Blood and Roses Realm | Fan Fiction Site | Home Page
This page was last updated: August 28, 1998
(c)August 1998
URL: willow6.htmlThe following is a bit of alternative fiction based on certain characters from the Xenaverse It is not meant to infringe on anyone else's rights. If you don't agree or disapprove, please go read something else.
This story is part of an Altaverse based on Bite Me and the Fonder Heart. It can be found, along with other such stories, at The Realms of the Xenaverse, under Blood and Roses. Xena is Ares' Daughter and Gabrielle is Bacchus' Daughter
Characters from Buffy: Vampire Slayer have also been borrowed for the purposes of this story. All of this is written with the utmost affection and the no desire for renumeration (except for possible emails). The same above disclaimer is in effect. There are certain changes that have been made to accomadate this particular Xenaverse. Buffy's Vampires are really part of the Kin, renamed for purposes of this story
Xex Alert: Yes, there definitely will be, between two consenting immortal women even. Maybe even more
Violence Alert: Yes, probably, given that this is a story involving slayage and Xena.
Willow had loaded up a tray with chips, nachos, sodas and just about anything else she could find in the pantry. Although her Aunt Gabrielle had always seemed normal before, now the teenager felt awkward... knowing that... well, just knowing what she knew. Willow shook her head and laughed silently at her own fear. This was her Aunt Gabrielle, for goodness' sake. The one who-- as Willow was growing up-- seemed to be the only one that understood the girl's preference for books to dolls and computers to party clothes. Birthdays and holidays were never forgotten by the diminutive blond woman, in spite of her family's obvious reticence about Gabrielle's... lifestyle.
Willow hated the snickering and hushed gossip that had always gone on behind her aunt's back. And when Xena had come into her life... well, the Willow was sure the phone company had made a year's worth of profits on the long distance bills from the Rosenberg clan that week alone. "It's bad enough that she insists on living like... that, but honestly... that woman she's taken up with used to be a prostitute..." It had only gotten worse from there. Of course when Gabrielle had brought Xena to the last family gathering, everyone had expected the status quo... which meant that they talked about their rich relation behind her back while Gabrielle ignored them.
Boy were they surprised when Aunt Gabrielle lit into them like that... I don't think I'd ever seen anyone that furious before... It had reminded Willow of how Buffy had defended Angel to the others, a bright love burning fiercely in her eyes. Truthfully, it made her a little sad too... and she wondered if anyone would ever feel that way about her. Xander certainly didn't, and though Oz was sweet and she really liked him a lot... somehow she knew that her eyes would never burn for him the way that Buffy's did for Angel or Gabrielle's did for Xena.
Lost in her own thoughts, she didn't realize that Buffy had stopped short just inside the kitchen, and she ran into her friend's back with a muffled thump. "What--?"
"Shh..." Buffy hissed. The warrior's deep voice and her aunt's lighter alto trickled in through the partially opened door, and Willow craned her head to see around her friend's shoulder. "Listen."
Pacing back and forth, Gabrielle regarded the taller woman ruefully. "Well, at least we found out what we wanted to know. The Kindred are harassing Willow."
"Right, but we still don't know if it's because of this Angel guy or..."
"Or because she belongs to me."
Xena closed the gap that separated them and enfolded the bard in her arms once more. Since she had remembered the Blood, her craving for Gabrielle's skin in her hands had been almost constant. Initially it meant that she rarely let the smaller woman out of bed... something, she had noted smugly, the bard hadn't objected to in the least... but as time passed it had become more manageable.. and now it simmered just beneath the surface, evident in their physical closeness at all times. "To us, love. You're not in this alone anymore."
"Xena, if they know... they'll come after her to get to me."
"They'll have to go through me to get to either one of you." The dark woman grinned wolfishly in anticipation of the conflict.
Gabrielle's whole being seemed to collapse as she looked at the warrior helplessly. "And then it will be Callisto all over again," she whispered deep in her lover's embrace, referring to the battle that had taken her lover away for a century. Xena had protected the bard's children from Callisto's final wrath at the cost of her own immortality. "I can't take that again... Xena... not after everything we've gone through." Though ultimately she and Xena had triumphed over the bitch-goddess who had hounded them throughout eternity, something bone-deep within the bard still feared even Callisto's name. No matter that Gabrielle was now the one that the Twilight's Children feared above all others-- she was the Sunwalker and the shining counterpart to her lover's dark star-- whenever she thought about the years she had been forced to walk the earth alone, she felt weaker than a newborn mortal.
Capturing green eyes with her own flawless blue ones, Xena made a solemn promise to her lover. "That won't happen. We'll keep our family-- all of us-- safe."
Willow stifled a quiet gasp at the conversation. While the red-head wasn't sure she liked the idea of someone coming after her at all... her aunt's simple claiming of her warmed the teenager to the core. She had never really belonged anywhere, not until she met Buffy and entered the oftentimes surreal world of the slayer. Now she had her aunt Gabrielle and her... well, Xena... too.
Buffy, however, had heard enough. She flung the kitchen door open, Willow fast on her heels. "Okay... look..." The slayer stood in front of the two immortals, hands on her hips-- a clearly irritated expression flaring in her gray eyes. "I don't know exactly where over-the-rainbow you guys come from... but I think it's time for a little Reality 101 here."
Icy blue eyes stared back at the slayer, and Willow felt herself shrinking back just a little as Xena stepped towards the smaller blond. The already-tall woman seemed even bigger, and more menacing than the worst demon spawn the teenager had ever encountered. Buffy, however, held her ground... although Willow could see the tiny tremor of fear through her friend's body. Just when Willow thought it was going to be over for them both, a gentle voice stopped Xena.
