"Bring her about!", Xena shouted into the salty wind that blew about her face.

She stood there tall, erect, the setting sun glaring from her breastplates, blinding Gabrielle's View of the mouth she so longed to kiss. She wondered if Xena had really meant the goodbye so recently spoken to Ulysses. As the bow of the boat turned and headed into the wind she saw a distant stare in those dark blue eyes, eyes that she wanted on her, wanted to lose herself in, so desperately! Her heart dropped to her knees. Was that distant look for him? Did it hold the feeling of utter heartbreak at saying goodbye to the one she loved?

Gabrielle's eyes lowered, a tiny quiver played at the corner of her mouth. She saw a bemused smile play across the lips she had just desired. Fighting back the crack threatening in her voice, hot tears welling in her eyes, she said,

"You miss him already, don't you?"

Silence met her query. Her heart sank even lower. Several moments passed. Gabrielle thought her heart would never beat again, then Xena answered, in a voice that sounded half drunk.

"What did you say?"

"You miss him already, don't you," Gabrielle repeated, but this time the cracking of her voice could not be disguised. A tiny tear escaped her eye. She quickly turned her head to the sea hoping the sound of the wind had swallowed the loss of composure in her voice and quickly wiped the tear threatening to roll down her cheek before it was noticed. But too late! It had been noticed and the heart of the strong, mighty Xena, Subduer and Conqueror of Nations, skipped several beats! Her breath caught in a gasp as she answered.

"No....... I wasn't thinking of Ulysses.......I....."

How could she tell this beauty standing so close to her, so close that she could almost touch, that it was HER she was thinking of... longing for...aching for! In the days just passed, with all the talk of love between her and Ulysses, she realized that she could never love him... never love another man.... or woman, for that fact....she was utterly and completely in love with the small strawberry haired, emerald eyed creature at her side!

Her grip on the ship's wheel tightened as Gabrielle spoke her name.

"Xena,....wh..what is bothering you?"

A roar started somewhere within Xena, reaching her ears, threatening to drown out the excitement she felt at the sound of her name spoken by those lips.....her lips, so perfect, so soft, so........!

Xena's body froze completely rigid as Gabrielle placed her soft, warm hand on her forearm. Thank the Gods, she was holding on to the wheel! Gabrielle spoke again.

"What is it, Xena?"

There it was again, that roar! She had heard her name spoken a thousand times before by those lips, but never had it sounded so sweet, so urgent, so needing! She swallowed hard.

"Raise the sails!" she shouted, turning the ship into the current towards home. The sudden change in course caused Gabrielle to fall against her, caught by a muscular arm with a tightness not quite needed to keep her from completely falling over.

"I guess your stomach isn't the only thing that gives you trouble on a ship, eh? Immediately, Xena wished she had not drawn attention to the fact that this was yet another thing she was more experienced in than Gabrielle. And the look of failure in Gabrielle eyes confirmed she was right to feel that way.

"Well, I guess we can't all be the mighty warrior, controlled and faultless, now can we!" That stung!

"Gabrielle, I....I just....."

"Oh don't apologize!" " I'll just go do something I am good at.....like being sick!" With that she pushed herself away from the warrior's side and run to the railing, hanging her head over the edge. The cold that slammed into Xena's body, where the warmth of Gabrielle had just been, was deeper than the sea air that replaced it. She called to one of the crew to come take the wheel. Once she had set the course, she turned to follow Gabrielle. Her heart sank to her feet as she watched her unsteadily walk towards the doorway that led below. Her hand shook as she relinquished the wheel to her crewmember.

After giving instructions to the rest of crew, she took a deep breath, shut her eyes, and wondered how she was ever going to smooth out the mess she had just made.

As Xena entered the cabin she had planned to share with Gabrielle on the voyage home, her heart sank. She 'had' decided to tell Gabrielle how she felt; tell her that she loved her, but Gabrielle was packing her things into the leather bag they shared when traveling. At the sound of the door closing, Gabrielle nervously spoke, fighting back her own heartbreak.

