sensation just outside her peripheral vision that came just before a jolt down the link she had with Gabrielle. Pulling her sword back, narrowly avoiding a savage cut as his weapon suddenly met no resisstance, she half turned and swiped an arrow out of mid-air, sending it flying across the cavern to clatter against the wall.  “No tricks.” Xena repeated, in a sarcastic tone.

“Hold your fire!” Rufus ordered. “Next one to do that will get his hands cut off!”  He said. “This is *my* battle.”  As if to bring home that point, he twirled his sword into a reverse grip, then slugged Xena across the face with it.

Or, that was his intention. His knuckles did in fact graze the warrior’s jaw, but it was a moving target, as Xena ducked and spun into a roundhouse kick that nailed him in the ribs, forcing a grunt out of him. He grabbed for her leg, his claws leaving long, red marks as they cut through the knitted cloth as she moved past him.

She planted an elbow in his gut, and got both feet on the ground, pushing off from it aware of the risk of being within his easy reach this way. She felt his arms close around her and shoved free, but not before he got a hit in, his closed fist slamming against her shoulder.

It hurt.

Xena went with the force of it, her knees relaxing to take her body back and rob the blow of her resistance to it.

She was sweating in earnest now, and she felt her nostrils flaring as her lungs fought to give her body the air it needed through the congestion in them. She fought the desire to stop and rest, and just kept moving, whirling around and dropping to her knees to cut savagely at Rufus’ legs.

He tried to block her, but only partially succeeded, his height now a disadvantage he hadn’t expected.

Xena felt the blow connect, and she put everything she had into it, hearing the crunch of bone as her blade struck his knee.

He howled. It surprised Xena, who surged backward, out of the reach of his long claws and longer sword as he lashed out in his first spate of pure anger.

He jumped after her, hacking and slashing in an unbalanced lurch as they teetered on the edge of the platform.

Xena caught her balance by some miracle, and batted his hands back, reeling backwards as she got out of his way and circled him towards the safer center of the rock.

He turned and followed her, sensing his advantage and keeping his forward motion, despite his injury. The rage lent him strength, and he let out a bellow as he raised his sword up and swept it down in an arc aimed right at her neck.

Out of room, Xena did the only thing she could and dropped flat to the ground, letting his attack rush over her as she pushed herself into tumble and came up on the other side of him.

He whirled to meet her, but not quite in time to stop the blow that cut deeply into his arm.  It evoked another bellow of rage, and another furious, wild rush that threatened to batter her before she could escape it.

Ironic. Xena dodged again, suffering a cut on the forearm as she didn’t quite get out of the way fast enough. By anyone’s lights she was winning this fight, and yet, in the winning she was driving herself towards the danger of being killed doing it. “Bastard.” She uttered, just under her breath.

“Gowrrr.” Rufus rumbled, flexing his claws. That seemed to mesmerize the others, and they drew in closer again, clustering around the platform and flexing their own jagged weapons.

Xena darted a look around her, now seeing the eyes of the guards on her as well. Past the last one in her view, she saw a shadow rise up, and between her, and that shadow, the column now began to pulse, licks of energy washing against her with an almost uncomfortable heat.

Okay.

Xena turned and got to business. She shifted her weight just as Rufus came at her, and let out a yell of her own, calling up all her reserves, calling up what darkness remained in her, and taking the fight to her opponent as she willed the guards forward towards her. “Cowards!” She bellowed. “I’ll kill you all! You can’t stop me!”

With an overhand blow, she drove Rufus back, smashing through his defenses and sending his own sword slamming down on his shoulder to cut deep into his flesh. Without pause, she pulled her arms back and hit him again, and again, blows he only barely deflected, unable to move fast enough to get out of her way.

“Die, ya coward! That’s for Gabrielle!” Xena yelled, kicking him in the head as she swept another roundhouse kick, ducking his counter blow and leaping into the air to kick him again, this time from the front, with a force that sent him sprawling backwards perilously close to the edge of the rock.

The guards rushed forward towards them.

“Die!” Xena repeated, pursuing him relentlessly, riding the edge of nervous energy that threatened to evaporate at any second.

From the corner of her eye, she saw Gabrielle bolt for the column, moving so quickly she was only a blur in the darkness.

Go, baby go. She urged the bard, shoving Rufus to the ground and crouching over him, beating his raised sword back and going in for the kill.

His sword went flying, almost gutting one of the guards. Xena landed on her knees over him, and lifted her sword.

Rufus stared up at her, and she saw his death reflected back to her in his eyes.

Then she heard the wild roar of the surrounding crowd and before she could take another breath, they jumped onto the platform and rushed her.

Mindless.

Raging.

Damn it, I’ll take him first. Xena arched her body and sent the sword downward, past his reaching hands and deep into his chest, so hard the point hit the rock as it came out the back of him, and jarred her with a harsh, tingling shock.

He convulsed under her.

She felt the crowd close on her, and knew she didn’t even have time to pull her sword out. Her eyes closed

She felt the heat.

She heard a sound like the earth splitting open.   As the first claws touched her back, a wind like nothing she’d ever felt blasted through the cavern and blew them all off the platform, carrying her across the cavern as though she were only a child.

She hit the wall, and for a moment, everything went totally dark.

**

Gabrielle almost went insane. Every instinct in her body was shoving her hard towards the ring of rock her partner was fighting on, her hands were twitching so badly the rock they rested on had long since drew blood from the pressure.

Her legs were shaking. Her heart was beating so fast and hard it was making her lightheaded.  Dori was clutching her around the neck, but she barely felt the grip, so focused was she on Xena’s moving figure.

“Mama.” Dori called. “Mama, we go help Boo? Bad mens!”

A noise escaped from Gabrielle’s throat, half gasp and half moan.  “Honey, Boo needs us to do something else first.”

“No.” Her daughter insisted. “Mama look!”

Gabrielle rose, as she saw the fight suddenly take on new intensity, and before she could stop herself, she was over the rock ledge and landing on the ground in front of it.  Xena reeled backwards, and as Gabrielle gathered herself to move, she suddenly saw the guards finally shift, and turn away from her.

Now was her chance.

Xena’s battle yell rang out, and after a heartbeat’s worth of indecision, Gabrielle turned herself and bolted for the column.

She raced across the uneven rock, barely feeling the impact as her boots touched, leaping over two big gaps on her way towards the glowing stone ahead of her.

“Mama! Gogo!”

Gabrielle focused on the ax, heading for a large rock between it and her. She reached it and laid her hands on it, vaulting her body over the obstacle and landing only to jump again, this time over a bundle of spears.

Her blood ran cold, as she heard Xena’s voice, raising up over the sound of the crowd.

I’ll kill you all!

“Boo!” Dori screamed.

Gabrielle’s hands touched the ax hilt, and she lifted it from it’s cradle and whirled, using all her momentum and all the strength of her arms and body to slam the weapon into the crystal surface.

Against her expectations, it shattered, showering her with sharp, violent shards she dared not turn away from, least she expose Dori to them.

Then everything exploded around her.

The shock was amazing. She felt as though every inch of skin was covered in ants, and the numbness quickly was followed by pain as the ax was ripped from her grasp.  She spun away from the sensation, staggering backwards and throwing her hands up in front of her face in a meager attempt at protection.

The column blew apart, and a white hot energy flowed out, blasting forward and roiling over the forest dwellers and Xena like an ocean wave. Gabrielle felt the marginal force hit her, and she stumbled and fell, landing half on her side on the rocks, almost blinding her.

“Mamaamamama!” Dori was screaming in real terror now.

“S’okay!” Gabrielle reached back to her with one shaking, blood covered hand, blinking her eyes furiously to clear them as she looked anxiously for Xena. “Xena!!!”

The energy she’d released swirled suddenly into a wild force, and as Gabrielle watched in horror, an arm of it reached out and took hold of a forest dweller, ripping through him and sending his body to the corners of the cavern in many pieces.

Anger. Gabrielle could feel it, an unthinking rage released at last to take it’s revenge after all these years.

“Gods… what did I do?” The bard whispered, reaching for the nearest rock to pull herself up. Halfway there, she became aware of a presence, and she looked up to see the amorphous, snarling image in the energy cloud staring right at her.

Before she could even take a breath, it was rushing at her, writhing tendrils of fire arcing towards her body and Gabrielle realized after all that fear she’d just gone through, it wasn’t Xena’s death hanging over her like a cloud – it was her own.

“Elevown!” She yelled desperately. “No!”

The cloud didn’t even slow down. Gabrielle felt the pressure building and she could only stand there for the seconds she had left, knowing there was no way for her to outrun the entity filling half the cavern.

“Mama?”

“Dori, I love you.” Gabrielle whispered. “Don’t be scared.”

“Where’s Boo?”

“She’ll be here with us soon. Just hold on.” Gabrielle felt every hair on her body stand up, and she lifted her eyes, looking the onrushing force straight in the eye and remembering all over again what innate courage felt like.

So she had her vision focused on just the right spot when a dark force ripped through it, hurtling past the ravening tendrils and enveloping her in a rush of blood and brass and leather.

She tumbled through the air in Xena’s arms, and they came to rest together on their knees facing the cloud.

“Hey!” Xena let out a angry bellow, throwing her sword forward to point right at the cloud. “Not a nice way to say thank you, Viking!”

The cloud reared up, collecting itself after it’s unexpected dispersal and swirled together, arching over them in a threatening display. A tendril rushed towards them.

Xena sliced at it fearlessly. “Back off!” She snarled. “We’re not your enemy!”

Another tendril came at them, licking at the warrior’s arm.  Gabrielle finally got her breath back. “Elevown!” She got out in a hoarse gasp.

The cloud spread over them and began to contract, a malevolent force intent on obliterating them.  Xena got as much of her body between it and her family and waited, her sword sweeping in a trembling pattern before them.

“Go home!” Gabrielle called out desperately.  “Go home.. she’s waiting for you!”

The tendrils paused within a handspan of her face.

“Hasn’t it been long enough?” The bard asked. “Go!”

Then there was a tremendous ripping sound, and wind buffeted them fiercely for a long, endless moment.

And then it was gone, both light and sound disappearing with a popping noise leaving them in somber, firelit darkness.

It took heartbeats to register it. Then Xena’s sword hit the rock with a clang, and she exhaled, letting her head rest against Gabrielle’s shoulder with a soft, heartfelt groan.

“Gods.” Gabrielle lifted a shaking hand and wiped her face. “You all right?” She asked Xena, in a soft voice.

“Great.” The warrior lied. “You?”

“Perfect.” Gabrielle lied back. “Where’s Rufus?”

“Dead.”

“Good.” The bard tasted the bitter truth of the word. “Dori, you okay?”

“Mama.” Dori appeared unhurt. She pulled herself up past her mother’s ear and clutched at Xena. “You tell good. Boo comes, fix evrtying.”

Xena wearily lifted her head, as the sound of rattling rocks drew her attention. “Almost.” She whispered, seeing the ring of approaching forest dwellers, bristling with sticks and rocks in their claws. “Least we did what we came for.”  She shifted her grip on her sword, and prepared to rise, to face off against the approaching warriors.

Gabrielle leaned over and tugged a spear free from the bundle she’d jumped over, hefting it. All fear had left her for now, her mind so on overload all she could feel was a dry sense of purpose that drove her motions.

“Hold!” A new voice interrupted, from the cavern entrance. “Or you’ll all be shot in the back where you stand like the cowards you are.”

The forest dwellers halted, and turned. Framed against an outline of stars, a line of mounted furry warriors stood, the one in front both familiar and very, very, welcome.  Crossbows were aimed at the cavern dwellers, and after a moment of indecision, they dropped their weapons and meekly sat down.

