Gabrielle is lying on her bedroll very much awake. It has been 2 weeks since Xena left her side forever. She has neither ate, drank, nor slept since that day and it’s beginning to take its toll on her body. Sleep is impossible for her. Every time she closes her eyes she can see Xena. The few times she’s managed to get sleep, she is plagued with dreams of Xena’s death. Always the same dream. It goes back to the day she first met Xena and then on to flashes of their times together. In the dream, Xena keeps telling her how she loves her and will never leave her side. It goes on to show the times they fought with each other and the times they died. All through the dream, she can hear Xena telling her she’ll never leave her side. Then, all of a sudden, she sees Xena’s headless body in front of her. She looks down to see Xena’s severed head on the ground. The head looks up at her and says, "It’s time for me to leave you now." And Gabrielle wakes up crying and drenched in sweat.

She feels a horrible pain in her stomach. She knows it’s hunger, but she can’t bring herself to eat anything. She reaches for her pack and takes Xena’s urn out. She sits the urn in front of her. "Why did you leave me, Xena?" She shouted, "Why? I still don’t understand why you had to die for those people. You set them free when you killed Yodoshi! Want to know something? I think Akemi manipulated you from day one! She used you to murder her father and then used you again to avenge her death afterward. And now, years later, she used you again to kill her father and avenge her soul! You know something else? You wouldn’t have killed all of those people in Higuchi if it weren’t for her. In fact, if it weren’t for her, you’d still be alive! There are times I wish I could go back in time, find Akemi, and kill her myself! I still can’t believe you showed her how to do the pinch after knowing her only a few weeks! I knew you for 30 years before you showed me! And you only showed me because you knew you were going to die! I know you can hear me wherever you are. This isn’t fair, Xena. I can’t live like this. I wont live like this. You are the best friend I’ve ever had. You are my family. You are all I have left. I hope you’ll understand why I’m doing what I’m going to do."

HEAVEN...

Xena is pacing back and forth. She is lost in her thoughts. She has been listening to Gabrielle’s thoughts of her for 2 weeks now. She can’t help but regret her decision that day. Did Akemi trick her into staying dead? Is Gabrielle right? Should she have kept her word and stayed by her friend’s side? As she is pacing, the archangel Michael approaches her. She pretends not to notice him. "Hello, Xena" Michael began, "I must say, I didn’t expect you to end up here. Fact is, I was over-ruled in that decision." Xena stopped pacing. "Hello, Michael" Xena said with a sneer, "I thought I smelled something bad in here." Michael smiles and shakes his head. "You know, Michael" Xena began, "I may be in Heaven right now, but I feel like I’m in Hell. I left my best friend behind. Aside from my daughter, she was the only family I had left. I did it all for ‘the greater good’. Why do I feel like I’ve done the wrong thing?"

Michael looked at her questioningly. "Xena, you’re in Heaven now. You should be happy here. Everyone is happy here. You have your family back now. Your brother is here, your mother is here, and your son is here. What more do you need?" Xena gave Michael a look that’d melt an iceberg. "I need my best friend back! I need to be by Gabrielle’s side! She needs me too. It’s not enough just to talk to her during the daylight hours. If you don’t believe me, look down at her and see for yourself. At the rate she’s going, it won’t be long until she ends up here with me!" Michael shrugged. "It’s out of my hands, Xena. You know that." "As if you’d help me anyway!" Xena muttered to herself.

MORNING: ABOARD THE BOAT

Gabrielle is sitting on her bedroll holding Xena’s urn. She notices the sun beginning to rise. Xena materializes in front of her. "Hello Gabrielle." Xena said with a bright smile. Gabrielle doesn’t look up at her. "Hi Xena." She replied with a sigh. Xena looks concerned. "Gabrielle" she began, "You really should think about eating something. Your body can’t take much more punishment." Gabrielle is silent. Xena sighs. "Come on Gabrielle. Don’t be like this. At least look at me!" Gabrielle looks up at Xena. Her eyes are filled with tears. "What do you expect of me, Xena? Believe it or not, this is hard for me! You don’t know how hard it is to grieve someone that you see everyday!" She shouted. Xena bows her head. "I…I’m sorry, Gabrielle. If you want me to leave, I will."

