Chapter 9: The Birth of Xena

            Gabrielle extracted the last of the acupuncture needles from Vox’s abdomen before lightly running her hands over the young woman’s arms, legs, and torso to make sure no needles were left behind. Moving to the foot of the bed she checked the pulses in her feet once again. The strains of ‘These Things’ by She Wants Revenge could be heard playing through the ship’s sound system.

            “You are healing really quickly,” she said, happy and relieved. “How are you feeling?”

            Vox sat up and pulled the tank top down over her abdomen, then adjusted the covers back over her legs. “I feel great,” she replied. “I’m ready for duty.” Argo growled then barked once and she frowned at the dog.

            “Your nurse disagrees,” Gabrielle commented, as she typed some notes into the laptop sitting on the nearby table. She looked critically at the engineer. “I can get Aphrodite down here for a second opinion. But I’d rather not; I’m your doctor and you really should be honest with me. It could be important.”

            The butch woman attempted to shrug but winced in pain halfway through. “It still hurts,” she said nodding to her shoulder and my digestion is still kind of wonky.”

            “That could be in part from antibiotics,” the bard reassured her. She scrolled back on the laptop, reviewing her notes. “Everything seems okay. I want you to stay up here for at least the rest of the week and then you can move back to your cabin. Same rules apply; if anything changes you tell who is ever checking on you and they will let me know. I want you off duty though for another week or two at least. Enjoy your downtime.”

            “I enjoy my work,” Vox protested.

            Gabrielle nodded, “That’s one indicator of a fantastic boss,” she said dryly. “Besides,” the bard added with a gesture to the doors outside. “Sick bay is closer to Shen’s room then your cabin is and I think helping you is helping him.”

            Vox looked at Gabrielle appreciatively, “I suspect you’re giving the same speech to him to keep me here.”

            “Whatever works to take care of my people.” Gabrielle replied standing up, not the least bit perturbed that her ruse had been discovered.

            There was a knock at the sick bay door and Michelle entered. “I wanted to let you know that we will be at the coordinates you gave us in a couple of hours,” she said.

            Gabrielle nodded. She went back to the laptop on the desk and quickly did a search bringing up a map. She showed it to the captain. “The Arch of Cabo San Lucas is here,” she pointed at a tiny area of land jutting away from the peninsula. Next, she pointed to a spot on the map. “I think we should anchor about here; there are going to be tourists and cruise ships and we want a low profile. I’m not sure if Ares is still following us. It’s going to be tricky. Aphrodite, Argo, and I will take the Zodiac to here,” she pointed to a specific rocky spot of coastline. “Where is Aphrodite right now?”

            “On the sundeck,” Michelle answered, not quite able to mask the sympathetic expression that briefly crossed her face.

            There was no doubt that the crew knew Aphrodite had moved into the guest stateroom. She and Gabrielle had not spent the night together since the night they returned from Greece with the injured engineer. No one had said anything, and while there was no animosity between bard and goddess whatsoever, there was an undercurrent among the crew that Gabrielle had been broken up with and the sympathy was palpable. To their credit, no one treated Aphrodite any differently and while the crew was mistaken, she was glad that misunderstanding did not extend to someone she now considered one of her very dearest friends.

            “Let me know when we anchor and please have Bo check out the Zodiac to make sure we’ve got gas and supplies- camping stuff. I’m not sure how long we will be on the beach, but I’ll be in touch when we get there and keep you posted.”

            “Will do,” Michelle said with an efficient nod. “Should I have Nicolai or any of the other crew members join you?”

            The bard shook her head. “No, it will just be the three of us.” Gabrielle paused, choosing her next words carefully. “If we are successful and we return with Xena I will give you a heads up. We may need a few days before I introduce her to everyone.”

            Michelle nodded. “Aphrodite said she may have amnesia or some other kind of memory impairment. We will give your section of the ship wide berth.

            “How is the patient,” Michelle asked, smiling over at the engineer.

“I’m going to be DJing for you for the rest of the week at least,” Vox said with a slight smirk. “Doctor’s orders.”

“If you keep playing The Carpenter’s Greatest Hits there may be a mutiny before the end of the week,” the captain warned.

“The Carpenters is the music of pain and suffering,” the engineer parried.

“Their version of California Dreamin’ is an abomination,” Gabrielle said agreeing with the captain.

“I could always go back to work early,” Vox suggested.

Michelle shook her head. “Not until all of your stitches are out, that’s the rule. And until your doctor okays it. If we could survive the onslaught of surf guitar instrumentals from Bo’s bout with pneumonia last year, we will survive this, but you need to put more stuff like you’re playing now into the mix.

