"So don't you fret, M'sieur Marius, I don't feel any pain.
A little fall of rain can hardly hurt me now.
You're here-that's all I need to know,
And you will keep me safe, and you will keep me close,
And rain will make the flowers grow."
           -- "A Little Fall of Rain," Les Misérables
 
Two candlemarks before dawn, the warrior awoke. She'd spent a restless night, plagued both by the nightmares of the past which frequented her dreams, and by a powerful feeling that the upcoming battle would have consequences more dire than she cared to dwell upon. Callisto had amassed quite an army, and was bent on wreaking as much havoc as her tormented mind could conceive of. It frustrated Xena to no end that the mad immortal would go to this extent simply as an excuse to pick a fight with her, but she understood Callisto's motives all too well. Her own motives in the past had been none too different.
But this wasn't about personal revenge. As much as she hated giving Callisto the satisfaction of their inevitable confrontation, the fact remained that northern Greece was seriously endangered, and Callisto's army needed to be stopped.
She and Gabrielle had spent much of the previous day talking seriously about the battle. Haunted by the memories of Britannia, the warrior had wanted to make sure that her motives going into the battle would be clear, untainted by the lust for vengeance. The young bard, as always, had proved to be the moral compass that Xena had felt she sorely needed.
 
"Xena," she'd said, laying a hand gently on the warrior's arm, "just keep in mind that this isn't about Callisto herself. It's about Greece. Callisto may be behind the army, but villages and cities are at stake. Remember what you taught me about fighting for the greater good? These people need you. Fight for them. Don't fight against Callisto."
The warrior had smiled at her friend, wanting to tell her how much strength she drew from that simple contact. Gabrielle's green eyes bored into hers with an intensity that, for all her courage, left Xena feeling vulnerable and even terrified. Ever since their embrace on the beach, upon returning from Illusia, the true nature of her feelings for her friend had been clear. Yet Xena said nothing, not convinced that the bard would reciprocate, and unwilling to believe that Gabrielle's devotion to her would go that far. She'd wanted to blurt out, in that moment, how much the bard meant to her, but the words would not come.
"Thank you, Gabrielle," was all she'd said, gazing at the young woman with as much tenderness as she dared show. "I don't know where I'd be without you." Her expression had changed then, and she added somberly, "The battle will be hard, Gabrielle. If anything should happen to me-"
"Xena, don't say that!" Gabrielle had interrupted. There was a look in her eyes, a nuance in her voice, which the warrior desperately wanted to interpret as signifying more than terror at the prospect of losing her dearest friend. "I . . ." her voice had faltered. "I don't want to think about that. Please. But if anything . . . well, just remember your promise to me." That sentence had been spoken in a whisper, as the bard lowered her gaze to the ground.
Strange, that I can't read the thoughts and feelings of someone who's always been so open . . . whom I know better than anyone, Xena had thought regretfully.
She'd reached out and pulled her friend into a warm embrace, tentatively brushing a kiss across the top of the blonde head. "I won't," she said softly in response to the unspoken words, repeating her promise to Gabrielle-a promise born of a past encounter with Callisto. "I won't."
Again she'd felt the urge to tell Gabrielle how she felt, and again she failed to bring herself to speak. "I love you, Gabrielle," that's all I want to say, she berated herself. Is it really that hard? "I love you as more than just a friend." It doesn't have to be fancy-she's the bard, not you. Just a few simple words, and yet . . . Instead, all she had said was, "Get some sleep now. Tomorrow will be hard."
Gabrielle had smiled at that, reaching up and running a fingertip lightly along Xena's jaw. The warrior closed her eyes briefly at the caress, wanting nothing more than to take the young woman in her arms and kiss her.
"I love you, Xena," Gabrielle had said softly, before going to her bedroll and lying down. "Good night."
"Good night, Gabrielle." And Xena had gone to bed herself, railing against her feelings and her maddening inability to express them.
 
"Gabrielle, wake up. We've got to get going."
The bard mumbled and rolled over, trying unsuccessfully to ignore Xena's insistent attempts to rouse her from sleep. She struggled to her feet, valiantly trying not to yawn. "All right, all right, I'm up," she said groggily, as she set about putting her things in order.