"I...I thought it would be better if I slept in the other room so.... I wouldn't disturb you with my constant wretching. I'm still having trouble getting the hang of this sailing thing"

"Well..... if that's what you want," Xena answered flatly.

No that's not what I want! shouted Gabrielle's brain, I want YOU! As the "I want you" was spoken in her mind she looked over at the one person in the world she could ever love, and knew she had turned her head to soon. What she had just spoken in her mind showed on her face, and the look she saw in return, she did not realize was being controlled by sheer will.... will Xena had to exert to keep her from racing to her, grabbing her tightly and smothering her with kisses... so long in coming! To touch her softness, hear herself confess, that SHE was the only one she could ever truly love! Ever make her feel deep enough to want to give that feeling in return. And there, in that instant, Xena realized the answer to a question that until now, she could never answer. That here was the missing part of her life!

Oh, she had found pleasure in many different arms, in many places, over the past years. Battle brings on many needs. But, she had never found in all those arms, in all those eyes, in all those moments of lust, anyone that made her feel the way Gabrielle did just by saying her name! Just by being near her! HER eyes, HER mouth, HER.......! If she let herself go now, Xena know she could never go back along the path she had been traveling down to this moment. She was filled with fear that in the past few moments, with the past few words, now dead in the air, she had lost her chance to go on! She felt that the damage she had caused with a few careless words and her inability to express what was in her heart, for what....two years now.... could not be repaired! Ice stabbed at her heart causing her to shiver as Gabrielle quickly strode past her into the other room. Damn the Gods for giving her the strength to keep her feelings hidden! Best for a Warrior, but not for a Lover!

She stood there in agony for what seemed an eternity before she reached up to remove the armor and sword that weighed heavier than usual. She didn't know which made the louder sound, the armor hitting the floor or her heart breaking into tiny, razor sharp pieces! She removed her leathers, cursing the fact that Gabrielle was not there to help her and run a trembling hand though her dark, thick tresses. A sigh escaped her lips as ragged as her soul now felt. She sank to the bed.... alone.

It used to be that she preferred to sleep alone. Even on those occasions she choose someone to share her body, she never invited them share her bed; to sleep with her all night wrapped in the arms of love or at least lust. Never invited to wake and look into those same eyes that the night before had shone in passion...no never that....not until now!

She looked towards the other room and choked back the tears as her thoughts once again turned to the face in her mind of the one... the only one she knew now she would, no ever could, let into that place; the small emerald eyed beauty that had captured her, wrenching in the next room.

She awoke with a start, not from the feeling of someone else in the room, but by the fact that she was asleep at all, what with thoughts she knew would surely keep her awake until daylight!

She turned to find... HER standing beside her, bathed in moonlight streaming from the small porthole just behind her head. For an instant she thought she must be dreaming, but knew she was awake when the small, soft hand reached to touch her on the shoulder.

Lightening shot down her arm with that touch! She jumped to a sitting position so suddenly that Gabrielle jumped with it.

"I....I didn't mean to startle you, I just can't seem to settle my stomach enough to sleep. I...I...took the chance that you might be awake and I could...could sit and talk until it settled some. It...it..... was getting lonely in there," glancing in the direction of the other room. "I hope you are not angry that I woke you"

Caught off guard by Gabrielle's presence, she quickly moved to make room next to her saying, "I could never be angry with you Gabrielle".

"Well, you certainly could have fooled me........... the way you acted earlier!"

"Gabrielle, I...I wasn't angry with you, I...I...."

"Well, what then?" "Do you regret saying goodbye to Ulysses, regret not telling him you love him?"

Gabrielle lowered her eyes to her lap, fearing the answer that she was sure would be coming.

"Gabrielle, I...I don't regret saying goodbye to Ulysses,....I.....I don't LOVE him."

With that Gabrielle's eyes flew back to that face she loved... and those lips the denial had just come from, the lips she......

