The Sound of Silent Fears
Chapter 1
by Christie D.

Standard Disclaimers apply to this story.

This is my version of the ending of the episode "The Sacrifice". In it, Gabrielle didn’t fall to her death in the lava. She manages to catch a ledge and pulls herself out. Other than that it turns out the same.

Any questions please e-mail me at: Warrior_Goddess@hotmail.com

Chapter 1

As Gabrielle and Xena turn to leave the temple, the pit of fire explodes from the pressure of the cover. Everything is enveloped into darkness.

Gabrielle awoke and found herself pinned under a beam that had fallen from the ceiling. Using her staff, she manages to move the beam. The only other sound to be heard is the crackling of settling debris. After experimentally checking for injuries, she was relieved to find none. Her only concern now was finding Xena.

She desperately looked for her friend, digging through the rubble. The last time she saw her was just before the explosion. Xena was standing right in front of the alter to Dahak.

Gabrielle ran to where she last saw her friend. That is when she saw something glittering off the sun’s rays, as it shone through the temple roof. She dug around it. "The chakram!!" she exclaimed in horror. "Xena hang on, please hang on!!!" she began to scream.

To Gabrielle it felt like a whole moon had gone by. Finally she managed to move all the rubble from around her friend. At the first sight of Xena, Gabrielle reeled back in shock. Xena was covered in blood. She was relieved to find that her friend was still breathing. Instead of checking for injury, Gabrielle decided that the best thing for Xena was to get her out of there.

It took some time but, Gabrielle managed to drag Xena out of the temple. As soon as they were far enough away and not in any further danger. Gabrielle decided to start a fire and set up camp. After she had got a decent fire going, she immediately went to assess Xena’s injuries. After all the blood was washed off, she went about sewing up the many cuts and abrasions that marked the warrior’s body. Other than a few bruises and cuts, the thing that had Gabrielle worried was that Xena would not wake up.

After what seemed like an eternity, Gabrielle still could not reach Xena. It had been several candlemarks after the explosion. Gabrielle was getting more frantic by the moment.

When Xena did finally begin to stir, Gabrielle felt like her heart was in her throat. She ran over to Xena and took hold of her hand. "Xena, come on wake up! Gabrielle gripped her hand tighter. Slowly Xena’s eyes began to open. Gabrielle sighed with relief, tears rolling down her face. "How do you feel?" she asked. She received no reply. Xena seemed just to stare at her not comprehending what she was saying. A single tear rolled down her bronzed cheek. As she slowly fell into unconsciousness once again.

At that moment was when Gabrielle noticed dried blood on the left side of her face. It seemed to be coming from the inside of Xena’s ear. Gabrielle looked, shock evident on her face, fear clouded her thoughts. Could Xena hear her? This thought kept racing in Gabrielle’s mind like a speeding chariot. The tears began to flow again. Gabrielle took Xena into her arms. As she watched over her friend, she prayed to the gods that everything would be all right.

Some time later, Gabrielle had fallen asleep. She was shocked awake by Xena thrashing and screaming. Not really awake, Gabrielle bolted to her feet battle ready looking for attackers. Xena was holding her head and Gabrielle could see that her friend was indeed in great pain.

After what seemed like quite a while, Gabrielle could not reach Xena. Gabrielle was relieved when her friend finally succumbed to the gates of Morpheus once again. When Xena awoke about half a candlemark later, she turned to see Gabrielle’s eyes watching her. She stared at Gabrielle for what seemed like a long time. Gabrielle rose and sat down next to her friend. She picked up one of her scrolls and wrote on it. Then she handed it to Xena. Xena got the hint and began to read. Her reaction was all Gabrielle needed to know. The scroll simply said: "Can you hear me?"

Xena looked up, with tears in her eyes, and shook her head no. Gabrielle immediately hugged Xena to her as she cried. Rubbing her back and whispering soothing gestures. Telling more to herself that everything would be all right.

When Xena finally began to quiet down, she took the scroll, that Gabrielle had used, and wrote "home".