"No" Gabrielle replied, "I don’t want you to leave. Leaving was your decision, not mine! I’ve made a decision of my own. I’m bringing you back, and I don’t give a flea on a centaur’s butt what you say about it!" Gabrielle’s face was dead serious. "Gabrielle, I want more than anything to come back. I’ve been over that idea thousands of times in my mind." Xena shakes her head. "There’s just no way." Xena said sadly. Gabrielle looked at Xena straight in the eyes. "You’re not the only one with many skills, Warrior Princess. I will bring you back."

Xena couldn’t help but smile. "Gabrielle, you’ve been waiting 30 years to use that line, haven’t you?" Xena laughed. Gabrielle mustered up a smile. "Yeah, I guess I have."

A FEW DAYS LATER...

Gabrielle arrives in Egypt. She is thrilled to be off that boat. She looks up at the sky and sees the sun setting. "Time for me to go, Gabrielle." Xena said with a frown. "I’ll see you in the morning." "O.K. Xena. See you then." Gabrielle said as she sighed. Xena fades away. Gabrielle just keeps walking. She’s exhausted and wants to find an inn. After walking for a few minutes, she spots one and checks in. The locals are giving her strange looks wondering what she’s doing there. Gabrielle shrugs them off and goes straight to her room.

GABRIELLE'S ROOM...

The room isn’t the greatest she’s ever stayed in, but it is better than being back on that boat. The room consists of a medium sized bed, a small table and chair, and a window that has a nice view of town. Gabrielle sits down on the bed and looks around. She takes a deep breath. "I hope I’m doing the right thing." She says with a sigh, "Here goes nothing." She closes her eyes and shouts. "ARES! HEY ARES!" She opens her eyes and looks around. Nothing happened. "ARES!" She yelled, "Please appear. I need a favor!" Gabrielle cringes after hearing herself say that. She recalls the last time she asked Ares for a favor and what happened as a result. After receiving no reply from him, she stands up and shouts again. "ARES! Come on I know you can hear me!" Ares appears in front of her in a flash of light. His arms are folded. He is clearly not happy to be there. He gives Gabrielle a look that would melt a glacier. "You called?" He said sarcastically.

"Ares" Gabrielle began, "I need your help. I…" "Oh, really?" Ares interrupted, "Why should I be interested in helping you? You who allowed Xena to die! This had better be good seeing how you made me come such a long way from home!" He looks her up and down. "By the way" he continued, "You look like Tartarus on a bad day." Gabrielle has tears in her eyes, but she doesn’t want Ares to see her cry. She swallows hard and says, "Look Ares, Xena chose to die! I tried to save her! It was all her decision. She didn’t even ask me!" Ares rolls his eyes. "I don’t have all night, Gabrielle! What is it you want from me?" Gabrielle looks Ares square in the eye. "I want you to help me bring Xena back. I don’t care what it costs me. I need her back!" Ares considers this. "Hmmm… This sounds like a reasonable request." Ares began, "It would benefit both of us to have her back. What did you have in mind?" Gabrielle paused for a moment. Was she really doing this? Was she actually about to ask Ares for another favor? She shook her head. She had no choice and she knew it.

"Well…" she began, "The reason Xena is dead now is because of a girl named Akemi." Gabrielle felt herself cringe at the mention of Akemi’s name. "Go on…" Ares said impatiently. "I’m sure you know the details already." Gabrielle said softly. Ares nodded. "What I want you to do…" Gabrielle paused for a moment to take a breath. "Is send me back in time. Back to before Xena ever met Akemi. Xena told me how she met her. A Chinese warlord named Kao kidnapped Akemi. Xena wanted to get her from him, return her to her father, and collect a nice big reward. I want to get to her before Xena. I want to buy her from him and kill her. If Xena never meets her, she’ll never have killed all of those people, and she will be alive again. This may cost me a very high price, but life without my best friend is unbearable for me."

