The Sound of Silent Fears - Ch 2

They were about a weeks travel away from Amphipolis. Gabrielle decided that they should rest before heading out on their journey. It took some time but, she finally got Xena to understand that they should set up camp for the night and head out in the morning. They sat around the fire and ate the vegetable broth, that they had bought in the last town, for dinner. She even found some berries that Xena liked in the bushes nearby. Gabrielle, then laid out their bedrolls and convinced Xena to get some rest.

The next morning, Gabrielle awoke to find Xena gone. Not that this was unusual. She found Xena drilling with her sword. She had once told her that it was a way she was able to release her inner anger. Gabrielle sat down against a nearby tree and watched. When Xena had finished practicing, she went and sat down next to her.

After Argo was all set to go, they ate a meager breakfast of bread and cheese. Then they set out towards Amphipolis. For most of the day, they traveled in silence. Gabrielle missed telling Xena stories as they traveled.

They sat there in silence, contemplating, for what seemed like a long time. Gabrielle was shook out of her revere by Xena poking her at an attempt to get her attention. When Gabrielle finally looked up, Xena grabbed the scroll that Gabrielle had used earlier and wrote "What’s wrong?". "I guess I just miss talking to you!" Gabrielle wrote with a sigh. At that the tears began to form. Gabrielle made an attempt to turn away. At this, Xena gently put a hand on her arm and looked at her with pleading eyes. When Gabrielle made no attempt at an explanation, Xena nudged her in the shoulder. Gabrielle gave in and wrote, "It’s nothing, I….I just don’t know what we are going to do!" "Don’t worry, we’ll pull through this! We always do!!!", Xena replied with the first smile in quite a while.

Gabrielle didn’t understand. Xena looked fine but, it seemed for the last few days she’d been silent and withdrawn. She could only hope that once they arrived home, Xena’s mood would brighten. Maybe seeing Cyrene again will put the sparkle back into those azure blue eyes.

Gabrielle had devised an idea of using hand signals in place of words. She spent most of the afternoon with Xena making up signs. First they made up a sign for each letter in the alphabet. After a while they had worked out each letter into a sign that they both could remember. Soon though, all Gabrielle seemed to be signing was "Slow down! Or What?" Xena learned quickly and soon was much too fast for her. She looked at Xena and signed "How do you do that?" "I have many skills!", she retorted with a smirk and a snort.

That night, when they stopped to set up camp. They both ate dinner in silence, thinking to themselves. Then Xena turned to face Gabrielle with a look of fear. "What’s wrong?", Gabrielle asked anxiously. "What are we going to tell Mother?", Xena replied. It was clear to Gabrielle that Xena was fearing that her mother wouldn’t be able to understand her. This worried Gabrielle. She told her not to worry and told Xena to get some sleep.

Xena wasn’t sleeping well, if at all. Gabrielle could see the bags under her eyes. That night, Gabrielle was awoken by Xena. She was screaming again. As for the last few nights now, Gabrielle was awoken by her friend screaming and holding her head in pain. She held Xena until the pain would pass and she would fall back asleep. Her wound was looking better and from what Xena had taught her about healing, she hoped the pain was a good sign.

Many nights Gabrielle would secretly find Xena grooming Argo and crying into her mane. Why wouldn’t she talk to me, I could help? "Why did she feel so alone with this? I thought we were past all that, Gabrielle thought with annoyance.

Gabrielle went for a walk around the camp. They should reach home by late night the next day. She was stopped suddenly by Xena, she all of a sudden sat bolt upright. She sensed something. Was it Ares. Xena seemed to be able to sense him whenever he was around. Gabrielle stopped and listened. A short while later she noticed a sound coming from the nearby forest. She signed to Xena that she was going to take a look. Staff ready, she entered the forest. Gabrielle was quickly in a defensive stance ready to fend off the pending attacker. She was about to deliver a blow to her opponent. When she stopped in mid-swing. By the Gods!!! What are you doing here?

