by badbard

tiger_by_night@yahoo.com

WARNING/DISCLAIMER:- As you are all aware (unless you inhabit Planet X along with me, in which case you should be doubly aware), Xena and Gabrielle are the express property of MCA/Universal and Renaissance Pictures. They are used here

for the purpose of entertainment, not profit. This is a story of love's awakening, told from Gabrielle's point of view. NO, Perdicus does not prominently feature. Xena does - get the hint?! No Xex inside, (hush up with those sighs of disappointment, people sitting in the back row are trying to hear!) but there is a lotta kissing and a nice little package

of Subtext. if this offends you, close your eyes, pray for a miracle and feel for your computer plug to yank it out of

its socket. That should help some. For any hopeless saps out there, this is the story for you. So read on and as a famous duck once said, (don't ask me who because I made that up) Let's get Sappy!

I have a waking dream of the Dreamscape. I watch her move confidently towards me. I see the promise in her bluest of eyes. I am reminded of the sky - limitless possibilities. I hear her sweet reassurances and I pull them close to me, to treasure always. I watch her move in purposefully. I watch her lips. I cannot look away. I watch her dark head bend down, I look into her liquid gaze and I am home again. I see her hungry eyes shift to my lips, which part for her of their own accord. I feel her sweetness move against my willing mouth.

With a start I come back to myself. We are caught in the midst of a fierce storm. Xena says to me, "It's raining." I feel

a grin tug at my mouth. My best friend is the Princess of Understatement. "We should find shelter," she proclaims to

the world at large. A scowl pulls my lips down at the corners. After all, I am an intelligent enough woman. I hope. Hearing Xena tell me the obvious, time and time again can get a bit old. Especially annoying is the way she addresses her observations to anyone. anything but me. Why is she afraid to talk to me directly?

Her glorious black mane is slick - like polished obsidian. Always, I find myself having such thoughts about her. She bring out the Bard in me. The Warrior Princess is the perfect companion for one with my interesting occupation. Inspiring, adventurous, legendary and ravishingly beautiful. Not for the first time in my short life, I wish to Hades that I was a man. Somewhere along the track I fell for my 'friend' - hard, but after Marcus, I despaired. If I were a man than perhaps I would stand a chance. Maybe. Then again, knowing Xena and her preference for tall, dark and dangerous types, maybe not. Male or female, I have a sneaking suspicion that I will always be short, strawberry-blonde and relatively tame.

"Get a move on, Gabrielle," she orders. From the strained note in her normally mellow voice, I gather that she is worried. We have been walking for over a candlemark in the downpour and no shelter is in sight. This is obviously unfamiliar territory for my warrior. Yes, I know, she is not my warrior but I can't help thinking of her that way - I so long for it to be true. "How are you holding up?" she asks me. I try unsuccessfully

to tear my starving eyes from her damp ruby lips.

"I'm hungry," I tell her truthfully.

"What a surprise," she teases me. Her broad shoulders lift a little and I revel in the knowledge that our easy banter has cheered her spirit.

We come to a flooded river. I stare at the raging torrent, more than a little awed by its barely restrained power. It reminds me of my warrior. I see reminders of her in all of nature's wonders. "We'll have to cross," Xena decides. My apprehension must have showed clearly for she crosses to my side and takes my hand. I feel like I am flying. Her strong callused fingers entwine with mine, "for extra grip" she informs me. I just smile up at her. I guess I look like a fool. My warrior stands unmoving, looking down at me with soft cotton-blue eyes. I know she feels protective of me. I no longer mind so much - I will take whatever she is willing to give me. "I'll help you cross," she promises. Perhaps it is my over-active imagination but I think I hear her whisper, "I'll always be here to help you." Possibly what I heard was a lingering memory of the Dreamscape. I hold her hand tighter.

We enter the sucking current together. Xena takes a fighting stance, crouching low and grounding herself. I cling to her hand. We advance slowly. The water is fast and white and tries to pull me from her. I am afraid. I will not let her leave me. With an effort I pull her back to me. She helps me to wrap my arms around her waist. We move across the river again. My arms tremble uncontrollably - partly from exertion, partly from the closeness of my other half. The current is ravenously hungry and churns about my hips, trying to suck me under. I hold onto Xena with a strength I didn't know I had. I am starving and I will never let her go. I am dimly aware of something warm, quivering beneath my roving hand. When I wonder what could possibly be so warm in such a cold current, I realise that my hand is resting on Xena's breast. The forbidden knowledge does not make me pull my hand away.

