Disclaimers:
This story is categorized as fan fiction. The characters of Xena,
Gabrielle, et al, which have appeared in the series Xena: Warrior
Princess, belong to the producers, writers and executives of
Renaissance Pictures and MCA/Universal Television. I claim only to have
borrowed them, without intent to profit or infringe these rights, for
the purpose of creating this story for enjoyment of
the series' fans, of which I count myself one of many.
Additionally, the story below contains references, explicit and
implied, of a sexual relationship between two consenting adults of the
same sex. If you are not of legal age to read this story,
or such material is illegal where you live, or you do not feel
comfortable with such content, please refrain from reading this story.
Timeline Notes: After the episode "A Comedy of Eros"
CHAPTER THREE
Riding that day had never seemed so interminably long to Xena.
Gabrielle was up behind her on Argo's back. The bard had her arms
wrapped tightly around Xena's waist, and her thighs pressed
against the warrior's. The contact was electric, playing havoc
with her concentration. She wondered if Gabrielle felt the same
unusual sensations.
Gabrielle grinned, pressing her face into Xena's back and hiding
a smile at the warrior's sharp intake of breath. Xena had been
squirming all day. Now, as it neared evening, Gabrielle was
beginning to have hope. She took a deep breath inhaling the
warrior's scent, a combination of oiled leather and musk.
"I think we should stop and make camp," Xena finally said.
"Unless you want to ride all night."
Gabrielle nodded. Xena turned Argo down a deer path off the
mountain road. The two women found a clearing. The mountain river
tumbled down a short incline making a waterfall about twice as
tall Xena.
Gabrielle wasn't all that uncomfortable from her ride aboard
Argo, but it was apparent Xena had been. The warrior practically
jumped off the mare's back and was pulling off the saddle before
Gabrielle had completely dismounted. Xena dropped the saddle and
strode around the clearing collecting sticks.
Gabrielle removed Argo's bridle and patted the mare, releasing
her toward the river's edge. She turned to watch Xena assembling
their firepit. Intent on her task only, the warrior quickly
struck flint and fanned the new fire.
As the flames grew quickly, Gabrielle knew it wouldn't take long
for the fire to burn down low enough for cooking. She suggested
Xena go for a swim while she tended the fire.
"Are you sure?" asked Xena, wondering why when she desperately
needed space, she was even arguing.
"Positive. It'll be a while before the fire's ready. You might
have time to practice your forms before washing up under the
falls. You won't have to wake up early tomorrow just to
practice."
Xena looked at the waterfall and spotted the outcropping of rock
just above the whitewater. She said, "I'm going to the top of the
falls. Yell if you need anything."
Don't worry, Gabrielle thought, I will. She turned back to the
fire as Xena walked off. She unpacked their saddlebags and laid
out the blankets on one side of the fire. On the other side, she
rolled a small log close as a seat.
When she straightened, she looked up to the top of the falls to
watch the rest of Xena's practice. The warrior fought an
imaginary enemy as she stood with her back to the river below.
Xena stepped back and Gabrielle thought she might step off the
rock ledge.
Suddenly the battle cry of the Warrior Princess pierced the
stillness of the evening's silence. It made Gabrielle jump to her
feet. Xena leapt straight up, executed a tuck and twist and
landed facing her point of take off. The sword followed and Xena
ended the pattern with her arms fully extended, sword blade level
at shoulder height. Gabrielle shivered; Xena had just sliced
through the throat of her "opponent."
Gabrielle sat down, keeping one eye on the fire as she broke
apart raw vegetables for a pot of soup. She kept the other eye on
Xena, as always entranced by the woman's supple movements as she
made putting her body and weapons through their paces seem
effortless. The sunset burnished the warrior's glistening skin in
hues of gold and orange. The bard quaffed some of the soup to wet
her throat, which was suddenly dry.
Gabrielle put the pot to the side of the fire, to let it simmer.
Then she got to her feet and walked to the river's edge. Wetting
her hands, she wiped her face and throat. She filled the water
skins and then looked back up at Xena. The warrior must have
decided she was through exercising. Xena leapt straight into the
air again, this time over the falls. She rolled head over heels
once and landed feet first in the thigh deep water just beyond
the falls' foaming rush. She walked to within a length of
Gabrielle.