"Toris!!!!", Gabrielle shrieked with delight. Xena’s brother quickly turned and engulfed her into a hug. "It is great to see you two again!!!", he exclaimed. "What are you doing sneaking up on us like that, are you suicidal?", Gabrielle playfully slapped him in the shoulder. "I know, I know, I should have learned by now!!!! But, I just couldn’t help myself!!!! I was on my way home from Athens on a supply run. So, I decided to surprise you guys!!!!!", he sheepishly replied. "Well you certainly managed that, Gabrielle replied with a hug.

Then he turned to Xena and immediately grabbed her into a hug as well. Her muscles tensed and she pushed away. Startled, Toris grabbed her shoulders and asked "What’s wrong?" She stared at him for several seconds, then turned and ran out of the clearing. Before her hasty retreat, Toris caught a glimpse of tears in her eyes.

He turned to Gabrielle and asked, "Was it something I said? What happened?", he asked with obvious fear for his sister in his voice. "Come sit down and I’ll explain everything!!!!", she responded with a gloomy look in her eyes. Toris knew he wasn’t going to like this!

After relaying all that had happened to them in the last month, Gabrielle waited for a reaction from him. She received a slight nod and finished the tale of what went on just a few days ago. Gabrielle quickly explained how to sign. Unfortunately Toris was a slow learner. He was more anxious to find his sister than listen. Gabrielle couldn’t blame him. For she was just as anxious and worried for her friend.

Some time later they found her, leaning against an old oak. Gabrielle slowly approached her, careful not to surprise her. When Xena finally looked up, it was obvious that she had been crying. Toris sat down beside his sister and signed "Hi". This brought on a new flood of tears and Toris immediately engulfed her in a hug. He felt Xena’s grip tighten as if she didn’t want to let go.

When they finally did part, Xena looked at her brother and smiled. She signed something to him and Toris, not knowing what she said, turned to Gabrielle. "She asked, what are you doing here?", Gabrielle replied. "I was on my way home from a supply run for the tavern.", he attempted to sign with not much success. Xena looked at him quite bewildered. Gabrielle quickly signed for him, which got a slight nod from the warrior.

"Mother will be so happy to see you Xena!", Toris exclaimed. She stared at him with a look of sheer panic. Toris stood up and motioned to Gabrielle to meet him on the other side of camp to talk. When they were alone he turned to Gabrielle and asked, "Why is she afraid to see Mother?" "I don’t think she’s afraid of her but, is afraid of how to talk to her. I think she fears that Cyrene won’t understand her," Gabrielle exclaimed.

That night, out of the blue, Toris turned to Gabrielle and asked "Has she been sleeping at all? She looks so tired." With a great amount of worry and fear in her voice, Gabrielle shakily replied "She’s worrying herself sick and she doesn’t sleep. I am so afraid for her." "I was hoping that seeing Cyrene again would snap her out of it." Toris placed a reassuring arm around Gabrielle’s shoulder and said, "I hope so too."

Both heads shot up, as an ear-piercing shriek echoed through the camp. Xena was in pain. But, this time, Gabrielle noticed something different. Now that they signed, Xena kept signing over and over, "Ringing…..Hurts!!!!" Gabrielle held on to her until the pain passed and thanked Artemis for her blessing. At least now they had a way to talk.

When Xena awoke the next morning, she found Gabrielle asleep beside her. She rolled over and looked at the bard clutching the blanket still among the realm of Morpheus. When Xena tried to rise, Gabrielle opened her eyes. "Ears still hurt?", she signed. "Not as much", was the hasty reply. As Xena went to do some drills in the nearby clearing.

Gabrielle watched Xena leave, then got up and stirred the remaining embers in the fire pit. When she had got a decent fire going, Xena arrived with breakfast. Two rabbits and some berries. Gabrielle was constantly amazed by her ability to catch them. Even more so now that she cannot hear. She turned and signed "I’ll be back.", and left the camp for the clearing. After Xena had finished drilling with her sword she returned to camp to find that Gabrielle had breakfast all set up. Xena sat down on one of the logs and took the offered portion of food.