Gabrielle let the spear fall. “Jessan.” She rested her head against Xena’s. “Thank the gods.”

Xena sheathed her sword and let her body finally relax. There would be time later to feel the pain of her injuries, and time later to think about what she’d done. Right now, there was only time to sit, and rest, and savor the knowledge that she’d beaten the odds one more time.

With or without that little something extra, she’d worn that primal mantle of the warrior she was at her core and fulfilled her word to the forest dwellers despite so many reasons excusing her.

She’d been their champion.

Xena gazed down at her bloodstained hands and took a moment to study them before she looked up at Jessan’s approach.  He scrambled over to them and thumped down on both knees, his fur covered face writhing in dismay. “Nice timing.”

“Dear Ares and all the gods, Xena, I’m sorry.” Jessan held his hands out to them. “I’m so sorry.”

“For what?” Gabrielle took hold of him. “It’s over, Jess. Let’s just get out of here.”

Visibly shaken, he nodded. “Will you come back to the village? It’s different there now.” He asked. “My mother’s frantic.”

Xena slowly got up, her hand grasping Gabrielle’s as the bard struggled upright next to her. “Yeah.” The warrior exhaled. “I think a lot of things are gonna be different now.”

Jessan clasped her arm briefly. “Wait here. Lemme take care of the trash.”  He turned and bounded back towards the opening, where the warriors he’d brought with him were busy tying up the cavern dwellers.

“Here.” Xena loosened the straps holding Dori and lifted her off her partner’s back. “Might as well sit down.”  She grimaced at the cuts visible on Gabrielle’s skin. They walked together to a nearby rock and sat down on it, as Xena cradled Dori in her arms.

Having the weight off her back was almost unthinkably blissful. Gabrielle leaned against Xena’s shoulder, feeling every ounce of energy draining from her now that it was over.

Over and done. The bard looked across the cavern and flexed her hands, still feeling the pain from the shock of the blow she’d delivered. “Mm.”

Xena turned her head and regarded the shattered column, its crystal shards lying scattered over the rocks winking back the firelight at her.

Then she turned and looked into Gabrielle’s eyes, where she found a fire far more potent reflected. “Good work.” She pointed at the column. “I was pretty close to losing it.”

Gabrielle reached over and smoothed down Dori’s hair. The child was resting in Xena’s arms, unusually quiet, seemingly content to simply suck her thumb and gaze up at the warrior. “Thanks for coming flying through the scariest thing I’ve seen for a long time and saving me.” Her voice was hoarse, and she could feel the strain. Had she been screaming again? “Saving us.”

“Damned ungrateful harpie.” Xena muttered.

“Damned ungrateful forest dwellers.” Gabrielle countered. “No one appreciates us, Xe.”

The warrior chuckled softly. After a moment, Gabrielle joined her. Then she released a long sigh. “I’m so tired.”

“Me, too.” Xena admitted. “But I think we did the right thing here. Feels…” She lifted her head and gazed around. “Cleaner.”

Gabrielle studied a gash across her hand. “That’s how I feel too.” She said. “Cleaner.” Her fingers curled around Xena’s. “We did the right thing.”

They both fell silent, simply sitting together and watching the cavern slowly clear, losing any sense of menace and becoming instead a simple cave dwelling with evidence of long, hard use.

There would be peace here now, Gabrielle sensed, as she felt her face crease into a faint smile.

**

There was peace, too, in the village.  By the light of a newly lit fire in the cottage they’d been given, Xena and Gabrielle sat quietly on the rug before the hearth, tending to each other’s many and varied small injuries.

A tray sat next to them, with pots of soup and fresh bread on it, and a pitcher of rich, sweet ale.  Dori was asleep in her crib nearby, and Ares was curled up next to her, tail tucked around his nose.

They were both so tired. Gabrielle could feel it in herself, and see it in her partner’s slumped shoulders. But even so, it felt so amazingly wonderful to have won out, and earned this peace neither of them really felt like going to sleep.

“Oh, sweetie.. look at those bruises.” The bard grimaced, putting a gentle finger on Xena’s bare shoulderblade. The entire surface of her back was darkened with it.

“Hit the wall.” Xena murmured, as she dabbed salve on yet another cut from the crystal shards near her soulmate’s jaw.             “Hold still.”

Gabrielle closed her eyes, as the skilled fingers stroked her skin and brought their healing touch.  They were both dressed in simple cotton night shirts, and their hair was still damp for the showers that had taken the blood stains from their bodies.

The warrior finished, and Gabrielle leaned back against the side of the hearth, absorbing the warmth through her battered bones gratefully.  She picked up one of the soup bowls and drank from it, watching idly as Xena put aside her healer’s kit at last, and slowly lowered herself to lay flat on the rug, extending her long legs out and groaning as she straightened out her body and settled her head in Gabrielle’s lap.

Gabrielle reached down and stroked her partner’s face, watching the pale eyes flicker and lift to look up at her.  She fished a piece of meat from her soup bowl and offered it, smiling a little as Xena opened her mouth to receive it.  “Xena.” She spoke the name with almost reverence.

The warrior chewed and swallowed. “That’s me.” She agreed, then waited. When no other words were forthcoming, she shifted her head a little and studied the bard’s face, finding a weary serenity there. “Dinar for your thoughts?”

Gabrielle took another long swallow of the soup, and fished out a second piece of meat, handing it over to Xena before she answered. “What am I thinking?” She mused. “I don’t know if I’m thinking anything. I just keep looking at you, and loving you, and being happy, that’s all.”

“Mm.” The warrior accepted that. “I can’t…” She paused, and pursed her lips. “I know that whole plan scared you.”

“It did.” The bard confirmed softly. “But it’s something that had to be done, Xe. I knew that.”

Xena leaned her cheek against Gabrielle’s belly. “I’ve felt like I’ve been under a cloud since we left Athens.” She said, with a tiny shake of her head. “I felt like I failed there. I ran.”

Gabrielle’s brows knit. “Xena, we didn’t fail there.” She objected, then paused, and thought. “Hm.” She went on after a bit. “Maybe we did.”

The warrior’s lashes fluttered. “I didn’t want to feel that way again.” Her voice dropped. “But I didn’t want to see you hurting either.”

At last, the admission pinpointed what had been bothering her, and Gabrielle contemplated that for a while. “You know what?”

“Mm?”

“I can’t run from us being heroes.”

Pale blue eyes flicked to hers, and held.

Gabrielle let her fingers slide into Xena’s hair, feeling it’s silken touch against her skin. “Somewhere in all that terror in there, I found my way out of that dark, scary place and back to the person I know I am.”

Xena smiled. She reached around and stroked Gabrielle’s back, giving her a friendly little scratch with the tips of her fingers, careful to avoid the long scratches down the bard’s spine. “I still want to head home.”

The bard nodded. “Me too.” She let her hand rest on Xena’s stomach. “But there’s someplace we need to stop first.”

“The cave?” The warrior asked, with a knowing look.

Another nod. “I can’t leave and not know if it worked.”

Xena exhaled, and snuggled closer. “Me either.”

Gabrielle leaned over and gave her a kiss on the forehead, then paused, and moved a touch lower, kissing her on the lips with gentle passion.  “That was an amazing fight.” She said, after a while.

Xena’s face tensed into a faint grin. “Feels like it was.” She joked, opening and closing one bruised hand. “He was pretty good.”

“He was extremely outclassed.” Gabrielle disagreed. “They all knew it. I think he knew it – after the first few minutes. I could see his face.”

The warrior’s grin became more pronounced. “Until I got him mad.”

“Yeah.” A nod. “That’s when I almost lost it and came running.” Gabrielle admitted. “But then the guards left, so…” She paused, a fingertip tracing one of Xena’s planed cheekbones.

Xena took hold of her hand and turned it over, looking at the gashes in her palm. She kissed them gently, then clasped the bard’s fingers. “Know what?”

“What?”

“Much as I’m loving lying here, I’d love it a lot more if we were both over in that bed.”

Gabrielle’s pale eyebrows lifted. “You haven’t had dinner.”

“Exactly.”

The firelight didn’t quite hide the blush that appeared on the bard’s face. “Ah.” She murmured. “Don’t you want….”

The blue eyes took on a hint of the flames. “I want you.”

It had been a long while since she’d been this flustered. Gabrielle felt a sense of pleasant confusion wash through her that pushed aside the weariness, replacing it with tingling expectation. “You do?”

Xena rolled over and got to her feet with a smooth motion, gently pulling Gabrielle up with her. She put her arms around the bard and pulled her close, nuzzling her hair as their bodies connected. “You can’t be surprised at that, can ya?”

“Um.” Gabrielle found herself breathing in Xena’s scent, combined with the lingering traces of soap, and sun warmed cloth, and the pungent salve they’d spread over each other. She tilted her head up and slid a hand around her partner’s neck, kissing the patiently waiting lips. “Not surprised…” She tasted the soft skin, and nibbled the spot right above her partner’s pulse point.

It jumped under the touch. Gabrielle exhaled as Xena returned the attemtion, her hands slipping under the night shirt the bard wore and exploring.

“But?” Xena whispered in her ear.

“Happy.” Gabrielle forgot all about the recent past, choosing to focus instead on the beautiful, warm body wrapped in her arms, and the light touch running up and down her sides igniting a burn deep in her guts.

She didn’t remember walking to the bed, but she knew it when she tumbled into its soft depths, her bare skin warming the cool fabric an instant before Xena enveloped her.

It was amazing.  She closed her eyes and savored the sensation. Xena settled gently over her, the warrior’s dark hair spreading over Gabrielle’s shoulders as her lips nipped along the curve of her breast.

Instinctively, the bard threaded her fingers through the silken strands, and then she let them wander lower.  Down the slope of her shoulders, and forward, tickling her collarbone as a soft chuckle warmed the bare skin being targeted by Xena’s lips.

“You make me feel so special.” Gabrielle uttered.

“You are.” The warrior replied, lifting her head and kissing her way up the bard’s throat, up to her lips again. “You’re cute.” Another kiss. “You’re sexy.” Another kiss, and a nip on the nose. “And you’re mine.”

Gabrielle gazed up at her. “Well.” She felt her face crease into a helpless grin. “I’ll give you the last one, that’s for sure.”

She had no idea what had stirred her partner’s ardor after a day like the one they’d shared, but as Xena abandoned the idle chit chat and returned to seductive nibbling around her throat, Gabrielle was long past caring.

They knew each other so well. She felt Xena’s touch on her hitting just the right spot, as she let her hands explore the powerful body above her, the suddenly deepened breathing a testimony to her own knowing skills.

Xena loved being touched just like…

“Grrwwwl.”

Yeah, like that. Gabrielle lowered all her defenses and opened her heart to it’s fullest, taking in the love she could feel pouring from Xena’s every motion and reflecting it back at her, knowing without a doubt that if it were possible to drown in affection, they were both in real trouble.

The pressure built slowly, as they slid together and traded touches and nips, their bodies dancing together until she felt a shiver work through her, followed by a sensation of being filled to overwhelming as Xena swept her over the top, their bodies tangling together in mutual shudders that seemed to go on forever.

She managed to catch her breath some time later, all cuddled up in Xena’s arms and blissfully content to lie there and do little else. Her fingers stroked gentle patterns along the warrior’s warm, sweat dampened skin, while Xena’s hand rubbed soothing circles along her spine. “Xe?”

“Yyyeeeesss?” The answer was a lazy, deep rumble.

“Tough as our life sometimes is?”

