"Did you leave anything for me?" Xena cracked as she looked at the bard. Gabrielle's cheeks were puffed out from the sizable piece of bread she had just chewed off.

The two friends were sitting by the fire, the flames catching the bronze and gold in the younger woman's hair. A few remaining pieces of bread and cheese were laid out between them, and Gabrielle's hand stilled only momentarily before picking up another piece of cheese.

A muffled "very funny" was all the reply Xena got. That, and an icy, lid-lowered glare that indicated this was not the first time someone had teased her about her enormous appetite. "I can't help it if I require a lot of food after all we go through. I bet - if he had to eat, that is - that Ares could out-eat me any day with all the energy it must take to meddle in people's lives. I bet he'd have a big banquet every day, covered with every kind of meat, bread, and cheese you can imagine, piled high with?"

One corner of the warrior's mouth lifted slightly as Gabrielle painted the picture of Ares' buffet with her words. Every image was a possible story for Gabrielle, and - though it was hard to tell to look at her - Xena was glad this animated young woman had made it so impossible to leave her behind.

Just then, imperceptible to all but the warrior's ears, a small twig cracked as weight was applied to it. In an instant and without a sound, Xena was on her feet. The bard, catching a slight nod from Xena, continued her story as if the warrior were still sitting across the fire from her.

"Don't you have better things to do than to try to sneak up on people, Arcledes?" Xena sneered at the intruder as she appeared suddenly at his right shoulder. Arcledes jumped to the side in surprise, bumping into a tree and falling on the ground at Xena's feet.

"How did you know?! I was silent!" Arcledes complained, getting up and brushing off the leaves and dirt.

"You were, but that twig wasn't," Xena replied dryly. "What do you want?"

By this time, Gabrielle had stopped her story and now stood beside Xena at the edge of their camp. The look of impatience on Xena's face told the bard that, while this was no enemy, Xena was not pleased with the intrusion or the intruder.

"Can't a guy just -" Arcledes started, but the sudden furrow in Xena's brow and slight arch of her eyebrow told him to drop the pretense. "Alright, alright. I was trying to avoid some people from the town over the next ridge, and I thought I might be able to hide out near you for a while."

Gabrielle stood watching the young man and his interaction with her friend. She knew by now not to interrupt when Xena was sizing up a situation and that most of her questions would get answered if she just watched and listened. But she was dying to know who would be so presumptuous as to hope to tag along with the Warrior Princess. Besides a certain bard from Potedia, of course.

After a long pause, Xena responded to the man. "Arcledes, I've told you this before: your father was one of my best generals. I've known you from moments after you were born. But that doesn't mean that I want to babysit you or bail you out of trouble. When you make your mess, you must clean it up for yourself."

"I know, I know." The young man said, shaking his head. "How 'bout I just sit with you for a while, maybe share a little of that dinner? And who's your friend?" Arcledes, noticing Gabrielle for the first time, smiled as he looked over at her.

Xena's scowl quickly returned. "That's Gabrielle. She's a bard who travels with me. Join us if you like, but you can't stay long. I don't want to deal with any angry villagers tonight."

"What Xena means to say is 'Welcome to our camp. Please sit with us for a while and share some dinner,'" Gabrielle said while looking quizzically at Xena. The warrior had never been known for her party etiquette, but it seemed she was being especially brusque to this young man.

The three of them walked the short distance to the fire. Xena was silent, but Gabrielle immediately started asking the man questions about himself. "Where are you from? Why are villagers after you? Did you steal something? Or maybe fall in love with the wrong girl? Or maybe-"

"That's enough, Gabrielle. Let the man eat," Xena said, a little too gruffly. She hadn't meant it to come out that way, but something about the situation was trying her patience. She decided to sit to the side, sharpen her sword, and stay out of the way of any conversation that may occur until she could figure out what was bugging her. Gabrielle looked over at Xena with a bewildered expression. Something was obviously bothering her friend about this situation.