She signed "Thank you!" and began eating. Gabrielle turned to Toris and shook him awake.

"It’s about time you got up! You always were lazy in the morning!", Xena signed with a snort.

"Xena! That wasn’t nice!, Gabrielle said. Xena just smiled and started to sharpen her sword.

She just shrugged and signed "Not my fault!" and through the blanket back at him. This started a playful game we now call a pillow fight.

After they all stopped laughing, Gabrielle smiled at the fact that Xena was happier than she had been in days. Maybe being so close to home and having her brother around is helping. Maybe this was exactly what Xena needed. They packed up their gear and continued on to Amphipolis.

As they were traveling, Gabrielle couldn’t help but think that they were being followed again. It had been going on for a while now. She just couldn’t shake it. Toris felt it too and turned to her. It only took one look and they both knew that they had to be ready. Their one and only goal was to protect Xena. They kept up a steady pace, always alert and ready for the fight.

They broke from the trees so fast. Gabrielle and Toris barely had time to react. They came up behind them. Xena began to feel something was wrong, and turned and saw Gabrielle and Toris fighting off about 10 attackers. At this, Xena vaulted off of Argo and joined in.

When Toris noticed Xena had joined the fight, he immediately went to her side. They fought off most of their attackers with ease. Soon they were all either sprawled unconscious or fleeing like Hades himself was after them. Xena turned around and signed to her brother "Thanks for watching my back!". He jokingly replied, "That’s what warriors do!". Knowing being a warrior was not one of his strong points and had become a joke between them.

As they signed, they didn’t notice that one of the attackers had regained consciousness. Before any of them could stop him, he shot an arrow. Because Xena couldn’t hear the arrow, she couldn’t catch it. The arrow ended up embedding itself into Xena’s right leg. She fell to

the ground gripping the wound. Blood flowed everywhere. The pain was so bad that she passed out, hitting her head on a rock with a sickening smack.

Toris and Gabrielle looked at Xena, fear written on both of their faces. Then they looked up into each others eyes, and said in unison; "We have to get her out of here!"

Between the both of them, they were able to carry Xena. They took her into a clearing hidden by trees. There they were able to fashion a litter and attach it to Argo’s saddle. After gently placing the injured warrior onto the litter, they slowly made their way to Amphipolis.

After having to stop several times to tend to Xena, Gabrielle decided that Toris should take Argo and ride ahead. Then, maybe get the healer to ride back with him. Carefully placing the litter onto the ground, Toris took one last look at his sister and prayed that she’d be ok. Then he was off. As he rode away, he watched Gabrielle tending to Xena and was assured that she was in good hands.

Toris rode Argo at a fast gallop. All he thought of was getting home as fast as possible. He had no time to loose. His sister’s life depended on it. He made it into town shortly before dawn. Cyrene was in the kitchen having not been able to sleep. She was drinking a cup of tea when she heard a horse come barreling down the road. She heard it stop in front of the tavern. Thinking it was robbers, Cyrene took one of the sauce pans and crept to the door. As the doorknob turned, Cyrene raised the pan above her head. As Toris entered the inn, he felt a sharp flash of pain and passed out.

After helping her oldest son off the floor, Cyrene apologized and sat him down. "What are you doing here?", Cyrene said surprised. Out of breath and in pain from the bump on his head. He finally was able to clear his thoughts and blurted out, "It’s Xena, she’s hurt. Came to find the healer. No time to lose" Cyrene looked in shock, then quickly bolted for the door screaming for Johan the healer. Johan ran out of his house shouting, "It’s early, what is it?" "Cyrene what’s wrong?" "Oh, thank the Gods, Johan we need your help!! No time to explain. Can you find a horse and meet us at the tavern in about half a candlemark?", Cyrene’s panic rising with every word. He agreed and within a candlemark they were on their way.