“Mm?”

“Living it with you makes it all worth the risks.”

Xena pulled her into a tighter hug, gently kissing the top of her head. “Likewise.”

And really, Gabrielle thought, as she closed her eyes and simply lived the moment, what else was there to say about it?

**

Xena propped one booted foot up against the window sill, her gaze wandering lazily out the open shutters, watching the sun pour through the leaves outside the cottage. It was cold outside, but bright and sunny, and the wind brought the smell of woodsmoke and pine to wash over her.

Far off, she could hear the village stirring, and behind her, there was a low murmur from her partner as Gabrielle dressed Dori, the toddler chattering happily at her near the hearth inside.

She could almost feel the peace around her, a radical change from what her life had been like for the past few weeks. It was a very strange sensation, almost as though her heart was so light it was starting to float – a halfway giddy feeling she last remembered feeling a long while ago.

“Hey, Xe?”

“Yeah?” Xena folded her hands over her stomach and reveled in the blissful sensation of well being, and a sense of satisfaction with herself, and her life.

“How’s your cold?”

“What cold?” The warrior answered, with a touch of smugness. “You burned it out of me last night.”

“Xena.”  Gabrielle snickered. “Cut that out.”

Xena lifted her hands up. “No cough, no fever, no sniffles. You explain it.”  She returned her hands to their former position and cocked her head, watching a pair of red birds flit in the tree nearby. “I feel great.”  She paused. “How about you?”

“C’mere, honey.” Gabrielle captured one of Dori’s arms and got it through the sleeve on her jumper. “Hmm.. how do I feel?”

“Mama good.” Dori examined the pull on her jumper hood with serious absorbtion. “Mama happy.”

Gabrielle gently combed her daughter’s unruly locks. “You think so, Dori? How do you know that?” She grinned, though, even as she said it. “But you’re right.  Mama feels wonderful.”

“Good. Go Boo now.” Dori squirmed out of her reach and hopped down to the floor, pattering over to where Xena was sitting.  She reached up and tugged on the warrior’s sleeve imperiously. “Boo! Gup!”

Gabrielle followed her over, smiling indulgently as Xena picked Dori up and set her on her lap, wrapping her long arms around their daughter.  Other than the cuts she’d suffered from the crystal, which were still a bit stiff and achy, she did in fact, feel great and one look at Xena told her the warrior wasn’t lying when she said she did also.

They’d shared their forgotten dinner for breakfast. In bed. Then they’d shared a shower. Now they were dressed in comfortable tunics and warm leggings, and for the first time in a while she was looking forward to the day.

Gabrielle settled her hands on Xena’s shoulders and leaned against the back of her chair. “What a gorgeous morning.”  She leaned over and gave the warrior a kiss on the head.

Xena looked up from playing patacake with Dori. “Sure is.” She agreed. “Whadda you say we go see if the attitudes are any better around here today?”

“Okay.” The bard said. “But if last night was any indication, I don’t think it’s in question. You heard Jessan.”

“True.” The warrior clasped Dori and stood up, swinging her over her head accompanied by a squeal of delight.  “But I think it’s time we find out what they really know, and let them in on what we found.” She tucked Dori against one hip and headed for the door. “C’mon munchkin. Let’s go find some fun.”

“Fun!” Dori clutched at her buddy’s shoulder. “Boo, c’n we go fly?”

“Sure.” Xena walked outside the cottage and waited for Gabrielle to join her. “Soon as we’re done seeing our friends, how about that?”

“Now!”

“Oo.. listen to that bossy baby.” Gabrielle tweaked Dori’s foot. “You cut that out, madame, and be nice to your Boo, or else.”  She warned. “Didn’t you fly with me yesterday?”

Dori giggled. “Yes! Mama go fly over dere, over dere, over dere.” She moved her hand in a series of hops. “Den Mama and Boo scared a monster out of the mountain.”

“Were you scared of the monster, Dori?” Xena asked. “That was a big, mean, monster, huh?”

“Mama said no be scared.” Dori shook her head. “Wait for Boo.”

Xena looked over at Gabrielle who smiled back at her. “One way or another, I knew you’d be there for us.” The bard answered, simply.

For a moment, her partner gazed intently at her, and then she lifted her hand up to cup Gabrielle’s cheek.“You were right.” Xena gave her a gentle pat, and then settled her free arm over her partner’s shoulders and they headed off towards the village center.

**

There was a difference this morning. Gabrielle looked around as they headed across towards the meeting hall, and noticed first off that the eyes of all she came across met hers, and muzzled faces creased into a smile.

The other thing she noticed was the absence of most of the youngsters, and the presence of the warriors Jessan had brought with him working on various projects all around. It reminded her more of the way the village had been on their last visit, and Gabrielle felt her already heady sense of well being buoyed up even further by it.

As they approached the meeting hall, they were spotted and Wennid broke off her conversation with one of the cooks to stride over and meet them. “Morning.” Xena greeted her.

“A very good morning to you too.” Wennid answered. “Thank you for coming back here… I knew you both were very upset when you left, for good reason.”  She gave Dori a little grin. “I hear you had quite an adventure?”

“You could say that.” Gabrielle agreed. “Can we go inside and talk?” She indicated the meeting hall. “I think we have some news everyone should hear.”

“And perhaps we can now enlighten you to some things that were hidden before.” Wennid nodded. “Come.”  She took a step, then paused and put a hand on Xena’s arm. “Tell me one thing before – what of Rufus? Jessan said it was your tale to tell.”

Xena met her eyes evenly. “He’s dead.” She replied.

“Good.” Wennid nodded briskly. “There are some who will regret that, but I am not one of them.”

“After they hear what he had in mind, I’m not sure that anyone would disagree with you.” Gabrielle said. “Even I don’t.”

Wennid blinked.

The bard gave a half shrug. “He tried to kill me. He tried to kill Lestan. He tried to kill Xena. He was going to attack your village again.” Gabrielle paused to take a  deep breath. “Violence isn’t always the answer, Wennid – but sometimes it’s the only answer that keeps other people from being hurt.”

The forest dweller nodded. “That is a hard lesson, for those of us who do not live by the sword.” She wrinkled her muzzle. “The village is still gathering – will you come in an speak with Lestan? He is chewing the bedpost not being able to get up and see for himself what is going on.”

Gabrielle fit her hand into Xena’s. “Sure.” She answered. “I was worried about him.”

Wennid gave her a look. “Not nearly as much as we were worried about the two of you, I believe.” She turned and lead the way towards her home.

Xena and Gabirelle followed her, walking hand in hand as they passed forest dwellers going in the opposite direction towards the hall. After a briefly awkward moment, shy hellos and good mornings started to be directed towards them.

By the time they reached Wennid and Lestan’s cottage the sun had topped the trees and was pouring down into the village and warming their shoulders as they walked. Gabrielle smiled in delight at the rich beams painting the path, reaching out with her hand to intercept them, her fingers curling around the light as though it had substance. “Oh.. Xena, look!”

Xena’s eyes followed the bard’s pointing finger, through the brush to a nearby tree. The sun splashed it’s bark, revealing a spot of white. “Wh..” Xena looked closer. “A white squirrel!”

“Mama!” Dori was already squirming, trying to get out of Xena’s arms as she spotted the small animal as well. “Boo, leggo!”

“Ah, ah ah.” The warrior took a stronger hold on her. “You stay right here, shortie.”

Gabrielle eased off the path towards the creature, who watched her warily. “Oh, it’s so pretty!”  She breathed, turning her head towards her partner. “Xena, do you have an… thanks.” She caught the piece of trail bar and turned, slowly easing her hand out with the tidbit in it. “Here you go..”

Wennid had stopped, apparently realizing she no longer had an entourage. She was leaning against a nearby tree, watching Gabrielle with a bemused expression on her face.

The bard crept a little closer, expecting the squirrel to dash off. It didn’t, however, and she got close enough to extend her hand all the way.

The squirrel’s nose twitched. One small paw hesitantly stretched forward and snatched at the bit of trail bar, catching hold of it and pulling it out of Gabrielle’s fingers.

“You’re a pretty boy.” Gabrielle complimented him, watching with a charmed expression as the animal nibbled at the treat. “Xena, isn’t he gorgeous?”

“Uh huh.”

The bard looked over her shoulder. “I think I’m being condescended to.”

Xena had her hands full, however, and was busy trying to prevent her daughter from getting loose and going on an impromptu squirrel hunt. “Not at all.. just a little…occupied here…”

“Mama! Go get pitty aminal!” Dori protested.

The squirrel decided he’d had enough of the show, and he scampered down the tree, leaping to the ground and dashing past Gabrielle right towards Xena and her rambunctious charge. Without a pause, he bolted up the warrior’s leg, coming very close to being kicked into somewhere in the next lunar cycle.

“Hey!” Xena let out a yell.

“Gots!” Dori’s eyes widened in delight as the squirrel landed on her buddy’s arm and she was almost nose to nose with it. “C”mere!”

Intelligently, the squirrel scrambled out of Dori’s reach and up onto Xena’s shoulder, where he perched for a moment, chittering into the warrior’s ear.

Xena’s blue eyes were startlingly bright in the sunlight as she glared at  the trespasser. They nearly popped out of their sockets when the squirrel patted her cheek, then leaped to the ground and dashed off into the underbrush, disappearing with a scattering of brown, dead leaves. “What in the Hades was that?” The warrior blurted.

Even Wennid was standing there slack jawed.

Gabrielle walked over and put a hand on her partner’s shoulder, then peered past her to where the animal had vanished. “That was amazing.” She murmured. “It’s almost like… Xena, it looked like he was talking to you!”

“Pitty!” Dori craned her neck to look, hoping to catch another glimpse of the squirrel. “Mama, dat aminal love Boo!”

Xena and Gabrielle exchanged glances. “That was not normal squirrel behavior.” The warrior stated, looking over at Wennid. “Unless you’re training them. Are you?”

The forest dweller shook her head rapidly back and forth. “Ares’ truth, Xena. I’ve never seen a one like that before, nor less one that acted that way.”

Another mystery. Gabrielle tucked her hand inside Xena’s elbow, and they slowly started to walk again. Only this one held more wonder than dread, and she found herself imagining what story there must be behind that small, curious animal.

For instance, did animals have names for each other? Not the ones that humans gave them, but between themselves?  The bard relied on Xena’s instincts to keep them on the path, as she pondered. Did they think? This one seemed to understand she meant it no harm, and certainly it had shown curiosity if nothing else about Xena.

Or was there something else behind it? Someone else? Gabrielle clearly remembered praying, in those last few moments before the battle. Could it have been her answer?

Would she ever know?

She looked up at Xena, the warrior’s profile outlined in sunlight, and remembered that dark figure shredding through the whirlwind horror that had been Elevown’s soul, the brilliant energy that had ripped apart the first forest dweller it had touched.

With a smile, Gabrielle took a firmer hold of her soulmate’s arm, as they mounted the steps to their friend’s home.  “Hey, Xena?”

“Hm?” The warrior looked over at her.

“Know what I think?”

“I’m about to.” Xena responded dryly. “But if I hear the words ‘animal attraction’ you’re going into the creek.”

“Aminal!” Dori warbled. “Boo, you go catch me pitty aminal?  Or a buppit?”

Gabrielle decided to table the conversation in the interests of remaining dry, and merely chuckled as they entered Wennid and Lestan’s home.

**

The meeting hall was full, the air warmed by the presence of a large quantity of big, furry bodies.  Gabrielle was standing near the front, leaning back against the heavy table while she waited for the noise to settle down.

