"I'm sorry Xena, but it had to end that way. I thought I told you that?" Gabrielle said pensively as she slowed the car
down, turned her right blinker on, then drove up a private driveway.
"I know. You said, 'it was more dramatic', but gods, Gabrielle! Why just totally kill me off?" Despite her resolve to
remain calm, the warrior princess couldn't help but sound a bit hurt.
"Xena, I can't believe that still bothers you. I mean, that was a long time ago! But, if you really need to know…what else
could I do?" Gabrielle asked as she stopped the car before a gate. After she rolled down the window, she placed her
hand on the black pad that was fastened to a metal pole. As the electronic scan ran over her palm and beeped, the driver
cleared her throat and spoke into the waiting pickup microphone.
Her voice was firm as she said, "Argo, was a great horse." The machine compared it to the copy of her voice stored on
the computer. In a moment, it registered her voice patterns and the green light clicked on, signaling its acceptance. Once
the gate opened, Gabrielle rolled up the window and continued to drive up the narrow path.
"Xena, think about it. After all of the scrolls that I wrote, who would ever believe that we gave in to our basic desires and
shared Odin's golden apple with Aphrodite? I mean, come on, Xena! Throughout all of the tales, we were the selfless
heroes. What would people think if they suddenly realized that in one instance, we were actually…selfish? People might
not be able to understand it and all of the good that you did would be pushed aside because of that one fateful decision
that we made!" Gabrielle's voice was firm as the car turned the final bend toward their home.
Their home was nestled in between trees. The front lights lit up the immaculate landscape of their front yard. As the
garage door automatically opened, Xena saw the single form of their servant waiting by the interior door. As if she were
driving through a tunnel, Gabrielle roared the Jaguar into the garage then slammed on the brakes at the last possible
moment. With a slight smile, Xena glanced at her lover, then over at the yellow Defender Land Rover that sat in the
double garage.
"You're lucky you didn't hit my car," Xena's voice was firm, yet the slight humor seeped through her words. At her
comment, the blonde looked over her shoulder at the parked SUV.
"Xena, I was a mile away! You are such a fuss," she shook her head as she reached down and turned the ignition key.
Only when the engine was silenced did Gabrielle turn to her, a serious expression on her face.
"Xena…I'm sorry that my scrolls ended with your death. You know how much it hurt me to do it that way! Remember
how long I cried? But it was the way it had to end, for good or bad, I simply couldn't see it ending any other way…a-
and, I can't help it. I am selfish! I didn't want us to always have to travel the world with people watching our every move,
to always be there to save everyone. As it is, we do plenty keeping an eye on things from behind the scenes now. If
people thought you were still alive, we would never have had any time to ourselves! They would have always called on
you, never learning to do for themselves. Xena, I wanted my time with you! Only you, do you understand?" Gabrielle’s
green eyes stared into Xena’s. The intensity of her words implored to be understood.
With a slight smile, the warrior princess nodded understanding. "So that's what that year long honeymoon was about?"
"Oh, gods no! I just needed you really bad! I mean, with all of that traveling, there wasn't that much alone time for us, if
you know what I mean," Gabrielle answered, then, with a slight smile, she leaned forward and placed her lips against
Xena's. For what felt like an eternity their lips embraced as their tongues danced a sweet and familiar rhythm.
Reluctantly, they pulled away. "If you shower up and get some of that harbor water fish smell off you, we could relive
some of those honeymoon moments!" The blonde whispered, her voice a throaty pledge.
Xena felt her body instantly responding at her lover's promising words. With a slight smile, she wiggled her eyebrows as
she began to undo the seat belt. "You just keep your engines running, my bard!" She said as she climbed from the car.
"Thought you'd feel that way!" Gabrielle chuckled as she followed the blanketed form into the main house.
Xena only nodded at Achala, their servant, as she made her way into the main house. As she began to wiggle from her
damp clothes, she dropped the blanket at her feet. With each step she took Xena managed to discard an item of
clothing. Behind her, she heard Gabrielle softly speaking to the young woman as she gave the house assistant the keys to
the car, then followed behind the warrior princess.
"Xena! Do you have to always leave a mess?" Gabrielle asked as she picked up the blanket and each item of clothing that
her lover had tossed to the floor.
"Huh? What?" Xena glanced back as she made her way to the stairs. Seeing the trail of wet clothes, she bounded quickly
up the stairway as she hollered down, "Oh...sorry!"
Gabrielle only shook her head as she carried an arm full of wet clothes. With a slight chuckle, Achala moved behind the
storyteller and quickly took the damp clothes from her arms.
"Thank you!" Gabrielle mouthed to the young woman as she followed her lover to the second floor.
The East Indian woman remained silent, her black pants and white immaculate shirt becoming drenched from the wet
bundle she carried. Ever since the warrior and bard had returned from Japa and stayed awhile in India, Achala's family
had chosen to serve the two strangers from Greece. Although Xena and Gabrielle had never held a claim over them, each
descendent chose to willingly serve them with discretion, secrecy and loyalty. In exchange, the two lovers made certain
that their servants never wanted for anything.
As the tall warrior made her way to the showers, she reached behind her and pulled at the prosthesis on the back of her
neck. With a quick yank, she pulled the bump from her skin and yelped at the pain. "Damn, Gabrielle, did you have to
put so much glue on it?" She asked her lover as she rubbed the sore skin.
Gabrielle only laughed as Xena deposited the plastic item in her hand. "Don't complain, I've gotten better with the make-
up over the years. Besides, you're the one who wanted to be able to pass as something weird, not me. I thought you'd be
fine just telling them what they wanted to hear so that they would investigate the water source."
"I told you, Gabrielle, I had to be able to fool them," she explained as she stripped off the last remnants of her clothes and
entered the large glass shower.
"Did it work?" Gabrielle asked as she moved to the computer in their master bedroom.
"I don't think that Scully woman believed me…she's way too paranoid!" The tall woman shouted out as the warm water
fell over her. When she turned her back to the wall and gazed out at her partner, she smiled as she saw Gabrielle putting
on her gold rimmed glasses that had lenses with a zero magnification rating. Even though she had no use for them,
Gabrielle had insisted that they made her look like a proper bard.
With a shake of her head, Xena turned away from the scene. She sighed contentedly as she soaked in the warm rushing
water. When she felt refreshed and the sea smell was finally washing away, she reached up and took the nearby bottle of
fragrant shampoo. “Damn, the world certainly has changed,” she thought with a grin. “There are some great inventions
nowadays. Like body lotion and electricity and fast cars and always warm showers…and yeah! Tampons!” she silently
thought. Then her face fell as she sighed, “but it used to be that a dip in the ocean didn't leave me smelling like dead fish
and garbage. And people didn't run flying machines into buildings. . Some of the changes are not good at all.” As she
lathered up her hair she felt a sweet, familiar sensation behind her. “Then again,” she thought wryly, “some things never
change at all, and how glad I am for that!” The dark woman smiled and waited for her lover to wrap warm arms