Ares smiled. "Very clever plan, Gabrielle! I think with the proper training, you’d make a fine warlord." He said appreciatively. "Well?" Gabrielle said impatiently, "Will you do it?" Ares nodded. "Yeah, I think that can be arranged, but there is a price to pay. Killing Akemi could change the world as we know it. Remember what happened when Caesar messed with the past? Are you really willing to risk that? " He replied seriously. Gabrielle thought for a moment. "Wait a minute, Ares… You’ve made a deal with the fates before. You had them agree to cut Xena’s lifeline if she killed Hope as I recall. Can’t you arrange some kind of deal with them now? One that wouldn’t change anything major?" Ares considers the idea and says, "It could take some convincing, but I think they’ll agree that the world needs Xena bad enough to ‘pull a few strings’ so to speak." "Good." Gabrielle said with a smile, "Now, there’s one more thing I need from you." "What’s that?" Ares asked. "I want you to give me your word as the God of War that you wont try anything funny with the fates, and that the Xena that I bring back will be the same Xena that I know and love. No tricks. Promise me." Gabrielle replied sternly. "You drive a hard bargain, Gabrielle." Ares said with a grin, "But I’ll agree to your terms. I can’t wait to see you track down and murder someone in cold blood." Ares grinned evilly. Gabrielle wanted to argue with him, but she knew he was right. Since losing Xena, she could feel her heart growing harder and harder. "So" Ares began, "When would you like to get started?" Gabrielle thought for a moment. She couldn’t leave right now. She was far too tired. She couldn’t do it in the morning either. Xena would know about it and try to stop her. It would have to be at sundown after Xena disappears. "I’ll leave tomorrow at sundown. Come back then, o.k.?" Gabrielle said with a sigh. She couldn’t believe she was doing this. "Until tomorrow then." Ares replied and then disappeared in a flash of light.

"Well, that went well." Gabrielle thought to herself, "I’d better get to sleep so I’ll be well-rested for what I have to do. By the gods, I hope Xena doesn’t hate me for doing this. If I pull it off, she’ll never know I did anything…so I shouldn’t be worried. I just hope she doesn’t figure this out. She’s so good at reading me! It will take every inch of restraint in my body not to tell her anything. I’ve got to be strong. I have to do this. There is no other way. Period." She wiped a tear from her eye and laid down on the nice soft bed. Within a minute, she was fast asleep.

MORNING...

Gabrielle woke up just before sunrise. For the first time since Xena died, she had a restful sleep. She knew it was due to the fact that she would soon have Xena back. She decided to eat something. She knew she would need all of her strength to do what she had to do today. While eating some nut bread that she had in her pack, she noticed the sun beginning to rise. As she watched the sunrise, she felt a hand on her shoulder. It was Xena. "Hello Gabrielle" Xena said with a smile. "Morning Xena!" Gabrielle replied as she smiled back at her. Xena raised an eyebrow at her partner. "You’re in an unusually good mood today." Xena said questioningly, "What’s up, Gabrielle?" Gabrielle shrugged and replied "Oh, nothing, Xena. I’m just happy to see you is all. I just got a great night’s sleep too." Xena smiled. "I’m glad to see you’re finally starting to take care of yourself. I see you’re starting to eat as well. That’s good because I was going to force feed you if you didn’t." Gabrielle looked at Xena square in the eye and replied, "Are you threatening me, Warrior Princess?" "What if I am?" Xena laughed, "It’s not like you could stop me!" Gabrielle gave Xena a wry grin and said, "You taught me everything you know, Xena. Remember?" Xena nodded. "That I did, Gabrielle." Xena said with a proud smile. "Now…" Xena began, "Care to tell me what’s really going on here? You’ve been moping around for 2 straight weeks and all of a sudden you’re ‘Miss Sunshine’. Something’s up here." Gabrielle knew she couldn’t lie to Xena and get away with it. Xena could read her like a scroll. She quickly thought of something to say. "Nothing’s up, Xena. I just figured out a way to bring you back last night and I’m going to do it tonight. With any luck, you’ll be back by my side by morning." Gabrielle grinned. Xena gave her ‘the look’. "Gabrielle, I told you I can’t go back. What about the 40,000 souls that will be lost?" Gabrielle shook her head. "Don’t worry, Xena. If all goes as planned, not only will the people be avenged, they wont even be dead." Xena raised an eyebrow. "And just how do you plan to pull that off?" Xena asked. Gabrielle smiled and said, "No worries, Xena. Just trust me that everything is going to be just fine." Xena sighed. "O.K. Gabrielle" She said pensively, "I’ll trust you. I know you’ll do the right thing."

SUNSET...

As the sun began to set, Gabrielle felt a knot form in her stomach. It was almost time to go. "Well…" Xena began, "Looks like it’s my time to exit. Good luck with your plan, Gabrielle. Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do." "Don’t worry", Gabrielle replied, "I wont. With any luck, the next time we meet, you’ll be flesh and bone again." Xena smiled. "I hope so, Gabrielle. There aren’t any scumbags to beat up in Heaven…unless you count Michael, but I’m not allowed to touch the son of a bacchae!" Gabrielle laughed. "See you soon, Xena!" Gabrielle said with a wave as Xena began to fade.

