This story deals with events from the episode "Ties That Bind". If you haven't seen that episode, I'd suggest you read something else.
Chapter 1
"Salmoneus! By the remaining gods, you're still?you're still alive!"
"And you're still cute!" he said. "Gabrielle, whatever rejuvenation formula you've gotten ahold of, let me help you market it. We'll split seventy-thirty."
"It'll never be popular. What are you selling, here?"
Gabrielle looked over the little trinkets, holding them up and examining them. They looked like religious icons, but not any religion she'd ever seen or heard of. Many of them looked remarkably like tiny wooden pitchforks. There were also some paintings and images of a woman who looked familiar.
"Don't you know?" asked Salmoneus.
"Would I ask, if I knew?"
"Gabrielle, don't you know what this town is? Don't you know where you are?"
They were interrupted by the sound of a very deep female voice crying out, "Kill 'em all!"
"What was that?" she asked. It came from a tent set up in the middle of town.
"A re-creation. A religious play."
"Salmoneus, come with me. I have to see this."
"You go. I can't leave my stall."
Gabrielle ran over to the tent to take a look. Most of the audience was seated, so she had no trouble seeing what was going on. A short, pudgy woman in black leather was swaggering around the stage with a fake sword, making threatening noises and acting very badly.
"Not so fast!" said another, much taller woman in a brown skirt and top. She wore a fake-looking strawberry blonde wig.
"You expect to defeat the mighty Xena? Where are your weapons?"
"I don't need fancy weapons for the likes of you," said the woman in the strawberry blonde wig. And as she picked up a wooden pitchfork, the whole crowd started cheering. And they cheered even more as the taller woman started beating the crap out of the woman in leather.
And suddenly Gabrielle realized where she was and what this was about.
"Stop! No more! Please don't hit me again! Have mercy on me, Gabrielle, for I am no match for your power and your glorious righteousness."
Who writes this stuff? thought Gabrielle
She couldn't watch any more. She left the tent as quickly as she could, and as she headed back to Salmoneus she spied a pair of statues close to the tent. She stopped to examine the tableau.
Well, that's a little bit better likeness, she thought. Not much, but a little.
The statues were of her and Xena, a more accurate representation, but she was still much bigger and taller than Xena. It was an action pose, Gabrielle with the ever-present wooden pitchfork, about to beat up Xena. Xena was cowering in fear.
She then looked up and read the banner overhead, flapping in the breeze.
THE FESTIVAL OF SAINT GABRIELLE
Oh, man! thought Gabrielle.
She made her way back to Salmoneus. She waited patiently while he made a sale.
"Salmoneus, what the hell is going on here?"
"Isn't it obvious?"
"No, it's not obvious! I recognize the town, and I know what happened here, but how could the story have gotten so screwed up in only?"
And once again the missing twenty-five years of her life came back to haunt her.
"Only thirty years?" said Salmoneus. "Where have you two been for all this time, anyway?"
"It's a long story. And I'm afraid to tell you. You might want to tell it to everyone and screw it up completely to make a profit."
"Oh, no, don't go blaming this on me, Gabrielle. Lotia created this festival all on their own. I'm just an honest businessman making a small profit exploiting a bizarre religious fixation in a slightly deluded backwoods town."
"You knew the real story and you didn't tell them?"
"I don't know the whole truth, Gabrielle, but obviously I know you never beat the crap out of Xena. But I don't give a damn what the truth is. Why should I? I don't get two dinars for the truth. I need a story that will move the merchandise."
"Salmoneus, this is wrong! People shouldn't worship other people! Or if they do, they should at least get their facts straight! And just what the hell is a 'Saint', anyway?"
"A person of exceptional righteousness or virtue."
"I've got to put a stop to this."
"No, Gabrielle, please don't! This festival is a goldmine for me every year. OK, forget about me, think about these people. Think about what you've done for them. So maybe they don't have the facts completely straight, so what? However you did it, you saved the entire town that day, didn't you?"
"Sort of."