Meanwhile back at the clearing, Gabrielle watched over Xena. She was looking very pale and her breathing was rapid and shallow. She had lost so much blood. Fortunately the stitches that Gabrielle had put in were holding but, she didn’t know how to remove the arrow. Blood seeped from around the puncture. Gabrielle knew that if the flow didn’t abate and the healer didn’t arrive soon, Xena wouldn’t have much time left. Gabrielle sat and watched over her friend, holding her hand, talking to her and telling her stories. Hoping that at some level Xena could sense that she was there.

There had been no response from Xena since the nightmare began. Gabrielle was getting more worried by the moment. If the healer didn’t arrive soon, she couldn’t bear to think of losing her friend for the second time.

Gabrielle’s head shot up. Not realizing that she had fallen asleep. She rushed over to where Xena was lying. She was still deep in the realm of Morpheus. Gabrielle was puzzled. She couldn’t figure out what had awoken her. Her heart leapt into her throat, she could here the faint sound of hoof beats getting closer. Gabrielle hoped and prayed that it was the long awaited healer approaching. Just in case, she grabbed her staff and went to take a look.

The first thing Gabrielle saw was the most wonderful sight that she had seen in a long time. Toris was astride Argo and coming up behind him was Cyrene and the village healer. Gabrielle ran back to the campsite and sat down next to Xena. "You hang in there, help is almost here!" she pleaded to the unconscious form. She brushed back Xena’s bangs and held her hand. Gabrielle hoped they’d hurry.

As the group entered the clearing, Toris ran to Gabrielle and engulfed the teary eyed bard to him. That’s when Cyrene spotted Xena. "Oh no, Xena! My little one!", she ran to her daughter and gently stroked her cheek. "Johan come quick!", Cyrene pleaded.

"Well, our first concern is getting the arrow out of her leg!", Johan stated. Cyrene didn’t even realize the extent of her daughter’s injuries. She was in shock. Gabrielle went to Cyrene and hugged her fiercely. Cyrene cried while Gabrielle stroked her back and told her not to worry.

"Xena always pulls through! She’s had worse than this and she pulled through just fine! Don’t worry.", Gabrielle tried to comfort Cyrene.

"I was able to remove the arrow. It should heal nicely. Her fever is still pretty high but, I think it’s helping fight off infection.", Johan said putting a reassuring hand on Cyrene’s shoulder. "That’s all I can do, the rest is up to her."

Cyrene smiled up at him and thanked him for all his help. She went over to Xena and took her hand. "Now you listen to me! Your going to fight this. Your not leaving now that I just got you back. Don’t you dare leave now.", she firmly told the unconscious form. She turned around with a look of shock on her face. Gabrielle looked up with tear stained eyes and said, "What is it Cyrene?" "She squeezed my hand!", Cyrene said in amazement.

Toris went and sat down next to his mother. "She can sense that your there.", he said with tears in his eyes. Cyrene wondered if there wasn’t something Toris was not telling her.

Toris looked at his mother and then looked down at the ground. How am I going to tell her, he thought. Then he summoned up the courage and said, "Mother, there is something we need to tell you! Toris looked at his mother with loss and regret in his voice. Cyrene knew this had to be bad news.

Toris exchanged a look with Gabrielle and she began to tell Cyrene the long tale of how much had happened in the last month. After letting Cyrene take some of this in, Gabrielle said "And that is when we ended up at the temple to Dahak." After the tale unfolded, Cyrene still hadn’t said a word.

Cyrene looked at both of them. Tears rolling down all of their faces. "How did it happen?", Cyrene wanted to know. Gabrielle took a deep breath and finally was able to blurt out, "I think it was from the debris that fell on her when the temple collapsed." Cyrene turned to her daughter and stroked her cheek. Gripping her hand and gently brushing her bangs out of her eyes. Wiping her forehead with a wet cloth. It was going to be a long night, she thought.

