of this fan fiction. This story cannot be sold or used for profit in any way. Copies of this story may be made for private use only and must include all disclaimers and copyright notices.

Love/Sex Warning Disclaimer: This story graphically depicts a love/sexual relationship between two consenting adult women. If you are under 18 years of age or if this type of story is illegal where you live, please do not read it.

I also borrowed the words of the song in this story, it is by the lovely lady Jewell and is called abscence of fear. No copyright enfringement is intended. This is just for fun, I ain't making any money off it....so hopefully the copyright police won't haul me off to jail!

Comments can be sent to Gaiagal@prodigy.net

The raven haired woman stood atop a ragged outcropping of rock watching the black waves of the Aegean Sea lap hungrily against the shoreline. The frothy caps of the surging waves mirrored the seething emotion running rampant through her heart. The constant aching pain in her soul the only thing reminding her she still lived, still breathed.

She recalled the scene by the campfire. The agitated pacing of the frustrated Bard. The young woman waiting impatiently for the stoic warrior to answer her questions. Why hadn't she just told Gabrielle what was on her mind. The real reason she had been so distracted lately. The reason she had refused to take the young woman along with her, once again. This time to answer the pleas for help from the sea side villages of Olynthus and Torone.....but the words she so dearly had need of continued to elude her grasp. Fear that Gabrielle might discover she had fallen hopelessly in love with her froze her heart and stilled her tongue. It seemed to be a no win situation. She would lose the Bard if she continued to leave her behind out of harm's way, and Xena also had no doubt, she would lose her Gabrielle if the young woman knew how much she longed to take her in her arms and make love to her. The Warrior needed the Bard in her life even if it would never be as more than a friend.

She couldn't possibly tell the Bard how she had come to love her, to need her, to crave the sight of her beautiful face. How she could not fall asleep at night without the comfort of the Bard's steady breathing to caress her aching soul. Xena couldn't stand the thought of losing the woman she had grown to love so much in every way. The constant fear of seeing the life drain from her Love's body. The agony of having to watch the light fade from those vibrant green eyes so filled with gentleness, so full of passion and hope. She'd almost lost her young companion to Hades once before and the Warrior knew she would never survive the loss of her Gabrielle again.

Instead of revealing her true thoughts to the Bard, she struck out in self-defense, as panic clouded her mind. She spoke without thinking, telling Gabrielle she had left her behind for her own good. In order to protect her from the wrath of the savage Scythian marauders who had been ravaging the sea coast, pillaging, and burning everything in their path. These were no ordinary bandits, after all, they left the Mongol hordes trembling in their boots! She told the bard, with a contemptuous sneer, how her constant hypothesizing and analyzing of and about every little detail distracted her from the battle at hand. Leaving them both more vulnerable to attack and possible injury. That the small Amazon's hesitancy to kill or strike quickly and decisively in battle would not only have gotten her maimed or killed, it may even have destroyed them both. The words sounded petty, cruel, and hollow from the moment they started to pour forth from the blue eyed woman's lips, but she couldn't hold them back.

She listened with growing horror as she watched every word she spoke strike the woman she loved like a slap in the face. The look of pain and dismay growing in Gabrielle's tear filled emerald eyes finally stopped the Warrior's mindless tirade. She turned sharply away from the sight of the Bard's crestfallen face and wrapped her arms around herself for warmth as a cold chill traveled up her spine. The sudden silence felt almost deadly.