Xena quickly donned her armor and sword, checked to make sure her chakram and whip were in their places at her waist, and saddled up Argo. She called over her shoulder, "You ready?"
Gabrielle grabbed her staff and hurried to Xena's side. "All set." In the iron-grey of predawn, they set out to Pharsalus, to meet up with the resistance forces the local towns had assembled there. They were a ragtag crew, some trained fighters among them, but mostly just villagers driven by fear and desperation to protect their land. Looking at them, Xena felt doubtful as to the success of the upcoming battle, but pushed the thoughts from her mind. Doubt would only jeopardize their chances even further. She had spent much of the previous week in training sessions with this unlikely army, with moderate success. She could only hope that their fear and determination would motivate them enough.
The warrior raised her voice to be heard above the anxious murmurs of the waiting villagers. "Are you ready?" she asked, in a tone meant to inspire them, a tone she'd perfected in her years as a warlord. "Remember, fight well, and keep your wits about you. Don't let fear cloud your judgment. Stay focused. Your homes are at stake here. See that Callisto doesn't take them from you."
"Am I in time to get in on this?" asked a rugged voice behind her.
Xena whirled to face the speaker. "Hercules!" She embraced the tall half-god who had just arrived, with his partner Iolaus beside him. Behind them were some two hundred men, armed and at the ready; after receiving the message Xena had sent him the week before, Hercules had managed to assemble this small force to join the battle.
Off to the side, Gabrielle bit her lip, somewhat jealous upon watching the reunion between Xena and her former lover. There's really nothing to be jealous about, she told herself. They're old friends. Why shouldn't they be happy to see each other? But despite this logic, the feelings of envy remained. The bard watched in silence as the two fighters gave the army one last briefing. Then, as dawn touched the sky with the first hints of a scarlet hue, they set off to meet Callisto's forces.
 
Gabrielle, her staff in hand, walked alongside Xena, trying hard to ignore the conversation as her best friend and Hercules caught up on one another's adventures. As always, the young Amazon would fight alongside the warrior, but Hercules's presence made her uneasy somehow. She managed to ignore that sensation, though, thinking instead about what Xena had taught her of fighting. By the time they reached the plain where Callisto's army awaited, she felt focused enough on what was to come. She loathed fighting, and war especially, that was true, but to fight for the greater good . . . Gabrielle felt that she could not just stand by when so many towns were jeopardized by Callisto. Despite her misgivings, she felt justified in being involved in this.
Xena and Hercules talked on, more out of the Warrior Princess's desire to forget her worries about her young companion than anything else. Even with the reinforcements Hercules had brought, Callisto's men still outnumbered them three to one-on a conservative estimate. Gabrielle was more than a competent fighter, Xena knew, but all the same, they were going up against a mad immortal and countless trained soldiers . . . and capable as she was, Gabrielle was not up to Xena's level of skill. Xena feared for the bard more than she cared to admit. Fear, however, was not an option in the heat of battle. Neither did love have any place on the battlefield. Leaving behind the former was usually no trouble for the warrior, but she found that it was not in her to put aside her love for Gabrielle in any way . . . and that provided a way for fear-fear for Gabrielle's life-to creep into her thoughts and stay there. And that put the warrior in greater danger than all of Callisto's men.

Xena looked out across the plain. Her familiar blonde-haired nemesis was stalking towards them. With a gesture instructing the army to stay where it was, she walked forward to meet Callisto.
"Xena." There was a note of seductive triumph in Callisto's voice. "I knew you couldn't resist the chance to fight me."
"You're wrong, Callisto," replied the warrior evenly. "I'm here for the sake of the people you see behind me. You're threatening their land and I intend to see that they won't lose it."
The madwoman shrugged. "Them, me, what's the difference? You're here, aren't you?" She smiled devilishly. "I got what I wanted." She looked past Xena, to where Gabrielle stood with Iolaus and Hercules. "I see your little . . . friend . . . came with you. Can't stay away from her for even a minute, can you, Xena? What's the matter? I'm here . . . isn't that enough for you? Don't you want me, Xena?"
The taunting in Callisto's voice was almost more than Xena could bear. "Gabrielle and I stay together," she said firmly, clenching her fists tightly at her sides to keep from drawing her sword, as much as she wanted to right now.