"Well," Arcledes started while picking up a piece of the bread and a slice of cheese, "to answer your questions: My father and mother are from Thrace, but I grew up all over the place. My dad was a general in Xena's army-" he looked to Xena to see if he was saying too much. Seeing no reaction, he continued. "-and I went wherever he did. My mother died giving birth to me, so I became sort of the camp orphan, and some of the serving women sort of adopted me. After my dad left the army, we tried to settle in a couple of different small towns, but eventually someone would always recognize him, and we'd have to move on. It seemed like all my dad wanted to do was become a farmer in a small town, but that never happened. In the last town we moved to, when I was about sixteen summers old, a group of farmers who knew of my dad took him from our house during the night when we were asleep. I never saw him again."

"Oh gods. I'm sorry," Gabrielle softly said. She reached over and gently squeezed his hand, to which Arcledes suddenly looked up with a smile. For a moment, he looked directly into her eyes and was immediately locked in her gaze. The clang of Xena's sword against the rock she was propping the blade against reminded him that there was someone else present. He quickly pulled his hand away and looked at the ground.

After a moment, he looked back at Gabrielle and said, "The villagers are after me because they think I stole their grain fund."

"Why would they think that?" Gabrielle asked.

"Because he did." Xena stated matter-of-factly, without even pausing in the fluid strokes of the stone against her blade.

Gabrielle looked over at Xena, momentarily confused by the warriors comment. Finally, she looked back at Arcledes and asked, "Did you?"

For the first time in as long as he could remember, Arcledes wished he could have been the one chasing the thief instead of the thief himself. But wishing doesn't change facts. All he could do was bow his head and say "Yes."

"Oh."

It was only one word. Not even a big word, but Arcledes felt his heart sink with the impact of it. Somehow he knew right then that what he had done was wrong. Something in the tone of her voice, the audible deflation in that word, told him that he had disappointed her. It didn't make any sense - he had just met this girl only moments before, and yet realizing that he had disappointed her almost broke his heart.

"I-I can return it," he stammered out. "I haven't spent it. I could take it back to them, and they would stop chasing me, right?" He looked at Gabrielle so hopefully, like a sinner waiting to be redeemed by a goddess.

The stone in Xena's hand stopped moving over the blade at these words. She had never heard Arcledes say words like these before. Not in the three summers that had passed since his father died. Something was happening, and the warrior wasn't sure what that something was.

"I would need your help, of course," the sudden penitent continued. "If I were to go back there alone, they would put a sword in me before I had the chance to explain. If I went back there, would you help me?" At this Arcledes picked up Gabrielle's hand and held it in his own, his eyes pleading with her to help him and forgive him his transgression.

Xena cleared her throat., at which both the bard and Arcledes looked in her direction. "I think you're going to need more than a bard if you want to keep the villagers' swords out of your side," she pointed out.

"I'm not just a bard anymore, Xena!" Gabrielle said with so much force that it made Xena blink. "I've been fighting alongside the 'Warrior Princess' for the last whole change of the seasons, or hadn't you noticed?"

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to cause a problem," Arcledes said, realizing the tension between the women.

Xena glared at him. "That's just it, Arcledes: you never mean to cause problems, yet somehow you always end up in the middle of them. If you want to right your wrong, we will help you, but this is the end of it. I'm not pulling you out of any more trouble."

"Oh, thank you, Xena!" the young man responded enthusiastically. "You won't regret it!"

Somehow, I always do, thought Xena. But once Gabrielle sets herself on a cause, there's no stopping her.

"Fine, Arcledes," was all she said in response. "We all need to get some rest if we're going to deal with an angry village tomorrow. I'm going to see to Argo and check the camp to make sure there's no one snooping around."

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As Xena walked over to the gold-colored horse grazing by a stand of trees, she felt uneasy, unsure of the situation. Frustrated that she had been unable to figure out what was bothering he so much, she picked up her brush and started running it through the mare's thick hair. She was always a little annoyed when Arcledes came to her with his messes, but nothing like this. She knew it had something to do with the way he and Gabrielle seemed to bond so easily, talking freely about difficult topics. Xena never found words that easily.

There was so much she wanted Gabrielle to know, yet she was unable to share it with her. It wasn't just that she didn't have Gabrielle's bardic skills; there was something stopping Xena from telling Gabrielle everything. Something in her wanted to shield Gabrielle from the pain, to protect her from the warrior's demons,. Maybe it was fear. Maybe she couldn't tell Gabrielle everything because she was afraid she would lose her. If she really knew who I was, what I was capable of, she would be horrified, Xena thought. Then I'd lose her forever.

