Subtext: That's always a, yes.

Copyright: I don't own X&G but I own the story line. And as far as the other characters go, they own themselves. <laugh>

Dedication: This story is for Murphy. The one person that can not stand a tease, especially from me. Murphy, see, I did write a complete story for you in less than four days. Don't ever ask for me to do it again! <laugh> I am exhausted! So enjoy this one, girl, its for you.

Started: January 10^th 2001, Wednesday

Series: Other

MomBard strolls in the direction of Murphy's hut after getting the email about the mixed up scrolls from Murphy. In her right hand is the second section to Becoming One Forever. She knocks on Murphy's door.

Murphy instantly opens it up. "Did you bring it?" she inquires.

MomBard held up the scroll and waved it at the tall woman.

Murphy holds out her hand. "Please, MomBard."

The smaller bard grins while taking a step back. "I want something in return," she taunts.

The tall bard droops her shoulders. "MmmomBard, plllease give me the scroll." She gives a pout.

MomBard snickers evilly and waves the scroll again. "If you get me the second section to How I met a Cow Girl then mmmaybe I'll give you this scroll." She grins devilishly.

Murphy sighs dramatically and rolls her eyes. "Go ask Red for it."

"Oh no." MomBard chuckles and shakes her head. "I won't be caught dead in her hut while she's writing." She wags the scroll. "She's been disturbed too many times. She has one mmmean temper too."

The tall bard groans, closes her eyes, and breathes calmly. "You want the second section?"

"Uh huh." MomBard chuckles. "Desperate times call for desperate measures… I should know." She giggles to herself.

"I'm desperate… that's it." Murphy closes her hut door and says, "Stay here." She breaks off into a run towards Red Hope's hut across the Village.

MomBard grins as she leans against Murphy's hut. "Red is bad," she murmurs, "glad she emailed me before Murph emailed me." She snickers evilly while lifting the scroll in her hand; she studies the top of the scroll. One thing noticeable about the scroll is that it looks fairly new- unused.

Murphy storms into Red Hope's hut without knocking. "Red?" she gasps. "I need the… second section to… to How I met a Cow Girl."

Red Hope drops her shoulders from being disturbed the third time today. "Murph," she growls without looking at her friend. "I was just… just in the middle of a good scene."

The taller bard pouts, she comes over to her friend. "I'm sorry but I am getting desperate here," she practically yells. "Red," she whimpers. "Please… I gotta know what happens in the end of your story."

The tiny bard peeks up at her friend. "Can't you guess?" She raises an eyebrow.

"No… please, come on." Murphy shakes her head. "MomBard won't give me the scroll unless she gets the second section of the your cowgirl story," she explains hastily.

"Oooh I see…" Red Hope goes back to writing.

"Red," growls the older bard. "This is worse than an unfinished story."

The small bard laughs quietly and nods. "Alright, alright." She opens her drawer and pulls out the second section of How I met a Cow Girl. "Here you go."

"Thank you, Red." Murphy rapidly walks exits the hut and heads back to her own. She spots MomBard patiently waiting, she reveals the scroll when she comes up to the other woman.

MomBard chuckles. "Thanks, Murph."

The pair exchange scrolls, Murphy goes into her hut while MomBard briskly walks back towards her hut. On the way to her hut, she drops into Red Hope's hut. "Hey sweetie," she calls when she opens the door.

The tiny bard glances at her friend by the door. "Did you switch?"

"Uh huh." MomBard grins evilly. "She'll be here any moment, ramping and raving." She gives a small laugh.

Red Hope flashes her own wry grin. "Thanks, you were a huge help."

"No problem, sweetie." MomBard winks and leaves; knowing who is coming. She quickly disappears back to her hut.

Murphy sits down on her bed, unrolls the scroll slowly and studies the words. It read…

Hey Murph! Looking for the rest of Becoming One Forever? Guess what? Wrong scroll again! -Red Hope

She growls, sucks in a deep breath, races to her door and opens it. "Red!" she yells across the village.

Red Hope lifts her head and hears Murphy's yell. "Uh oh, I'm in for it now." She snickers lowly. She gets up from her chair with a scroll that has been tucked away in her top drawer, hiding. When she turns around with her hands behind her back, her door swings up from a strong force.