"Oh, I'm sure that's what you want, isn't it?" Callisto smirked. She signaled her army. "Let's just find out how badly you want that now, shall we?" Her forces surged forward with a roar, and the battle was on in full.
The defenders met the attack, fighting valiantly. Hercules's men gave them courage, and they acquitted themselves well, battling with a zeal that compensated for their lack of experience. Xena was in the center of the turmoil, exchanging furious blows with Callisto. Iolaus, his sword drawn, fought among the villagers, easily taking out more than his fair share of the enemy. Gabrielle fought alongside him, her staff a blur of motion that left attackers sprawling on the grass all about her. Hercules darted about the battlefield, shouting encouragement to the men and giving help where it was needed.
Two soldiers charged toward Xena, and Callisto unexpectedly took the opportunity to slip away while they engaged her. The immortal shouted to a small band of men to follow her, and they made their way around the melee, in the direction of the village.
 
Gabrielle parried a sword and brought her staff around to catch its wielder solidly in the stomach. He folded forward with an audible grunt, and she clubbed him across the back of the neck, then leaped over his prone form, trying to fight her way to Xena's side. Iolaus saw what she was doing and, feeling a need to protect this girl whom he could see meant so much to Xena, finished off the soldier he was fighting with a vicious thrust. It cut through the man's leather armor and left him to die of the blood filling up his pierced lung.
The stocky fighter cut his way through half a dozen more before he caught up with Gabrielle, who was knocking down soldiers left and right with calculated blows from her staff. The wild abandon of the young Amazon's attacks seemed highly uncharacteristic to Iolaus, who knew how gentle she usually was.
"Gabrielle!" he gasped, catching the sword arm of a soldier who was swinging at him and punching the man hard with the pommel of his own sword. "What are you doing?" But the bard ignored the man who was Hercules's best friend and turned away to belt another soldier in the solar plexus. Iolaus sighed and finished off his opponent, then bolted off to keep up with Gabrielle.
 
Xena raised her sword to parry a two-handed overhead blow from a behemoth of a soldier, lashed out with a fierce kick to his ribs, and slashed quickly, severing his jugular vein. Her keen hearing told her that someone armed with a staff was fighting nearby, and the sound of the voice grunting with each swing of the staff only confirmed what she'd already sensed. "Gabrielle!"
Bright green eyes met hers over the turmoil of battle that surrounded them. "Xena!" shouted the bard, taking a step toward her friend before the flat of a blade to the side of her face stopped her. She crumpled to the ground silently.
"Gabrielle!" cried Xena again, somersaulting into the air toward her, and taking a nasty gash on the right leg for the trouble. Her battle cry resounded over the din of the fighting, heralding the impact of six feet of angered Warrior Princess landing boots-first on the back of the soldier who'd knocked down her beloved friend. One quick windmill chop of her sword, and the offending man's head rolled free.
Without so much as a glance over her shoulder, Xena brought her right leg straight out behind her to knock down the soldier who had sadly underestimated the ease of killing the female warrior. She reached down with her left arm to help Gabrielle up, her right arm wielding her sword in a fast and furious faceoff with yet another one of Callisto's soldiers. He was no match for her, though, and she finished him off easily.
"Gabrielle, what are you doing here?" Xena was more than a little surprised to find the young bard here, in the thick of the fight.
"I'm . . ." Gabrielle stared into Xena's face, for once at a loss for words. "I felt like I needed to be with you," she stammered. An arrow flying just past her head put an end to any further conversation, which was just as well; the girl from Poteidaia wasn't even sure she could put into rational thought the impulse that had brought her to Xena's side.
Xena quickly circled her young partner so that they stood back to back. "Gabrielle, you shouldn't be here," she remarked over her shoulder, easily deflecting two soldiers' swords coming her way. "We're right in the middle of the whole battle-you could get seriously hurt!" She tried to mask the fear in her voice as she kicked a dead attacker off her sword.
"Xena, haven't we already been over this?" There was a faint note of exasperation in Gabrielle's voice. "You know I'm not afraid to die for a cause I believe in. And I do believe in what we're doing here." Two quick whacks left an enemy soldier unconscious on the ground.