Xena awoke later that night, but was only able to swallow a little fever-reducing tea before falling into the first restful sleep in candlemarks. The last thing Xena saw, before entering Morpheus’s realm, was Cyrene’s face sleeping peacefully beside her. She smiled and succumbed to the effects of the tea.

Cyrene awoke to a beautiful sight, Xena was looking at her and tears were rolling down her cheeks. Cyrene ran a loving hand down the side of Xena’s face and smiled. Xena eyed her curiously. Did she know?, she wondered. Xena then looked up to see Gabrielle crossing the camp and sat down beside Cyrene.

"Good Morning, she signed. This received a puzzled glance from the warrior. The look directed at her mother. Xena’s mother knew immediately and signed "I know my little one!, I know." Xena sat up and grabbed her mother in a bone-crushing hug.

Cyrene stroked her daughters head and glanced at Toris as he approached. He sat down and looked at Xena.

"Yeah!", was all Xena could manage through another wave of pain. She attempted to rise but, Cyrene and Gabrielle both immediately pushed her back onto the blanket.

"Are you guys going to use the bushes for me too?", she jokingly replied. Cyrene helped her to stand and after that was taken care of, she insisted that Xena lay back down.

"Get some rest. Give yourself time to heal.", Cyrene told her daughter with no room for argument. Xena knew that it was no use to question her. She laid down and tried to get some rest.

Cyrene went and sat down next to Johan and the four of them enjoyed a quiet moment around the campfire. The silence was broken by Cyrene, engulfed in memories, began to sigh.

"Oh, nothing dear. Just remembering when you and Xena were little.", Cyrene said with a smile. "I can remember the time Xena ran off and we spent half the night looking for her. You insisted that you knew where she was, but we didn’t listen. We finally found her asleep in that big old oak in the meadow. Blood was running down her arm. She had probably fallen and had broken it. Xena was always running away from us when she was hurting. I guess with all that has happened it all came rushing back.", Cyrene looked at Toris with a sad expression on her face. Toris got up and hugged his mother, "She’ll be ok!! You’ll see!"

The rest of the day passed uneventfully. There was only the occasional time when Cyrene would wake up Xena to give her some more tea for the pain. They had decided that it was time to get going. Xena’s wound was healing and her fever was down. Johan had no supplies left and decided it was for the best to get her home. Cyrene wanted to get back to the inn and thought Xena would heal faster in a nice warm bed. Johan made one last examination and decided that she was able to travel. They packed up camp and set out.

While Xena slept fitfully on the litter, Cyrene watched over her and wiped the sweat from her forehead. They were only a few short candlemarks from Amphipolis when Xena was awakened by searing pain in her head. Cyrene, not knowing what was happening, looked on in shock.

"What’s happening?", she implored with intense fear in her voice. Gabrielle went to her friend and held her. All the while, explaining to her distraught mother that it had been happening for the last few weeks. That Xena would complain of a ringing sound accompanied with intense

pain. Johan began to think about this. This was indeed a good sign, he explained to Cyrene. "This means that the wound is healing properly. We should know in a short while the extent of damage to Xena’s hearing. Be it good or bad. It will just take time."

A storm was moving in just as they reached the outskirts of Amphipolis. They rushed to get Argo stabled and Xena settled at the inn. Once they had that accomplished, Cyrene went to work on preparing the evening meal. No-one was particularly hungry, not even Gabrielle. They were all much too worried about Xena to even think abut eating. Cyrene, sensing everybody’s uneasiness, decided to share some memories. She knew she was going to regret it later , but she couldn’t help herself. "Did you know that one of Xena’s greatest fears is thunder?", she said

with a chuckle. Gabrielle sat up and grinned, "So that’s why she’s always so jumpy, and she said it was only nightmares!" Cyrene continued down memory lane and finally stopped when her throat was sore. "I guess I’ll go up and check on Xena. Then go to bed myself", she said with a yawn. After saying good night to everyone, she headed for the stairs.