"Then what, what is it that has you on such a sharp edge!" "I am afraid to talk to you, afraid you....."

"I what, Gabrielle, afraid I what?"

"Afraid that you are going into that dark mood where I can't follow, from which you may not return." "You seem so distant, so edgy and confused the past few days. I...I...I am afraid you are planning to leave me once we reach home... that I will never see you again... that you don't need ME any more!' "I haven't been very useful on this trip with the wrenching and all. I am not a sailor like you, a warrior like you, I don't always know what to do in a fight like you!"

Before she could see the look of sheer need come over that strong tanned face, or the blue eyes darken with desire, she leaned forward as the ship rolled and lost what little was left in her stomach.

An audible grin caught her ears as she looked back to see the warrior slide closer to her.

"WHAT is so funny?", she shot back with a glare that might have stopped Xena under different circumstances.

"Nothing Gabrielle." Xena replied softly as she reached for the small white hand lying in Gabrielle's lap. Her touch grazed Gabrielle's thigh... ever so softly.... but, it caused Gabrielle to shiver.

"C'mere Gabrielle", opening her arms to her.

A look of surprise flitted across Gabrielle's face that brought another audible smile to those lips.

"Take it easy, Gabrielle, I am not going to hurt you."

"I...I know you won't Xena." There it was again, that name said only the way she could! She turned Gabrielle's hand over to expose the tender inside of her small, delicate wrist. Xena felt a shiver from Gabrielle, not unlike the trembling she now felt in her own body...only not in her arm...no it was a little futher down, not far from the hand that now rested in her own lap. By Zeus! How can I ever tell her how much I need her...want her..... how much I want to..... Without looking up, afraid she would not be able to continue if she did, she slowly traced the small bump on the inside of that soft wrist, now held captive in her hands.

"You know Gabrielle," she could get this out if she just did not look into those emerald eyes or at that full mouth, "I was not thinking of Ulysses when you asked if I was missing him."

"You weren't," came a dreamy response from Gabrielle.

Xena dared to look long enough to see what she had so longed for, that look of ecstasy on her soon to be lover's face.

"No," came the sultry response.

It was Gabrielle's turn to look. What she saw made her heart stop beating for just an instant. Dark, shining blue eyes that could pale any sapphire, narrow, calculating, needy! Gabrielle's head swam as the pressure on her wrist increased and began to travel further up her arm until Xena was at her elbow, pulling her closer. "No, not Ulysses but...YOU..... Gabrielle!" " You were the one in my thoughts, this moment was in my thoughts, these lips were in my thoughts"! With that she lowered her face and placed a kiss on Gabrielle's lips surprised to find then already parted, waiting for her to enter. She slowly slid her tongue inside only to have it sucked completely into Gabrielle's warm mouth. She caught her desire by the shoulders and rolled forward pinning her to the sheets below, letting her full weight press into the warm, firm body she had desired for so long!

The kiss was over far sooner than Gabrielle had wanted it to be. She lean toward her love, stopped by a firm tanned hand at her bodice, untying the laces with expert precision! Gabrielle reached to help.

"Not this time, love, this one's on me!", Xena breathed huskily into her lover's neck.

Gabrielle's hand reached for the long tresses of her beloved Xena and pulled her closer to her face. The smell made her weak. She could feel a wetness between her legs she had never felt before. Slowly Xena slid her hand across the nipple of one of Gabrielle's breast and heard a sigh that made her own knees weaken. Xena suddenly sat up and Gabrielle feared she had done something to ruin this moment. Xena's eyes leveled on her lover's with the same preciseness she leveled her sword on a doomed opponent.

"Gabrielle, are you sure this is what you want?" "I mean if we....there will be no going back, not for me!" "I have wanted you so much for too long!" "So tell me, are you sure?"

"YYEESS!" came the low sultry response.

"I could just hold you...we don't have to...I mean...I don't have to take you...you know... inside...I can just touch you...I...mean...if you are not ready.......