"Xena", placing her hands on her hips, the Bard said, with ill concealed displeasure, "I thought we had gotten past all this." "After Illusia and everything else we've been through. I thought you trusted me, believed in me, had realized I was no longer a child in need of your constant protection...." The Bard began to pace back and forth waving her hands dramatically in the air. Pushed past the point of reason the young woman finally exploded, " I AM THE QUEEN OF THE AMAZONS!!! THE CHOSEN OF THE GODDESS ARTEMIS!!!" " I AM NO LONGER AN INNOCENT LITTLE GIRL, XENA, AND I CAN NO LONGER LIVE LIKE THIS!!!!!" The Bard took a calming breath and spoke again, " Without your trust, without your faith in our relationship, our partnership..........", Gabrielle sighed in defeat, as she distractedly ran her fingers through her hair, "Aren't you going to say, ANYTHING???" "No, of course not!" the Bard spat with contempt, "It isn't necessary anyway, Xena." "Your silence speaks volumes......" Grabbing her staff and satchel the furious Bard stomped off into the gathering gloom.

Xena's mouth opened and closed...her fists clenched tight. No words would come to her and she couldn't breathe. It felt as if someone had just thrust a red hot dagger into her chest. The Warrior felt the rage bubbling to the surface and a red haze began to cloud her vision. She was torn between prostrating herself at the Bard's feet and begging for forgiveness and throwing the young woman over her knee and teaching her to have some respect for the great Conqueror of Nations. In the end, the once fearsome warlord, simply turned and fled into the surrounding forest, running as if the hounds of Hades were snapping viciously at her heels. Trying desperately to outdistance the raging emotions warring for control in her heart and mind Xena ran faster and faster.

When she returned to the clearing, Gabrielle was still gone. The fire mere ashes, cold as the ice that now ran through the Dark One's veins. She couldn't quite comprehend the fact that the Bard had not returned. The Warrior wandered aimlessly back through the woods to end up on the barren beach. She raised her arms to the sky and screamed into the wind until her throat was raw, until her bosom heaved from lack of a proper breath. Then she fell to her knees and sobbed.

There was nothing now. Nothing but emptiness, the hollow feeling in her chest. Never had the future held such darkness, such pain....... Feeling much as she had when Gabrielle died before, when Solan was torn from her life. When she had drug her best friend, her heart and soul, her guiding light from the amazon village behind her mount. After everything she and Gabrielle had been through it still came to this end...Xena stood alone again, wrapped up in her own personal darkness, her own personal hell.........She opened her mouth to rage once more at the fates, at the darkness in her soul, that held her back from the light, from the joy, from the love that was Gabrielle.

Gabrielle had not gone far from the camp site when she was overcome with sorrow. She found a hollow within the base of a sacred oak tree and curled herself inside. She was unaware of Artemis's soothing touch. The whispers of the goddess that compelled her to end her headlong flight, to halt way too soon to elude the Warrior's grasp, and wait.....Wracked by gut wrenching sobs she cried herself to sleep.

"Aphrodite", begged a desperate Artemis. "Please....give the Warrior the words to reach Gabrielle.....Bless her with a song of love to ease the despair in my queen's heart." "I beg of you, my sister, you are their last and only hope....." "Very well, dear Artemis, I will grant you this one favor, no more. The Warrior and your Chosen must find their own way from now on, without my interference. I will not intervene again. Not even for the sake of love." "So be it." spoke Artemis.

"GABRIELLE!!!!!" the grief addled Warrior wailed heart brokenly into the night.....hear me my love.....This is my song. I sing of my love for you. I sing of the death of my soul, for without your love, I have no life. If only I had found the words to speak my inner most desires to you before it was too late........

The golden haired Bard awoke with a start. She thought she had heard a scream tearing through the night. A soul locked in utter torment and despair. "Xena!", Gabrielle gasped. "Oh! No!" "What have I done?!" "Oh, Gods, No!" The young Queen leapt to her feet and began to race through the trees, ignoring the branches which tore ruthlessly at her skin and clothes. The Bard stumbled over an exposed tree root and crashed to her knees gasping for breath. A deafening silence filled the air. "Oh! No!" Gabrielle moaned again. "Oh Xena, Please...No" she begged of any gods who listened, "let her be all right, let me get to her in time, before it's too late."