After Xena was gone, Gabrielle took a deep breath and said, "O.K. Ares. I’m ready now. Let’s get this party started!" Ares appeared in a flash of light. "Any last words?" Ares said smugly. "Very funny, Ares!" Gabrielle replied, "All I need is 100 gold pieces to buy Akemi with. Xena offered him 50 and he didn’t want to take it. Hopefully, he’ll take the 100 and I won’t have to kill him." Ares laughed. "Very well…here." He said as he handed her a bag of gold. Gabrielle picked up her pack, took Xena’s chakram out and attached it to her belt. "O.K." Gabrielle said with a sigh, "I’m ready. Send me back." Ares snapped his finger and in an instant, Gabrielle was gone. "Good luck, Gabrielle." He said dryly, "You’ll need it."

Gabrielle found herself somewhere in Japan. She looks around and sees a rather large man dragging a young girl behind him. She gets a little closer, but doesn’t let them see her. She squints her eyes to get a better look at the girl. It is Akemi. The man is telling her he plans to kill her if she does not cooperate with him. Akemi doesn’t look worried. Gabrielle flashes an evil grin. "It’s show time!" She said as she started to follow them. They are heading for a small camp. There are soldiers everywhere. Gabrielle watches as Akemi is dragged into a large tent. The tent is guarded by 2 soldiers. She decided to just walk in there and make her offer. She could take care of herself. She had learned from the best.

As she approached the camp, some of the soldiers began to notice her. Gabrielle did her best impersonation of Xena and just coolly walked past them with a nod. Upon approaching the tent Kao had Akemi in, the guards stop her. "Halt!" the first guard said, "State your business here." Gabrielle smiled and said, "I’m here to make a business proposition to Kao. I think it’ll be worth his while." The second guard laughed and said, "What sort of business offer could a woman possibly have for Kao? Do you plan to cook his supper, little girl?" Gabrielle smirked and took out the bag of gold Ares gave her. She shows the men the gold and says, "If you’ll excuse me, gentlemen, I have business to attend to." The guards’ eyes widened when they saw the gold and they stepped aside.

INSIDE THE TENT...

Gabrielle strolls into the tent as if she owns it. Kao has Akemi tied up next to him. He is eating some fruit. Upon seeing Gabrielle, he becomes angry. "Who are you? What are you doing in my tent? How did you get in here?" he shouted. Gabrielle waves her hand at him. "Calm down." She began, "I have some business to discuss with you." "Business? With me? What business would I want with you?" Kao laughed, "You are a woman! I only do business with men! Be gone!" Gabrielle shook her head. "Maybe you’ll want to talk business with this." She said as she showed him her sack of gold. Kao stopped laughing. "Alright." He said as he stroked his chin, "Let’s talk. What do you want from me?" Gabrielle pointed to Akemi and said, "I wish to buy her from you. My offer is 100 gold pieces. Do we have a deal?" Kao thought for a moment and replied, "Why do you want her? She is worthless! Besides, I hear Xena the Warrior Princess is interested in buying her. Why should I sell her to you?" Akemi’s eyes lit up when she heard Xena’s name mentioned. "Why I want her is not your concern." Gabrielle said calmly, "I am offering you twice what Xena will give you for her, and how do you know Xena wont just kill you and take her from you? She’s not known for kindness, you know. With me, you will get this bag of gold, and I won’t kill you. I doubt you’ll get such an offer from Xena." "Just how do you know what Xena will offer me for her, little girl? Are you working with her?" Kao replied. Gabrielle smiled. "Let’s just say that I’ve dealt with Xena before, and I know how she operates. Do we have a deal or not?" Kao thought about the offer. Perhaps 100 gold pieces was a fair enough price. He wouldn’t have to deal with Xena if he took it. "Do not deal with her, Kao!" Akemi yelled, "I wish to go with Xena!" Gabrielle shot Akemi a look that’d melt a stone. "Shut up!" Kao shouted, "You have no say in this! I can do with you whatever I please, and since you don’t want to go with this woman, I think I will sell you to her. You should be happy about it. I was planning to kill you anyway." Gabrielle grinned and said, "So we have a deal then?" Kao nodded and held out his hand. Gabrielle hands him the gold and says, "It’s been a pleasure, Kao." Akemi is very upset. "I will not go with you!" She shouted. Kao rolled his eyes and said, "Just get her out of here." Gabrielle takes a hold of the rope around Akemi’s wrists and drags her out of the tent. "You’re coming with me, Akemi", Gabrielle said coldly.