That was the thought that always sealed her lips. Though she had started as an annoyance that Xena had to endure, Gabrielle had grown to be so much to the lonely warrior. She believed in her when everyone else called her a murderer and a demon. And that was what Xena couldn't do without. She knew she could never bear to see that disappointment in the bard's eyes.

I see why Arcledes changed his tune so quickly, Xena suddenly realized. I don't know what I would do if she ever looked at me like that. Just the thought of it made Xena shake her head to clear it. She immediately busied herself with her task and checked to make sure they would be left alone for the night. Once she was satisfied that Arcledes had hidden his tracks well enough, Xena returned to the camp.

Once she got there, she stopped at the edge of the trees, still hidden in the shadow. What made her stop was not danger - not danger of the physical kind, at least - but the scene she saw before her. Gabrielle was sitting against a log, telling a story to the rapt Arcledes, who was laying on the ground before her, head propped up by his hand. Something in the look on his face hit Xena like an arrow. Then she realized what was wrong, what had been bugging her since the young man arrived: she was jealous.

She saw, in the eyes of Arcledes, the same longing for acceptance, the same amazement, the same devotion that she felt for Gabrielle - yet another one of the many things that Xena was unable to express to her young friend. She was too scared of losing the one good thing in her life that she refused to admit, even to herself, how much she loved her. She could never tell Gabrielle, because giving voice to it would make it real. Then it would hurt so much more when she inevitably left.

And Xena knew she would leave. How could she stay? Eventually, she would find out exactly what a monster I had been and leave, she thought. She had to be ready for that day - not depend too much on the young woman who had so completely change her life. She wouldn't allow herself to admit that she'd already lost the battle, that she needed the bard. She continued to pretend, even to herself, that she didn't need her.

But what struck her about the scene in front of her is how easy it was for this young man to ask Gabrielle for her help. How clearly he showed his feelings in the way he was looking at her. How freely he allowed himself to feel for the beautiful young woman in front of him. It was this that turned Xena's insides to fire.

"Everything's clear. We should sleep," she interrupted Gabrielle mid-sentence. Gabrielle just stopped as if she'd been struck, dazed at being pulled back from the fantasy of her story into the reality of the moment so abruptly. She looked over at Xena for an explanation, but the warrior had already started taking off her weapons and armor, back turned towards the bard and her new friend.

"I guess Xena's right. I have an extra blanket you can use," Gabrielle offered, still confused by what had just happened.

"Ok, but you're going to have to tell me what happened to the centaur after he fell in love with the Amazon sometime soon," Arcledes said as he got up and moved to help Gabrielle get the blanket from the saddlebag.

By the time Arcledes was settled, Xena had banked the coals and was already under her blankets on the other side of the fire. Gabrielle walked over to her and crouched beside the seemingly sleeping warrior.

"Xena," she questioned quietly. "Are you awake?"

Getting no response, the bard paused a moment more, looking at the face of her friend as if trying to read what was going on in her mind. Realizing the futility of the situation, Gabrielle rose and settled into her blankets a few feet away.

It was a rough night for all of the camp. Arcledes tossed and turned, wondering if his attraction to the bard had made him foolish. He could have been safely out of the area with pockets full of dinars by now. Instead, he was dreading the morning when he would face an angry mob who wanted his blood.

Gabrielle couldn't sleep because she was so worried about what was happening with Xena. She knew her friend well enough to know she was upset. But Xena was like a puzzle, and the pieces kept changing shape. Every time Gabrielle thought she had something figured out, something else would happen to completely confuse her. This time, Gabrielle couldn't see why this situation was upsetting her so much. What is it about Arcledes that makes Xena so upset? Gabrielle wondered. What could be bothering her so much? She knew enough to realize that it wasn't the young man himself, but something that he represented. Gabrielle just had to figure out what that something was.

Xena spent the night with her stomach in knots. It hit her like a blow when she saw Gabrielle and Arcledes together that night - she loved Gabrielle. The force of it felt like a weight on her chest. How could I have let this happen? she questioned herself. I didn't have a chance, did I? It hasn't been up to me in a long time. Xena realized that she had been unable to stop the flow of feelings she was having for Gabrielle. Unable to harden her heart. Unable to protect herself. Now, she didn't know what to do, how she was going to live without Gabrielle if (when, Xena thought) she left. She was scared.