She’d just finished her tale of recent events, and now the chattering was going up all around the room as the forest dwellers discussed the results.

“Gabrielle…” Wennid was seated in front, and she now straightened and rubbed her forehead. “Let me make sure I understand… this… force… you released in the cavern – you knew it?”

In the back of the room, Xena was seated near the window, with Dori on her lap, deferring to her partner when it came to relating their adventures. Jessan was seated next to her, providing a convenient plaything for Dori.

Now, the bard glanced back at her and raised an eyebrow, offering Xena the opportunity to elaborate. More than fair, Xena acknowledged, given that she really hadn’t provided any proof of her instincts to the bard. Accordingly, she stood up.  “We discovered a couple of things in those old caverns.” She said, waiting for the shuffle of motion to stop as everyone turned to look at her.

“The caverns where we found the old scrolls?” Wennid queried.

Xena nodded. “They’re not entirely… abandoned.” She tilted her head, considering her words carefully. “The spirits of their former occupants are still around.”

Silence. Lots of round, golden eyes looking back at her. Xena realized if it had been anyone else, they’d probably have been laughed at.

“You…” Wennid paused. “Do you mean there are ghosts there?” She asked, delicately.

“Ardwyn’s ghost,  yes.” Gabrielle confirmed. “The writer of the scrolls.”

“Huh.” Jessan folded his arms across his chest. “Y’know, I always thought ghosts were…ah…”

“Make believe.” Xena said. “Yeah, well… there’s an old saying that goes something like.. you find enough manure around, there’s got to be a horse somewhere?”

“Uh.” Jessan blinked at her. “Yeah, I’ve heard it.”

“What Xena means, is that most legends usually have a kernel of truth at their hearts.”

Heads swiveled again towards Gabrielle. The bard crossed her own arms. “And I’ve learned never to say something’s impossible.”

“Anyway.” Xena forged on. “We found out that many years ago, Ardwyn had been separated from her partner Elevown the Viking. I discovered a really angry spirit up on the mountain with a Viking ax, and decided it was her. I distracted the guards and Gabrielle let her loose. End of story.”

Gabrielle scratched her jaw, and glanced at the ground, muffling a smile. She looked up to find everyone’s attention focused back on her.  “So, now you know why I’m the bard in the family.” She remarked dryly, eliciting a round of somewhat nervous chuckles.

“Xena, you said you decided the angry… spirit… was Elevown. What if you were wrong?” Wennid asked curiously.

Xena regarded her. “I wasn’t.” The warrior shrugged.

More nervous chuckles.

“Our question is, how’d she get that way?” Gabrielle interjected. “Wennid, obviously those forest dwellers up there knew she was there. Xena thinks that energy was what was making people more warlike and angry, the closer they were to her.”

Everyone looked back at Xena. It was, the warrior decided, sort of like watching Amazon catchball, only with more fur and less squabbling. “Yeah. She’s been there a long, long time.”

Now everyone looked up at Wennid. The older woman raised both arms and let them fall. “Xena, I have no idea. We have nothing to do with these humans. I was surprised as any to find those caves and scrolls so close to our kind.”

Gabrielle gazed at her. “You’re wrong, Wennid.” She said. “You have everything to do with those humans. Ardwyn was the woman your people found in the forest, injured, long ago.”

Wennid stared at her.

“She was the one who changed you.” The bard went on, softly.

“Is it truly so?” Wennid breathed, glancing aside as Cessi joined her. “How can it be? How can you know?”

The forest dwellers all began to murmur to each other.  These were, Gabrielle noticed, the elders of the tribe, with only a few younger faces scattered around. She wondered what had happened to the kids. “She told me.” The bard answered simply. “It wasn’t easy for her. She was kind, and taught you even though she knew your people had been responsible for her losing her partner.”

The crowd shifted uneasily. “Gods.” Wennid sat down. “This is all so much to understand.”

Jessan stood. “Xena, I’ve questioned those we brought back from the cavern.” He hesitated, then gave her a half shrug. “They were clueless.”

“Mm.” Xena let her hand drop to Dori’s head, ruffling the dark hair.

“They knew there was a power there, but… “ The big forest dweller sighed. “Rufus told them it was a promise from Ares, if they took over the valley, that it would give them his favor.”

Xena rolled her eyes. “He would never hide himself in a cave in the back end of nowhere, let me tell ya.”

Cessi shook her head. “Wennid’s right. This is too much to take in.” She said. “If this thing has been there all this time..”

“Person.” Gabrielle interrupted her. “There was a person in there.”

Cessi lifted her hand in acknowledgement. “Why now?” She asked. “We’ve been at peace for so long, then why…”

“Have we?” Jessan asked. “Maybe that.. person.. whatever… has been drawing in those of us who seek to walk a different route for a long time. Who knows how long those throwbacks have been out there?”

“Mm.” Cessi grunted acknowledgement.

“Maybe they were content to live alone, until Rufus came.” Wennid commented wisely. “My heart tells me it was he who prodded them into action.”

The wind coming in the open windows was cool and brisk – at a signal from Wennid, several of the forest dwellers near the corners of the big room started passing around trays of mulled cider.

“He believed he was doing right.” Cessi suggested. “I truly believe that.”

Xena turned to face her. “I don’t.” She said. “Not unless murdering people is right.”

Cessi regarded her. “But you are…”

“It doesn’t matter.” Wennid said, firmly. “Xena’s right. We have always looked for a way to put ourselves above our human neighbors. What this whole thing has taught me, if nothing else, is how little we are truly different.”

“But…” Cessi hesitated.

“He was your kin.” Wennid cut her off. “I understand that.”

Xena and Gabrielle exchanged looks.  The bard left her spot at the front and eased to her partner’s side, removing two mugs of cider from a tray as she moved through the crowd and handing one to Xena. “Xena and I wanted to talk to him, you know.” She spoke directly to the older forest dweller. “But the closer we got to the truth, the more he tried to destroy us.”

“If he just could have stayed in the hills.” Cessi sighed.

“But he wasn’t going to.” Xena spoke up. “He was going to lead those fighters in the cavern down on the village again. Last night.”

“True.” Jessan joined her. “They said it.” His eyes shifted to the warrior. “They were going to destroy everything here, and wipe it from the earth.”

Everyone’s eyes now turned to Xena, as the warrior stood in their midst, for once not towering over the crowd.

“Cessi.” Jessan turned to her. “Even if Rufus were right, and humans were beneath our law, these two would not be. You know that.”  His voice was faintly accusing. “They are part of our tribe, by law.”

She nodded. “I know it. I spoke with Rufus of it. It came to nothing.” She looked at Xena. “He said it would come down to a battle between the new and the old, the right and the wrong. You and he.”

Gabrielle held her breath, but her partner merely smiled. “He was right.” Xena replied.

“He just had no clue which of em was which.” Jessan said frankly. “But my father knew.” He laid a hand on Xena’s shoulder. “He knew who he could trust to protect us.”

The warrior didn’t move, but to Gabrielle’s eyes, without stirring still she stood taller, and through the link that bound them the bard felt a surge of emotion. She reached out to take Xena’s hand, moving closer to her as Dori scrambled off the chair she’d been perched on and ran between her taller parent’s legs.

The crowd spoke a unified sound of agreement.

Jessan turned to face the crowd. “My father will live.” He announced. “So, this night our family would like a gathering, to celebrate this, and to bring us all back together after the trials just past.”

“Ah.” Gabrielle leaned closer to her partner. “A party.”

“Learning from the Amazons.” The warrior muttered back, just loud enough for Jessan to hear her.

“They have a lot in common.” The bard replied, her eyes twinkling gently at Jessan’s expression.

“And.” Jessan added. “To celebrate the birthday of our friend, Gabrielle the bard.”

Caught offguard, Gabrielle could only issue a squeak. Then she turned and wagged her finger at a silently snickering Xena.

The crowd relaxed, and started laughing. The ones nearest to Xena and Gabrielle edged even closer, tilting their heads to make eye contact with them.

“We’re sorry about what happened.” A woman said, with quiet sincerity. “We should have shut the kids up before when you were here. We were wrong to let them talk like they were.”

“It’s true.” A younger man agreed.

“Why didn’t you?” Gabrielle asked, curiously.

The woman who had spoken first chewed her lower lip for a bit, then lifted both hands, palms up. “I can speak only for myself. I was afraid.” She admitted. “Afraid that Rufus would be here, long after you left and would remember it. I have a young son.”

“Ah.” The bard nodded. “He had a lot of influence.”

“Not only that.” The man edged closer. “His way was the way of force, of strength. To go against him meant having to fight him. Defeat him. There would be no mercy.”

“So….” Xena lifted Dori up and cradled her in her arms. “You figured you’d wait to see which one of us came out on top, then go with whoever won.”

They looked abashed.

Jessan sighed. “My mother was right.” He grimaced slightly. “We are just like you.”

Gabrielle gave him a gentle pat on the side. “Well.” She said. “It’s not all bad, y’know. We have some good points.” She reminded him, with a smile to take the sting off the words.

“I know.” Jessan nudged them towards the door. “C’mon.”

They walked outside, back into the sunlight now brightly shining over the village. Jessan stopped just inside the great square and gazed around, shaking his head slightly before he turned to face them. Xena had set Dori on her shoulders, and they both waited for him to speak.

“I bet you can guess how crappy I feel.” Jessan started. “You guys come here and save my father, and to say thank you we nearly get you killed.” He paused. “More than once.”

“Boo, look!” Dori pointed. “Aminal!”

Half expecting their friend the white squirrel, Xena turned, only to see Ares chasing a fox past them. “Hey!’ She shook a finger at the wolf. “No chasing foxes!”

Ares pulled up at her voice, regretfully letting the fox go free, and trotted over to her. He sneezed and sat down at her boots, his tongue lolling out.

“Go gots aminal, Boo! Hurry!” Dori wriggled and bounced on her buddy’s shoulders. “Want a buppit!”

“You hold still, shortie. No buppits.” Xena patted her leg. “Not until we get home. Okay?”

“BoooooO!!!!!!”

Jessan cocked his head, distracted from his self thrashing. “What does she want?”

“A bup… “ Gabrielle cleared her throat. “I mean, a pet.” She amended. “She calls puppies buppits, and she was really disappointed we didn’t go see Ares puppies after we left Athens.”

“Ah.” Jessan looked down. “Doesn’t she have a pet?” He pointed at Ares. “You mean she wants more of them?”

“Boo, c’n you let me down now?” Dori pleaded.

Xena  gave Gabrielle a look. The bard nodded, and got a gentle cuff on the side of her face in response before the warrior swung their daughter down and set her on the ground.  “Okay, shortie. Let’s go see what we can find. You ready to race?”

With a squeal, Dori took off across the grass, with her parent loping behind her in lazy pursuit.

That left Jessan and Gabrielle alone. “Want to sit down?” Gabrielle pointed to an overturned trough nearby.  She took a seat herself, and extended her legs, crossing them at the ankles as she watched Xena and Dori romp across the square.

“They’re so cute together.” Jessan remarked, as he sat down next to her.

“Yeah, they really are.” Gabrielle agreed, then paused. “Well?”

The forest dweller sighed, and plucked at the sleeve of his thick,blue battlecoat.

“Jess, it’s not your fault what happened.” The bard told him. “We were glad to come here to help your father, help the village recover… neither of us regret that.”

“Sure.” He looked directly at her. “Now, you can say that.”

Gabrielle’s eyes dropped.

“Gabrielle, I felt you.” Jessan lowered his voice, even though they were alone. “Even as far away as I was.”