LATER...

After getting a safe distance away from the camp, and anywhere else that someone might find her, Gabrielle stops to rest. Akemi gives her a confused look and says, "What do you want with me? Who are you?" Gabrielle gives her an evil grin. "What do I want with you? I want to kill you. Who am I? I am the best friend of Xena, Warrior Princess." Akemi’s eyes lit up again. "You…you know Xena? Why do you wish to kill me?" Akemi asked. Gabrielle shoots her a dirty look and shouts, "I want to kill you because you’re responsible for Xena’s death you manipulative little bitch!" Akemi smiles and says, "I have never even met Xena. How could I be responsible for her death?" Gabrielle sighs and decides that Akemi deserves to know why she’s going to die. "You will be. In the future…but I’m not going to let that happen. Once I kill you, Xena will be restored to life in the future. I will not allow you to manipulate her and trick her into getting killed…not now that I can stop you."

Gabrielle felt a familiar presence nearby. She looked around but saw nothing. She waited a few seconds, and the feeling got stronger. "Oh, Hades no…it can't be!" she cursed under her breath. She stood perfectly still and just listened. All of a sudden, she heard a whirring noise and out of instinct, she reached up and caught Xena's old chakram just before it hit her throat. Gabrielle sighed. She didn't want to have to do this. "Alright Xena!" she yelled, "Show yourself. I know you're out there!" Gabrielle felt those icy blue eyes staring at her.

Out of nowhere, Xena comes flying through the air towards Gabrielle doing some fancy somersaults. "YIYIYIYIYIYIYI….SHEEEEEEEYAAAA!" Xena shouted just before landing neatly right in front of Gabrielle with her sword drawn and pointing at her throat. Xena had a look of fierce determination as she faced Gabrielle. "I don't know who you are, but you're about to become extinct little girl!" Xena growled. Gabrielle dropped Akemi's rope and drew her sais. "I don't want to fight you, Xena! Can't we talk about this? Please, let me explain." Xena didn't flinch. "Fight first, and if you live, we'll talk." Xena said with an evil sneer. Gabrielle sighed. "Have it your way, Xena."

Xena swung her sword at Gabrielle's head only to have it neatly blocked by her sai. Xena threw a few more tricks at Gabrielle. All of them were blocked with little effort. Gabrielle has sparred with Xena at least 10,000 times and she knew all of Xena's best moves offensively and defensively. Xena wasn't one to give up easily. She lept in the air while shouting her famous battlecry, kicked Gabrielle in the back causing her to fall to the ground, and landed right on top of her. Gabrielle struggled with all her might. Xena outweighed her and was stronger than her. Xena grinned evilly. "Looks like I win" she purred. Gabrielle's face was filled with fear. "P…please Xena…Ju…just l..listen to me" She stammered. Xena regarded her with mild curiosity. "What could you possibly have to say to me that will make me not kill you? Hmmmm?" Gabrielle tried to reply, but lost the words while staring at the cold-hearted expression on Xena's face. Xena drew her sword and held it at Gabrielle's throat. This was the side of her friend that she'd kept buried inside her. Gabrielle had rarely come face to face with it. When she did, she could usually snap Xena out of it with a few words. This time, however, she wasn't sure if she could snap her out of it.