"Well then, let it rest! The story is just fine as it is. And in all the world I couldn't pick a more perfect face to fill the role of 'Saint'. Look at your likeness here, Gabrielle. There's no exaggeration needed. You've always had a somewhat luminous quality."
"Really? Thanks! Oh what am I saying, I can't go along with this. Damn Xena anyway, I bet she knew about this. That's why she wouldn't come into town with me."
Gabrielle put one hand to her forehead and tried to think.
"Salmoneus, there's got to be someone in town who's old enough to have been here when this happened. Someone who was an adult at the time."
"Sure, there's plenty. Let's see, there's Areliesa. She claims to have been there when all this happened. And she says she spoke to you."
"I remember Areliesa. Let's go see her. I need to talk to someone in town who knows the truth. I need to find out how things got so out of hand."
"I can't go now, Gabrielle. It's the height of the festival."
"Oh really? Could I have your attention, please? Everyone? I am a bard, from Poteidaia. My name is?"
"OK! OK! I'm going! See, I'm closing up right now! Pay no attention, folks, she's just a little excited from the festival."
Salmoneus closed up his stall, and as they left Gabrielle could hear some of the villagers whispering to each other.
"Who is she?"
"What was she going to say?"
"She kind of looks like?.no, couldn't be."
Chapter 2
As they made their way to Areliesa's hut, Salmoneus asked, "So what is the truth, anyway?"
Gabrielle related the story, and Salmoneus responded with a low whistle.
"Man! You really are a hero!"
"No, I'm not."
"Oh, stop it, Gabrielle. You were ready to die, weren't you? You expected to die."
Gabrielle shrugged.
"Well, it seems to me that the story is close enough to the truth as it is. Xena was going to wipe out the village, and you did stop her by hitting her with one of these."
Salmoneus held up the miniature wooden pitchfork hanging around his neck, by way of illustration.
"But there's nothing about Ares!" said Gabrielle. "Nothing about the fact that he goaded her into it. Nothing about the fact that Xena and I are friends, or even that we knew each other! Nothing about any of the good Xena has done, since then."
"Oh come on, Gabrielle. Ares may have tricked her, but she wasn't under a spell or anything, was she? I knew Xena before you did, and I know she's done plenty of good in her life, but this was a horrible example of the worst and nastiest part of her coming to the surface. It was an aberration, I know, but still, for one day in her life she was back to casting herself as the bad guy, or girl, or woman, in this drama, and if you really care about the truth then you can't pretend otherwise. What do you think you're accomplishing by telling the truth? Who are you doing it for? For Xena? Do you really think making her slightly less bad in their eyes is gonna help any? I've always believed that there's no point in screwing up any really good story with too much truth."
Gabrielle had tuned out Salmoneus's speech about halfway through. She began looking apprehensively at the villagers as they passed.
"I keep wondering if one of them is going to know who I am," she said. "There must be some of them that were children when this happened."
"You won't be recognized. You've changed a lot."
"Yeah. I seem to have gotten a lot shorter, somehow."
"Here we are," he said as they arrived at the hut.
Chapter 3
"You're Gabrielle? The Gabrielle? You can't be. You look like her, but you're way too young," said Areliesa.
"I assure you," said Salmoneus, "she's the genuine article."
"I'm a little bit younger than I should be because of some godly mischief. Ares did this to me."
"I see. Well, have a seat, Gabrielle! Have a seat! Have some dried figs. I wish I had something better to offer you. It's not every day I get a visit from a saint."
"I'm not a saint, Areliesa, and I want to know why all these lies are being told about me and Xena."
"What lies?"
"You know I didn't beat her up with a pitchfork."
"I know that you hit her. I know that you knocked her down, and I know what would've happened if you hadn't."
"But what about Ares? Does anyone even know he was part of the story?"
Areliesa sighed heavily.
"Saint Gabrielle, I know we might not have the story down perfectly, but we pieced it together as best we could. None of us who were there have any idea what Ares was doing there. I know that Xena fought him, but I have no idea why. I couldn't make any sense at all of anything they were saying to each other."