"Xena, I want you inside me, I want YOU to be the first one to.......

Dear holy Aphrodite! She's still a virgin! Thank the Gods! screamed Xena's impassioned mind!

"But Gabrielle, you were married, you and Perdicus... you...."

" Xena, we never made love that night....He was a little...well, He had a little too much wine.. and I had NO experience at all...and ...well we...just held each other...I guess...we thought there would be a lifetime....but...., her eyes dropped, he never touched me that way, never took me." "I'm glad he never did...... I think now that it was always meant to be you. I was always meant for YOU!"

"OH, Gabrielle, I don't know if I can.... I......I mean you won't be the same after." What if this is a mistake!" "Then I will be responsible for...."

"Responsible for what, making me a woman!" "Please Xena, I need you so, I love you!" "Please Xena, make love to me....... inside.... PPLLEEAASSEE!"

"Gabrielle, it may hurt, I don't want to hurt you!"

"Xena, please, I trust you....I LOVE YOU!"

With that, she buried her face into Gabrielle's chest, taking one hard nipple into her warm, hungry mouth and the other in the strong fingers of her aching hand. Deep, long moans came from the small form in her arms. She could feel the heat race in her own blood as Gabrielle reached for the nipples of the dark breasts suspended over her abdomen. Shyly at first she pinched at the hard flesh in her fingers; then with a confidence found only with this woman, she grasped both of Xena's breasts. Caught off guard, the warrior released her grasp on the breasts she held captive, crashing into the warm flesh beneath her.

"So," Gabrielle teased, "The mighty warrior falls."

"Only here...only with you, my love!" Xena replied.

Passionately Xena kissed her lover, allowing their tongues to dance, as she longed for their bodies to dance. She trailed her kisses down Gabrielle's chest to her abdomen causing a quiver in them both.

Xena did not want to rush this; their first joining, but the passion that she had kept locked up of the past two years threatened to erupt. She held back as long as she could, giving Gabrielle's breasts a huge dose of attention. She let her hands explore the soft flesh of her lover, playing Gabrielle like a fine tuned instrument. The music of Gabrielle's sighs and moans attested to the fact that Xena was indeed a musician, at least where love was concerned!

"Xena, please, I am on fire, please.........!"

"Gabrielle, don't rush me," she breathed against her lover's breast. "I don't want to hurt you." "Just trust me, I want this moment to be burned into your memory." I don't want you to ever forget who you are giving yourself to, never forget that you are the love of my life!"

Gabrielle reached down, lifting Xena's face until she could look into those dark pools of blue.

"I know full well who I am giving myself to, my love..... my mate!" "I was meant to belong to you.... only you!" Please, claim me now, make us one, forever!"

Overcome with joy, passion, and gratitude for this gift lying beneath her, Xena placed one more passionate kiss on Gabrielle's warm lips then continued down her body until she rested at her entrance, moments away from that point in time that would bind them together...forever!

Xena's tongue parted her lover and slid hungrily into that place she now knew only she would ever go. She found the hard flesh she sought. Going weak herself, she pressed with her tongue. Light passes became intense, as she took the flesh in her teeth, lightly. Gabrielle stiffened then arched into her lover. Xena brought one hand up and slowly pressed her fingers into the soft flesh she knew she would never tire of; the other to the nipple of her lover's breast. Carefully she inserted one finger, this was Gabrielle's first time after all. Then two. She held back from entering her lover fully, slowly finding a rhythm that brought the most passionate moans and sighs she had ever heard. She continued to keep her assault in check, not ready to take the prize Gabrielle offered, wanting to put off the pain until Gabrielle was closer to the edge.

When Gabrielle could not stand it any longer, she shifted her lover's weight to allow her deeper access to that holy place meant only for her. She ran her fingers through Xena's hair; down her shoulders. Gabrielle ached to be inside her lover! Ached to join her in this moment! Abruptly Xena withdrew her hand causing Gabrielle to cry out with a loss that broke the warrior's heart. Xena reached down quickly and raised her lover's hips to her mouth. Placing Gabrielle's legs on either side of her muscled shoulders, she pushed her tongue into the wet folds her fingers had just deserted and picked up where they had left off.