"Red," snarls Murphy as she stomps over frantically waving the scroll. "Where is the rest of the story?"

The tiny bard never falters her teasing grin. "Not too far away."

The larger bard stands directly in front of the smaller one. She takes the letter scroll and pokes it against Red Hope's chest. "You didn't finish it did you?" she accuses hotly.

"Awe, come on, Murph… I'm not that mean." The younger bard chuckles and brings her hands around with her scroll. "I said I finished the story, I don't lie."

Murphy sighs in completely relief. "You had me going." Again, she pokes her friend with the letter scroll. "You tease me too much."

Red Hope grins but softly. "You're ssso much fun to tease too." She points at her bed with the scroll. "Sit down, we'll finish it, promise."

The tall bard leans forward and places the letter scroll on her friend's desk. She nears the bed and flops down on it.

Red Hope unrolls her scroll while she strolls over to the bed. Getting up on her bed, she glances at the other woman. "Ready?"

"Oh my god, yes. Go please," commands the older bard.

The tiny bard smiles while her eyes focus on the words on her scroll.

"Xena and her partner had been traveling all day, in pure silence. Neither knew what to say or how to say it even if they knew what to say. They'd known each other more than five years and now they feared… only fear itself. They'd been fearing fear since they'd met.

The warrior squeezed her friend's hand; they hadn't released hands yet. "Want to stop for a break?" she questioned softly.

Gabrielle just nodded- she knew what kinda break this would be. A break from all around them.

The tall woman led her friend off the trail and to a log. She sat down on it and pulled her friend down. After her pack was off, she focused her attention on her companion.

The warrior-bard took her pack off, placed it on the ground, then she sat on the log; she faced her friend. She stared down at the forest floor because she couldn't make eye contact at this moment.

Xena examined her soul mate briefly then she reached forward with her freehand and tilted Gabrielle's head up. "We do… need to talk."

The younger warrior nodded and tried reminding herself that she was old enough, she could handle these things. "Alright," she whispered. She calmed down because this was her best friend; they'd been to Heaven and Hell and back again. First, she said, "I'm sorry," sincerely.

The older woman knitted her eyebrows together. "For what?" she asked in a hushed tone.

"For never considering, mentioning… let alone discussing a… well a sexual relationship with you," replied Gabrielle.

Xena grinned. "Not too many friends do."

The smaller woman exchanged a skeptic look. "That's how a lot of love relationships get started… from a simple friendship."

The Warrior Princess sighed. "You're not working with me here," she joked; however she went serious again. "We're doing it now, right?"

Gabrielle nodded and smiled. "Right." She hesitated for a second then added, "Okay, I know how you feel about a love relationship."

Xena chuckled and tightened her grip on her partner's hand briefly. "Up to you."

The small warrior studied their locked hands and she seemed to realize something. "No its not, its up to us." She lifted her head. "We're soul mates, we do things together," she stated clearly. A warm smile creased her lips. "And I am definitely, and I have been taking you for granted." She shook her head. "We're not going to be around forever."

"No, I have other plans for my next life," teased the older warrior.

Gabrielle grinned, briefly. "Rrright, let's worry about this one," she teased back before she returned to the original conversation. "I'd… I'd love to have a relationship with you but… the last one I had didn't turn out so great." She sighed then added, "I'm just scared… of a lot of things. We lead a crazy life together where just about anything can happen to either of us."

"And isn't that more the reason to be together?" questioned the warrior. "To use whatever time we have together?" She reached up and caressed her friend's cheek. "But I am content to be your friend… I'll take what I can get."

The small woman smiled at her friend's words. She slowly released the larger hand and scooted away from her friend. She stood up, her eyes never leaving her soul mate's. She stepped over the log, knelt down and peered up at her partner.

"Would they call me crazy, stupid if I turned my back on a person such as you?" she whispered. "But, I think, I'd just shake my head and wonder why I ever had." She tilted her head as she studied sapphire pigmented eyes. "Right here and right now, makes me think why I haven't been with you sooner." She laced her hands together on top of Xena's knee. "Five years floated off between us that we could have been lovers."