Then, the most amazing sound reached Gabrielle's ears. It was ethereal, surreal, as if sung by the sirens themselves. Her eyes widened in surprise as she listened becoming mesmerized by its simple heart felt beauty. It was then she finally realized....it was her Warrior who sang, her dark love, and she called across space and time to her Bard's heart, with words stolen from the hidden depths of her own ravaged soul, by sweet, blessed Aphrodite.

She sang for the woman she loved more than life, her soul mate, her other half, the one who completed her and made her whole. She sang for Gabrielle..............

As the haunting melody died away on the wind, the Warrior Princess drew her sword and thrust it toward the sky. "ARES , YOU BASTARD! YOU WANT MY SOUL, COME AND TAKE IT!" "RIP IT FROM MY CHEST AND CRUSH IT IN YOUR HANDS....I NO LONGER HAVE NEED OF IT! YOU HAVE WON!!!" "ARES, SET ME FREE! FULFILL MY DESTINY!" "DAMN, MY SOUL TO TARTARUS!!! The Warrior called the god of war, not to a reunion, but to a fight to the death. The strong woman's shoulders sagged, and she rasped hoarsely, "It would be a blessed release....."

A firm hand fell on a leather clad shoulder. Xena spun quickly raising her sword for a killing stroke. She froze, her face a mask of confusion. Expecting the surly sneer of the god of war. She, instead, found herself staring into deep green eyes. Eyes filled with love, with joy, with understanding..... "Gabrielle?" "How did you?...I thought you were.....gone....." Xena's voice trailed away in disbelief.

"Oh, Xena!, That was so beautiful!" the Bard said in a breathless whisper. "I, can see everything so clearly now." "All I ever had to do was open my eyes and truly see." "All the answers I wanted, I thought I needed to hear from your lips, were always there. Right before my eyes." " The way you smiled at me, and always came back for me no matter what." "The way you looked at me, said my name. The way I would wake in the night and feel you stroking my hair as you thought I slept." "You told me every day, in every way, how much you loved me." "I am so very sorry, can you ever forgive, me?" "Is it too late to say, I love you?" "Gabrielle, no...I...I...tried so hard to tell you, to say the words I knew you needed to hear...but I couldn't..." "I'm so sorry...I...I...I love you, too." Xena looked down at the ground. Afraid to move, afraid it was all a dream. "Xena. Look at me." Dark azure pools met warm, welcoming green. "Take my hand, Xena, and come with me." "We're going home."

"Where are we going, Gabrielle?" "We're going home, Xena, we're going home." "I don't understand." "Trust me, Xena, I love you." The Warrior's battle hardened palm grasped the Bard's small hand, with complete trust, and the two women walked back to the clearing together.

Without a need for words, Xena started the fire again and Gabrielle laid out the bed rolls, side by side this time. The Amazon Queen stopped about an arm's length from the Dark Warrior and gazed up into puzzled blue eyes. "You said we were going home, Gabrielle." Gabrielle took Xena's right hand and placed it over her own heart. Then she took her right hand and placed it over the Warrior's heart. "We're already here, Xena, my love." "Wherever we are, as long as we're together, we will always be home."

Gabrielle lifted her arms to encircle Xena's neck and pulled the raven head down until their lips met in a kiss. At first the kiss was gentle, their lips barely brushing. Then Gabrielle's tongue reached out to shyly trace their way around Xena's lips. The Warrior shuddered and crushed the smaller woman against her chest with powerful arms. She claimed the Bard's mouth with a fierce passion fired by long restrained desire. Gabrielle moaned into Xena's mouth and then sank into the Warrior's embrace in sweet surrender. Tears of joy and wonder ran down Gabrielle's face unchecked.

Xena broke their kiss and leaned back to wipe her lover's tears away with gentle fingers. She then drew the Bard to her and held her gently. She had almost forgotten how innocent her Bard was to the ways of physical love. Gabrielle could hear Xena's heart beating erratically, beneath her ear, as the Warrior cradled her head protectively against her leather sheathed bosom. Each woman reveled in the feel, the warmth, of the other's body. The love they shared enveloped them in a soft, safe, haven, until they felt like the only two people in the world. All other things were forgotten, except for each other, and the slow, steady, waves of passion, which rose up, to wash over them with increasing power and urgency.