In and out her tongue slid. Her hands found Gabrielle breasts and moved with the same rhythm as her tongue until she felt the soft thighs on either side of her head start to tighten. Xena withdrew her tongue and slide two long fingers into her lover, resumed the momentum and at the last moment... as Gabrielle slide over the edge, Xena thrust once, twice, again and again until she claimed the innocence given to her alone. Gabrielle's free hands grabbed Xena's, thrusting to meet each stroke, then shook as she screamed, XENA! Xena! xena! "

Xena hold her lover there until she stopped shaking, aware of the warm liquid running down her own thighs, thinking that she could not possibly feel any better than this. Gabrielle slowly lifted one leg, then the other, from her lovers shoulders; much too soon for Xena. Reaching down, she grasped Xena hand, the same hand that had just been inside her, and finding what she sought, she traced to line of blood along the slender, tanned fingers of her new and only lover!

"Thankyou," she whispered against the palm of Xena's still warm hand.

"You are welcome, my love." Xena just stared at the beauty beneath her, lost in the naturalness of her lover and her feeling of utter joy. She soon realized she may have created something she may not ever be able to control. The look in Gabrielle's eyes as she rose, caused Xena's blood to boil. Gabrielle placed her hands on her warriors shoulders, pushing her down on her back, tracing HER from breast to crotch with hot kisses. Setting a flame coursing through Xena's veins she knew could never be put out. Just when she could stand no more, Gabrielle pushed her hand into the princess' warm flesh. With a full, passionate, seductive smile, she lowered her mouth to the place she now wanted to be and rode her lover's passion with the skill of any warrior, until, she had taken her as far as Xena could stand to go before, GABRIELLE!!!!!!!!, split the air, as lightening splits the night sky.

It took a few moments for her to regain her senses and become aware of the small figure climbing up her body, placing kisses along her skin as she went. Needing more, Gabrielle slide her hand once again inside her warrior's slick, wet flesh.

"No, Gabrielle, give me a minute, Xena gasped.

"What, the Great Warrior Princess tired is she?"

"I'll show you tired, little one," as she reached to gather her lover into her aching arms. After a long passionate kiss, she caught Gabrielle face in her hands and leveled a stern look at her lover.

"Are you sure you have never done this before?" The blush on Gabrielle's face gave her an answer she knew was true.

"No Xena, honest.... you are the first..... the only...it just seems so.... natural with you!"

"I thought you came in here to settle your stomach?"

"Well, " Gabrielle said with a raised I brow. "I'd say we've gone far past the need to cure that, wouldn't you?"

"I would say so," Xena replied. "But now you have caused an illness from which I need to be cured."

"Is there a cure for that illness Xena?", she said playfully.

"By the Gods I hope not, but I do know a rather effective treatment, shall I demonstrate?"

"Well, if it is anything like the first treatment you gave me, lead on!"

As Xena lowered herself once again onto that now familiar flesh, she remarked, "Gabrielle there are many ways to treat this illness, it could take a lifetime to learn them all!

Huskily Gabrielle inquired, "Well, how many can we try before we reach home."

"Well, replied the conquered warrior, "as far as I am concerned I am home!" "But... it would take us a bit longer if we took..... the southern route!"

"Xena?"

"What is it now, Gabrielle," came the whisper through the kisses at her neck.

"Do you think you will ever go back?"

"No, Gabrielle," came the passionate response from her cleavage. "You are the only one I want.... the only one I will ever want!"

"No silly, I meant do you ever think you will go back to Ithaca?'

With a wicked smile and seductive wink, Xena placed her mouth over the breast of the only person she would ever love.

Well, what can I say first time at this. Hope you enjoyed! This is an original work by Redheart. ZNA@netscape.net