Being so close to my warrior convinces me that I drowned in this fell river and went to Elysia. Focusing on nothing except this dream come true, I struggle around to face her, using my grip on her armor to pull myself around. She stops wading through the river. We stand in its depths and stare at each other. Her voice is husky. "Gabrielle." I love the way she says my name. "What are you doing?" Knowing that I am in Elysia gives me courage I never had before. I silence her question with a kiss. Being much shorter than my warrior, I only reach her collarbone. In an effort for more intimacy. I reach around her neck and attempt to pull her face down.

"Xena," I whisper and my own voice is throaty. Her eyes are wide and disbelieving but she leans down to meet my kiss willingly. It is ecstacy. It is all I ever hoped for and more. No earthly declaration of passion could ever be so good. When we break apart, she is breathing fast and still staring at me like she can't believe her eyes. I back out of her suddenly limp grasp, intending to lure her to some grassy niche where we can love each other forever.

As the river starts to carry me away, I come back to myself with a start. I am not in Elysia. The realisation is a crushing blow. Now I am truly afraid - not of this current which is pulling me under and sucking the air from my collapsing lungs but of Xena's reaction. I kissed her. I kissed her on the earthly plane. Will she hate me? Will she revile me? Will she turn her back on me or will she decide to watch me die? My reason for living is gone. I stop fighting the impulse not to breath in icy water and allow the flow of death to enter my lungs. Bright sparks explode in my line of vision but I ignore them and concentrate on an image of the Warrior Princess in the Dreamscape. There she is no longer dead but alive with her wanting of me. There I plainly see the love for me in her bluest of eyes. I hear the unspoken promise as she leans down to meet my lips with her own...

Next thing I know I am coughing and spluttering as I am pulled from my watery grave and draped uncerimoniously over a familiar broad shoulder. Through the film that covers my eyes I see the roaring river far below me, howling in rage that its prize

was stolen from it. My mind whirls. I wonder where Xena is and what she is doing. She is always on my mind. Water streams from my mouth and down a smooth supple back covered in rich brown leather. "Leatherrr, my favourite," I mumble, incoherent even to myself. Somewhere close by, my warrior huffs determinedly. I feel the sweet sensation of her warm breath on my uncovered side and feel comforted. Now I know where I am. Xena has thrown me over her shoulder, she is obviously saving me. In my hazy state I am none too worried about the sure peril we are both in. To my water-logged semi-conscienceness, nothing is impossible for the Warrior Princess to accomplish. So I do something incredibly stupid. I reach down and pinch her tight butt. She squeals and I give a gurgly giggle. That starts me hacking again. Somehow, I never thought I'd get to hear my warrior squeal. I love the sound.

Xena lays me down carefully on the muddy bank. Sliding a hand under my shoulderblades, she half raises me and claps me on my shaking back as I cough. "You're feeling better," she remarks and I blush furiously, knowing that she is referring to the bottom pinching incident. Next her eyes turn icy and she regards me with a mixture of concern and anger. "Why did you let me go?" Her voice is harsh and I sense her hurt. I look everywhere but at her.

"I was distracted." Even without seeing her, I know she is arching an eyebrow at me. Then she is atop me, kissing me, driving all the recovered air from my lungs and drowning me in a wave of desire, slowly, pleasurably. I can't help but gasp against her hungry mouth and she immediately leans back and allows me to catch my breath.

"Don't ever let me go again." It is a command. I submit. The ice in her bluest of eyes thaws and she is kissing me again. I learn that Xena has many different kisses and each expresses a tiny portion of her soul. I already know what they all mean. That one is relief. That one is a dream turned reality. That one is satisfaction. This one is love. This one is a promise. This one is longing. I'm in Elysia, yet I'm also on the earthly plane. That can only be Xena's doing - she can do anything. Her tongue parts my lips and I smile into this sweetest of kisses. For now my warrior really is my warrior and I have time to learn what all her kisses mean.