"Come on, little girl! I don't have all day!" Xena shouted impatiently. Gabrielle took a deep breath. "Get a grip, Gabrielle." the bard told herself, "The Xena you know is in there somewhere. You can do this! You decided a long time ago that you'd give your life for her. Looks like you might have to… No. Not this time. You're going to talk your way out of this. Do the bard thing, Gabrielle." Gabrielle looked at Xena with all the courage she could muster and replied, "This is going to sound crazy, but I'm here to save your life. Ares, God of War sent me back in time to do it." Xena stifled a laugh. "I've heard a lot of excuses from people begging for their lives, but yours is by far the craziest!" Gabrielle looked right into Xena's eyes. "Xena, I'm telling you the truth! I know you don't know me now, but you will. One day, we will become best friends." Xena lowered her sword a bit. "Oh, is that so, little girl?" she said with a snort, "I don't suppose you can prove any of this, can you?" Gabrielle started to sit up while Xena was distracted. She looked at Xena wryly and said, "As a matter of fact, I can." Xena was about to laugh when Gabrielle reached up and put the pinch on her neck. Xena's eyes widened in shock as she looked at Gabrielle and gasped for air. "Wh…where did you learn that?" Xena stammered. Gabrielle smiled back at Xena mischievously and replied, "From you." With that, Gabrielle removed the pinch and Xena fell backwards as she struggled to breathe again. She shook it off and pounced on top of Gabrielle again. "O.K. so you know the pinch, big deal. Lots of people know that move. I'm still not convinced you're a friend. I don't have friends." Xena said coldly. Gabrielle shook her head and laughed. "Many warlords wish that were true! It took you 30 years to finally teach it to me. And you do have a friend. Me." Xena considered that thought for a moment. Was this girl telling her the truth? Did Ares really send her back to save her life from something? Surely not.

Xena wasn't sure what to believe. Ordinarily, this girl would've already been dead simply for getting in her way. For some reason, Xena trusted this stranger, and trust wasn't something that came easily to her. "Alright" Xena began, "If we're to be best friends one day, then you must know some things about me, right?" Gabrielle nodded. "Xena, I know you better than you know yourself. And stop calling me a little girl. I have a name. It's Gabrielle." Xena arched her eyebrow questioningly. "Is that so?" Xena said sarcastically, "Start talking...Gabrielle."

Gabrielle did talk. She told Xena stories of how they met, had many adventures, and the friends they met along the way. As Xena listened to her stories, she began to wonder if she was the same Xena this girl seemed to think was some kind of hero. Was she really capable of being a hero? "No." she thought to herself, "I'm too deep into the warlord lifestyle. There's no turning around for me." Then, Gabrielle mentioned someone that convinced her that she must be telling the truth, Xena's brother, Lyceus. No one knew about him except for Xena and her family. Gabrielle told her the details of the day Cortese's army came to Amphipolis and changed her life forever by killing her beloved brother. That was the day Xena made up her mind to become a ruthless warlord. She became the Destroyer of Nations.

Xena got off Gabrielle and helped her stand up. "Looks like I was wrong about you, kid." Xena said quietly. "I've never told anyone about my brother. All my army knows is how to follow orders, and I certainly wouldn't show the neck pinch to just anyone." Gabrielle shot a dark look in Akemi's direction. Xena cleared her throat. "As for all of that stuff about me being some sort of hero… Well, let's just say that once you get a taste of what it's like to be me, you can't go back. I couldn't change now even if I wanted to. I've done some horrible, unspeakable things. It's too late for me, so don't waste your time."

Xena started to walk away when Akemi ran out from behind the tree. "Xena!" she shouted, "Please take me with you! This woman plans to kill me!" Xena turned around and looked at Akemi's pleading expression and then at Gabrielle. Gabrielle looked at Akemi with an icy stare that would cause a snowstorm in Tartarus. Xena laughed and said, "Tough luck, kid. If my friend wants to kill you, I'm not going to get in the way." Gabrielle couldn't believe her ears. "Did she just call me her friend?" Gabrielle blinked her eyes in shock and was going to say something, but Xena was gone. The bard smiled and shook her head. "How does she do that?" she thought out loud.

Akemi, noticing Gabrielle is momentarily distracted, starts to run away. Gabrielle hears her start to run and quickly chases after her. Akemi ran as hard as she could, but was no match in speed to Gabrielle. After all, she'd been keeping up with Xena all those years on foot while Xena rode Argo. Gabrielle grabbed a hold of Akemi's rope and violently pulled her toward her. "And just where do you think you're going? Hmmm?" Gabrielle hissed, "You're not getting off that easily. This party's just getting started...and you're the guest of honor!"

Gabrielle takes a sai out of her boot and holds it up to Akemi’s throat. "Any last words?" She said coldly. Akemi’s eyes were filled with fear. She didn’t want to die. "Please" She begged, "Whoever you are. Please do not do this! I can be very valuable to you! My father will pay you well for my return!" "Ha! You think that you can put a price on my best friend’s life?" Gabrielle laughed, "Just for that, I’m going to let you die a more painful death. Give my regards to Lucifer." Gabrielle puts the pinch on Akemi and watches as she falls to her knees gasping for air. "You know" Gabrielle began, "The pain you’re experiencing still doesn’t compare to the torment you’ve caused me. By the way, you’ve got 20 seconds left to live." Gabrielle said with a sneer. Time passes and Akemi falls down dead at Gabrielle’s feet. Gabrielle looks down at her and says, "It’s been fun. Let’s do it again sometime."