Up close, Gabrielle could see the pulse pounding against Xena's
throat, could see the droplets of perspiration in relief against
her brow. "Dinner's almost ready, "Gabrielle said.
"I'll wash up," replied Xena.
Gabrielle returned to their fire while Xena tossed her weapons,
armor and leathers to the shore. Nude, she walked into the
pounding waterfall.
Xena shivered at the chill of the water and rubbed at her face
with both hands. What is wrong with me, Xena asked herself. She
rubbed her arms and legs briskly, letting the water pound against
her back and stomach. The sensation didn't alter the pounding of
her heart or the pulsing of her stomach muscles. It was as if she
was expecting sex tonight. But there wasn't any relief within
days in any direction.
Xena stepped completely behind the waterfall, letting the sound
of the crashing water fill her ears as she settled on a narrow
ledge. She closed her eyes. Trying to meditate was not helping.
Snapping open her eyes, she decided she needed relief. Now.
She listened for the sound of Gabrielle's voice on the other side
of the waterfall. The bard was apparently practicing one of her
stories. Xena began to rub her hands over her body down across
taut muscles and soft breasts to the center of her aching need.
Xena closed her eyes again.
In her mind, her hands became Marcus' hands, bringing relief as
they plunged repeatedly to her depths. His voice urged her to her
release. As the waves washed over her, weakening her knees, a new
face surfaced in Xena's mind, new hands touched her. She imagined
a new voice whispering...Gabrielle?
Xena's eyes shot open and she sat up quickly, slipping off the
ledge and falling into the water. She looked around and sighed
with relief. She stepped through the veil of the waterfall and
walked toward Gabrielle seated at their fire, spooning soup into
a bowl.
"I was just about to call you," commented Gabrielle as she put
down the bowl and tossed Xena a towel. "Soup's ready."
Xena wrapped the towel about herself and sat down on her
blankets. As she tucked the last corner, she noticed the red
flush covering her shoulders and the swell of her breasts. Heat
suffused her face, no doubt coloring her cheeks with the memory.
It was too much to hope, Xena knew, as she looked up to take the
bowl of soup, that Gabrielle wouldn't notice.
"Never knew a waterfall to be hot," the bard said, as she pressed
the bowl into Xena's hands.
"Hmm," responded the warrior as she quickly swallowed some soup.
The flush didn't dissipate as Xena felt Gabrielle's eyes remain
on her.
Then Gabrielle touched her shoulder experimentally. Xena's
muscles went rigid, preventing a jump that would have embarrassed
both her and Gabrielle. She looked up to find Gabrielle looking
down, her green eyes filled with concern. "Maybe you ought to
wear a tunic under your armor for a few days. Looks like a touch
of sunburn."
Xena set aside her bowl and grabbed Gabrielle's hands. "Thanks,
but I'm fine, Gabrielle."
Gabrielle nodded, pulling her hands from Xena's and settled back
down on the log again. She watched the warrior pick up her soup
and resume eating.
The bard couldn't help the smile that welled up from somewhere in
her middle to cover her whole face. She was now glad she had put
their blankets side by side. Maybe tonight she could snuggle up
to the warrior. Her strategy on Argo's back had obviously put
Xena in a mood. A little more enticement might tip the scales.
Gabrielle knew, from Eponin, that some women liked the company of
other women sexually. Gabrielle herself hadn't really thought
about the issue until she had acknowledged a feeling of jealousy
when watching Xena and Ulysses. She realized then, reinforced by
the memory of loss when Xena died, that she didn't ever want to
be separated from the warrior.
She hadn't considered a sexual aspect to her love for Xena until
the warrior's hugs aboard Cecrops' cursed ship. The revelation of
needing to touch and be touched by Xena had been unsettling. But
since seeing Xena with Draco, Gabrielle was determined to try and
find out if Xena could feel the same for her.
If the flush, which was now beginning to fade on Xena's skin, was
any indication, Xena had been under that waterfall thinking some
very hot thoughts about someone. Gabrielle wondered if any of
those thoughts had involved her.