“Captain, I will consider the request,” she said formally. Argo barked twice. Vox frowned at the dog but rubbed her belly anyway. “Would it kill you to have my back here?” she muttered to the pit bull.

“I’ll be joining you for lunch later today,” Michelle said to the young woman as she was leaving. “Sarah said to text her what you’d like to eat and I’ll see you later.” She nodded once to Gabrielle and then left.

The bard was about to follow her out the door but stopped at the last moment turning back to face the recovering woman. “I know you’re covering for Shen and that’s very kind of you. Susan was the 70’s buff.”

Vox smiled enigmatically. “I keep your secrets boss, you keep mine.”

Before heading up to the sun deck, Gabrielle stopped to check on her godson. The past three days had been a time for mourning Shen’s grandmother and continuing with his studies. She knew his grief was not going to abate any time soon, but even now she could see him pushing forward, not allowing the grief to take hold and focusing on his school work, which he greatly enjoyed.

His evenings were spent with a couple of hours of distraction after dinner: a movie, television, a video game, or music. Most of the nights he ate with Gabrielle, Aphrodite, and the rest of the crew, another night he just ate with the bard and goddess. His days were spent helping someone in the crew with their job when he felt up to it. If he didn’t, he could often be found with Vox, helping her pick music and just hanging out with someone else who wasn’t feeling that great either. He also spent time working on his studies, having a vast array of tutors to choose from. Depending on the subject at hand he could always find someone also passionate about the topic to help him.

Gabrielle found the boy in the den with Prisha going over the day’s history lesson. “Did you guys finish math already?” she asked as she joined them.

“Math is a lot easier than history,” he replied as she sat down on the couch. “At least math is either right or wrong. With history there is so much stuff to remember. And who even cares anyway?”

“What period are you guys talking about?” Gabrielle asked, genuinely interested.

A flash of amusement crossed Prisha’s face. “Ancient Greece and Rome.”

“Lovely,” Gabrielle said equal parts amused and resigned. “You know what I think is so fascinating about history?” she asked her godson. “As much as things change, they also stay the same. What’s one of your favorite things to eat around Christmas?” she asked.

Shen thought a moment. “Nutbread.” he said. “Mom used to make it and she learned it from grandma.” A wave of sadness crossed his features and Gabrielle smiled understandingly.

“Your mom learned the recipe from her mom, who learned it from hers, who learned it from your great grandmother Betty.” Gabrielle stopped there, not feeling the need at this point to inform the boy the recipe had originally been passed down to her from her mother in Potidaea. “So many of the things we don’t think about are the same the world over and have been the same for thousands of years. And then one little thing changes and while the essence of people stays the same, the lives they live become very different. For example, the Dark Ages; What changed in the lives of people living in Europe that didn’t change for the people going about their business in North America, or Australia, or the Middle East at the same time?”

The boy was silent for a moment then said, “Rats on the trade ships from Africa brought diseases like the plague and a lot of people died. I guess because of the way they had advanced, with people living closer together, and not understanding about hygiene and stuff they were more at risk of getting sick.”

“Exactly. But also, they weren’t trading with people from, say North America, which is why the plague at that time left them alone.”

“So what’s the part that stays the same? Sure, some of the foods we eat are the same, but the foods are different too,” He pressed.

“Parents loved their children in twelve hundred AD, same as they do today.” Gabrielle replied. “They may say things differently and have different hopes and dreams for them, but parents usually love their kids and want them to do well in life. There are always people who fight, but also always people who try to make peace. There are people who don’t worry about the problems they make for others, and always there are some amazing individuals who show up from time to time who worry a great deal about problems that aren’t necessarily theirs, they just want to make things better for someone else. That’s the part of history that makes me hopeful, moreso than the inventions and stuff. With every great positive invention someone seems to make an equally great negative one.”

“Don’t they say that if you know history you won’t repeat it?” Shen asked, confused.

“They say that, but people always repeat it. Always. It’s human nature I guess. Luckily, it’s not just the terrible stuff that gets repeated, but the good stuff too. That is also human nature.”

“Will you help me when I have to learn the different Renaissance artists?” Shen asked hopefully.

“Of course,” Gabrielle replied. “Some of my favorite artists lived in the Renaissance.” She gave Prisha a subtle wink when Shen was looking back at his history book. “Say Moose,” she continued, “remember when we talked about me going to try and find my friend Xena?” The boy nodded. “We are almost at Cabo San Lucas which is where I think someone is going to bring her to meet up with me. I need to go with Aphrodite and Argo to the beach and wait for her, so I may be gone for a day or so. But you can reach me by phone if you need to or have anyone onboard get in touch with me. I’m sorry I won’t be here tonight to have dinner with you.”