"Is that how you would really look at it?" whispered the warrior. "Five years of nothing? Or five years of being together, learning each other and ourselves? Five years to prepare for this day?" She smiled in promise. "We still have a far journey ahead of us."

"That's… what I am praying for," whispered Gabrielle.

"We do, Gabrielle." Xena leaned towards her friend. "Its forever because we're soul mates." She smiled as the love swirled in her eyes.

"Its never too late to do the best thing, is it?" asked Gabrielle.

"Its too late when you never do it," replied the warrior. She, now, gently traced her friend's jawbone.

"Just as long as it’s slow… at first." The small warrior closed her eyes.

Xena chuckled and asked quietly, "Just to be sure?"

"Yeeeah… well not even that." Gabrielle shrugged. "Just so I can get use to the idea." She grinned while her eyes drifted opened once more. "Ah, why not?" her voice was teasing now. "I mean shoot, I eat with you, sleep with you, travel with you, fight with you, swim with you, spar with you, kick bad guys' butts with you, crack bad jokes with you, mmmm just do everything with you practically." She shrugged. "Why not have sex with you?"

That did it for the Warrior Princess. Without warning, she instantly pushed her soul mate to the ground by the shoulders. "I'll remember that in the future when you're sexual frustrated."

Gabrielle was lying on her back and laughing hysterically.

Xena shook her head- she grinned. Once she was off the log, she crawled over top of the smaller woman.

And well, Gabrielle quickly stopped her laughter. She swallowed and peered up into the darker blue eyes above her. "Slow," she reminded.

The warrior chuckled but grew a grin over her lips. "Just going to give you a taste of things."

"You like to do that," mentioned the warrior-bard.

"Oh yeah, its good for you." The Warrior Princess lowered her head and carefully pressed her lips against Gabrielle's.

The smaller woman felt those heat spots reappear across her body. They formed the first fragments of passion and she pulled Xena's head down more.

Xena easily responded and opened her mouth. Her stomach was shocked by a passion wave. The wave exploded when a warm tongue entered her mouth. Her tongue quickly made contact with Gabrielle's.

A moan rolled up from the short warrior's chest. She tasted Xena all the while sucking on her soul mate's tongue faintly.

The warrior had to pull away from the intensity. She breathed coarsely while she finally opened her eyes. She peered down into deep, forest eyes.

"Well… that did taste good," joked Gabrielle. "But…"

"But?" The older woman raised an eyebrow.

"But that was just the preliminary taste test." Gabrielle grinned. "Need a little more to make a better judgement."

"Mmm, no problem." Xena grinned and brought her lips back over her soul mate's.

As they kissed again, there was a small tree branch snap.

Soon, the pair were doing one kiss after another, trying every angle.

Xena lifted her head faintly but her lips were still scant inches from Gabrielle's.

"Two to your right," whispered Gabrielle.

"Three to my left," added the warrior. She leaned back down and captured her friend's lips.

They started whispering between the kissing.

"I got… the two," mentioned Gabrielle at the end of one kiss.

"Got the three," replied Xena as she went in for another sensual kiss.

Gabrielle grasped her partner's hips. "Be… careful," she mumbled between the kiss.

"I gotcha… back," uttered Xena as she lifted her head. She kissed her soul mate's forehead. "Be careful too."

The warrior-bard grinned, lifted both her feet up, reached down and pulled out her sais. "Ready, partner?"

"Anytime you are."

"Let's go."

Xena winked- she stood up. After her sword was unsheathed, she gave her warcry. "Come out, boys."

Gabrielle rolled a little on her back then flipped up onto her feet beside her friend. She flipped her sais' blades on her wrists.

Five men suddenly emerged out of the surrounding forest, hollering and raised weapons.

"Oh yeah," whispered Xena. "Party time."

Gabrielle snickered, raced forward towards the two trees between her and her two enemies. She spun her sais' blades back out and came between the two close trees before the men. She rammed her sais into either tree at her sides. When her enemies neared, she suddenly lifted herself up off the ground by her arms with the sais as support. She gave a hard kicked and sent her opponents reeling across the forest.