The bard stared off into the distance, drawing up one knee to rest her elbow on it. “It was a truly sucky moment.” She eventually responded. “But you know what? Xena made it all right. That’s what matters.” Her eyes shifted to find his again. “It didn’t have to be here. It didn’t have to be for your people, Jessan. It could have happened anywhere. You know us.”

Jessan was silent for a bit.  Then he put one big hand on Gabrielle’s shoulder. “One of my kind who was trapped in the cavern with her spoke with me last night.” He said. “He’s convinced Xena blew the mountain out over their heads.”

Gabrielle thought about it. “Well.” She rested her chin on her arm. “They were inside a tunnel of solid rock. Maybe it had a crack in it.”

Jessan looked at her.

“Or maybe Xena blew the mountain out.” The bard went on. “If anyone on earth could, it would be her.” Her eyes wandered to where Xena had just caught up Dori, and then tumbled to the earth, where she was rolling on the grass with the toddler. “I was just really angry with all of them, Jessan. It was all so blasted senseless.” She turned to him. “They knew who she was. Even if they hated humans, they still had to know what would happen if they started attacking her. Why?”

Jessan shook his head. “I asked the one who was stuck in there with her that. He said Rufus had them convinced they could beat her. All they had to do was stick with his teachings.”

Gabrielle sighed.

“Most of them were too young when you first visited us… they weren’t allowed on the mountain, or at the fight.” Her friend explained. “And they did not come to the war. How would they know, Gabrielle? Yes, we have stories. You more than anyone know we have stories, and that most of us who know you, and know Xena love you both as sisters.”

“I know.” Gabrielle leaned against him. “I guess it hurt all the more because I remember being welcomed here.”

“But before I knew you, I might have thought the same as they.” Jessan concluded.

Gabrielle sighed again. “So, where are they?” She asked. “The kids, I mean?”

“We took them to the valley.” Jessan replied quietly. “Some of my warriors took them, so they could bring back the bodies and understand what war truly means.” He said. “That it’s not a game. That it’s not a grand adventure. I wanted them to understand what death is.”

It made a great deal of sense to her.  Gabrielle recalled how childish the dwellers of the valley had seemed to her, despite the fact that many of them were her age or perhaps a touch more. It was easy to find romance in the thought of battle, if you didn’t know the reality of it firsthand.

She did.  And yet, if she was honest with herself, she would admit that still, in Xena’s battles, she found a measure of romance and honor. Else, why tell stories about them?

Life was full of paradoxes.  Gabrielle watched the chief one of her life leap across the grass, with Dori perched on her back getting an impromptu ride.  She turned to Jessan. “I’m glad we came, Jess. I’m glad we helped your parents, and the rest of the tribe… and I’m glad we maybe helped two very, very old friends.”

Jessan nodded. “Much as I hate what happened, I’m glad too.” He admitted. “I’m gonna try my best to make it up to you two before you leave, though.”

Enough seriousness, the bard decided. “So, I get to get birthday’d.” Now she crossed her arms and lightened her tone. “I do all that, and what do I get for it?”

“Presents?” The forest dweller responded, in an ingenious tone. “Lots of food and drink and people singing your praises?”

“Sounded good riiiigght up to the last one.”

“C’mon, Gabrielle. Let the tribe get over their guilt.” Jessan smiled at her. “Everyone feels like pig butts. Give us a break, huh?”

“Mm.” Gabrielle’s eyes narrowed. “On one condition.”

“Uh oh.”

The bard grinned, charmingly.

**

It was afternoon by the time they started up the mountain. Xena tugged her sheath a little tighter and glanced at the bard pacing quietly at her side as they walked up the path.  Outlined in the burnished golden sunlight, Gabrielle’s profile seemed relaxed, if somewhat introspective. “Nervous?”

Gabrielle turned her way. “Hm? Oh, no. I was just thinking.”

“About what?”  Xena asked.

For a moment, the bard didn’t answer. Then she eased a step closer. “I was just trying to imagine what it would be like… to be Ardwyn, and have all this happen after all this time.”

Xena considered that seriously. “You know.” She remarked. “We never said we were going to reunite them.” Her eyes studied Gabrielle’s face. “We just said we’d find out what happened.”

“Huh.” The bard’s eyebrows jerked up. “Wow. You’re right.”  She kicked a small stone out of her path. “I bet it was really unexpected.” A frown. “I hope it worked out… just… something Ardwyn said that last time made me think she was kind of angry.”

“Mm.”  Xena ducked under a branch, and angled her steps to the steep path leading up to the cave.  “Wonder if the Viking worried about that.”

“Would you have?”

“No.” Xena smiled, knowing the answer was different than it might have been in earlier times of their life together. “But I wouldn’t have let a bunch of fuzzbutts put me in a column, either.”

“And if they had, I wouldn’t have let you stay there for long.” Gabrielle confirmed, with an equal smile. “You  know what this whole thing has made me realize, Xena?”

The warrior was silent for a few paces. “It’s made me realize all over again how damned lucky I am.” She answered, in a slightly husky voice. “Made me stop and appreciate all the great things I have in my life.”

Gabrielle moved closer again and slipped her arm around Xena’s waist. “Yeah.”

They walked along together for a few minutes in silence. “Xena?”

“Yyyeesss?”

“Were you disappointed by the forest dwellers?” The bard asked. “I mean, I sort of expected them to be a little more… um…”

“Noble?”

“Yeah.”

Xena lifted her free hand and waggled it from side to side.

“Do you think they are becoming just like us?” Gabrielle persisted.

The warrior shrugged. “Gabrielle, I’ve dealt with giants, Amazons, centaurs, gods.. haven’t found any kind yet that don’t act like selfish bastards most of the time. Why should the forest dwellers be any different?”

“Hm.” The bard reached out and let her hands run through a low hanging pine bough, releasing it’s fragrance. “I guess I just expect more of people.”

Xena shrugged again.

“But I guess I shouldn’t.” Gabrielle’s voice changed.  “I mean, after all, I was ready to walk out on everyone and go home, wasn’t I?”

“Were you?” Xena asked, in a mild tone.

Her partner’s gaze turned inward for a long moment. Then she lifted her hand and waggled it, mirroring Xena.

Xena’s eyebrow lifted, and the corner of her lip jerked up, as eloquent as anything Gabrielle could have produced in speech.

“Anyway.” The bard accepted the rebuke, booting the debate out and over the ridge as one of the ‘what if’ kind that weren’t really worth going after.  Xena had taught her that – because sometimes you just needed to let things go.

Granted, both of them believed that more in theory than practice sometimes, but… “Anyway…I’m glad things worked out for them. Jess really has a handle on how to bring those kids around I think.”

“Yep.” Xena agreed. “I think they’ll be all right. Even some of the ones with Rufus… the two that were trapped with me, they turned out to be okay.” She added.

“After they tried really hard to kill you and couldn’t, right?” Gabrielle said, dryly.

“After I kicked their asses.” Xena conceded. “Didn’t see them in the cave last night.”

They had reached the level of the cave, and the path opened up a little and evened out, making it easier to climb. Gabrielle paused and stretched her body out, feeling a pleasant ache in her thighs from the hike. “Well, Jessan talked to one of them, so I think they’re okay.” She informed her partner.

“Mm?” Xena’s eyes lit up, then took on a mischevious sparkle. “Hey, maybe they’ll be at the party tonight.”

“Oh yeah.” The bard put her fists on her hips. “You are so busted for that.”

The warrior merely whistled, and strolled on by, deftly booting the bard in the butt as she moved past, just fast enough to avoid the return slap.  Gabrielle recovered her balance and jogged to catch up, as they covered the last bit of distance to the cave entrance.

They stopped just inside, and paused as if by common consent. Xena took a step ahead of her partner and moved in front of her in an unconscious motion, one hand drifting back to rest on her sword hilt.

“Yeesh, tiger.” Gabrielle bumped her with a hip as she dodged around the warrior. “It’s just an empty cave.”

Xena swept her eyes over the interior once, then twice, before she let her hand drop to her side, reluctantly admitting the bard was actually correct. It was just an empty cave.

But what was she really expecting? Xena reasoned, as she followed Gabrielle across the larger, open outer room towards the crevice that lead to the inner. She glanced at the floor, seeing only their footsteps leading outward as evidence of habitation.

Of course, ghosts didn’t leave footprints. The warrior ducked to enter the inner chamber, stepping around Gabrielle’s halted figure to head for the cap over the entryway.

“Xena?”

One hand on the rock, Xena turned.

“I think…” Gabrielle’s face crinkled into a sheepish smile. “I think we should knock.”

Xena looked at her, then she looked down at the stone. “Knock?”

“Yeah.”

Xena rapped her knuckles on the rock, then she shook her head and drew her sword from it’s sheath, reversing it before she smacked the hilt down three times, making three loud, resonating knocks. Then she got up and put the weapon away, walking over to join Gabrielle. “Okay. I knocked.”  She rested her forearm on the bard’s shoulder. “Now what?”

“Shh.” Gabrielle tugged her arm, pulling her back to the opposite wall where a bit of a shelf gave them a place to sit down. “Let’s just wait and see what happens.”

With a sigh, the warrior perched next to her, sliding her boots out a little and regarding them. “Think they’ll come out?”

“Shh.”

Xena wiggled her toes. “If they don’t, I’m gonna start kissing you.”

“Xena!” Gabrielle uttered, in a whisper.

“Or I’ll start singing.”

The bard stood up and turned to face her, putting her hands on her partner’s shoulders and peering at her in the gloom. “What’s gotten into you today?”

Xena let her head rest against the rock, as a frankly seductive grin formed across her face. “Beats me.” She let her hands rest on the bard’s thighs, her thumbs tracing light circles. “But I’m liking it. You?”

Almost against her will, Gabrielle leaned forward, giving in to the appeal of that smile as she gave her partner a kiss. Then she let her forehead rest against Xena’s, her arms circling the warrior’s neck. “Yeah.” She peeked behind them at the still empty cave. “I guess we could go down instead of waiting, huh?”

Xena’s grin widened. She stood as Gabrielle turned and they started to walk towards the stone cap, only to pull up short when the space before them filled with a thick, white fog.

“Then again…” The bard exhaled. “Maybe not.”

Slowly, they backed up and took a seat together again, as the fog swirled and pulsed, expanding and contracting, until finally it coalesced into an almost transparent Ardwyn.

Gabrielle inhaled as her face solidified, and she could see the ghost’s expression. Aside from the fact that Ardwyn was dead, the difference was amazing. There was such a brilliance in her eyes, they sparkled in the fog.

In reflex, the bard grinned at her. Their gazes met, and Gabrielle rose impulsively, bounding across the rock floor and enveloping the fog in a big hug.

It was cold. It was warm, and then it was closing around her and hugging her back. “Thank you.” Ardwyn’s voice whispered in her ear. “By the goddess, and all that I worship, thank you.”

Gabrielle released her, and they stood back, to look at each other again.  Ardwyn shook her head faintly, and seemed to sigh.  “Never would I have thought it. Never did I expect it. To have her come so, to me… “ her voice trailed off.

“I know.” The bard murmured, still smiling broadly. “I know.” She repeated, even more softly. “I’m so glad.”  She could see, even with the mist, how Ardwyn’s face had changed, losing the tense lines of pain that had been so evident. “Did she tell you what happened?”

Xena sat back against the wall, drawing one knee up and leaning against it as she watched the two of them.  Ardwyn was clasping Gabrielle’s hands, the two much of a height. The ghost’s eyes were locked on her partner’s face, and the joy there was achingly visible, almost brilliant in the dim cavern.