Ares appears next to Gabrielle and says, "Well done! I am impressed. I didn’t think you had it in you!" "My hands slipped." Gabrielle said with a shrug. Ares laughs and says, "Let’s go back and see what’s changed, shall we?" Gabrielle nodded. "Yes…let’s go." She said with a smile.

Gabrielle suddenly found herself back in the future. She was sitting on her bedroll leaning up against a tree. She looked around. She notices her hair is a bit longer, and her old fighting staff is next to her. She looks down and sees her sais are still tucked into her boots. She doesn’t see Xena. She starts to panic when she hears a commotion behind her. She turns around to see someone walking toward her with 2 large fish on each hand. It’s Xena. A wide grin crosses Gabrielle’s face. "Xena? Is that really you?" She asked excitedly. Xena smiles and tosses the fish at her. "Morning Gabrielle! How does trout sound for breakfast?" Xena asked with a smile. Gabrielle doesn’t believe her eyes. She jumps up, runs toward Xena and gives her a big bear hug that nearly knocks them both down. "Oof! Gabrielle! What’s this all about?" Xena asked confusedly. Gabrielle suddenly remembers that Xena doesn’t know she was dead. "I’m uhh...just really happy to see you Xena!" she stammered. Xena rolls her eyes. "Riiight...", Xena replied sarcastically, "Care to tell me what’s really going on?" "It’s kind of a long story." Gabrielle said with a sigh. Xena arched her eyebrow. "Well, I’ve got nowhere to be. Tell me all about it." She said as she sat down on a log next to Gabrielle.

"So you're saying I was…dead?" Xena asked, "And you trusted Ares to help you? You do realize that one day he'll call on you for a favor…" Gabrielle nodded. "I know, Xena. I'm willing to take that chance. I couldn't bear life without you. I didn't like who I was anymore. I was becoming someone else. Someone I didn't like." Xena put her arm around Gabrielle. "I understand that, Gabrielle, but…" "No." Gabrielle interrupted, "I don't think you do. Xena, when you left me that day, I not only lost my best friend and the most important person in my life; I lost a part of myself. I was becoming like Callisto did when she lost her family. I had no choice." Xena raised an eyebrow. "There's always a choice, Gabrielle…but I'm happy to be back just the same. You know something else? I remember a young girl I met a long time ago claiming to be my friend. I didn't believe her at first, but she knew so much about me… I was going to kill her for getting to a girl Borias and I was planning to ransom, but she changed my mind. I don't know why, but I trusted her." Gabrielle grinned. "What did she look like, Xena?" Xena stopped to think. "Well, she…wait a minute. She looked very much like you! In fact, she said her name was…" Xena froze. "Gabrieeellleeeee!" Xena's voice dropped to its lowest register. The bard tried very hard not to laugh, but didn't succeed. Xena's face was dead serious. "What were you thinking? I could've killed you! I tried to kill you! Why did you do that? I was a very different person back then!" Gabrielle shook her head with a grin. "No, Xena… The Xena that I know and love was in there. I felt it. And besides, I didn't plan on you finding me! I was just going to kill Akemi and get out of there. I knew the risks. I thought bringing you back was worth it. I still do. I don't regret what I did. I'd do it again." Xena shook her head is disbelief. "Sometimes Gabrielle…you can be so stubborn!" Gabrielle laughed. "Look who's talking Miss Warrior Princess who had a nasty snake bite on her foot, walked on it for miles, and didn't say a word about it until I noticed you limping slightly! Gods forbid you show any weakness, Xena. Or let anyone else take care of you when you're sick! You know that last time I…" Xena put a hand up in front of Gabrielle. "Alright already! I get it! You know, if that Akemi girl is half the bitch you say she is, I'm surprised that I didn't kill her myself back then." Gabrielle grinned. "Actually, you did kill her, Xena…but that's another story."

THE END.

Disclaimer: Akemi was permanently damaged in the making of this story. Xenites everywhere rejoiced upon hearing the news.

For more on TazGirl, click here for her website.