"And did you happen to notice that Xena is at least a head taller than I am?"
Areliesa looked ashamed.
"Saint Gabrielle?"
"Please stop calling me that."
"I'm sorry. Gabrielle, I know that there's a few facts I could've corrected if I wanted to, but you have to understand, until someone had the idea of the festival of Saint?of you, many of us couldn't go to sleep without hearing the words 'Kill 'em all!' echoing through our nightmares. Maybe we like our saints a little larger than life, and maybe we went out of our way to make Xena look weak and foolish, but it doesn't really matter, does it? The important fact is: you saved our town, Gabrielle. What does it matter how you did it? Did you know that when it happened I was already pregnant with my firstborn? A soldier held a knife to my throat that day, and when Xena gave the order I felt the knife bite into my flesh, and I thought of my poor child and all the precious moments I would never get to spend with her, all gone, gone forever because of this woman, this Xena. And then I heard you, and I felt the blade halt at my throat. And I don't know what you said to her, but I know what you did. And I know that I'm alive today and I got to see my children and grandchildren grow up because of you."
Gabrielle put one hand to her forehead. Her eyes were downcast.
"Doesn't anyone know what Xena's made of her life since then?" she asked. "Haven't any of my scrolls made it to Lotia?"
"One of them found its way here, but it was burned. We consider them lies. Heresy. They're not allowed in town."
Gabrielle started to shake her head.
"This isn't right. This isn't fair. If you have to judge Xena, fine, I can't stop you, but at least judge her on the facts. You've created this festival celebrating brutality, going against everything I ever believed in, and you're doing it in my name. It's wrong. What I believe in is forgiveness. You've had thirty years to vent your anger at Xena. Maybe she deserved it, but enough is enough. It's time to forgive."
Areliesa looked somewhat ashamed and embarrassed.
"Gabrielle, I owe you my life, and I'll do anything you say, but you can't really expect us to forgive someone who tried to kill us. That's unheard of."
Gabrielle didn't quite know what to say to that, so Salmoneus put his hand on her shoulder and said, "Let's go, Gabrielle."
Chapter 4
Gabrielle got her provisions and made it back to the campsite in record time. She leaped off her horse and ran over to Xena, one very pissed-off bard.
"The Festival of Saint Gabrielle?" she said.
"Made it into town, did you?"
"Gabrielle?" said Eve.
"Stay out of this Eve. This is between Xena and me."
"Xena didn't do anything wrong," said Eve.
"She might've told me about it."
"Would you have gone into town if I did?" asked Xena.
"No. And why's it so important that I go into town?"
Xena stood up.
"Maybe so you could see why I can't."
"Oh, you're going into town, Xena. You're going into town, and you're going to apologize to those people. If they won't accept it, fine, that's up to them, but you're going to face them."
Xena came a little closer to Gabrielle.
"Krykus the Second is taking the town tomorrow, Gabrielle. That's why we're here. I wouldn't be here otherwise."
Gabrielle threw up her hands.
"When were you planning on telling me this? We need to get the villagers organized."
"No. This one is just me. I'm not endangering the villagers. I'll take Krykus on myself. That'll be my way of apologizing to them, because I can't face them, Gabrielle. I can't. It's bad enough, all the things I've done before I ever met you, but this is different."
"I don't care how different it is, Xena. After you take on Krykus, you're going into town and you will face them."
"Gabrielle, I've let you have your way a lot over the years, but not this time. I won't do it. I can't."
Gabrielle looked at her in disgust for a few heartbeats, and then left her to stand next to Eve.
"Look at your mother, Eve. Xena the great Warrior Princess. Xena the great coward. Still hiding from her past. Can't face what she's done. I was going to go into town and tell them Xena's changed. But I guess she hasn't changed at all."
"Gabrielle, I thought you wanted me to stay out of this," said Eve.
"So you have no problem with this, Eve? Is this what your mother's been teaching you? If it's hard to do, don't do it."
"I stand by my mother."
"She expected you to face Virgil. But I guess the rules are always different when it comes to her."
