WARNINGS AND DISCLAMERS

The warrior ran into Melena in the hall and the brunette smiled up at Xena. "I woke up and you were gone so I came to look for you." She then noticed the warrior had her things in her hands. "Where are you going lover? I think you promised me another dance."

"Not now Melena, I have to go." The warrior said as she pushed past her.

"Hey what's the rush?" Melena hollered after the warrior sounding disappointed.

"My friend is gone and I have to find her." The warrior said as she started down the stairs.

Melena hurried after her, trying desperately to get Xena to change her mind about rushing off. "Xena you said last night that she was just a little girl with a crush on you. Maybe she decided it was time to go home and grow up some."

"Melena you don't understand... she's my friend. I can't let anything happen to her. If she wants to go home that's fine, but I intend to make sure that she gets there safely." The warrior replied.

"Xena I've never known any friend of yours that meant that much to you. In fact I've never known you to have any friends. You're acting like you're in love with her or something." Melena said still chasing after the warrior.

The warrior turned on Melena and stopped. She stared into the blue eyes and arched an eyebrow. "You're right, I am acting that way and that's because I am in love with her."

"What?!?! Then tell me why you where in my bed last night instead of hers?" the brunette said astounded by Xena's admission.

"Melena it's a long story and I don't have the time to go into it now... I have to go."

"No, warrior princess, you owe me and I want to hear this." Melena said with determination to hear the rest.

"All right Melena, I'm going to make this short, sweet and to the point... Gabrielle is a virgin." The warrior said as kept walking toward the front door.

"What?? You're kidding right?? I didn't know there was such a thing past the age of 10 cycles or so. Besides the warlord I knew wouldn't let something as trivial as virginity stand between her and what she wanted." Melena gasped a little in awe at such a thing. Xena the warrior princess and ex-warlord with a virgin! Now this was getting better all the time!

"No I'm not kidding! Gabrielle's never seen the warlord; I'd lost my army before I met her. And she sure as Hades had never seen battlelust and I was scaring the Hades out of her." the warrior kept walking. "Melena you know how I was last night. You've been in war camps... you know what battlelust does to a person." The warrior replied as she continued out the door headed for the stables.

Melena was hurrying along beside her in an effort to continue the conversation. This was a side of the warrior that she'd never seen in all the time that she'd known her and that was for over seven cycles. "I sure do... it tends to be a violent celebration of having lived through another battle. I've seen it many times and been its victim more times than I'd care to count."

"All right then you have your answers... I have to go." Xena continued her long strides toward the stables.

"Why is she still a virgin and why aren't you two lovers, if you're in love with her as you say? You may not have still had an army when you met her, but I've never known you to be bashful about taking anything you ever wanted before... including me." Melena questioned.

"Melena I'm not like that any more. I said I was in love with her, I didn't say she was in love with me and besides she's just a young girl. The way I was last night would have scared her even if we were lovers." Xena pulled the door open to the stable and headed for Argo picking up her saddle on the way.

"Xena I think you've been around that 'girl' so long you can't even see the beautiful 'woman' that she's become. Oh and warlord the way she looked at you in the hall last night wasn't with the eyes of a child with a crush, but with the eyes of a jealous woman very much in love." Melena said bitterly.

"Melena I think you're seeing things... Gabrielle and I are good friends." Xena replied. "I've been trying to deal with the battlelust for a couple of days and I was controlling it until yesterday. After we got here some men hurt Gabrielle and I lost control and killed them. The battlelust soared and I turned it on her and started to get rough... the lust was for her because of the way I feel about her. IÖ Gods I almost raped her. She'd only caught glimpses of the warlord before and had never been on the receiving end of the warlord's need for dominance. It scared me when I realized... That's no way for anyone's first time to be." Xena continued preparing to leave as Melena again continued.

"But it was all right for you to take and rape me over seven cycles ago. It was all right to be with me last night and treat me anyway you wanted... is that it?" Melena's voice was tinged with growing anger.

"Melena, no it wasn't right seven cycles ago, but you weren't a virgin even then. And now after all these years don't start acting pious on me. I didn't force anything on you last night. In fact you led me to your own bed willingly and I don't remember hearing any complaints. Besides just a few minutes ago you wanted another dance... I believe you called it." Xena never liked explaining herself to anyone and was starting to get annoyed. "Besides she's a very kind, caring and gentle person, she deserves to have her first time be with someone SHE loves, wants to marry and have their children. Melena that's more talking and explaining than I've done in ten cycles... now get out of my way." The warrior grabbed Argo's reins and pushed past her.

Melena stepped back and just stared slack jawed as the warrior hurried with determination past her and mounted the mare.

As Xena headed out of the stable she was trying to figure out where Gabrielle could or would have gone. She decided it was probably either home to her family in Poteidaia or to the Amazon Nation. Xena knew those were probably the only places that Gabrielle would really feel safe.

