The early morning dew glistened off the surrounding foliage. Small animals scampered away,
busy about their own tasks. A light wind set about it’s business of dusting away the last
of the fog that the sun had burned off the surface of the nearby lake. The piercing cry of
a hawk broke the silence and echoed off the mountains, putting fear in the hearts of many of
the small creatures. There were those to witness all this, completing some ancient circle of
nature, part of the cycle, but for now, content to just embrace the moment.

Three figures stood out on a prominent peak, overlooking the serenity. Two of the figures felt
the pull of peace tugging at the hem of their clothing, only to realise, it was fleeting. The
third stood quietly by, munching on the sparse tufts of grass poking through the rocky ground.
Cloaked against the early morning chill, the two figures were lost in their own thoughts.
If any were to have been there, on that peak, at that moment, and seen their faces, one would
be left with a feeling of incompleteness.

Their faces bore a sorrow, their souls having been witness to too much pain. Yet, through
this, one might still be able to tell that the two shared a deep bond. A bond of love,
friendship, and of the willingness each had to lay down their life for the other. This
bond had indeed been tested over recent times. Each carried scars that would never heal. True,
time would smooth over most of the intensity, but the damage was permanent. Somehow,
inconceivably, the two had indeed managed to overcome the damage, to repair it, to make
their bond stronger than before.

Myths in the making, yet, at the time, both would humbly deny such an outlandish thought.
The dark and the light, together in a desperate fight for the greater good. Together,
they were an invincible team. Apart, they would wither and fade.

The shorter of the two figures reached up with a well muscled arm and pulled back the
hood of the cloak to let it fall back on her shoulders. The sun, which was filling
the small valley, almost seemed to brighten with this movement. It was as if, the
sun, perched in the heavens, was thankful for being able to shine on this small wonder.
Sunbeams bounced off her reddish blonde hair and lit up her green eyes, happy to have
found such a playground. They tickled her nose, and she sneezed in response, a small
smile lighting up her face. She turned to look at her companion.

Dark to her light, her friend was a study in most that was opposite to her. Years ago
she had given up trying to figure out why the two complemented eachother so well.
She only knew that it was so.

A well toned hand, callused from sword work, pulled back the hood to the cloak and
she breathed in the sights before her. Long black hair framed a face that had a look
of longing on it. Wishing she could be this peaceful more often, yet knowing in her
heart that it could only be a fleeting feeling.

Her blue eyes scanned the area. Always alert, always making sure they were safe...
that *she* was safe. The dark warrior knew deep down, that whatever the cause,
whatever the greater good, her companion would always come first.

“Xena.” Softly spoken, almost not.

“Yes, Gabrielle?” Just as softly answered.

“Are we the first to ever see this place?” The wonder in her voice was evident, and
her warrior knew that the bard was already writing reams of scrolls in her head to
record the wonder before them.

“More than likely? Would you like to stay here a while?”

“A while? As in a couple of days?”

“Sure, we haven’t had a vacation in a while, and although it’s not a big city,
with an inn and shopping, I thought you would like it.”

“Oh, I do.” Gabrielle would gladly give up the comforts of an inn any night if
it meant waking up to a view like this every morning.

“Good. There’s a small stream nearby that feeds into the lake down
below, and a small cave in case it starts to rain. We can store our gear in there
and sleep in the entrance.”

The two set to their chores, each comfortable in the silence that followed.

They had spent the day setting up camp, tending to small personal things that had
needed seeing to, and then relaxed in quiet solitude while dinner cooked. The
stew was bubbling away merrily, with Gabrielle looking up every now and then from
her writing to make sure it didn’t burn. She internally cringed a small bit,
remembering how many long weeks it took, just to be able to even look at rabbit stew
again. Her need for nourishment eventually overrode her feelings of unease.

Xena glanced up from honing her sword and gave her companion a gentle nudge with her
elbow. “Dinar for your thoughts?”

“Rabid rabbit.”