It made Xena smile. I did that.  A quiet voice inside her marveled.  Gabrielle and I made that happen.  She looked up again, and this time found Ardwyn looking back at her.

“Dark one.” The ghost whispered. “Indeed, a marvel you are.”

Xena stayed where she was, circling her knee with both arms and simply gazing back at the ghost. “My name’s Xena.” She commented. “Glad things worked out.”

Ardwyn walked over with Gabrielle to her, then settled at arms reach away on the rock while the bard continued on to join her partner.  “Tell me then your tale, and I will tell you hers, for come here she will not while the dark one is present.”

Xena’s eyebrow hiked sharply up.

Gabrielle’s lips twitched slightly. “Warriors.” She muttered under her breath, as she stood back up again and considered how to start her story.  Then she laid a hand on her partner’s shoulder, and simply started at the start, knowing she didn’t quite have the ending.

Yet.

**

About halfway through Gabrielle’s telling, Xena became aware of an almost indistinguishable smudge of light near the back corner of the small cavern.  She kept her eyes on the bard and affected not to notice, but watched in her excellent peripheral vision as the smudge very slowly, very grudgingly coalesced into a watching face, with pale, diamond chip eyes.

Hello, Viking.  Xena draped an arm casually over the knee Gabrielle had propped up against the rock shelf. With her index finger, she tapped lightly on skin just inside the joint, then with her thumb, she drew an inconspicuous line towards the manifestation.

There wasn’t even a hitch in Gabrielle’s voice, but Xena could hear the warmth enter it, and the hand resting on her shoulder contracted just a little.   The warrior turned her head and planted a kiss on the back of her partner’s knuckles, this time getting a slight break as Gabrielle felt the touch.

She was acting unusual. Xena knew that. She put it down to finally being able to relax after what had happened to them, and being in a good mood over having things turn out the way they did.  Gabrielle would forgive her, wouldn’t she?

Xena felt the bard lean against her, the warmth of her body penetrating the thick linen shirt she had on, and Gabrielle’s hand shifted a little, it’s fingers scratching Xena lightly across the back of her neck. Mm. Xena liked that feeling. A motion caught her attention, though, and she shifted focus to watch their furtive visitor come a little closer.

Now the head was drifting over what might to someone with an imagination be a body, a shifting mass of silver grays that seemed to outline a slim form draped in cloths.  Xena turned her head slightly and made eye contact, not surprised when the figure dissolved immediately, save those sharp glints that remained, but faded back into the shadows.

Angry? Xena reflected on how her temper might have been after an eon in Elevown’s condition, and concluded she’d probably be a little ticked off herself, still.  Angry, yes – but unable to stray far from the dark haired Celt seated across from Gabrielle, listening intently.

There, they were different. No visitors, no stories, no nothing would have kept her from wrapping herself around Gabrielle and not budging, regardless of the venue. Hades, she’d have let the two of them keep knocking on the stone cap for a millennium for that matter.

“So, after we rested, and spoke with you, Ardwyn, Xena decided she wanted to take a last look around the valley before we started home.

“Aye.” Ardwyn nodded. “Hard pressed, were ye. I could see it, and no wonder for such a tale.”

“Mm.” Gabrielle agreed. “Xena found a cave. She said she knew the key to what was wrong in the valley was up there, so we decided to go and see if we could find out what it was.”

“How knew you?” Ardwyn, for the first time, addressed Xena directly.

Hm. Good question. Even Gabrielle hadn’t gotten around to asking her that yet. “I just knew.” The warrior replied.  “Something up there was madder than Hades, and I wanted to know why. Figured maybe the forest dwellers were buying into it.”

“Angry.” The ghost repeated softly. “Aye.”

“So we went up there.” The bard went on. “And..”

“And I distr..” Xena found her mouth covered promptly.

“Ah ah. My turn to tell this.” Gabrielle scolded her. “You just sit there and take it like a hero.”

Xena licked the palm of her hand, watching her partner muffle a hasty laugh. She nodded in agreement, however, and the bard removed her hold, and returned her attention to Ardwyn. “As I was saying, and when we got to the cave, what we found was a large force of the forest dwellers, surrounding a huge crystal pillar.”

The ghostly face returned behind Ardwyn again, watching Xena warily.

“Pillar? I know not that word.”

Gabrielle circled her arms as though she were hugging a tree. “A column like this, only of clear crystal, not stone.”  She explained. “There was light in it. Xena told me the anger was coming from there, and then we saw the ax.”

Ardwyn’s eyes closed. “That, yes, that I know.”

The bard nodded. “Xena recognized it too. So.. there were guards around the column. Xena decided if she could draw them all off, then I’d be able to get to the ax, and break the crystal.”

Ardwyn’s eyes popped open and stared at Gabrielle. “You?”

Gabrielle paused in mid breath, and returned the look. “Yeah, me.” She answered, slightly nettled. “Hey, I may be short…” She rolled up a sleeve and displayed her biceps. “But I’m not a wimp, y’know.”

The head edged a bit closer.

“That’s what we did.” Gabrielle went on, a little more quietly. “Xena challenged Rufus – he’d really been waiting for it, I think. He was itching to face off against her – until he figured out he was in over his head.” The bard sat down next to her partner.  “Xena drew the fight out, and got him angry. He lost his temper, and that brought the guards over. When they left, I ran.”

“Terrible creatures, they are.” Ardwyn said. “Relentless and cruel.” She sighed. “Was them who took all from us.”

“But you taught them differently.” Gabrielle said. “You changed them. You gave them a great gift, Ardwyn.”

“I care not.” The ghost told her. “Twas they who stole my heart.”  Slowly, the ghost turned and held a hand out. “Come, cariad. Tell of your story, that which you will not yet tell me even.”

Now acknowledged, the floating image stayed where it was, glaring at them dourly.

Gabrielle let her eyes focus on it at last, studying the lean face with a sense of fascination. She’d always wondered what they looked like – Ardwyn’s scrolls had never really drawn as clear a picture of them as her mind craved. To see them here, in front of her after all the months she’d spent pouring over their scrolls was amazing. “It’s okay.” She spoke directly to Elevown. “We won’t hurt you.”

The pale eyes widened in outrage.

“Really.” Gabrielle let a twinkle enter her own eyes. “Xena just looks scary. She’s really a creampuff.”  She patted her soulmate on the shoulder.

It happened so quickly. Elevown exploded from a sulking head to a full size white storm and surged toward her with outstretched arms.

And then she was sitting down, and she couldn’t see anything except for Xena’s back as the warrior got between her and the oncoming ghost, soundless save for the whisper of steel on leather as she drew her sword and extended it in silent warning.

“Elevown!” Ardwyn surged up herself. “What think you!”

Xena kept her eyes steady, her gaze boring into the ghosts. The Viking had pulled up just short of her and was hovering, arms still extended.

The warrior’s lids slitted, and she let out a low growl.

Elevown backed off, and settled next to where Ardwyn was standing, becoming almost solid as she folded up her legs and put her arms around them, staring back at Xena with dignified insolence.

With a lazy motion, Xena flipped her sword over her hand an sheathed it, then stepped aside and sat back down next to Gabrielle. She turned her head and lifted an eyebrow at the bard, who gave her a quiet smile.

“Okay.” Gabrielle broke the silence. “A very grumpy creampuff with lethal combat skills.”

Xena chuckled dryly, and leaned back against the rock wall, never taking her eyes off the glowering Viking.  “Y’know.” She commented. “When Gabrielle and I first read your scrolls… I said the Viking and I would probably get along once we stopped trying to kill each other.”

Ardwyn settled next to her partner. “So strange that sounds.” She murmured.

“Yah.” Elevown’s voice was low, and harsher than anyone anticipated. “But true.”  Her pale eyes studied Xena slowly from head to foot. “Odin’s own eternity I spent in that rock.”

Their language was different than in the scrolls, and Gabrielle realized they must have grown more used to speaking the common tongue of Greece. “How did  you get in there?” She asked.

For a long moment, the Viking didn’t answer.  Ardwyn put her arm around her shoulders.  “Cariad, was a hard time, I know it.”

“No one knows it.” The Viking responded gruffly. “You were not there.”

“Na, but here I was.” Ardwyn said. “Never knowing.”

“Yah.” Elevown looked away.

Xena and Gabrielle exchanged looks. “I think this is your area.” Xena uttered, a little surprised when Gabrielle shook her head. “Gab?”

“This is one of those times your ‘it’s over, deal with it’ thing is more appropriate, sweetheart.” The bard whispered back at her. “Honest.”

Xena doubtfully turned to regard the two ghosts, giving Gabrielle one last look in question. The bard pointed surreptitiously at their counterparts, so the warrior shrugged, and cleared her throat. “Hey.”

Both looked at her.

“Listen.” Xena said. “I didn’t risk my life and hers to get you out of that damn place so you could fight. Got it?” She said sternly. “It doesn’t make a jack’s ass worth of difference who did what. It’s over.”

Elevown stared at her.

“She’s right.” Gabrielle added quietly. “You’ve both been in a very bad place for a long time. Now you’re not. The joy of that’s more important than the blame.”

Ardwyn smiled sadly. “Know you much, for mortals.” She said, taking Elevown’s hand in her own. “So long it’s been since my heart has been but a dead thing, hard it is to wake to.”

“Yah.” The Viking grunted assent. “Mad I was for all time.”  She added, looking back up at Xena and Gabrielle with a less icy expression. “They came for us always.”

“The forest dwellers?” The bard asked.

“So you call them.” Elevown said, with a snarl. “Animals I call them. Beasts of the earth.”  She muttered. “We did na to stir them.  Just lived. Just came to the cave, took our food from the ground. Nothing.”

“But you were different than they were.” Gabrielle sighed.

“Thank Odin.” The Viking said. “Came a time I’d eaten my fill of it.”

“I wanted to go to a new place.” Ardwyn murmured. “Leave them, leave this.”

“Twas ours!” Elevown said, in a fierce tone. “Let them have it? No! Not I.”  Her eyes slid to Xena’s face. “None take what is mine.” She found unexpected sympathy in the mortal, blue eyes looking back at her, and a sense of understanding.

“Twas nothing. I cared for not but you.” The dark haired ghost replied.

“Mad I was.” The Viking repeated. “I went for them, and let the madness take me.”

Ah. So that’s what Ardwyn had meant, about Elevown going into the darkness.  Gabrielle blinked at them, feeling a little surprised.

“Death called me.” Elevown stated. “I came to it, and killed them till the rock was black with their blood.”  She lifted her eyes to Gabrielle in near defiance.  “It was good.”

“Afraid I was.” Ardwyn murmured. “Twas a night that never ended.”

The Viking looked at her, and the pale eyes softened. “Ah, Ardy.” She lifted an almost transparent hand, and touched the dark haired woman’s cheek.

Gabrielle watched them, so familiar with love she knew when she was truly looking at it. She leaned over a little and rested her cheek against Xena’s shoulder.  “How did they catch you?”

Elevown frowned. “The curse of Loki. Tricked me. An arrow, here!” She touched a spot on her throat. “Fell, I did, and never moved again.”

“It killed you?” Gabrielle blurted.

But the Viking shook her head slowly. “Nah.” She faded out a little, then solidified again. “They took me.”

Ardwyn inhaled sharply, soundless, but the motion was there. “Cariad, no.”

“Yah.”  Elevown seemed sad. “Twas late for understanding of you, Ardy.”

Xena’s hands twitched. Gabrielle took the nearer one into hers and chafed it, clasping the fingers and lifting it to her lips.