The warrior-bard landed back on her feet and jerked her weapons out. She raced forward and started finishing her enemies.

Xena's war cry exploded from her lips as she continued taking out her enemies.

All at once, the three men slashed at the warrior.

The Warrior Princess dropped down and did a roundhouse spin. Her opponents all fell onto their backs.

Gabrielle kicked one of her enemies' swords from his hand. She smirked at him and punched him hard. She then ducked as the other man slashed at her head. She gave a hard kick and sent him hard on his back.

She went back to the guy she punched earlier, and she saw him recovering. She quickly pushed her right sais hands out and slammed him hard against the head.

The man fell down in a lump- unconscious.

The other man that had been knocked down, unsheathed a dagger from his side. He saw the small woman off guard and suddenly sprung forward.

Xena whirled around after taking out two of her enemies. She fought the last one. She glanced at her partner across the way. Her eyes widened. "Gabrielle!" She stopped the sword coming at her.

Gabrielle faced her other enemy but was too late.

He slammed his body into hers and he brought his dagger forward.

The dagger plunged into the warrior-bard's right side and was slashed up her side.

The short warrior screamed in pain and fell down onto the ground with the man on top of her. She opened her eyes and saw the man sit up with his bloody dagger. He brought it over her chest, prepared to stab her for good.

Xena growled, lashed at her opponent and cut him at the throat. With little time left, she grasped her chakram and hurled it at the man getting ready to kill her soul mate.

The chakram screamed through the air, aimed for the man, and zeroed in on him. The chakram drove into the man's side hard, sending him off Gabrielle's body.

The small warrior closed her eyes and clawed at the ground from the immense pain. "Xena," she half growled, half yelled. In a second, her warrior reappeared; kneeling down beside her.

"Its okay, its okay," said the warrior frantically. She touched her soul mate's chest. "Try to be still." She got to her feet and ran to the packs. She tore one open, she searched through it and found the medical kit. Back at her friend's side, she knelt down. "Hold on," she whispered.

The younger woman nodded and closed her eyes. She tried not letting her mind focus on the scorching heat at her side. She could sense the blood oozing out.

The warrior pulled out some wraps and pressed them against Gabrielle's wound.

"Shit," growled Gabrielle.

"Ssssh," comforted the warrior. She grabbed more wraps and lifted her partner's mid body up a little. She hastily wrapped the small woman's entire stomach to hold the wraps in place.

There came a low groan from one of the unconscious men.

"Damn," mumbled Xena. She quickly finished the wrap in hopes it would slow the bleeding. "We need to get out of here." She stood up with the medical kit, went to the packs and tossed it in. She put on a pack then the other over top of the first one. Back at her friend's side, she jerked her chakram free of the man's side, cleaned it in the grass then put it back. She knelt down at Gabrielle's sides and carefully scooped her up.

Gabrielle moaned softly as her head rolled into her soul mate's arm.

The Warrior Princess could see the blood loss was sending her companion into unconsciousness. She briskly started walking, she wanted as much space between her and the three still alive men as she could get. As she walked, she felt a warm liquid roll onto her arm. She closed her eyes briefly because she knew it was blood.

Xena was never sure how far she'd traveled between that time of the fight and later on when she'd found a cave. All she knew was that the cave would be the best place to keep Gabrielle protected in. So she went in, carefully placed her soul mate down. She took off the packs and unattached a fur. She placed it over top of the small woman. After that, she rolled out a bedroll and placed it next to Gabrielle.

The warrior brushed back blond hair before she went to the cave's entrance. She stopped short and noted the blood trailing leading in. She sprinted into the woods and collected a load of wood. Once she came back in, she started a fire but kept one stick's tip in the fire, slightly burning.

The Warrior Princess went back to her friend's side. She had no time to be emotional, only time to act. She removed Gabrielle's cloak then removed the red wraps. She lifted her soul mate into her arms and neared the stick lingering in the fire's edge. She sat down and rolled her small woman onto her side so that the bleeding wound was on top.

Xena pulled out the stick, reached around and grasped Gabrielle's hand. She knew the warrior-bard would wake up screaming when this searing pain would come. She gradually lowered the tip of the glowing stick and pressed into the open wound.