Xena was about to tell Gabrielle to stop talking about her like she wasn't there, when she heard a horse approaching. It was Salmoneus. They could hear him calling Xena's name long before he got within sight of the camp.
"Xena! Come quick! We're under attack!"
Xena quickly mounted her horse, and Eve got on behind her.
As Gabrielle got on her steed, she said, "I thought you said the attack was tomorrow."
"Looks like I was wrong."
"You were wrong?"
Xena and Eve raced right through the town without stopping, and took the fight to the town border. Gabrielle galloped to a stop in the middle of town, meaning to take care of four soldiers who were pushing over stalls and carts and causing general mayhem, as the villagers cowered in fear. They had hacked the two wooden statues of Xena and Gabrielle to pieces.
One of them had a torch and was headed straight for one of the huts. The whole town could turn into another Cirra if she didn't stop him. She headed her steed directly at him, jumped from the saddle and collided right into him, knocking him from his mount. She got up on her feet and faced him, sais drawn. He took a swing at her with the torch. She caught it in one sai, leaped into the air and kicked him hard in the midsection.
She ran to the nearest watering trough and doused the torch. A couple of the soldiers drew their swords and came at her. She used her sais defensively against the swords, looking for an opening.
She thought she could hear some murmuring from the villagers.
"It's her! I tell you, it's her!"
"Couldn't be. She's too short. She too young!"
"But look at her. Look how she's fighting."
"So?"
"Look at her weapons. They're pitchforks!"
Chapter 5
Gabrielle finished off the rest of the soldiers. She was breathing heavily, and sweat dripped from her body. She could've finished them off more quickly if she'd been willing to kill one or two of them, but no child should have to live with that sight as their earliest memory.
As the soldiers lay in a heap, unconscious, she turned and faced the villagers.
One by one, they started falling to their knees. Gabrielle sighed heavily.
"Oh, will you get up!" she said. "You're worse than the Amazons."
They got up and looked uneasy. Gabrielle chided herself for losing her temper with these people, who had really done nothing wrong. She resolved to try to be a little more Gabrielle-like around them.
She smiled, and immediately saw the effects of her smile on the faces of the villagers.
I still got it, she thought. And rebuked herself for her pride.
"Could someone please get me some rope?" she asked. Three or four different men scrambled off at once to their huts. They hurried back with rope and offered it to Gabrielle, each of them very insistent that his rope was the best, the finest, the one most suitable to that particular job, whatever the job turned out to be.
She smiled again. She was really enjoying it all way too much.
She grabbed all the rope from the men and started tying up the soldiers. Salmoneus arrived, and he helped. When she was done, she turned and faced the townsfolk.
OK, no more kidding around, she thought. Time to get serious.
"To answer the question on your minds, yes, I am Gabrielle," she said. "I'm sorry I'm not quite as tall as you would like. I tried to be taller, but it didn't work out. I'm also a lot younger than I should be, which is due to something one of the gods did to us. But I'm not a Saint, just an ordinary woman. And Xena's not a terrible person, either. She almost did a terrible thing that day, but she's done many wonderful things since then. She's done a tremendous amount of good in the world, in fact, right now she's fighting for all of you, against Krykus. She's the hero; not me. And we're not enemies. We're friends. You've gotten the story dead wrong, and I'm going to correct it if it takes forever."
She looked for some comprehension in their faces.
"I'll tell you what, let's head into the tent. I've got a few stories to tell you."
On the way in she asked Salmoneus to stand watch outside and report any trouble. She was worried about Xena and Eve, but she hoped they could take care of themselves while Gabrielle did her best to patch up Xena's reputation.
Gabrielle got on the stage and started in with a brief explanation of Xena's unfortunate history as a warlord. She didn't attempt to alter or soften the hard facts of Xena's life. She told the story of Xena's meeting with Hercules, her decision to change her ways and seek redemption, her meeting with Gabrielle, and the first time she ever met Ares, when Ares tried to get her executed for a crime she didn't commit. Then she launched right into the tale of the "Ties That Bind". She didn't tell it very well because it wasn't a story that she often told out loud. She usually didn't want to tell stories that made Xena look bad. But still, she didn't shy away from the truth. If they had to hate Xena, they were going to hate her based on the true facts or not at all.