"But Gabrielle, it's too dangerous . . ." A throw of the chakram deflected three arrows from the air.
"Oh, what, Xena? Like living with you isn't danger enough for any one day? You know I have no problems with the constant risks of being with you. I accepted that wholeheartedly." A backhanded strike knocked a soldier sprawling.
Xena sensed something in the bard's words. "Gabrielle, what are you trying to say?"
"I'm trying to say that . . ." But a new group of soldiers surged forward and swept the two friends apart in their onslaught. The last thing Xena saw before being buried beneath a pile of squirming, smelly soldiers was the look of pleading on Gabrielle's face.
Gabrielle held her own admirably, beating down every attacking blow and returning the favors with incapacitating staff strikes. She even succeeded in knocking three or four arrows from the air, a feat she hadn't accomplished since early in her travels with Xena. But still, despite how well she was doing, the tide of battle swept her away from her friend, until she completely lost sight of where Xena had been.
Xena managed to wrestle her way out from beneath the dogpile. A quick scan of the field told her that her unlikely little army was succeeding quite well, and seemed to have the upper hand in most places, but there was no trace of Gabrielle. She briefly considered trying to find the young woman, but knew that Gabrielle would not be happy if she chose the bard's safety over that of the several beleaguered villagers whom she'd just noticed. So the warrior held her ground, determined to take out as many of Callisto's men as she could . . . and then some.
Gabrielle found herself near the edge of the battlefield before she knew a moment's peace. She heard Hercules calling to her and, picking up on the urgency in his voice, set aside her newfound, inexplicable aversion to him long enough to listen.
"Gabrielle!" he called. Concern was written all over his handsome features.
This is the man who helped Xena break free from her past, the bard reminded herself with a pang of guilt. If it weren't for him, you'd still be stuck at home in Poteidaia, living the world's dullest life. There's so much you wouldn't have learned, and you wouldn't have the wonderful friend you have now . . . A vision of Xena's face came to her then, and she lost herself willingly in the imagined depths of those azure eyes. Gabrielle saw herself plunging deep into the sea of emotions that only she was ever able to see reflected there. For that gift, you owe him at least some respect.
She was knocked out of her reverie by the force of Hercules's body slamming her to the ground. Angrily she sputtered, "Hercules, what in Tartarus are you doing?"
"Saving your life," he retorted without malice, despite the unwarranted anger in Gabrielle's voice. "What are you doing, spacing out like that? I don't know if you noticed or anything, but we just happen to be in the middle of a fight right now!"
Gabrielle sighed. "I know. It was stupid of me."
"Well, listen." Hercules sensed the bard's discomfort. "It's important that we get a message to Xena. Callisto is leading a small party of men toward the village. She's got to be stopped. I'm going to go after her."
Gabrielle was appalled. "You mean all of this-"she indicated the carnage around them with a sweep of her arm-"is just a distraction?" She felt ill. The harsh reality of war, distasteful as it was, was nothing new to her-what else could she expect, traveling with Xena?-but such wanton, callous treatment of life never ceased to sicken the idealistic young woman.
Hercules shook his head sadly. "I'm afraid so. At least as far as I can tell so far." He searched the battlefield, straining his eyes. "How are we going to get word of this to Xena?"
"I'll do it." Gabrielle spoke quietly.
"Gabrielle, Xena will never forgive me if I let you take the message to her, and something happens to you!"
"She'll understand, Hercules. And we don't have time to argue over this! Nobody else will be able to find her as easily as I could."
"How's that?" The demi-god couldn't resist asking the question.
"I'll . . . I'll just know how to find her. I can't explain it." The Amazon gripped her staff, nodded purposefully at Hercules, and darted off into the middle of the melee. Hercules watched her go, unable to shake his uneasiness at the thought of what could happen to her. He caught sight of Iolaus struggling with three burly soldiers and dashed over to help his friend. Iolaus dove into a roll between two of them, and Hercules knocked them into each other, leaving them unconscious. Jumping to his feet behind the third soldier, Iolaus tapped him on the shoulder and delivered a nasty sword blow to the man's chest when he turned around, dispatching him neatly.
"Come on." Hercules strode purposefully toward the woods leading to Pharsalus.