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When the sun rose, no one in the camp cheerfully greeted the dawn. Gabrielle, who had fallen asleep only a short time before, was not even aware that the sun was on the rise. Arcledes, weary from a fitful night of worry and doubt, stretched as Apollo's first rays found his bedroll. Looking over to where Xena's blankets lay, Arcledes saw that the warrior was gone.

"Gabrielle," he stage-whispered to the sleeping form near him. "Gabrielle!"

"Hmm, huh?" was the sleepy reply.

"Gabrielle, where's Xena?" Arcledes asked.

"Right behind you," came the gruff response from over the young man's shoulder.

"Agh!" he yelled as he jumped to his feet, startled out of his warm blankets. "Stop doing that!"

The commotion roused Gabrielle from her fitful dreams, causing her to jump to her feet, staff at the ready.

"Nice response, Gabrielle, but we're not under attack," Xena smirked.

"Speak for yourself!" Arcledes argued, still trying to pull his heart out of his throat and calm his breathing.

Xena moved to the fire pit, laid the rabbit she had hunted next to the pit, and uncovered the hot coals that she had banked the night before. She threw on the tinder she had collected from the edge of camp and gently blew until the tiny sticks started burning. At this point, she laid on the larger sticks and repositioned the wood from the previous night's fire. In no time at all, a healthy fire was burning in the pit. Gabrielle, seeing the rabbit, immediately started gathering the necessary ingredients to make a hearty stew for their trip.

"Arcledes," Xena began once the fire was going, "when we go into town, you must do everything I tell you, without question and without hesitation. Do you understand?"

"Yes," Arcledes responded, suddenly aware of the gravity of what they were about to do.

"What's the plan, Xena?" Gabrielle asked, hoping to gain some insight into Xena's mind.

"We go in there, return the money, and try not to get killed," Xena flatly said.

"Ok," Gabrielle said slowly, "but I think we can come up with something a little more, um, creative than that. How about we tie Arcledes up as a prisoner so that the townspeople know we're trying to help them?"

"Hey! Wait a minute," the prisoner-to-be argued. "How am I supposed to protect myself if someone wants to stick a sword in my side if I'm all tied up?"

"You're just going to have to trust us, Arcledes," Xena said. "You came to us for help. You can do this on your own if you don't like our way?"

"No, no. Tie me up. Ok, what next, Gabrielle?"

Gabrielle spelled out the rest of plan. The whole thing would hinge on her ability to talk their way both in and (the hardest part) out of the village. The townspeople would want blood; it wouldn't be easy to convince them to forgive the thief who nearly robbed them of the ability to feed themselves.

"Let's go," Xena said, mounting her beautiful, golden horse in one graceful motion. The two other members of the party both paused, in awe of the vision in front of them. No matter how many times I see that, it will never cease to amaze me, thought Gabrielle. The picture of Xena atop Argo was larger than life. Leaning slightly forward in the saddle to look ahead through the trees, Xena was every bit the commander, even without an army behind her. When she turned to look back, all Gabrielle could do was smile.

Xena was surprised by that smile, expecting to see Gabrielle engaged in getting ready to leave. Instead, she saw the bard staring up at her in wonder, and in the instant their eyes locked, a smile appeared on her face as well. They stood there, timelessly, locked in an embrace with their eyes, unspoken words almost audible in the air between them. Then, just as suddenly, the veil went up over Xena's eyes, and she kicked Argo into a canter towards the city. A stunned Gabrielle could do nothing more than pick up her staff and follow at a jog.

Arcledes, seeing this exchange, knew that he had witnessed something very private. He hurried along behind Gabrielle, wondering it could mean - what could be unsaid between these two companions.

He didn't have much time to wonder about the situation, as they soon saw a group of villagers approaching, faces masked with menace.

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Xena galloped out to meet the now running townspeople. She raced towards them, somersaulting off of Argo and landing in their midst.

"Ay-yi-yi-yi-yi-yi!"

The villagers were dumbstruck. They hadn't expected this female warrior to run up on them, much less flip over their heads and land in the middle of them. It took a few heartbeats before anyone could react.