Then she launched into a story she could tell with a great deal more skill and confidence. The story of "The Greater Good", a story that involved Salmoneus. She followed that up with the story of "Callisto".
"There's only one way to end this cycle of hatred, and it's through love. And forgiveness."
As she related the fireside conversation between herself and Xena, she took a brief, critical look at the audience to see if she had them in the palm of her hand. If she did, she could risk another story, otherwise it would be time to leave them wanting more.
She knew she had them, so when she finished she launched into her absolute favorite, "One Against An Army." There were parts of the story that made Gabrielle look wonderful and parts that made her look incompetent, but she related them all faithfully, sticking to the truth. The important part was the love between them. If she could show how much she loved Xena, maybe she could get others to love her as well.
She didn't get to complete the story. Salmoneus and Eve came into the tent, carrying a wounded Xena between them.
Chapter 6
"I'm all right!" protested Xena. But her leg was very badly wounded. Gabrielle examined the wound, and the stitching and first aid performed by Eve. Not bad, but it could still use some cleaning.
"Could someone please get me some hot water and some clean rags?" Gabrielle asked of the crowd. A woman rushed off to get them.
The crowd started whispering. It wasn't easy for them to deal with seeing Xena this way, a woman they had despised for thirty years.
"Is the village safe?" asked Salmoneus.
"Yeah," said Eve. "I killed Krykus. His army scattered."
"I told you not to kill him, Eve," said Xena. "He has a kidnapping charge in Athens. We could've taken him in."
"I'm sorry. I panicked when I saw him attack you from behind."
"I told you, Eve, we need to give them a chance. Everyone deserves the same chance I had."
Xena sat on the edge of the stage. She looked up, and seemed to notice the audience for the first time.
"Hi," she said.
A few people murmured subdued greetings.
"I'm Xena," she said. "I'm guessing you've heard of me."
A few nods.
"I was just telling them a few stories, Xena," said Gabrielle.
"Yeah. I guessed. Look, there's nothing I can say about what happened here thirty years ago, except that I'm sorry. I know that doesn't mean much of anything, considering, but I am really and?and truly sorry. I can't ask for your forgiveness. I know Gabrielle would want you to forgive me, but I would never ask that of you. Gabrielle is a very forgiving, very wonderful person. She has an incredible talent for forgiveness, but she doesn't realize how hard it is for the rest of us, sometimes. I know she doesn't much like 'The Festival of Saint Gabrielle', but I just want to say, I have no problem with it. If you want to dress up in costumes and sell trinkets and put on plays to remind yourself how much you hate me, have at it. It's no less than I deserve."
"Xena?"
"No, it's true, Gabrielle. And I wouldn't change a thing about the festival. It's perfect the way it is, especially the title. Because she is a Saint. She saved my soul that day, thirty years ago, and she's been saving it every day since then, more times than I can count. When she hit me with that wooden pitchfork,
I got back on my feet and I thought, 'I'm gonna kill her! I'm gonna kill her!' Then I saw the look in her eyes. She was so angry at me, but there was no hatred, no fear. She expected to die for what she had done, but she wasn't afraid. She was begging me, pleading with me to come to my senses before it was too late."
Xena looked at Gabrielle. Xena was starting to lose control a little bit, and she didn't want to get emotional in front of all these people.
"Why do you stay with me, Gabrielle? How you could you stay with someone who would do something like that?"
The water and rags arrived, so the answer to that question would have to wait. Gabrielle cleaned the wound and changed the dressing. Outside she began to hear rumblings of thunder.
"Mother, you'll have to stay off that leg for a day or two," said Eve.
"I know."
"Can anyone give us a bed for the night?" Gabrielle asked the crowd.
"No! Gabrielle, the campsite will be fine," said Xena.