In silent agreement, the golden Bard and the Dark Warrior moved apart and began to disrobe. Each with her own eyes fastened ravenously upon the beauty of the other's naked form. They drank in the site of one another greedily as if long dying from thirst.

The lover's moved together again. Gabrielle stood on her toes locking her arms, once again, around the Warrior's neck. Xena placed her strong hands on the younger woman's hips, holding the trembling Bard steady as she slowly and tenderly began to explore Gabrielle's mouth with a gentle but insistent pressure. Sighing happily, Gabrielle parted her lips and met Xena's questing tongue with her own curious advance. The lovers tasted each other, thoroughly and deeply, feasting on the growing fires of their love.

Xena's hands began to roam over Gabrielle's body, caressing and exploring, every curve, every dip, every valley.....as if trying to commit every inch of the soft, silky skin of her heart's desire to memory. Pulling her precious one closer, the Warrior Princess began a slow torturous journey from Gabrielle's ear lobe, down to her neck, then to the pulse at the base of her throat. Stopping to nibble and nip at the salty skin along the way. Gabrielle threw back her head, her eyes closing to slits, inviting her warrior to proceed unhindered. Wrapping an arm around the smaller woman's waist, Xena trailed her fingers lightly up the Bard's left side and began to stroke her breast, in soft, languid arcs, finally grasping the firm flesh in the palm of her hand and rubbing the straining nipple firmly with a callused thumb in tight circles.

"Oh!" the Bard exclaimed, her breath leaving in a rush. The golden head fell forward onto the Warrior's strong shoulder. Xena let out a sultry chuckle that rumbled through her chest, and ended up as a growl of pure animal desire on her lips. Xena then brought up the hand still supporting her lover to pleasure Gabrielle's other breast, leaving the Bard to stand alone on suddenly weak and trembling legs. Xena leaned her head down to take the first nipple into her mouth, sucking gently, while swirling her tongue around the hardened nub of flesh.

The Bard arched into her Dark Love, and began to pant, forgetting momentarily how to breathe, as the onslaught of sensation gathered in her taut abdomen and settled with a rush, into her overheated core. Gabrielle realized she would not be able to remain upright much longer....."Xena???", Gabrielle whimpered, in a pleading tone...... Sensing her young lover's dilemma, the seasoned Warrior swept the little Bard into her arms and cradling her gently, carried her precious bundle to their bed roll. The two women slid fluidly to the ground and melted together by the fire side. Looking lovingly into each other's eyes, they pressed as closely together as possible, trying to mold themselves into one living, pulsing, throbbing, being.