Xena used this pause to her advantage. She had sized up the crowd as she rode towards them and had determined who led this motley bunch. She grabbed the one that was obviously the leader and held her breast dagger to his neck. Once the stunned crowd began to realize what was happening, one of the larger villagers rushed at Xena from behind. A swift boot to the midsection doubled him over and dropped him to the ground.

"Before anyone else gets any bright ideas, you should be aware that I'm holding a blade to the neck of your leader," Xena threatened menacingly. "And don't touch the other two coming up the road - they're with me."

By this time, Gabrielle and Arcledes were approaching, and members of the crowd were starting to realize who the young man was. One man who split off from the group and made to grab Arcledes suddenly found himself on the ground with a splitting headache. Gabrielle straightened her stance and held her staff in front of her as a warning to anyone else who might have any other bright ideas about grabbing them. Arcledes, hands tied behind his back, stood stunned next to the petite redhead who had so effortlessly dropped a man nearly twice her size.

"This wasn't really the plan, Xena," Gabrielle admonished.

The name being said aloud had quite an effect on the crowd. Murmurs were heard as people discussed what this meant, whether she were a friend or a foe, a hero or a murderer.

"Plans change, Gabrielle," Xena said dryly to the bard. To everyone else there, she said "Now let's all walk back to town nice and peacefully. No one harms me or my companions or your leader gets the worst shaving cut ever."

Grumbling and resistant, the villagers eventually turned and started walking back towards the town. Argo trotted off to graze in a nearby pasture, Xena kept her knife firmly against the neck of her hostage, and Gabrielle and Arcledes followed slightly behind the mob, Gabrielle's staff ready for anyone who might change his mind and charge at the captured thief.

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Once inside the town square, Gabrielle began to work her magic. She cleared her throat and, using her best bardic voice, proceeded to tell the story of a young man, raised without a mother in an army camp, robbed of his father at a tender age, and left to find his own way to survive with no one to help him or care for him. She then pitched his theft as a momentary lapse in judgement, the mistake of someone who needed to eat but was never taught to feed himself. She spoke of his bravery in returning to the scene of the crime to right the wrong and be forgiven for his sins against the town.

By the end of her tale, there were very few faces left unchanged and even several damp eyes. A woman, who just moments before their arrival in town had been picking up stones to throw at the thief, offered to take in the wayward boy and have her husband teach him to be a blacksmith. Suddenly, a town that only moments ago wanted blood from Arcledes now wanted to adopt him. Arcledes beamed at his savior as the town leader, now free of Xena's iron grasp and with a thin red line on his neck, cut the cord that bound the young man's hands and pronounced him redeemed.

Because the return of their grain fund was cause for celebration, the town leader pronounced that there would be a festival that night in honor of those that returned the money. Xena was glad for her stoic warrior's mask that kept her from rolling her eyes, as she was not fond of large parties or praise. Instead, she impassively by Gabrielle and Arcledes as the town cheered their good luck, trying to think of ways to get out of being present for the festivities.

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Because the town now considered them heroes, Gabrielle and Xena were treated to a room in the best inn the town had to offer. Walking up to their room, Gabrielle was buzzing with excitement over the events of the day. Xena patiently smiled while Gabrielle talked rapidly about their bloodless victory without even seeming to pause for breath. Once they reached the top of the stairs, though, Xena's smile immediately faded.

"Gabrielle!" Arcledes greeted joyfully from the door to his room halfway down the hall. He came running out to pick up the bard and spin her around. As they laughed in each other's arms, a dark cloud passed over Xena's eyes.

"I'll meet you later, Gabrielle. I need to take care of some things before the celebration tonight," Xena said quickly before turning on her heel and walking back down the stairs.

"What was that all about?" Arcledes asked the confused bard. One look at her face told him she didn't know either.

Arcledes put down the now much less joyful Gabrielle and asked her if she would join him for some lunch.

"No, I'm not hungry," she replied. Just then, however, her stomach decided to contradict her by issuing a low growl.

"Your stomach says otherwise! Come on, let's go downstairs and get some of that delicious smelling stew."

"I can't," Gabrielle argued. "I need to see what's going on with Xena. She been acting strange the past day, and I get the feeling she's upset about something. I think I need to get to the bottom of that before I can enjoy a meal."

"OK. Come find me when you get back. Maybe we can take a walk?"