But the rain had started, and Gabrielle made it clear that they wouldn't be spending the night out in the rain, Xena with a wounded leg and all. The innkeeper informed Gabrielle that there wasn't a bed to be had, because of the festival.
"I've got a room," said Salmoneus. "I guess I can sleep on the floor."
Xena agreed, and they stood up and prepared to go.
But first, Xena looked at the crowd and said, "I'll tell you what. It looks like I'll be here for a day or two. Tomorrow I'll sit on the porch in front of the tavern, all day long. Gabrielle won't be with me. Anyone who has anything to say to me, come by and see me. No weapons; you won't have to be afraid of me. Ask me anything. Tell me anything you want. Tell me how much you hate me. I accept your hatred, or anything else you have to say."
"To be followed in the evening," said Salmoneus, "by another performance from the Bard of Poteidaia."
The crowd looked puzzled, so Gabrielle said, "That's me."
"Tonight's performance was free, but it's traditional to kick in a few dinars when a bard performs," said Salmoneus.
Gabrielle assured the crowd that the performance would be absolutely free. She heard Salmoneus wince, so she started to coax Xena and Eve out of the tent. Salmoneus followed, asking if he couldn't get Gabrielle to autograph a few little articles, and also mentioning the possibility of an exclusive scroll concession in the town. Gabrielle was starting to regret the sleeping arrangements.
Chapter 7
The next day, Xena held court in front of the town tavern, accepting all comers and listening to what they had to say. Many of the older people who were present for the actual event had no problem coming up to her and telling her that they hated her and wished her dead. Xena accepted it humbly, and said that she was sorry. She looked ashamed, and she wasn't acting.
Eve sat next to her. The only reason that Xena ever acceded to Gabrielle's wishes was the fact the Eve changed her mind and decided to side with Gabrielle, so it was only fair that Xena's daughter should be there to try to help her mother through this. And it was a learning experience. Eve might one day have to do something very similar.
Xena would not consent to be spat on, in fact she kept a rag in her hand to prevent that very thing ( her phenomenal reflexes came in handy, as always ). Other than that, and other than the fact that she intended to defend herself by warding off any blows directed at her ( though there were none ), she accepted everything that anyone had to say or do to her.
For the most part, though, it was mainly villagers coming up to ask about Gabrielle. Xena related everything she knew about her, all sorts of facts that the townspeople never knew. The fact that she was an Amazon Queen, her close relationship with Aphrodite, the fact that she knew Homer and had talked him out of quitting the Academy, the relative merits of short versus long hair. Xena wasn't usually much of a talker, but when two Gabrielle fans get together they can sometimes talk for hours. Xena wondered if she should mention that she had once tried to kill Gabrielle and that Gabrielle forgave her, but maybe that wasn't something Gabrielle would like mentioned.
There were a few conflicted young men who wanted to talk about the warrior's life. They knew, or thought they knew, the terrible toll that being a warrior exacts on a man's soul, but they thought they had the talent and the heart of a warrior, and they felt an obligation to use them in the name of the Greater Good. Xena did her best to tell them what she knew, but made it clear that she couldn't make up their minds for them. She told them that if they expected to find glamour they might seek it somewhere else than on a battlefield. She said that she had always felt that the only acceptable reason to fight a war is because the other side starts it. She answered questions about the blessing and the curse of a warrior spirit. And she agreed to spar with a few of them when she felt better, but until then Gabrielle would make a fine sparring partner. Eve seemed a little disappointed that her mother had overlooked her own abilities, but said nothing,
By the end of the day there were a few of the older villagers who had come to see her in the morning, returning to tell her that they were tired of hating her. They were willing to let go of their hatred because it was wearing them out. They had thought about it, and they decided that if Gabrielle could be Xena's friend, maybe there was something in Xena that was worth forgiving. Xena quietly thanked them.
Gabrielle spent the day talking to the villagers. Eventually she had to get away by herself for awhile. She tried to find the exact spot where it had happened. She realized that it would be inside the tent, right under the stage. She stood on the stage and tried to remember what she was thinking, back then.
Kill me, Xena. Take it out on me if you have to, but please, please leave these people alone.I love you, Xena. I forgive you.