 “I think that the boys were planning a ‘boys’ night’ when you were going to be leaving the ship.” Prisha explained to Gabrielle. “They wanted to have a Guardians of the Galaxy marathon, stay up late, make s’mores in the fire pit, and have a drum circle.”

Shen’s face lit up. “Can I go?” he asked hopefully.

“I don’t see why not,” Gabrielle replied, amusement threading her voice. She found it adorable that the youngster didn’t realize it was for his benefit. The comparison was not lost on her, a movie about a young boy losing his mother to be raised by space pirates and later find his own family of misfits. She didn’t doubt that there were also some things he might express to Bohemian, Steve, Hatsuo, Wolfgang, Blake, or Nicolai that he might not feel as at home saying to one of the women onboard. No doubt this would become more a factor as he grew up. “I think that midnight or one am is a decent curfew if you’re still awake then. Just do me a favor and try to sleep in tomorrow. Your brain can’t work if doesn’t get enough rest, right?” He nodded and she gave him a hug, kissing the top of his head before leaving the den to look for Aphrodite.

Argo followed Gabrielle up the stairs to the sun deck. The Goddess of Love was reclining on a lounger enjoying the sun and watching the ocean as the yacht sped south.

“Hey,” Gabrielle said.

“How’s your patient?” Aphrodite asked, patting the lounger and inviting the bard to sit.

“She’s doing really well, all things considered,” she answered. As if on cue, strains of The Carpenter’s hit “Yesterday Once More” could be heard through the ship’s sound system.

“Not again,” Gabrielle groaned.

“She’s processing her loss,” Aphrodite countered.

“She’s processing how to get out of sick bay,” the bard protested. “I know this is also for Shen but it’s been all the expected stuff of the seventies, nothing surprising. How many times have we heard ‘The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia’?”

“Honey, to most of your crew this is fascinating history. You’re going to have to cut them some slack, you know this is how they’re honoring Susan. How is Shen, anyway? I haven’t seen him since breakfast.”

“He’s okay. He’s the only one not looking at me like I’ve been dumped.”

Aphrodite leaned over and grasped the bard’s hand. “When you bring Xena back,” she said, “you won’t notice how they’ll be looking at you. The only eyes you’re going to be interested in are piercing blue ones.” Gabrielle looked up about to protest and the goddess shook her head. “Gabrielle, I’m okay. Really, I am. Yes, I miss you, but you’re right here. I’m good.” Argo barked once and the goddess frowned. “Not cool, Argo. Look, I’m going to give you guys seventy-five or a hundred years and then we talk threesome.” Gabrielle blushed in spite of herself and the goddess continued “I am going to hang around until your warrior gets settled and we see what we can do about Ares, but then I need to take off for a few months. I’m being pulled towards Europe. I need to spend some time there and travel around, then China perhaps.”

Gabrielle nodded and made the decision not to argue with the goddess. They had both agreed to a certain amount of messiness when they began and the present circumstances weren’t anything either one of them would want to change. Her feelings of responsibility were mitigated somewhat by the fact that she was dealing with a woman who knew a lot more about love and relationships than she could ever hope to. “We are going to be dropping anchor in about an hour. We should get ready to head over. I need to…get some things out of the safe.”

Aphrodite nodded. “First, let’s go to your cabin and pack some clothes for Xena. I don’t know how she’ll be dressed if Poseidon is successful, but we should be prepared for everything, right?”

Gabrielle agreed and led the way back downstairs to her stateroom. Without hesitation, she opened the door to the closet and picked up a duffle bag for the goddess to pack her selections. There was no denying the tension between them. The last time they had been in this room together they had shared a tension much more pleasurable in nature.

“It will get easier over time,” Aphrodite said conversationally, as she selected a pair of jeans, underclothes, t-shirt, boots, and jacket.

“I know,” Gabrielle replied. On the far side of the closet, on a top shelf she grasped hold of the handle to a nearly square metal box. Almost like a steel briefcase, it was padded with foam inside and had a cutout in shape of an urn. Touching the panel by her bed, the wall slid away and the shelf came forward with Xena’s ashes. She undid the bracket and removed the urn, carefully placing it in the case, then closing the clasps.

With each of them carrying a piece of luggage, they left the stateroom the bard leading them below decks to a nondescript bit of corridor in the middle of the ship. She touched a panel and another section of wall slid away revealing a large safe in a heavily insulated area. Gabrielle touched a pad with her hand, entered a code, and then opened the door. She withdrew a second steel briefcase in which she placed Aphrodite’s shell and Xena’s chakram. The hammer was too large to fit so she handed that to Aphrodite to carry with the small duffle bag.