"I will," Gabrielle agreed as she headed back down the stairs.

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After checking the town armory and another inn, Gabrielle finally found Xena at the stables. She had retrieved Argo from the edge of town and put her in a warm and dry stable for the night. Gabrielle paused at the barn door to watch the warrior pick up a pitchfork and bail hay into Argo's trough. Even after several years on the road together, the bard was still amaze at how gracefully Xena moved, how every motion looked like art. She was standing there watching when Xena sensed her presence.

"What do you want, Gabrielle?" Xena asked without turning around. She scooped up some more hay and dumped it into the trough.

Gabrielle snapped out of her stare and walked forward. "I came to see what was wrong, Xena. I feel like you're upset about something."

"It's nothing," replied the warrior, still not turning around. She put down the pitchfork and moved to brush the golden horse.

"Come on, Xena. I know you. I know when you're upset. Please talk to me about it."

"There's nothing to talk about. I'm not upset."

"Xena, please. Don't shut me out. Is it something about this town?"

No response.

"Is it something I did?

Still nothing.

"Is it Arcledes?"

Xena didn't respond, but the brush paused almost imperceptibly in its path across Argo's flank.

"Xena, what is it about Arcledes?"

The brush stopped moving, and the warrior sighed. Still without turning around, Xena asked "Do you love him?"

"WHAT?!" Gabrielle was so surprised by this question, she blinked at the warrior's back. "What are you talking about?"

"I see the way he looks at you and the way the two of you bonded almost immediately. You two are nearly the same age, and you're getting to an age where you should start wanting a life of your own. How long were you planning on traveling with me? Surely you'll soon be leaving to settle down, and Arcledes seems like he would be happy to have you stay with him?"

"Xena," Gabrielle said quietly. "Are you trying to get rid of me?"

Xena turned around at the hurt she heard in her friend's voice. "No, it's not that. It's just that - well - do you have feelings for Arcledes?

"He's a nice boy, Xena, but - other than compassion and friendship - no, I don't have feelings for Arcledes."

"Don't you want a home? Don't you ever wonder what your life would be like if you weren't on the road with me?"

"Yes, I do think about that," Gabrielle said. "I think about how I was going crazy in Potedia, knowing that I could never be happy as some farmer's wife. I think about how lucky I am that you rescued me. I think about how much I love traveling with you. I think about how I'm never far from home when I'm with you. You are my home, Xena. Wherever you go, that's where I belong."

Xena looked into Gabrielle's eyes for the first time since the conversation had begun. What she saw there took her breath away. So much devotion, so much trust, so much love. Xena quickly wrapped her arms around the bard and buried her face in the thick reddish-gold hair.

"Xena," Gabrielle said as she leaned back in the embrace, "is that what this was all about? Did you really think that I would leave you? Don't you know by now how much I love you?"

She put her hand against the warrior's cheek and saw Xena sigh and her eyes flutter with the rush of feelings she was experiencing. Like a wave, realization flooded over Gabrielle. Suddenly, she saw everything that Xena had tried so hard to hide. She saw the need to be loved, the fear of being left alone, the desire to hold her forever. And she saw the love. Not the love that Gabrielle had expected - love like for a sister or a friend or even a partner - but true love. Xena was in love with her.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Gabrielle breathed. "Why did you hide it from me?"

Xena's eyes flew open and she stumbled back a step as if she'd been hit. "What are you talking about, Gabrielle?"

"This," the bard said as she walked towards the retreating warrior. Xena had backed up against the wall and was looking left and right for an exit when Gabrielle places her hands on either side of her face. Gently, Gabrielle stroked her cheek with her thumb, locking her eyes as she leaned in, standing on her tiptoes. Xena stood motionless as she watched the bard's lips approach her own desperate for them to touch and yet desperately afraid of what would happen when they did. Then, before Xena could stop it, it happened. Gabrielle's lips brushed against Xena's and the dam broke. The warrior moaned as her arms came up to encircle the bard's small waist and her held tilted down to lean into the kiss. Gabrielle's arms moved around Xena's neck, and the kiss deepened. Xena's tongue pushed gently against the bard's soft lips, asking for entry. Gabrielle sighed as she parted her lips. She suddenly felt like she was going to fall, or like she was already falling, tumbling blindly through the blissful sensations that Xena's tongue was creating. Finally, after an eternity that was all too short, they parted to catch their breath.