"Where are we going, Herc?" asked Iolaus.
"After Callisto," Hercules replied simply.
"You mean she's not . . ." The shorter man chucked a thumb toward the center of the battlefield and looked befuddled.
"No. Come on!" The son of Zeus yanked his friend's arm and all but dragged him in pursuit of Callisto.
 
The battle was dying down. Xena's hodgepodge army was doing quite well. The warrior, standing amidst a small group of victorious villagers, nodded with satisfaction and turned to stride across the field to an area where a few remnants of the battle still raged, but a hoarse whisper and a hand on her boot stopped her.
"Xena."
The warrior looked down to her feet and felt the icy shock of pain stab into her stomach. Her eyes followed the bloodied hand gripping her ankle, traveling down a muscular arm and landing on Gabrielle's green halter top.
"Gabrielle!" gasped Xena, dropping to her knees beside her fallen friend. She bit her lip, fighting in vain against the tears that threatened to spill from her eyes; sword slashes and bruises marked most of the bard's exposed skin, blood and dirt so mingled in the wounds that it was nearly impossible to judge their severity. Gently, Xena pulled Gabrielle into her arms and cradled her. "Is it bad?" she asked, gingerly probing a cut on Gabrielle's torso.
"It's bad," answered Gabrielle, eyelids fluttering wildly in a losing battle to stay open. Her lips struggled to form the next few syllables. "Mess-message for you, from Hercules . . . Callisto heading for the villages with some men . . . he went to try and hold them back for you . . ." She coughed violently. Blood bubbled up from between her lips and she shuddered with agony.
"Callisto is . . ." Xena echoed the words numbly, barely even allowing their import to sink into her mind.
"I'm not gonna make it, Xena." Dulling green eyes gazed up at the warrior with undisguised tenderness. "I know I'm not." She laid a hand on her stomach, and Xena could see the blood welling up in the hideous gash there, keeping the grotesque rhythm of her friend's heartbeat.
"Oh gods, Xena, I'm sorry . . ." Gabrielle reached up feebly to lay a hand on the warrior's cheek.
"Sorry? Sorry for what?" Xena took the upstretched hand in her own and brought it to her lips.
"That I never told you . . . I-I love you, Xena."
Xena choked back a sob. "I know you do, Gabrielle, I know you do."
"No," came the whisper. "I mean that I love you. Not just because you're my friend . . . you mean so much more to me than that . . . I should have told you earlier." A slight smile spread across the bloodied face, once so beautiful. "I think . . . I've always known it."
The words that Xena had wanted so badly to hear, and had been sure that she never would, ultimately broke the floodgates. Hot tears streamed down Xena's cheeks, leaving muddy streaks in the dirt accumulated by the day's fighting. She bent down and kissed Gabrielle on the forehead. "I should have told you, Gabrielle . . . gods, can you ever forgive me?"
With effort, Gabrielle pulled herself up into a semi-reclining position against Xena's chest. She rested her head on Xena's shoulder, looked the warrior in the eyes, and said gently, "Xena, I already have." The young bard placed a trembling hand behind Xena's head and pulled the warrior's face to hers for a tentative kiss. The sweetness of the contact tore at Xena's heart.
"Gabrielle, you can't die," gasped Xena when they pulled apart. "I need you, don't you know that?"
"Some things are inevitable, Xena." Gabrielle snuggled closer to her friend.
"I shouldn't have gotten you into this war. You never would have gotten hurt." The warrior cursed herself bitterly. How could I have been so stupid? She remembered Marmax, remembered him telling her that Gabrielle didn't belong in the middle of a war zone. Gabrielle had received a fatal wound then, but pulled through miraculously. Xena grasped the thread of hope that the memory gave her, and clung to it desperately. "How many times have you made it through, Gabrielle?" she whispered beseechingly. "There's been so many times that I've nearly lost you, but I never did. You'll make it this time, Gabrielle. Just like you always have." She wished she could find a way for the love in her heart to create some sort of healing magic to save this dear girl.
The bard shook her head. "There isn't going to be a 'this time' any more, Xena." She smiled up at Xena weakly. "But don't worry . . . they can't hurt me any more."