“Oh.” With careful concentration, Xena managed to hide a smirk. She still didn’t
quite fully believe that her companion had been so savagely attacked by a small
furry rabbit, but it was obvious that, whatever *did* happen, had put the normally
bottomless pit of a bard off her food for several weeks. That, in itself, was
cause enough for the warrior to know that her bard was troubled, so she had carefully
avoided the topic.

The bard had gone back to her writing, glad that Xena had decided not to pursue the
topic. She still felt the creeping itches when she thought of that day. With an almost
knee jerk reaction to that thought, she lifted up a hand, and under the pretense of pushing
a lock of hair behind her ear, scratched an imaginary itch.

This movement was not lost on the ever alert warrior. She tenderly reached up and pushed
Gabrielle’s bangs out of her eyes. As Gabrielle turned and looked into Xena’s eyes, she
saw a flash of sorrow in her companions eyes. Just as quickly as she noticed it, however,
it was gone. “Dinar for *your* thoughts?” she asked, leaning in a bit to relish in the
touch of her warriors fingers on her brow.

Knowing that they were both thinking of the same day, Xena wasn’t sure how to respond.
‘How do I tell her, that, yet again, I placed her in a situation that she wouldn’t have
needed to be in if it hadn’t been for me?’ After a long silence, she ended up simply
shrugging.

“It’s not your fault, you know...”

Xena blinked in surprise...how did she *do* that?

Gabrielle gave a small smirk at Xena’s look of surprise, and in her best imitation
of her partner, replied, “I have many skills.” Totally deadpan. She loved teasing
the warrior like this sometimes, and besides, while it was one of their more disgusting
adventures, it was basically harmless. Everything had worked out for the best in the end.

Xena brought her hand down to rest on the log they were sitting on. Pulling away from the
contact was almost unbearable. There had been many days of forcefully willing herself to
let Gabrielle out of her sight, and even then it wasn’t for long. Xena was reluctant to
admit that she craved the touch of the bards’ skin, that she practically cheered when it
was time to sleep, so she could hold the bard close. This was a new sensation for Xena.
She had let the bard so deep within, that she was worried that she might do something to
damage the bond they had fought so hard to keep.

More painful memories arose, and Gabrielle saw it all on Xena’s face. The warriors
sword dipped, no longer the focus of her attentions, and she placed it carefully back in
it’s sheath. Now having nothing to occupy her hands, she began to fidget. Her partner
saw all this, and felt a pang in her heart. She hated to see the other woman lose herself
to those awful memories. This was all part of their healing process.

And she regretted none of it, it was enough to be alive, to have Xena by her side, just
to be together. It is one thing to have regrets, recognize them, and move on.It is
entirely another matter to constantly live with the regrets fresh in ones mind. Doing
so means living in the past, and the past cannot be changed. Only the future is yet unmade,
and Gabrielle knew with a certainty that her future lay with Xena.

She reached over and lightly ran her fingers along the warriors’ temple, softly running
her fingers through the dark hair, down to the nape of her neck where she began to softly
knead the knot forming there. “You know I’m always here to lend an ear.”

Xena rested her elbows on her knees, clasping her hands in front of her. Her head hung
low, but the bard could see a single tear gently fall to the ground at the strong
warriors’ feet. With her other hand, she placed her palm on the cheek of her companion,
slowly turning her face to meet her gaze. Brushing away the lone tear track with her thumb,
she brought her other hand around to cup the warriors face.

As she gazed deeply into the sapphire depths of the woman she loved with all her heart,
she didn’t know how to adequately respond to this sudden show of intense emotions.
“Why do you cry?” she whispered softly. She felt she had a pretty good idea why, but
she knew if the woman didn’t vocalize, she would bury everything inside, and they were
far past the time when they had to hide things from each other.

“I...I...don’t want to lose you.”