Gabrielle's eyes flew open as the scream soared from her lips in utter pain. She clung to the large hand while she cried out.

The warrior gritted her teeth as she rolled the hot stick down the deep slash wound. Once she'd burned the skin back together, she threw the stick into the fire. "Its over, its over," she repeated with desperation.

The younger warrior gritted her teeth while breathing heavily. She closed her eyes, trying to shrink away from the incredible pain tearing through her side.

Xena stood up carefully with Gabrielle in her arms. She placed her partner in the bedroll but on her unwounded side. After getting the medical kit, Xena pulled out a sort of white cream and placed it on a clean wrap. She carefully rubbed it against her soul mates wounded side.

Gabrielle could start relaxing as the cream cooled her side.

The warrior then rewrapped the wound to keep it clean. She then rolled Gabrielle onto her side and grabbed the fur. She covered her smaller warrior and peered into pain tinted green eyes. "You'll be okay," she whispered in reassurance.

Gabrielle nodded and closed her eyes. She could only think about sleeping- an escape from the jarring pain.

Xena softly kissed her soul mates forehead. Now, she only had to wait… if their enemies didn't find them first.

~*~*~*~

Xena pulled her cloak close and crossed one ankle over the other. She continued leaning against the cave's entrance in the dark night. She peered back into the cave at her partner sleep near the fire. She sighed and returned her focus to the surrounding forest. The sun had set about a candlemark ago or so.

Faintly the sound of movement, through the forest, vibrated towards Xena.

The warrior lifted herself off the cave's entrance and unsheathed her sword. Once around the corner of the cave, she hid in the darkness.

The three men followed the blood trail through the woods in the full moonlit night. They stopped when they spotted the glowing cave ahead. All together, they unsheathed swords and slowly stalked towards the cave. Carefully they neared the mouth of the cave and stepped in then noticed the small female sleeping by the fire.

"Where's the larger one?" asked one of the men.

"Who cares? She's probably off doing something. We'll kill this one before the bigger one returns," whispered one man.

"I don't think so, boys." Xena reappeared at the cave's entrance. "I'm vvvery protective of that little one."

Two of the men whirled around and took the tall warrior.

The third man stepped back and watched his two friends fight the female warrior. He threw a glance at Gabrielle over his shoulder. He grinned and closed in over her sleeping form with his sword raising up.

The Warrior Princess hadn't expected that, she jumped back from her two opponents, ran then leapt over their heads. She just skimmed the cavern ceiling before she landed behind Gabrielle's attacker. She instantly wrapped one arm across his chest. Xena then grabbed the side of his head and snapped it the opposite way- she broke his neck.

The man instantly fell dead onto the ground.

Xena turned around with a twirl of her sword. "Who's next?" She breathed heavily in anger as her dark eyes flashed. "Come on," she snarled.

The two men held their hands up, dropped their swords, and ran out of the cave. They sprinted for dear life into the forest, disappearing.

The Warrior Princess grinned because she was completely amused. She spun around on the heels of her boots and studied her sleeping soul mate. "Simply amazing," she murmured, "she's still asleep."

~*~*~*~

Gabrielle groaned and opened her eyes; she peered around.

"Afternoon," greeted the warrior, as she sat down beside her soul mate.

The small warrior rubbed her face and ran her fingers through her hair. "Did I miss anything interesting?"

"Nah," replied the warrior. She gently caressed Gabrielle's face.

"So what did happen?" The warrior-bard lifted an eyebrow, she knew something happened.

The older woman shrugged. "Our three attackers came after us."

"Oh… let me guess, you sent them off running for their lives."

"Basically," agreed the warrior.

Gabrielle chuckled while she grinned.

Xena peered at her friend's side. "How's it feel?"

"A lot better," answered the small woman. She rolled onto her other side because she knew Xena would want to check the wound out.

The Warrior Princess carefully lifted the bandaging and noted how red the flesh was still. Yet, the skin was starting to mend together to form new skin. "I don't think you'll get a scar but you will at first." She gently put the bandaging back down. "Feel likes something to eat?"