As she entered Xena’s room, a big clap of thunder hit. Xena was sitting up in bed, her arms around her legs, and softly crying. Cyrene was confused, she could read fear, panic and excitement across her face all at the same time.

"No!", she signed with defeat. Then the thunder hit again. This time much louder than before. Xena shook with fear.

"I think so, but it sounded really quiet! Is the storm almost over?", she asked her Mother.

"No, it sounds like it’s right on top of us! It’s really loud!", Cyrene signed.

Sensing her daughter’s disappointment, Cyrene took hold of her hand and signed, "Hey, its all right. Give it time. Things will turn out! You’ll see!!" She gave her daughter a reassuring pat on the arm and signed, "I’ll be back in a moment!" With a quick kiss on her daughter’s forehead she turned and left the room.

Cyrene stood at the door for a moment trying to collect herself. She was glad Xena hadn’t seen how upset she was. This wasn’t the time to fall apart, she scolded. She wiped her eyes and sniffed a few times. Then ran down the hall and banged on the door leading to the room Johan was using. He groggily answered the door. "What is it, Cyrene?", he asked with a yawn. "Come quick, you have got to see this!", Cyrene exclaimed with excitement.

A few short moments after Cyrene had left the room, Xena experienced another bout of pain. She screamed. Her voice shook the hall, which caused Cyrene and Johan into a run. When they entered the room, they found Xena lying face down on the floor unconscious. From what they could figure, Xena must have tried to get up when the pain hit. For she was sprawled a few feet from the bed. With her leg wound they were surprised that she made it that far. They wondered if it wasn’t her leg that made her pass out from pain.

With Toris’s help they were able to get Xena back onto the bed. Johan probed her stitches around the leg wound and freshly bandaged it. Then set on examining Xena’s head wound. It had become red and puffy. He finally decided to break the stitches again, to allow the wound to drain. A fever was settling in, and Xena wasn’t strong enough to fight it. Johan prayed, but wasn’t very optimistic. Very few people with head injuries to that extent ever regained consciousness. Cyrene fearfully clutched her daughter’s hand and stroked her cheek. Willing her to come back to them.

"Well?" Cyrene peered over the healer’s shoulder at the still form on the bed. Johan looked up and smiled. "I’d do better without you hanging over me!", he said jokingly. Cyrene shook her head, sighed, and stepped back. They all were anxious and worried that Xena’s fall had done some hidden damage that they might be making her wound worse. She hadn’t regained consciousness since they found her.

Toris and Gabrielle waited anxiously downstairs at one of the tavern’s tables drinking cider. As Cyrene came down the stairs, they both jumped.

"How is she doing?", they asked in unison. Both pairs of eyes rimmed red from crying.

"Johan said all we can do is wait and pray", Cyrene forced out over the lump in her throat.

They all sat anxiously awaiting Johan to come back downstairs. From the first sight of the healer, they all knew they weren’t going to like his answer. Johan squared his shoulders, and walked over to them, staring at the floor for a moment before meeting their eyes. "I’ve.. done everything I can. She’s..." He paused. "It’s the head wound...the leg...that’s just some bruising around the stitching, its nothing…" His voice trailed off. "Anyway…all we can do now is wait."

Gabrielle gazed over his shoulder. "Or never." Her green eyes met his in bleak knowledge, and closed at his faint nod. She felt Cyrene’s hand tighten around her shoulder. "Don’t give up on her just yet!", Cyrene squeezed her shoulder tightly, and took a shaky breath. Johan went over to Cyrene, and put a hand on her arm. "I don’t know what level of awareness she has.. try to talk to her.. maybe it will help."