Xena read the calm resignation in the young woman's face. She wanted to resist, but Gabrielle's words from the battle with the Persians came back to her. "I know that I'm going to die. I accept that. Why can't you?" The harsh irony struck her that she, the Warrior Princess with so many courageous acts to her name, was terrified. But for Gabrielle's sake, she faced up to that fear. I've got to be brave for her. "Is there anything I can do for your pain?"
"Just hold me, Xena. I won't feel any pain if I'm in your arms. It's the safest place I've ever been . . . it's home to me."
Xena gently lifted Gabrielle in her arms and carried her to the side of the battlefield. There they sat together, wrapped in each other's embrace; already the agony on the bard's face was fading away. "I wish I could show you some way to make it through this!" Xena burst out. The stoic warrior was crying freely now, her tears falling onto Gabrielle's face.
Gabrielle brushed her fingers across the warm drops of salt water on her skin. "A baptism of love," she murmured. "You truly do love me, Xena . . . that's all I ever wanted. I could regret the times we'll never spend together, you and I, finally knowing how we really feel . . . but I don't. These tears . . . they wash away all that regret. And when my eyes close this time, I'll be here with you, knowing your love . . . it's the way I always wanted to go. Your love is such a blessing, Xena . . ."
Xena held her young companion closer. "Oh, Gabrielle, my love . . . what am I going to do without you? How will I keep from succumbing to my darkness again?"
The bard gathered her strength and raised herself up so that she was eye level with Xena. "Remember, Xena!" She looked deep into Xena's eyes. "Remember what you've learned from me. Remember your promise, and remember what you're fighting for. As long as you keep that in your heart, our friendship and our love . . . even when I'm gone, Xena, I'll always be with you. The greater good, Xena. Don't you ever forget that. As long as my death helps you accomplish that . . . Even the storm leaves the grass greener when it passes."
"I promise, Gabrielle. I'll never forget you." The warrior laid her hand over her heart. "You'll always be with me," she said, echoing the bard's words. She laughed softly.
"What?" Gabrielle asked with a tiny smile.
"A bard to the end," Xena replied wryly, with a smile of her own.
"Always," came the whispered reply. It was barely audible, though; Gabrielle was fading fast. "See you on the other side, you big bad warrior, you . . . I'll be waiting for you, Xena. I love you so much . . ."
"And I love you, Gabrielle. I always will." Xena brushed Gabrielle's lips with one last kiss as the bard's green eyes fluttered shut and she collapsed limply against Xena. "I'll see you again someday," she choked. She cradled her head against the chest in which she could no longer sense a heartbeat, and lost herself to her grief.
 
"Xena." Hercules's hand was on her shoulder, and he was gazing at her compassionately. His eyes fell on Gabrielle's body, the blood and dirt now washed away by Xena's ministrations. "I'm so sorry," he whispered.
The warrior got to her feet. How much time had passed, she could not tell, absorbed as she was in her mourning. "Did you find Callisto?" Her voice was rough and broken from her sobs.
"We did." He indicated Iolaus, who gripped the end of a chain to which Callisto was shackled. The wild-eyed immortal, her hands bound securely in manacles that completely enclosed them, raged futilely against the chains.
"You got chains that would actually hold her?" Xena was surprised.
Hercules shrugged. "Hephaestus gave them to me. It helps to call in favors from family sometimes."
Xena walked up to Callisto. "It's over," she said quietly. "You've lost."
In response, Callisto jerked her chin in the direction of Gabrielle's body. "Looks like you have too. Your little friend is gone, Xena . . . because of me. Doesn't that make you mad? Are you going to pick a fight with me now for it?" She smirked in challenge.
Hercules tensed. Xena had told him of her feelings toward Gabrielle, and he feared that Callisto's proclamation would cause the warlord he'd once known to resurface.
But Xena merely stood and met Callisto's gaze squarely. "I haven't lost, Callisto. Gabrielle may be gone from this world, but she'll always be with me. And we've stopped your army, just as she wanted." The warrior smiled sadly. "I haven't lost a thing." In truth, she wanted to attack Callisto, hurt her as severely as her nemesis's army had hurt Gabrielle. But the bard's words bound her, and Xena had never known such joy in captivity. She knew exactly what it was she had to do. "I won't give you the satisfaction of that fight, no matter how much you-or I-would want it."