“The gods showed me a path out of that dead place.” Elevown finally said. “Loki’s trick again. Heard him laugh.” A short puff of bitter humor. “No life. No death. Just a forever watching those animals come and go.”

“Oh, wow.” Gabrielle murmured. “I’m sorry.”

“Hated them.”

“They worshipped you.” Xena remarked, in an ironic tone. “They thought you were giving them the guidance to go back to their roots.”

Elevown stared at her. “You lie.”

“Sometimes.” The warrior agreed. “But not about this.”

They all fell silent, separating for a moment into their own thoughts.  Then Elevown slowly drifted up and came nearer to where Xena and Gabrielle were sitting, floating at head level and regarding them seriously.  She extended one nearly transparent arm out towards the warrior, palm up.

Without hesitation, Xena covered it with her own, and they clasped wrists.

“There is a chair at Odin’s table for you in Valhalla.” Elevown said.

It was a compliment, and Xena knew it. “Thanks.”  She released the ghost, and watched as she turned to Gabrielle. The bard also solemnly clasped the Viking’s extended hand.

“In my moment of freedom, again the madness took me.” Elevown said. “You turned that madness and sent me home.”

Gabrielle met her eyes with gentle compassion. “I know what it feels like to come home. I’m glad we could help.”

Elevown released her and drifted back, taking Ardwyn’s hand as she floated up to meet her. Together they gazed across the small cavern at their two mortal visitors and smiled.   “May the Blessed ones look to you.” Ardwyn said.

“Thanks.” Gabrielle replied. “You too.”

Elevown’s lips quirked. “Glory and battle to you, Brightsword.”

“Have fun.” Xena replied, with a half grin of her own.

The two of them waved, then slowly, gently faded away until only a the hint of a wisp of fog gave away where they’d been.

Xena and Gabrielle stood with their arms around each other for several minutes, in silence.

“Mmm..” The bard sighed happily. “Now that’s my kind of story ending.”

Xena hugged her tightly and made a low noise of agreement deep in her throat.  “Except for one thing.”

“What’s that?”

“You’re not getting out of your birthday party.”

“Wench.”

“Especially after calling me a cream puff.”

Laughing, they turned and left the cavern, feeling the joy behind them like sunshine at their backs.

**

Xena strolled through the village, nodding her head in acknowledgment at the quiet greetings she received. In the center of the square, a huge fire was being stoked, and several large carcasses were already roasting. The scent of the meat brushed across her face, and she was mildly embarrassed to find her mouth watering from it.

As she walked past the fire, her eyes fell unexpectedly on Tucker, who was carrying wood towards the fire pit.

He spotted her at the same time, and they both paused and looked at each other.

Slowly, he knelt and put the wood down, and then he walked over to her, coming within arms reach and stopping. “They say you killed Rufus.”

“That’s right.” Xena agreed.

The young forest dweller seemed to have aged over the past few days. His air of brash arrogance had evaporated, and he seemed more lost, and tired than anything. “Does it make you happy?”

The warrior considered the question. “That he won’t hurt anyone else? Yeah.” She nodded. “It makes me happy to know he won’t be attacking the village again, or trying to kill people.”

“No… I meant, did you enjoy killing him?” Tucker persisted, in a quiet voice.

Xena looked at him. “I enjoyed defeating him.” She replied honestly.  “I was too busy worrying about my partner and daughter surviving to care about killing him.”

Tucker nodded. He was silent for a moment. “My cousin was trapped in the cavern with you.”

Xena’s eyebrows lifted in surprise.

With a shake of his head, Tucker turned and walked away, leaving her behind and not looking back once until he disappeared behind the half rebuilt stable.

The warrior continued on her way, walking around the firepit and finding herself distracted again by a small commotion on the other side. Curiously, she approached the group of forest dwellers, all clustered around boxes and hand made crates standing near the one wagon that remained.

“Is it even worth it?” One of the men closest to her said. “We’ve barely got enough to trade for winter salt.”

Xena let her hand rest on a box, and waited as her presence was noted. “What’s the problem?”

There was an awkward moment, as the mixture of forest dwellers exchanged glances and searched for someone to be a spokesman for them.

“It’s trade.” Cessi finally said, pushing between two taller men. “Most of our trade goods were destroyed. This is all that’s left.”

It was a pitifully small group of barrels and boxes. “What’s in it” Xena finally asked.

No one answered for a few long heartbeats, and then finally Cessi shook her head and pulled a box open. “See for yourself.”

**

Gabrielle was sitting in front of their cottage, her arms wrapped around Dori as she quietly watched the sun start to go down.  She had her cloak on, since the wind had chilled down again, and she was listening to Dori relate her day’s adventures.  “How many bugs did you find, Dor?”

“Lots.” Dori told her with childish satisfaction. “Gots lots a bugs, Mama, but Yamma made a big boom, and they all got away.”

“A big boom, huh?” Gabrielle bounced her daughter on her knee  just a little. “Why did she do that?”

Dori blinked big, innocent eyes at her. “Dunno.”

“Mmmhmm…” The bard riffled her fingers through her child’s thick hair, which was windblown and shaggy. “You didn’t scare our friend Wennid with your bugs, did you?” She asked. “You know some of our friends don’t like bugs, honey.”

“Bugs.” Dori agreed, placidly. “Big red ones, Mama. Pretty! I showed Yamma, and the big, big one went an played, but Yamma made a boom, and it ran away!” The child pouted. “Wanted to show you.” She leaned against Gabrielle’s chest and played with the catch of her cloak. “H’come nobody likes bugs?”

“Well, it’s not that everybody doesn’t like them, sweetie, it’s just that most people like to look at bugs..um..well, from far away.” Gabrielle explained. “Not touch them or pick them up  like you do.”

“H’come?”

Interesting question. Gabrielle admitted she had no particular love of bugs, and aside from the odd firefly or ladybug, stayed as far away from them as she could get. “Did you know mama was bitten by a bug once?”

“Mama?”

Gabrielle settled Dori into her lap and put her arms around her. “That’s right. Mama got bitten by a big black bug, and got really sick.” She told her. “The bug made a big owie, and that hurt for a very long time.”

“Oh! Bad bug!” Dori warbled.

“Yeah, so Mama doesn’t really like bugs too much, honey. Little ones are okay, and just looking at them is okay, but I don’t like to pick them up like you do.”

Dori stuck her thumb into her mouth and thought hard about that.  Gabrielle used the silence to simply enjoy the sunset. Then her eyes drifted over to a thick patch of green dappled shadow where the path from the woods came close to their cottage.

She could already sense the presence headed her way, and as she watched the space, the thick shadows slowly resolved into a smoothly gliding figure that stepped out from between the trees.

Xena grinned when she spotted her welcoming committee and broke into a jog, tucking a package wrapped in cloth under her arm.  “Well, well.What have we here?”

“Boo!” Dori scrambled off her mother’s lap and bolted for the warrior, opening her arms wide and closing them around Xena’s leg when she reached her side. “Booboobooboobooboo…..”

“Hey shortie.” Xena reached down and scooped her up, carrying her under one arm as she joined Gabrielle on the front step of the cottage. “You keeping an eye on your mama for me?”

Both of the bard’s fair eyebrows shot up. “Excuse me?” She glanced at the warrior’s burden. “What’s that?”

Xena neatly lowered herself to the step, settling Dori on her lap while she put the package on her other knee. “This?”  She indicated the bundle.

“Well, I know what the other thing you’re holding is, so yeah.”  Gabrielle studied her partner’s face, which was relaxed, and lit from within by good natured mischief.  The high spirits lit a warm spot inside her, and she found herself responding to them with a sense of giddiness. “Whatcha got?”

“Presents for my family.” Xena admitted readily. “The village was salvaging what they had left to take to Cirron to market.” She undid the bundle and laid it open. Inside were beautifully made hide overshirts, with a delicate fur lining.

“Oh. Wow.” Gabrielle laid her hand on the top one, feeling the softness of it. “They’re gorgeous.” She lifted the shirt up, and spotted the small one underneath it. “Look, Dori. Boo got you a present!’

“Pesant?”  Dori peered into the bundle with interest. “Dere?”

Xena picked up the tiny shirt and showed it to her. “Here.” She touched the carved bone button that held the neck closed. “See?”

Dori looked at her. “Cookie?”

“Dori!” Gabrielle gave her a pat on the leg. “What did I teach you to say when someone gives you a present, you bandit baby?”

Xena just laughed.

“Dankoo, Boo.” Dori drummed her boots on her parent’s leg. “C’n we go get cookies now?”

“Bandit. Tch.” The bard stood up and shucked off her cloak, then slid her new shirt over her head and let it settle over her body.  It was large enough to go on easily over her shirt and leggings, and it fell to her mid thigh for protection. Around the waist, there were ties to draw it in, and she tugged them, grinning as the growing chill in the air was easily blocked out. “Oh, I really like this.”  She touched the dyed pelt,  a rich indigo with contrasting pale blue stitching.

“Good.” Xena said. “You look great in it.” She added. “I figured we’d hit some bad weather, snow probably, before we get home. Besides, they’re pretty.”

“Pitty.” Dori now took an interest in her shirt. “Boo, gimme.”

Xena obligingly worked the new garment around the toddler’s body, the hide a lighter, softer type that conformed to Dori’s form. The color was the same as the one she’d gotten for Gabrielle, but the stitching was butter gold instead of blue. “There.”

“Mm.” Dori approved of her new shirt. “Like that. Love you, Boo.”

“Where’s yours?” Gabrielle asked. “Xena, who has spent the last two weeks sick?” She leaned over and gave her partner a kiss “Who I love more than I have words to describe it?”

“Not finished.” Xena’s reply was surprising. “Ready to go to the party?”

“Potty?”  Dori’s ears perked up. “Cookies?”

“More than ready. I’m starving.” Gabrielle announced. “I can smell that roast from here.” She held a hand out to the still seated warrior. “C”mon. If I have to have a birthday party, I might as well enjoy it.”

Xena allowed herself to be pulled upright. She lifted Dori up and put her on her shoulders, then turned, pausing as the setting sun painted them, and the cottage with a rich, golden light. “Gabrielle?”

“Yeees?” The bard produced a reasonable facimile of Xena’s usual answer.

The warrior turned, putting a hand on her partner’s shoulder. “Is there anything you… um.. want, for your birthday?”

Gabrielle’s lips quirked a little, then relaxed into a smile. “You know, no one’s ever asked me that before.” She clasped Dori’s foot in one hand, and let her other settle on Xena’s forearm. “What in the world could I possibly ask for that could beat what I already have?”

The warrior’s eyes twinkled in response with a quiet, understated joy that required no words to go along with it.

“But thank you for the shirt.” The bard added, lightening the moment. “You can get me this kind of stuff any time you want.”  Her eyes lifted to Dori’s form, perched on Xena’s shoulders. “And I know Dori’ll appreciate hers a little more when she gets older.”

Dori looked up from where she was playing with the little bone button on her sleeve, designed to hold it close to her wrist to keep the wind out. “Pitty!” She held it up to show her mother. “Gogo!”

Gabrielle looked closer. The button was, indeed, carved into the shape of a horse’s head.  She lifted her own sleeve and examined it, finding identical carvings there. “You’re right, that is pretty, sweetie.” She slipped her arm around Xena as they started walking.

The sunset lit the path before them, painting the village in brilliant colors. They angled their steps across the great square, returning the greetings of the cooks around the firepit as they neared the big meeting hall.

“Sure is nicer here now.” Gabrielle commented wryly. “Was it just Rufus’ ideas, or do you think Elevown was affecting them, even out here?”