She was already starting to learn, back then, that you can't travel in the company of a wild animal without sometimes expecting it to attack. But what a beautiful, elegant, deadly wild animal. An exciting wild animal with a good heart and a noble soul.
It's worth it. It is so worth it.
And it was kind of fun, being worshipped by a whole town this way. It was dangerous and troublesome, and she knew it had to stop, but it was fun while it lasted. Whenever she or Xena find themselves being worshipped by a crowd, it's usually bad news. The chants of "Xena! Xena! Xena!" were always the beginning of trouble.
Xena and Gabrielle already worshiped each other. That's plenty.
"Where's your staff?" asked the young woman.
Gabrielle turned and faced the villager who had managed to sneak up on her.
"Did you ever figure out that arrow-catching trick?" asked the woman. "I'm still available, if you want to practice."
The woman smiled, like the two of them were sharing a secret. And suddenly Gabrielle realized that the woman was not from around Lotia.
"Lea!" she cried! She leapt from the stage right into Lea's arms. "My little warlord Lea! How are you?"
"I'm great! You look so young, Gabrielle!"
"Clean living. You were just a child when I left you. Now look at you! What are you doing here?"
"Getting another one of these."
She held up a commemorative plate with Gabrielle's image on it which she'd bought from Salmoneus.
"I'm afraid my little Gabby accidentally broke the last one," said Lea. "I couldn't believe it when they said you were here. Oh, I wish I'd known! I would've brought my copy of 'Death Mask' for you to autograph."
"Lea, why do you have pictures of me in your home?"
"Oh come on, Gabrielle! How could I not? The woman who saved my life? Who played with me and made me laugh and forget how scared I was? You can't imagine how sad I was to see you go. I practiced with a very small staff for years afterward."
"Will you be here tonight, Lea? I'm storytelling."
"Oh, I wish I could, but I have to get back to my family. Gabrielle?I just can't believe it, after all these years! You know, when they said you were here I was a little scared to meet you. Sometimes, you know, when you meet a hero of yours, they're different than you expect. But you?you haven't changed a bit!"
Gabrielle laughed. She knew that she'd changed plenty, but maybe not as much as she thought. They hugged again.
"What's funny?"
"Nothing," said Gabrielle. "It's just?this has been a very good weekend, for me. I hope it turns out as good for Xena."
"Gabrielle, there's something I've always wondered," said Lea. "In my copy of 'Death Mask' you mention the two of us playing together, but you never once mention that you saved my life. Why not?"
Gabrielle shrugged.
"Wasn't important to the story. Not that your life isn't important, or anything."
"Gabrielle, all your adult life you've been singing the praises of Xena. Who sings of you? Your fans need to know more about you."
"Lea, it was never about me. A neutral voice is best, for a narrator. I'm just a sidekick. I'm not supposed to have fans."
"Then you should never have been so wonderful. Gabrielle, please, change the scroll, for me. How many people are brave enough to save even one life? It should never go unheralded. Please, tell everyone you saved me. No one believes me!"
Gabrielle promised she'd make the addition. They said goodbye, and Lea left. Another soul that Gabrielle would never have been able to know and help and influence for the better, if she hadn't gambled it all on a life with Xena.
As the sun went down Xena and Eve headed to the tent for a big feast and another performance by Gabrielle. Gabrielle was thinking of finishing up "One Against An Army", but since Xena would be there she thought she'd give the Warrior Princess a break and spin a few "Gabrielle and Joxer" tales. She thought "For Him The Bell Tolls" would be a funny crowd-pleaser, followed by "The Quill Is Mightier". She had no problem telling funny stories about her own incompetence, and the anecdote would be the perfect antidote for all the worshipful "Saint Gabrielle" nonsense.
But first they had a small presentation to make. As Xena sat down, Gabrielle announced that the decision had been made to rename the festival. Together, Gabrielle and Salmoneus unrolled the banner announcing the new name.
THE FESTIVAL OF FORGIVENESS
Xena stood up.