She looked at Hercules. "Take her away. Leave the rest of the prisoners at the hands of the villagers here, and do with Callisto as you see fit."
"Where are you going?" asked Iolaus.
Xena looked at him as she hefted Gabrielle's body in her arms, and said simply, "To take her home."
"To Poteidaia?"
"To the Amazon village. I'll have to take the news to her family, but the Amazons have a right to see their Queen one last time, and . . . Poteidaia was never her home." Fresh tears welled in Xena's eyes. "I was," she whispered.
She needs her friends right now, Hercules realized, witnessing the pain in the warrior's face. "We'll meet you there at the village," he said quietly. "As soon as we're done here. Come on, Iolaus." He patted Xena's shoulder comfortingly and turned to take the prisoners and Callisto away, charging one of the villagers with the task of tending to their dead and wounded.
Xena whistled for Argo and set about lashing together a sort of travois to carry Gabrielle's body. When it was complete, she laid the dead bard on it with the utmost tenderness, covered her with a blanket, and set off to the Amazon village.
 
"Damn!" Ares raged. After all he'd gone through to set up this confrontation, that little bard had completely thwarted his plans yet again. His thrill in the day's battle left a sour taste in his mouth when he thought about how Callisto and Xena's final showdown had never taken place, and how the warrior had not returned to him as he'd hoped.
"Disappointed, brother?" asked an acid female voice.
Ares turned to look at the speaker. "Artemis," he said bitingly. "Well, well, aren't you happy to see me?"
"Your little game killed one of my Chosen," replied the Virgin Huntress in even tones. "Not that I'd expect any less from you, or that I'm not used to it by now, but . . . really, Ares, you disgust me sometimes." There was scorn in Artemis's voice. "And now if you'll excuse me, I have an appointment to attend to." With that, she whirled on her heel and left, leaving the God of War fuming behind her.
 
"Well done, Gabrielle. I'm proud of you."
"Artemis!" Gabrielle looked on in surprise at the goddess coming toward her.
"You have served the Amazons well, and forever secured Xena's soul. For that, my dear Queen, be proud. Your place in the Fields has been well earned." Artemis smiled and laid a hand on the bard's shoulder.
"So it has." Hades appeared before them. "Be assured, Gabrielle of Poteidaia, you will see your warrior again." The God of the Dead looked benevolently at Gabrielle. "I'll save a place for her at your side in the Fields."
"You mean . . ." Gabrielle gasped, more surprised by the implication of his last words than the realization that she had truly earned a place in the Elysian Fields, the eternal resting place of heroes.
"We've seen your love for each other," Artemis explained. "The power of that love is unsurpassed, Gabrielle. Ultimately it will be Xena's redemption, so you need not fear for her."
"Thank you," the bard whispered, overwhelmed and grateful for the assurance.
"No, thank you. You have been such a light; you have done so much good for Xena and for so many others. The world will be a better place because of you, Gabrielle. It will never be forgotten." Hades smiled. "I have seen to it that your legacy will live on."
"But how?"
"You will see," answered the god. "Given time . . . you will see. And you'll have all the time in the world."
 
Xena gazed into the flames of Gabrielle's funeral pyre. Ephiny, now the Queen of the Amazons, stood on her right with her lieutenant Solari, and Hercules and Iolaus on her left.
"She will be missed," offered Ephiny, even though she knew that her words would do little to ease the warrior's pain. Her own was hardly less, for she had loved Gabrielle dearly as a sister and a friend through harsh trials. The new Queen looked at Xena in concern. "You're leaving for Poteidaia in the morning, aren't you? Will you be all right?"
"Yes, I'll be fine," answered the warrior. She did not relish the thought of taking this news to Gabrielle's family; in fact, it scared her more than the battle had. But for Gabrielle . . . "She'll always be with me," the warrior whispered. Gabrielle's love and faith in her gave Xena the courage to face up to Herodotus's inevitable anger and accusations, and the armor she would need to defend herself from the pain his words could inflict. She knew that it would strengthen her through all the battles, both external and internal, that she would face for the rest of her life without the bard's physical presence at her side. She smiled, warmed by the thought.
"As long as I live, she'll always be with me."