Xena started searching out away from the village for any sign of the small bard's boot prints. It didn't take her long to find what she was sure was the bard's prints in the rain soaked ground and it did indeed seem that she was headed for the Amazon Nation.

As Xena continued her search for Gabrielle the conversation with Melena kept going through her head. 'Xena I think you've been around that 'girl' so long you can't even see the beautiful 'woman' that she's become. Oh and warlord the way she looked at you in the hall last night wasn't with the eyes of a child with a crush, but with the eyes of a jealous woman very much in love.' Xena knew that Gabrielle appeared angry in the hall last night, but never took it to be jealousy. Gods... could Melena be right? Face it Xena Gabrielle's been with you for over two cycles she has become a very beautiful WOMAN. That certainly explains why I keep having trouble with my passions around her. My body aches for the 'woman, even if I still seen her as a 'girl' in my mind.

Gabrielle was afraid that Xena might follow her and did her best to remember everything that the warrior had ever taught her about staying hidden. She knew that Xena was the best tracker and she wouldn't be able to stay hidden long if the warrior was looking for her. Gabrielle was only hoping to stay hidden long enough to make it to the Amazon Nation before Xena could find her. She'd made tracks in the soft mud on purpose heading for an outcropping of rocks. If she was lucky it would take the warrior a while to figure out she'd doubled back some and then taken to the trees, so she wouldn't leave tracks in the soft earth.

The bard was having a little trouble with the trees. The port hadn't completely worn off yet and it was making climbing around in the trees just a little shaky. At one point Gabrielle had been sitting in a tree waiting for a dizzy spell to pass when the warrior passed underneath her. Xena stopped and the bard thought the warrior had figured it out, but after having looked around a little the warrior continued on.

Xena had indeed lost the bard's tracks in the rocky outcropping and had searched on believing that she was headed for the Amazon Nation, but the bard's tracks never left the rocky outcropping in that direction. The warrior had gone back now to search around the outcropping trying to figure out in which direction Gabrielle had gone.

Xena thought she had sensed the bard's presence once, but hadn't thought that the bard would be deliberately hiding from her. She even thought she caught a faint smell of Gabrielle, but remembered she was carrying the woman's undergarment in her bag. So when she didn't see her anywhere she'd rode on.

After Gabrielle was sure the warrior was a safe distance away she again headed in the direction of the Amazon Nation staying in the trees as much as possible. The rain had made the ground too soft to hide her tracks very well and it was easier to stay hidden in the trees. It finally started getting dark and Gabrielle knew that it would no longer be safe to continue through the trees, so she made her way to the ground.

Gabrielle hadn't stopped all-day and had snacked on trail rations to stave off hunger. She knew the warrior wasn't that far behind her and would either spot or smell a fire. The bard was tired, she hadn't slept last night, but knew if she dared lay down and go to sleep the warrior would probably find her before she woke. The bard also worried about the nightmares... her screams would no doubt lead Xena right to her. It was better to keep moving as long as she possible could.

Gabrielle hadn't traveled the country as extensively as the warrior and only had a vague idea as to her location, but knew that she was headed in the general direction of the Amazon Nation. She was hoping that once she got close to the Nation, that she'd recognize her surroundings and be able to finish her trip with no trouble. Maybe if she were lucky an Amazon scout or guard would spot her and help her to the village.

After a couple of candlemarks looking for Gabrielle's trail around the rocky outcropping, it became apparent to the warrior that the bard had hidden her trail on purpose. Xena then started to search keeping in mind all that she'd taught the little bard. It took her another couple of candlemarks to again find the trail that Gabrielle had made backtracking and taking to the trees.

Xena had to smile to herself; Gabrielle has gotten pretty good at this. She'd have to remember to compliment her when she found her. Xena thought once she'd found the bard's trail that she'd catch up with her in no time, but the bard had a few other tricks to play on the warrior. By nightfall Xena still hadn't found her, but thought she was close. She figured the bard would stop for the night and knew that Gabrielle was a late riser. The warrior figured she would probably be able to find the bard in the morning asleep in her bedroll.

When Xena finally found Gabrielle's trail the next day it was all too clear that the bard hadn't stopped like she had thought and, in fact, had managed to put even more distance between them. Xena had to admire the little bard's spunk and determination, but it was starting to get a little tiring. Xena set out again with renewed determination to find the bard before she rested again.

The warrior had a few things in her favor. First of all was that she was on horseback while the bard was on foot. And Xena had also had a night's sleep Gabrielle didn't have, so the warrior was no where near as tired as her bard.

Early that evening Gabrielle was nearly out of water, she was hot, dirty and very tired. So far she hadn't been able to find any water and really wasn't sure where to look. The warrior had always known where they could find water, so the bard never had to worry about it. Gabrielle decided that she was more tired than she was thirsty, so she found what she thought was a safe place to hide and get some sleep.

² Copyrighted January 1998 by DelShannon