With their eyes still locked together, Xena moved slowly, so not to startle her inexperienced partner. She stretched out along the Bard's side with a feral grace and placed her hand on Gabrielle's legs pushing them gently apart. Then she took her fingers and sensuously parting the Bard's nether lips slipped two fingers inside the hot, wet, tightness of Gabrielle....The Bard moaned....."Xena...Please...I never.....I'm afraid....." She softly sobbed. "I feel so overwhelmed, all these emotions....I've never felt this way before....." "I love you, so much, what if....if...I can't please you....." Removing her fingers gently from their snug nest, Xena pulled Gabrielle's head against her shoulder and held her close. "It's OK." She soothed in a low voice, "I've got you, my love, it's OK." "Gabrielle, I love you, I.....you're...you're so beautiful.....I...." "Here, Let me show you how much you please me....." Xena took Gabrielle's trembling hand in her own and placed it upon her dark mound. She eased her lover's fingers between her lips and pressed herself firmly up against Gabrielle's hand. "Oh, Xena!" the Bard gasped, you're so wet, and hot inside. "I made this happen???" "OH, yeah, Gabrielle" Xena crooned in a sexy drawl. "You most definitely are responsible for my current state of.....arousal" Gabrielle brought her hand up to her mouth and slowly licked the juices from her own fingers. Then she leaned over and took each of Xena's fingers in her mouth one at a time, sucking, licking and nibbling each digit until it was thoroughly cleaned. Xena could take no more, she pushed her lover back against the blanket, placing her strong left arm under Gabrielle's shoulder and continuing to cradle her head gently. The Warrior wanted to be able to look deeply in those beautiful green eyes as they grew wide in wonder at all the new sensations tearing through the Bard's body. Xena's fingers crept back to the now squirming Bard's lush, swollen, lips and she paused with her fingers poised just inside Gabrielle's warm, wet, cave. The Bard groaned again, this time in need, and Xena plunged in with abandon. Xena's thumb soon joined the assault on Gabrielle's sanity and began to rub firmly against her lover's swollen clit, causing Gabrielle to jerk and moan against her chest, at the sweet, sweet torture she was enduring. "OOOOhhh!!! Sweet, Aphrodite!!!!!" the Bard gasped. Xena smiled and then slowly eased her own, wet, throbbing center against the place where Gabrielle's firm thigh and soft mound came together and slowly began to rock, matching the pace of her increasingly aroused lover's hips. The little blonde's arms locked around the Warrior like a vise and her nails carved half moons into the dusky skin of Xena's well muscled back. The sweet pain quickened the Warrior's pace, as she thrust more forcefully against the writhing body beneath her. Every powerful lunge pressed Xena's fingers more deeply into the Bard's aching womb. Gabrielle's legs wrapped themselves around her Dark haired lover's straining thighs and clamped down tightly with all their strength. Pulling her lover's wildly bucking hips more firmly against her own. The pace of their love making became frantic, desperate, as they climbed to the ultimate heights of physical pleasure and beyond together. Two bodies, one heart, one soul, entwined together in a dance of primal ecstasy. Suddenly, Gabrielle lifted her head and bit fiercely into Xena's sweat slick shoulder, suckling forcefully on the tender skin. Time stood still for a long moment, and then Xena roared out Gabrielle's name with mindless abandon, as waves of blessed release crashed over her body, sending her plummeting back towards earth in a breathless rush. At the same moment in time Gabrielle screamed out in the throws of passion's delirium..... "Xeennaaaa!!! Oh Gods!!! Xeennaaaa!!!!...........feeling as though she had exploded into a million pieces of white, hot, dazzling light. The lover's clung together, trembling and gasping in a sea of stormy emotions, totally exhausted and spent, the aftershocks of pleasure continuing to ripple through their bodies as their tears of joy ran together. They remained entwined together, holding each other tenderly now, as the last echoes of their pleasure died away into the night.

After many silent moments, Xena rolled onto her back and gathered the limp, totally sated, Bard into her arms. Xena sighed, totally contented but surprised at her young lover's silence. Surely they had died and gone to the Elysian Fields. It seemed impossible that two mere mortals could find such ecstasy, such joy, in simply loving one another. Xena drifted close to the arms of Morpheus..........

"Xena" "Yes, Gabrielle", she purred. "I never knew.....I never dreamed.....It could be so.....wonderful." "Words just are not enough to express how I feel....I...." the little Blonde gurgled on happily. AH!, the Bard had finally found her tongue. "Shhh...", Xena whispered, pulling her love closer. "I know...I understand...and, Gabrielle?" "Yes, Xena?" "I love you." "I love you, too, Xena." Curling herself around her Warrior, the Bard closed her eyes and mumbled dreamily, "It's so good to finally be home." Xena smiled and kissed her sweet lover's silky tresses, inhaling her scent deeply, loving it. "Yes.", the Warrior whispered softly, "It is...and we've only just begun, my little one, we've only just begun to welcome each other home....." and then Xena fell asleep, with a wicked chuckle on her lips, and a sensuous grin spread ,from ear to ear, across her face.....