Cyrene sat by Xena’s bed throughout the night. Talking to her and holding her hand. The last thing Cyrene remembered, before she fell asleep, was pleading with Xena to wake up. "I won’t lose you too! You and Toris are the only family I have left! Please don’t give up now!" She cried herself to sleep that night.

When Cyrene awoke, later that night, tears ran down her face as Xena’s eyelids blinked open. She rubbed the back of her finger against Xena’s cheek. "Hey…." Only a lifting of an eyebrow answered her, but it was enough. Cyrene let out a long held breath, and touched her daughter's shoulder, watching the pale eyes track slowly over to her.

"Honey?", she signed. She smiled at the glint of recognition in her daughter's glance. "You're going to be fine.. just take it easy, all right?" Xena noticeably began to relax. When she finally fell asleep, Cyrene quietly left the room.

The pounding headache nudged her from a restless sleep into a renewed sense of awareness, and it was all she could do to bite back a groan. The gray fog that clung to her thoughts had all but dispersed. Her head hurt so much she was afraid to breathe, aware only of the sight of familiar snoring motions of Gabrielle asleep at her side.

Just then, Cyrene poked her head inside the door. Carrying a cup of tea she signed, "Nice to see you awake!! How are you doing?" "Never better!", she signed with a smirk and a raised eyebrow. Cyrene came over to the side of the bed and kissed Xena on the forehead. "Try to get some rest! Here this will help with the pain.", Cyrene handed the cup to Xena. She refused to budge until Xena had drank every last drop. Xena was out as soon as her head hit the pillow. Cyrene was amazed, she had succeeded in placing a sleeping herb into the tea. This, she thought, is exactly what her daughter needed. Johan managed to carry Gabrielle to her room and put her to bed. Cyrene thought she’d be more comfortable in her own bed. Rather than in Xena’s bed, which barely held one let alone both of them.. Otherwise, she would have just left her there.

The next morning, Gabrielle entered the kitchen. "Hi Honey!", Cyrene called from behind the counter. "Are you hungry!", Cyrene didn’t even need an answer. As if on cue, Gabrielle’s stomach growled. She looked up and nodded sheepishly. "Is Xena out?", Gabrielle asked with a yawn. "Well, you could say that! She’s still asleep!", Cyrene said with a grin. "I noticed that she wasn’t sleeping well and thought that was the best!" Gabrielle just stood there with her mouth hanging open. She couldn’t believe she did that. Better yet, she couldn’t believe she got away with that. She decided that she had to go and take a look. Sure enough, Xena lay sound asleep under an old quilt. Her color was looking much better and Johan came in earlier to check on Xena’s bandages. After applying new ones around her leg wound, he announced that she should be up and about in a few days.

Sure enough, after a few days had passed, Xena was hobbling around the inn. She was becoming more frustrated by the day. Her hearing was returning bit by bit. Loud sounds could be heard, but only at a very low pitch. If someone screamed, to Xena it came as a very low whisper. Johan had said it would take time, but Xena was not known for her patience. Time and again Gabrielle would find her crying and hugging Argo’s mane. Gabrielle had finally had enough. She entered the clearing, knowing Xena would be there, and confronted her. She grabbed Xena by the arm, not bothering to warn her of her presence and anger written all over her face.

Xena stared at her friend, remorse and fear evident on her face. "I’m Sorry!", she signed with tears in her eyes.

As she began to turn away, Gabrielle grabbed her arm again. "Oh, No you don’t! I am not letting you run from this anymore!", now Gabrielle was crying as she signed. Xena collapsed to the ground in a sobbing heap. Gabrielle was quick to hug Xena to her and would only let go when she knew Xena was ready.

When Xena finally looked up, her eyes rimmed red from tears. "I know your scared, but we will work through this! Remember what I told you? Where you go, I go!! I’m going to help you through this, no matter what happens!!!", Gabrielle signed. She then brought her hand up and carefully wiped the remaining tears off Xena’s face. "Feel a little better?" This received a slight nod from the warrior and they headed back towards the inn.

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