Xena finished her soup and passed the bowl back to Gabrielle.
"Thanks."
"Here's a shift." Gabrielle fished one out of her bag. "It'll be
softer against any sunburn than your leathers," explained
Gabrielle, almost daring Xena to argue. She tossed the thin
woolen sleeveless top at the warrior. Xena held it up to her
body. The bard silently noted it would barely cover Xena's
thighs.
Xena nodded and went down to the river to fetch her leathers and
armor. In the privacy she put on the shift and got herself under
control. Gabrielle is just being nice, she scolded herself.
"You've been without for a quite a while, Xena," she told
herself. And knew she was attempting to lie to herself.
It wasn't that Xena hadn't been sexually gratified for a while.
Xena had become attracted to Gabrielle. The younger woman's
softness and innocence were like a fountain of youth. She was
strong in a way Xena didn't believe she herself ever would be,
because Gabrielle had a peace of the spirit.
Xena wanted the secret to that peace. Xena snorted, smoothing the
shift over her hips. Who was she kidding? She wanted Gabrielle.
Xena didn't know the first thing about seducing a woman. She'd
seduced plenty of men. She'd been around a lot of women: The
Amazons, M'Lila. But she'd never been with any of them. Few she'd
even considered friend, much less considered sleeping with.
Then as she sat at the water's edge, reluctant to return to the
blankets at the fire, she thought about Gabrielle. Would
Gabrielle even want this? She's been kind to me in ways no one
else ever has. But was that just Gabrielle's way? Or was it more?
Her head spinning, Xena rose and returned to the the fire,
finding Gabrielle already laid out on her blankets. The bard's
arm pillowed her head as she studied the stars. She wore a shift
as well. She stood for a moment, just looking at her friend's
lithe body. Her legs to mid-thigh were bare, and the muscles
shaping them were lean and firm. Xena shook her head and laid
down next to Gabrielle and turned onto her back to gaze up at the
same sky.
"Want another story tonight, Xena?" asked Gabrielle keeping her
eyes on the sky.
"No, I don't want to dream about any gods tonight," Xena replied.
That, it would turn out, was a mistake.
As she slept, Xena was treated to a mental parade of the various
loves of her own life: Borias, Petracles, Caesar, each bringing
her to ecstasy then abandoning her at the pinnacle of their
relationship. She dreamt of Hercules. The passion had been real,
but the feelings didn't run to love. She dreamt of Ulysses. His
was almost a puppy love, so sweet and tame, filled with soft
looks and gentle caresses.
Marcus lived again in her dreams. He gave her passion and
compassion. He spoke to her of love, loyalty and shared loss. He
took her to passion's heights and clung to her as they both
toppled the precipice. His hands gentled the pounding pulses of
her body, and stroked her face, her hair, her breasts.
Marcus' hands became softer, more tentative, stroking her brow,
her cheek. His voice became a throaty whisper, breathing words of
love in her ear. His breath blew across her neck and a hand
stroked her belly.
It wasn't Marcus' hands. Xena's eyes snapped open and she found
herself wrapped in Gabrielle's sleeping embrace. The bard's hands
rested on Xena's stomach, her even breathing tickled the
warrior's neck and her body pressed to Xena's back. It was like
the ride aboard Argo only they were lying down.
Xena rolled onto her back and lifted the bard's arm so she could
slide free. The movement awakened Gabrielle. "Sh, go back to
sleep," the bard murmured, and inexplicably to Xena, grasped the
warrior more tightly around the middle and closed her eyes
returning to sleep.
Now afraid of offending her friend, Xena did not continue her
attempts to move from Gabrielle's grasp. The warrior stifled a
groan and closed her own eyes, attempting to return to sleep.
Gabrielle awakened a little before dawn. The warrior had finally
succumbed to sleep and Gabrielle accounted herself a victory as
she removed herself from Xena.
She had to hold the warrior's head carefully as she slid her arm
free. Xena had curled in ever so slightly and her ebony head had
found its way to the crook of Gabrielle's shoulder. Xena would
definitely not appreciate waking up and discovering in her sleep
she'd succumbed to such a soft moment.