"Uh, well, thank you," she said. "I appreciate you doing that for Gabrielle. I'm sure that it's probably not what most of you would've wanted, but?thank you."
Gabrielle put down the banner and went to Xena's side.
"Xena, I don't think you get it. We held a secret ballot, and only those who were present at the time thirty years ago were voting. Xena?it's unanimous."
It's not often the warrior princess is shocked. She looked all around the room, from one villager to the next. Unlike before, they were all making eye contact with her.
"Unanimous?"
She sought the eyes of some of the older villagers who had unloaded their bile that morning, particularly the ones who never took it back.
"But?the things you said. How could you change your minds? How? Why?"
These were stoic villagers, unwilling to single themselves out by speaking. But, finally, one of them said, "Because you don't ask for it. But you need it. So do we."
It began to dawn on Xena that this was not some little unimportant offhand gesture, but a real change in all their lives. Things that they had done to others that they thought were beyond forgiving, well, maybe now they had the right to ask forgiveness. Grudges that some of them had held for years started to seem trivial and pointless. All sorts of new possibilities were opening up. Anything was possible, if you just had enough courage. And there's all kinds of courage.
Xena didn't know what to say.
"Thank you," she said at last.
She started to sit down again, but Gabrielle yanked her out of her chair and threw her arms around her in a big hug. And Xena smiled.
A lot less people have seen Xena's smile than have seen Gabrielle's, but it can be pretty dazzling in its own way. When she smiled it seemed to release all their tension like a trigger on a catapult.
A big cheer went up. The band started playing, and the Festival of Forgiveness began its first big celebration.
Chapter 8
Salmoneus had to sneak out of the festival early. He managed to collect a fat commission by getting a new sculptor to the town in record time, to create new statues of Xena and Gabrielle. He had to go meet with him and talk business.
They sat in his stall and negotiated. Salmoneus admitted to the sculptor that he wasn't quite sure what sort of tableau they were looking for, but he didn't really understand why that should affect the fee one way or the other.
As they dickered, Xena and Gabrielle headed back to the inn. Eve had had a little too much to drink, and rather than try to move her they decided to make her comfortable where she was and leave her snoring. Gabrielle supported Xena, so she could stay off her bad leg.
They stopped before the mutilated statues. Xena looked up at what was left of their likenesses, which were never very accurate to begin with and were even less so, now. She had one arm around Gabrielle's shoulder, and Gabrielle kept an arm around her waist.
And suddenly Xena lowered her head and started making some strange sounds. It's funny how crying can sound so close to laughter, sometimes, and Gabrielle didn't know which it was. It was both. She'd never heard this sort of reaction from the Warrior Princess before. Or anyone.
When Xena lifted her head, she was smiling but her eyes were tearing up a little.
"Thank you, Gabrielle," she said. "You are just magic."
"I'm not the one who transformed you, Xena. When I first met you I was so impressed with what you could do with a sword, but that's nothing compared to what you've done with your life."
"I love you, Gabrielle."
"I know."
As the two stood looking up at their disfigured likenesses, Salmoneus, from across the square, said to the sculptor, "That's it! That's the tableau! Quick, make a sketch."
The sculptor made some quick doodles on a parchment, then said, "I need a view from the front."
Xena and Gabrielle turned around. Xena asked, "How's this?"
The sculptor indicated that they both needed to be looking up, and Xena was so happy she was able to do it without feeling stupid. But it wasn't too long before she started feeling like an idiot, and said, "That'll do, for now. More tomorrow, if you need it."
The two of them headed off to bed. Salmoneus asked, "Did you get it?"
"I've got a good start. Who are they, anyway? The tall one is gorgeous."
"They both have their points. Would you be interested in purchasing a Gabby poker?"
"A what?"
Salmoneus held up one of the miniature wooden pitchforks, which he'd shortened a little and painted a metallic gray.
"A Gabby poker. Gabrielle the Good fought off an entire army with a pair of these, not ten feet away from this spot. No? Come on, get in the spirit of 'The Festival Of Forgiveness'!"
THE END