Xena brought her hand to the face of her beloved bard, looking at her friend with the eyes of someone who had just arrived in the Elysian Fields. She couldn't believe that she was so lucky, that someone so incredible could love her like this. She never thought she would ever feel this good.

"I love you, Gabrielle. I don't know when it started. I just know I can't live without you."

"I love you, too, Xena. I've loved you since the minute I first saw you, but I thought you would never see me as anything more than an annoying tag-a-long. I never believed you could love me in return."

"How could I not?!" was Xena's bewildered reply. "You are my light, Gabrielle."

Then Xena leaned in for another kiss, this time slowly exploring the bard's mouth with her tongue. Her hands twisted in the reddish-gold hair, and she inhaled the scent of the woman she loved. When Gabrielle moaned, Xena knew that her passion for this woman was about to break, so she pulled back from the kiss.

"Why did you stop?" Gabrielle asked breathlessly.

"Because I?I don't want to take this too fast for you," Xena stammered, passion shining plainly in her eyes.

"I want you Xena. After three years, you've finally kissed me. I don't think I would call that fast," she joked.

Xena smiled and hung her head a little, unsure of what this meant. Gabrielle erased all doubt of her message when she took Xena's hand and led her to a back corner of the stable. There she laid down on a pile of hay, pulling the willing warrior on top of her. She groaned as their bodies came into contact, the cold bronze of Xena's breastplate touching exposed parts of Gabrielle's skin. Their lips were touching again before they had fully laid down. Xena's hands were caressing the bard's sides, trying to memorize the feel of every inch of her body. When the side of her hand brushed her breast, the bard tilted her head back and moaned with pleasure. Seeing this reaction, Xena removed her hand and placed kissed down Gabrielle's neck, tracing the line of her top.

While Xena was occupied with covering the skin of Gabrielle's neck and chest with kisses, the bard started to unhook her armor. Amazing how easy this is to get off in the evening by the fire, but how damn complicated these hooks and laces are today! thought the bard. Finally free of the offending armor, Gabrielle's hands roamed across the leather battledress, feeling the strength of the muscles underneath.

Before long, Xena an Gabrielle were lying naked in each other's arms, the strength of their long-suppressed passion finally spent. The setting sun found its way through the open barn door, which reminded the lovers how public their current location was and how their passion had superceded their reason. Blushing, Gabrielle started to gather her hastily-flung garments to her in preparation of redressing. Xena, however, had other plans. She pulled the bard under the thick pile of straw that had been their bed, and the sounds that came from under that straw had the horses lifting their heads in confusion.

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By the time the warrior and bard finally returned to the inn, smiles firmly in place, the party in their honor was in full swing. Having been unable to locate the other heroes, Arcledes' presence was enough excuse for the town to commence the festivities. As they entered the room, the two were greeted by a quizzical look from the young man they had just helped. Arcledes separated himself from the circling dancers and joined the warrior and the bard at the inn door.

"What took you two so long?" he asked, handing each of them a full mug of ale. "The party started before the sun set!"

"We were?um?talking," Gabrielle stammered, her face blushing slightly.

Arcledes took this in with a nod and wouldn't have thought twice about the response, when he noticed a piece of hay sticking out of Gabrielle's hair.

"Talking, eh?" he said as he removed the telling stalk. Noticing a matching one stuck in the warrior's greaves, he leered at Xena, "I hope it was a good conversation?"

At this point, Xena gave her best warrior glare which withered the leering young man. He dropped the hay in his hand and backed away. "Ok, ok, I get it. My lips are sealed. I suppose this means we won't be taking that walk then, Gabrielle?" he smiled at the now furiously blushing bard. He then jumped back into the circle of dancers, finding himself quickly occupied with advances from a couple of not-so-coy village girls.

"It looks like Arcledes is rapidly getting over his crush on you, Gabrielle," Xena snorted as she watched the young man enjoy the attentions of his new fans.

"Just so long as you don't," Gabrielle replied as she reached over and grasped the warrior's hand.

"Not a chance, Gabrielle," Xena said firmly as she looked into the eyes of the woman who had stolen her heart. "Not a chance."

The end.