As she sat up looking down at the warrior's sleeping face,
Gabrielle realized how much of her energy she spent protecting
Xena from her own soft side. At first it seemed best to do it --
Xena became vulnerable when her softer emotions surfaced at the
wrong time. Gabrielle had, without even thinking about it, taken
on the task of showing those emotions for the both of them. She
would cradle an injured child when she saw from the warrior's
clenching and unclenching fists that Xena wanted to --
desperately.
But as evidenced by their pillow talk the other night, maybe this
'surrogacy' of emotions could be dropped. Xena was beginning to
handle expressing herself with more equanimity.
"Are you going to keep staring at me?"
Gabrielle laughed and buffeted the warrior's shoulder. "How do
you do that? Eyes closed even," she remarked as Xena opened her
sky blue eyes with a slow smile.
Xena sat up. The two women rose to their feet in tandem.
Gabrielle shook out their blankets, doused the fire and brought
the rolled blankets and saddlebags to Xena, who was securing
Argo's tack. The warrior took the supplies and lashed them to the
back of the saddle. The two women dressed separately and returned
to Argo.
"You never answered my question," Gabrielle said as she
straightened her skirt.
"What question was that, Gabrielle?" Xena swung onto Argo's back
and reached down to help Gabrielle up behind her.
Once she was settled, Gabrielle reminded the warrior. "I asked,
'How do you do that?' I mean of course your ability to see me do
something or someone else do something without actually seeing
them."
Xena laughed. Her voice was light when she answered, "I can't let
you in on all my secrets." Gabrielle poked at the warrior's ribs.
It didn't hurt but Xena grunted obligingly. "It's something I
picked up. It's like melting into your surroundings, letting the
air or sounds flow around you as if you were a leafy tree. Any
changes are instantly picked up."
"But I was just looking at you."
"Your breathing hitched and from the angle I knew you were
sitting above me. I guessed that you were watching me."
"You do this all the time?"
"Well there are times when I don't focus enough, or I'm not calm
enough. Then the skill just vanishes."
"Is that why you sometimes just tell me to stay out of a
situation? So you can concentrate?" Gabrielle squeezed Xena's
waist. "I'm getting pretty good at defending myself. You don't
need to break your concentration for me."
Xena shook her head. "It stopped being a simple matter of looking
out for you, Gabrielle."
Gabrielle put a hand up on Xena's arm, below the armor. "What is
it now?"
Xena turned her head and laid a quick kiss on the back of
Gabrielle's hand. "Just your presence breaks my concentration."
As if to prove her mistress' words, Argo stepped in a rough
section of road without warning and both women almost lost their
balance.
Xena regained it first and with a quick hand kept Gabrielle
pinned to the saddle as well. Gabrielle grabbed Xena's hand
reflexively taking a deep breath. "I see what you mean." Xena
smiled over her shoulder. Gabrielle pushed at Xena's cheek
forcing the warrior to look ahead. "Eyes forward, please."
Both women laughed.
The trip went easy as the path crested in the mountains and the
two women began their descent into eastern Greece just after
midday. Xena saw signs that a band of raiders had recently been
through. Even Gabrielle noticed the most obvious. Both women
dismounted as they approached a burned out grain store. No random
brush fire would be preceded by a long trail of boot prints
scuffling in the dirt. A battle had gone on here very recently.
"What should we do, Xena?" asked Gabrielle.
"Let's find the villagers first. Make sure everyone's all right."
Xena mounted up.
"Then you'll track the raiders."
Xena smiled, the calculating battle grin. "You read my mind,
Gabrielle."
"Better wipe that grin off your face before we meet any
villagers," commented the bard.
"Scary?" Xena wiped the grin off her face and replaced it with a
bland expression that coaxed a laugh from the bard.
"A normal smile will do, Miss Warrior Princess. You look like you
swallowed a frog." She reached up for a hand into the saddle.
As Xena pulled her up, Gabrielle was treated to a flashing of the
warrior's 'normal' smile. The sight took the bard's breath away.
Amused by the reaction, Xena said, "Satisfied?"
Gabrielle swallowed. "Very," she finally managed.
The two trotted off on Argo down a widened path that Xena figured
led to the village.
Chapter 4