"Yeah."

"Good, don't move, I'll take care of it." The older warrior rose up and made a light breakfast. She placed the food near the cave wall, strolled over to her partner and picked her up. She back up to the cave wall, carefully sat down while she pulled Gabrielle into her lap.

The warrior-bard settled in her soul mate's lap before she was handed the food. "Did you get something to eat?"

"Yeah," responded the warrior. "Come on, eat." She encircled Gabrielle's waist and carefully rested her chin on her soul mate's shoulder.

Gabrielle slowly ate, she was still shook up by what happened yesterday.

Xena noted how her partner was faintly pale from the loss of blood but not quite as pale as she was earlier.

"Are we going to travel today?" questioned the smaller warrior.

"Maybe, let's see how you do huh?"

The younger woman nodded and finished eating. She placed the bowel on the ground then she leaned back into her friend. "That was a close one huh?"

The Warrior Princess shifted a wry grin on her expression. "Isn't it always?"

"Yea, anymore." Gabrielle sighed and mentioned, "Sometimes I almost want to stop fighting just because of things like that."

"I know." Xena tightened her arms. "But could we really, truly settle down?"

"Ever turn our backs on this way of life?" The smaller warrior shook her head. "Not till I am growing gray hairs… if even then."

The older woman chuckled quietly. "But I do wonder if there'll be that day we both decide its either our life together or death." She paused. "Is our life about being together or about the greater good?" she whispered.

"We're here to follow our way," replied the warrior-bard.

"What is our way?" questioned Xena. "The way of warriors… or the way of soul mates?" She nuzzled her partner's neck. "I think, that's something we can choose."

"And need to figure out," expressed Gabrielle. She brought up her right hand and ran her fingers through midnight hair. "If we do warriors… well we'll be asking for an early death." She laughed quietly. "Soul mates well… who knows."

"We could… find out," stated Xena as a grin tweaked her lips. "Being warriors is more… entertainment for us."

Gabrielle laughed and nodded. "That's… that's a honest analogy. " She shifted into her serious state and partially moved in her soul mate's lap. She turned her head as Xena peered down at her. "I know… I need to spend as much time as I can with you here in this life. That's what I want too."

A sunrise smile dazzled onto the warrior's lips. She leaned in and pressed her lips against her soul mate's temple while she whispered, "Only you." She raised her head. "I only need you to breathe and exist."

Now it was a smile of ever lasting love rising Gabrielle's lips and touched her glowing, forest eyes. "Welcome to the way of the soul mates," she whispered. She finished the slim distance and gave her lips to Xena in the kiss of love.

The warrior went from a bitter darkness into the warmth of the sunlight with her soul mate. She gave her eternal over to her soul mate in the kiss because there was no returning now.

They pulled away from the kiss and entered their world with soaring emotions.

"I love you," whispered Gabrielle in a voice of dependence.

"I love you too."

The soul mates claimed each other's lips in another long, soft kiss. They still had a far journey ahead of them and a new path to explore. Would the magic of love ever cease to exist? Who knows… who knows…."

Red Hope's voice trails off as she glimpses up to her friend.

Murphy was smiling but it soon forms into a grin. "Yup, another Red Romance."

The tiny bard laughs and swats her friend with the scroll. "I hear ya, I hear ya." She carefully rolls up the scroll. "So, there's your complete story for once." She winks. "No teasing."

The older bard rolls her eyes. "You teased, Red… bad bard." She hops off the bed.

"You just said I couldn't tease you with an incomplete story," taunts Red Hope. She places her scroll on her desk then she nears her friend again. "Well… I did live up to your challenge." She grins and takes a step closer. She gives the much taller bard a big hug and receives one back. After the hug, she backs up to her desk. "Alright, out with you. I need to work on my stories."

Murphy laughs quietly and goes to door. "Until the next one, Red," she teases as she leaves.

"No next time!" calls Red Hope. "This one was bad enough on short notice," she grumbles with the shaking of her head. She grins after her friend leaves. "Such demanding audiences these days." Sitting back down, she starts writing once more. "And I love it too." She laughs while scribing along her next fanfiction adventure for her readers.