Xena booted a rock ahead of her with a rhythmic motion. “Couple things.” She replied after a few kicks. “Kids were restless, Rufus picked a good time, and maybe a little of what you said.” Her eyes flicked around them out of long habit, but found nothing out of place.

“You know what? I think a lot of them knew who attacked them.” The bard said. “They just didn’t want to admit it because if they did, they’d have to do something about him.”

“Mm.”

“I think they were scared because of what happened to Lestan. That showed those guys were willing to hurt people. The people here… they came back because they didn’t want change, and they didn’t want conflict.”

“Mmhm.”

“I think we really put them on the spot, because the older ones, they know us, and we represent a total contradiction to everything Rufus was saying, but if they started saying that, they put themselves sin danger.”

“Uh huh.”

“You’ve already figured all this out, haven’t you??”

The sunset outlined Xena’s profile, and the smile that appeared across her face. “Yeah, but I like the way you lay it out better. My thoughts went along the lines of ‘they all needed their asses kicked.’”

Gabrielle laughed under her breath, and set her thoughts aside for later as they walked up the steps to the meeting hall, and through the propped open doors.

**

The hall was full. The tables had chairs squeezed in everywhere, and Gabrielle and Xena had to pause a moment before they spotted Jessan, and were waved over to the table near the front where places were being saved for them.

Xena took the seat closest to the wall, and cradled Dori in her lap as Gabrielle sat down next to her, across from Jessan and Wennid.  The room was noisy, and full of the scents of both roasting food and a rich ale. No sooner had they sat down then one of the halls servers appeared with a tray of mugs, offering it to them with a fanged grin.

“Thanks.” Xena took two mugs in one hand and set them down. “Got any cider?” She indicated Dori. “Hasn’t started on the hard stuff yet.”

Dori grabbed for the mug handle, and started tugging it towards her.

“Sure about that, Chosen?” The server laughed, as the warrior deftly saved the mug and swung it out of her daughter’s reach. “Be right back.”

“Boo!” Dori yodeled in outrage, getting up to stand on the warrior’s lap and reaching for the mug again. “Gots!”

“No, no no.” Xena scolded her. “You don’t like this, so siddown, shortie.”

Wennid leaned closer to Gabrielle. “She’s really adorable, Gabrielle. Just so.. um..”

“Active?” Gabrielle reached over and took Dori into her own lap. “C’mere, bandit. Stop terrorizing everyone.” She arranged her daughter on her lap and took a sip of her own ale. “Sorry about the bugs, by the way.”

Wennid chuckled. “How did you know? She told you?”

“She most certainly did.” The bard bounced Dori on her knee. “She loves telling me stories about all the terrible things she does.”

Dori giggled and patted her hands together.

“Like mother like child.” Jessan commented, with a grin. “By the time she grows up, she’ll have such a collection of tales she’ll be able to walk from one end of the world to the other and never repeat em.”

Xena leaned back in her oversized chair and took a sip of her ale, watching as the servers started moving among the overcrowded tables and delivering platters of steaming meat, grains, and bowls of soup with loaves of hot bread. “So, what’s your plan?” She asked Jessan. “Staying here?”

The big forest dweller hesitated, then shook his shaggy head once. “Going to try and convince them to come back with me.” He said, glancing over at his mother’s heavy sigh. “Yeah, I know – uphill battle.” He said apologetically. “But we’ve made a good place in the new valley. Give it a chance.” His eyes shifted back to Xena. “What about you? Gonna keep wandering?”

“No.” The warrior swirled her cup and took another swallow. “Going home.”

Jessan’s attitude perked up. “Want to travel together?”

Xena’s eyebrows arched. “Think we need protection?” She asked.

“No, but we could use some.” He shot right back, deadpan. “It can be dangerous out there, y’know.”

The table erupted in chuckles.  Xena lifted her mug and toasted Jessan. Then her nape hairs lifted, and she slowly put the mug down, stiffening and turning her head to search the room.

Gabrielle caught the motion instantly, and tucked an arm around Dori to keep her still. “What is it?” She uttered, under her breath.

“Unwelcome visitor.” Xena muttered back, just as the center of the hall, the only clear space in it, was filled with a blue fire that resolved itself in an instant into a tall, bearded figure in black leather.

The entire room went silent in shock, as everyone froze.

Ares dusted his hands off and put his fists on his hips, looking around with an expression of wry bemusement. “Thought I heard my name being tossed around this place.”  His pale eyes raked the tables full of forest dwellers. “Well?” He lifted his hands. “Here I am. You gonna bow? Scrape? Roll over and kick your hind legs out? What?”

Slowly, the occupants of the room got out of their chairs and knelt, their golden eyes round and fixed on the god in the center of the hall. After a second, as if by common consent, they all bowed forward and touched their heads to the ground.

“Eh.” Ares waggled his hand, then glanced across the room to the one table still seated. His eyes met Xena’s and a smile shaped his bearded lips. “Hello, beautiful.”

With the tiniest shake of her head, and an even smaller tensing of her lips, Xena lifted her mug and tipped it towards him.  Despite how they’d left each other in Athens, she felt a tiny fragment of her almost glad to see him again.

Ares walked through the crowd, ignoring the bowing forest dwellers completely as he walked to the table and put his boot up on the chair next to Xena, leaning his elbow on his knee and regarding her. “What’s a nice girl like you doing in a kennel like this?”

“Nasty way to greet your worshippers, Ares.” Xena responded mildly. “Be nice.”

The crowd started to straighten uncertainly, heads turning to watch in silence.

“Never.” The god of war grinned unrepentantly. “Not my style. Or yours… hey.” Ares looked down to find Dori tugging at his leather surcoat. “Let go of me, you rugrat.”  He lifted a threatening hand, then jerked as Dori scowled at him and smacked his leg. “Hey!”

“Dori.” Gabrielle pulled her precocious toddler back and secured her. “Stop that.. you’re hurting the poor guy.”

Xena smirked. “What brings you here, Ares? Passing through on your way to Sparta?”

The God of War tugged his surcoat straight again and snapped his fingers. A piece of parchment appeared. “Remember that little.. disagreement.. we had in Athens?” He asked. “You tried so hard to mess me up Xena… just wanted to tell you no hard feelings.”

“Uh huh.” The warrior took the parchment from his fingers. “So what’s the scam this time?” She glanced the words, then looked up at him. “Where’d you get this?”

“Tch tch tch. Xena.” Ares chucked her under the chin. “I’m a god, remember? I tell mortals what to do, they do it. That’s how that works.” His lips quirked as he looked at her. “With a few exceptions.”

The warrior flicked her eyes to the parchment, then slowly, she raised them to his again. “Thanks.”

He smirked. “Call it even for you winning my bet for me.” He reached out again and ruffled her hair, letting his fingers rest still for a bare moment.

Xnea’s eyes blinked.

Gabrielle only just kept herself from pulling the parchment out of Xena’s hands in curiosity, wrapping her arms around Dori to hold her in place and glancing around at the room instead. The forest dwellers were in utter shock, still as statues with their eyes glued to Ares’ tall form.

That he was up to something again – she had no doubt. They would find out eventually what.

Ares turned towards Gabrielle. His pale eyes met hers, and almost twinkled. “I hear it’s your birthday, bl… Gabrielle.”

Xena’s eyebrows shot up.

“That’s right.” The bard answered, one of her own eyebrows lifting at actually being addressed by name.

“You forgot this.” Ares snapped his fingers again, and lowered his hand, which now dripped with golden chains. He dropped the item on the table before Gabrielle and grinned at her reaction. “I know you two are into that noble poverty thing, but you don’t need to get stupid about it.”

“Mama, pitty.” Dori examined the gaudy thing, a handsome linked gold and silver plated necklace with her mother’s earned title from Athens on it.

“Thanks.” Gabrielle murmured. “We sort of left in a rush.”

“All right. Nice stuff’s over. Time to go find some bloodshed.” Ares looked around at the crowd. “Who told you to get up?”

They all bowed hastily back down and touched the floor.

With a slight chuckle, Ares shook his head. Then he regarded Xena with a touch more seriousness. “We need to stop being on opposite sides, Xena.”

The warrior met his gaze squarely. “C’mon over to my side then, Ares. Weather’s great here.”

The god of war snorted, and rolled his eyes. “Xena, Xena, Xena.” He sighed melodramatically.  “Well, I’m outta here.” He stood and lifted a hand to snap, then paused, studying Gabrielle for a moment. “Y’know what?”

“What?” Gabrielle asked, warily.

Ares pointed at her. “You’re growing on me.” He stepped forward, ducking his head and giving her a kiss on the forehead. “Happy Birthday.”  His low voice almost whispered in her ear.

Then in a flash of blue, he was gone, leaving behind the scent of leather and musk.

Gabrielle’s jaw dropped and she stared at her partner in shock.  Xena’s own eyes were rather wider and rounder than usual, and she blinked several times before she cleared her throat and spoke to the still bowing crowd. “You can get up now. He’s gone.”

With a hesitant rustling, the forest dwellers straightened up, looking cautiously around before focusing their gazes on Xena and Gabrielle.

There was a moment of profound silence. Then Tucker sighed audibly. “You really are his Chosen.”

Xena studied the opposite wall briefly, then she nodded. “Yes, I am.” Her eyes met Gabrielle’s, and they looked at each other as the room slowly started to stir, bodies settling back in seats and whispered conversations rising up.

“What.. was that?” Gabrielle leaned closer.

The warrior shrugged and shook her head. “Can I see your necklace?”

“Sure, if I can see the parchment.”

They traded.  Gabrielle read for a minute, then whistled. “Tax remission, and exemption from conscription in perpetuity. Nice.”

“Mm.” Xena admired the golden collar Gabrielle had earned. “Nice.”

Jessan cleared his throat. “I think you just made my convincing job a lot easier.”  He patted Xena’s shoulder. “I’m gonna go calm people down before they start shedding fur all over the room and ruin dinner.”

“Me too.” Wennid got up and joined her son. “Lestan’s going to be so mad he missed it.”

Xena waited for them to leave, then she put her hand on Gabrielle’s wrist. “You all right?”

The bard released a held breath. “Yeah.” She said. “That was just so unexpected.” She reviewed the event. “But sorta nice.”

“Mm.” Xena ran her fingers through her hair, disordered by Ares’ touch. “Yeah. For a change.”

Gabrielle picked up her mug, and held it out. “Well, anyway. Here’s to a peaceful trip home.”

“You’re on.” Xena touched her mug to the bard’s without hesitation. “Here’s to us.”

They linked arms, and leaned towards each other, drinking from the other’s cup and then kissing lightly.

“Gush.” Dori sighed. “Gush, gush gush.”

Xena and Gabrielle looked at her, then chuckled. Gabrielle got up, with Dori in her arms and found herself pulled down into Xena’s lap. The warrior wrapped her arms around both of them and leaned back in the chair, watching the last rays of sun pour through the windows to dust them with crimson warmth.

The day that had seen the completion of a journey far older than theirs was coming to an end. Xena looked into the sunset and found something she had very scant experience of nestling inside her.

Peace. Today, she’d done good.

“Hey, Xe?”  Gabrielle leaned back and rested her head against the warrior’s collarbone. “Let’s talk to Wennid later, okay?”

“Sure.” The warrior agreed. “About what?”

“Children of the spirit.”  The bard said. “Long as you feel up to it, that is.”

“Oh, yeah.” Xena let a soft laugh escape. “I’m up to it.”

“Gush!” Dori kicked her bootie covered feet out. “Gush gush gush!”

**

The End.