A sad smile appeared on Gabrielle’s face. Such a small statement, but one so hard for
her warrior to say. She knew Xena wouldn’t want to hear platitudes, or some tired old
cliché. She had no way of knowing if any verbal reassurances would work this time, as
they had done in the past. Gabrielle couldn’t count all the times she had let Xena
know, both verbally and through small thoughtful actions, that she was here to stay.
Although the warrior had let her into a special private space inside her, the bard knew
that years of rejection and hatred were what caused the insecurity.

As the bard sat silently looking into Xenas’ eyes, Xena began to panic slightly. Had
she finally pushed her friend too far? Was she being too clingy, not allowing the bard
her space? She knew her overprotectiveness had, in the past, annoyed the young woman.
Would she see this admission of fear of losing her to be just another way to smother
the woman? All these thoughts ran through her head as the small blonde still held
Xenas’ head captured softly in her hands. Then, as suddenly as the thoughts had run
through her mind, all thoughts came to a sudden halt, as Gabrielles’ fingers gently
caressed the warriors angular face.

Gabrielle was at a loss. She didn’t know the right words to say, the words that would
make everything alright. Here she was, a bard, with no words. The thought struck her
as ironic, yet somehow fitting. How long would words get her out of allowing her true
feelings to show? She had known for some time now, that her words were just allowing
her to mentally run in circles, excuses for lack of action. She ended up doing that
which had originally been farthest from her mind.

With very little thought about the possible consequences of her next action, Gabrielle
looked deeply into the eyes of the one person in the world who completed her. Without
whom, she would surely perish. Ever so slowly, she leaned in, gently tilting Xenas’
face up to meet her own, and placed a hesitant kiss on the other womans lips.

Xena was a bit startled, but in a good way. She wasn’t quite sure if it had been a
kiss of friendship or not. In the space of a heartbeat she was kissed again, with
more intensity, and any thoughts that this was a kiss of friendship rapidly faded.
Confusion roared through her mind, quickly replaced with an overpowering need to
place her hands on the other woman. She shifted her position and placed her hands
to mirror Gabrielle’s.

At the touch, and the response of Xena kissing her back, Gabrielle knew that this
was what she had been yearning for. She heard a mental lock slide into place as
the final part of the bond she shared with this woman clicked into place. She knew
Xena felt something similar as their kiss deepened, their hands exploring each
others face as if to memorize by touch alone. Each was reluctant to break the
kiss, and when they finally managed to separate, it felt as though a jolt of
thunder ran through both of them. They each held a look of wonderment on their faces.

“I never knew...”

“I never knew...”

The both gave an easy laugh. They had been saying and thinking the same things for so
long, it was a wonder they each hadn’t figured out this aspect of their relationship a
long time ago.

“Please tell me, why were you crying?”

The proud warrior, the woman who could bring nations to their collective knees, brave
monsters and face down demons, looked at the woman beside her at a total loss. How
could she explain? ‘Well, I’m gonna have to try, at least...’ She took a deep breath,
and felt the words tumble from her lips...

“It was this, what we just shared. I was worried that you wouldn’t feel the same way,
and would want to leave. Be it by death or by choice, Gabrielle, I can’t live without
you. You...are...the rest of me.”

It was Gabrielle’s turn to let a tear wend it’s way down her face. The warrior gently
wiped it away, letting her hand linger a moment before taking both of the bards hands
in her own. “Xena. By the Gods! I was so worried that *I* had overstepped the bounds
of our friendship, but it felt so RIGHT...nothing has ever felt so right. I can’t
imagine life without you by my side.”

Xena pulled the smaller woman into a tight embrace. She felt relief, joy, and such
happiness that she felt she truly didn’t deserve the woman she was holding in her arms.
“Gabrielle...”

“Hmmm?”

“I need you to do something for me.”

“Anything, Xena.”

“You said before that you would lend me an ear?”

“Of course, anytime.”

“Good.” She softly began nibbling on the bards’ ear, her warm breath stirring
a passion deep within the young woman. Gently she lowered her lover down to
their bed rolls. Their night of exploration, and their new life just beginning.

“Hmmm...maybe I should offer to lend an ear more often.”

The End

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