"Love... wait." Grasping the tall woman's forearm softly, she smiled at her lover; and Willow watched in amazement as the blue ice seemed to melt under the tender gaze, the tension visibly easing out of the warrior's body. "We need to tell them the whole story."
"That'd be a nice change of pace," Buffy snorted, crossing her arms.
The blue swiveled back to the two teenagers, pinning them with their ferocity. "Look, you mouthy little slayer-- watch your tongue..." The warrior smiled evilly. "Or I'll cut it out. Got it?"
Gabrielle bounced her eyes from Xena to Buffy, then she shook her head and laughed softly. "Warriors," she muttered. "Are you two done glaring at each other? Can we get something productive done here?"
"I brought snacks," Willow volunteered, still holding the tray. As soon as the words were out of her mouth she realized how stupid she sounded... she was only grateful that Xander wasn't there. He would have been laughing over that one for weeks. To her surprise, she found Xena standing in front of her, gently taking the tray out of her hands, a quiet smile on her face.
"I've found where your Aunt Gabrielle is concerned, snacks are an essential part of her productivity." She couldn't resist teasing her honey-haired lover. "She tends to get distracted otherwise."
"Ha ha, hee hee..." the bard deadpanned, but she took a handful of pretzels nonetheless. "Let's get comfortable."
"Actually..." Xena suggested instead, looking at Buffy squarely. "Why don't we have the slayer call her Watcher. It will be dark soon." She glanced at Gabrielle, an unmistakable gleam in her eyes. "And your bastard cousins will be wanting to come out and play."
A few quick phone calls later, Xena and Gabrielle were trailing after Buffy and Willow as they entered the the school library. A heavy tension still rested between Buffy and the immortal warrior that Willow didn't know how to breach, but her aunt Gabrielle seemed unconcerned about it. Now, the warrior muttered to her lover.
"A high school library? What the bloody Hades kind of Watcher is he?"
"Giles is really smart," Willow offered by way of defense for her teacher since Buffy had apparently decided not to speak to the immortals. "He knows lots of stuff about..." The teenager groped for words, unnerved by the blue gaze that had settled unwaveringly upon her. "Stuff..." she finished lamely.
"Stuff," Xena echoed, a dark brow lifting to lazy attention as they entered the library. Three sets of eyes focused on the six foot warrior with varying degrees of amazement, lust, and worry.
"Oh dear..." Giles' quiet voice floated across the room. "What have we here?"
Buffy jerked an irritated thumb at the two immortals. "Bard. Warrior Princess," she offered as their introduction. She strolled across the library and sat on one of the large tables, pushing a group of presumably ancient texts out of her way. Giles was always reading something incomprehensible to her... sometimes she wished her Watcher was a little more... relevant. Information was great, but it didn't help her when she had some blood-sucking fiend making an end run for her neck.
"I see," was Giles' only response.
Come on, Giles, work with me here... Buffy thought to herself. She didn't know why, but an unreasonable anger seized her soul. Angel was lost to her... a teacher and friend was dead... and two women that seemed to be immortals two thousand years old were calling Willow "family." She needed a little bit more than an I see... from her Watcher.
"The Ancient Bard herself," he murmured. Then his eyes strayed to the warrior standing protectively just behind her lover. "And you were supposed to have been destroyed over a century ago."
Xena felt the honey-haired woman tense up, and she placed a reassuring hand on Gabrielle's shoulder. "I've always found death to be a... temporary... state where I'm concerned," she replied nonchalantly, flashing a fierce grin at the startled Watcher. "What matters now is that I'm back. You seem to have a problem that Gabrielle and I can help you solve."
Giles was pacing now, absentmindedly cleaning his glasses the way he did when he was in "deep thought" mode. "Yes, this changes things completely. Although I must say that I'm not completely convinced it's for the best."
Xena scowled and seemed about to reply, but Gabrielle nodded her agreement. "We weren't aware of your... situation when we arrived."
"Then why on earth are you here?" Giles was genuinely perplexed.
The bard nodded at Willow. "Willow is family... and her father was concerned about her recent interest in crucifixes."
"Wait a minute," Xander emerged from the shadows where he had been sitting with an astonished Cordelia. "I'd like to buy a clue here. What are you talking about Giles? The Ancient Bard?"
Buffy ran an agitated hand through her hair. "She's a vampire."
"Not... quite..." Giles corrected. "Gabrielle is one of the original Daughters of Bacchus.."
"The god of wine," Willow supplied.
"Wine?" Xander's head perked up. This was really getting interesting.
"That's how his legacy has been passed down through the textual sources," Giles agreed.
"Too generous an assessment if you ask me," Gabrielle muttered under her breath, loud enough for only Xena and Willow to hear.
"So what does this have to do with anything?" Buffy asked. "Call her whatever you want... immortal, vampire, kin, demon... whatever..."
"It has a lot to do with everything, Buffy." Giles' normally gentle voice took on an edge that none of the teens had ever heard from the soft-spoken Watcher. "Everything you face, everything you fight is a corruption of what she is."
"And what it that, exactly?" Buffy asked sarcastically, as if the woman in question weren't standing in the room with her, as if the slayer hadn't felt Gabrielle's strength and control herself.
"The Sunwalker," Willow blurted out, astonished she hadn't put it together before now. "She's the one they're so afraid of."
"And that's why her presence here changes everything," Giles affirmed. "Whoever destroys her stands a good chance of destroying the world."
Blood and Roses Realm | Fan Fiction Site | Home Page
This page was last updated: August 28, 1998
(c)August 1998
URL: willow6.html