They continued down the corridor in the bowels of the yacht towards the stern. The immaculate cleanliness of this part of the ship did not surprise Aphrodite, she’d grown to expect nothing less from Gabrielle’s state-of-the-art floating fortress. They emerged from a door to the beach deck area where a platform extended at water level. Bohemian Van Lyle was waiting for them next to an inflated Zodiac boat. As he stowed their bag and cases, the opening bars of ‘That’s Not My Name’ by the Ting Tings came through the speakers.

“Whadda ya know, something from this century,” he said with a chuckle.

“Look who’s talking,” Gabrielle replied dryly. “I still hear ‘University Blvd.’ in my dreams from time to time.”

“You’ve got to admit Los Straightjackets are a classic band and that song is fun to play. You do a great version of it,” he countered. The pair boarded the inflatable and he added, “Happy hunting,” as Gabrielle started the engine on the Zodiac. “I hope your quest is successful. I’ll keep an eye on everything here until you get back.”

The inflatable boat was large with a bench across the middle and two benches for seats at the bow. The gear was stowed towards the front so Aphrodite took the middle bench and Argo sat next to Gabrielle who drove from the stern by guiding the handle on the outboard motor.

They passed a number of tourist boats out for the day and a couple of cruise ships, then made their way to a beach area next to the famous rock formation at the very tip of the peninsula. Several large rocks were completely surrounded by water, like tiny islands while the main formation with the arch was at the edge of the beach. At high tide a small section of sand would be surrounded by rock outcrop on one side, water on the other. Argo hopped out of the inflatable and swam the last yards towards shore. The tide was low, so the main part of the beach could be reached. Had they tried to reach the spot by vehicle, they’d have been stopped some distance away where the road ended. As it was the boat was the most efficient means of travel to Poseidon’s chosen destination.  When they’d reached the shallow water, Aphrodite climbed out as Gabrielle cut the engine and moved the propeller out of the water. The bard jumped out and the two women pulled the boat ashore. They unloaded some of their gear, beach towels and such, then sat down to wait.

            “Why here?” Aphrodite asked, wondering how they were going to deal with the crowd of tourists on the beach.

            Gabrielle shrugged. “I honestly have no idea. I asked Poseidon how to get in touch with him and he’s given me various contact protocols. We meet up every few decades and he tells me the next location, or we sort of keep in touch. I get the feeling he travels a lot.”

            “I’ll bet,” the goddess replied sounding annoyed. She caught Gabrielle’s wounded look and her expression softened. “I’m not angry at you love, I’m pissed at my uncle.”

            Several hours passed, the time whiled away with friendly conversation punctuated by the repeated throwing of a tennis ball for an enthusiastic pit bull. Most of the other beach goers didn’t give them much attention. A couple of curious people wanted to pet the dog then wandered off. As the afternoon wore on, people picked up their towels and coolers and left until it was just the two of them on the beach. The nearby boats also dispersed, leaving the pair quite alone.

            “The day is still nice,” Gabrielle observed. “I wonder where everyone went.”

            “I’m sure he has something to do with that,” Aphrodite replied nodding to a lone figure that was walking up the beach towards them. As he got closer Gabrielle recognized Poseidon. He appeared to be in his sixties with white hair and a white goatee and mustache. He was physically very fit, tan, and with longish hair. He strolled towards them in shorts, an unbuttoned Hawaiian shirt, and flip-flops. He looked like he’d probably spent the day surfing. When he was close enough to greet Aphrodite with a warm smile she launched herself at the man shouting “You fucking dick!” and struck him forcefully across the jaw with a solid right cross. He dropped to the sand hard and was quickly back on his feet bringing up his own fist to punch back. In a heartbeat Gabrielle was between them, her green eyes narrowed dangerously. Aphrodite was shaking out her fist, clearly in pain.

            “Not today,” she said a warning threading her voice as she protectively stood in front of the goddess.

            “You can’t hurt me, child,” he growled to Gabrielle, the warning and anger evident in his voice.

            “You fucked my powers because you were feeling like the Little Mermaid?” Aphrodite continued to shout in protest. “Seriously? Do we need to call you Ariel? You wanted to walk on land and you fucked all of our powers to do it? You fucking fucker!”

            “You can blame Zeus or Hades if you’re looking for someone to punch,” he shot back, rubbing his jaw.

            “Well gee, if only I could get in touch with them, BUT I CAN’T.”

            “Are you finished with your tantrum?” he asked, his voice still rumbling with danger.

            “Fuck you,” Aphrodite hissed back, not the least bit intimidated.

            “I will admit, I don’t really want to get in the middle of this family drama,” Gabrielle said to Poseidon. “But you are not touching Aphrodite, period.” He raised his hands in agreement and the bard stepped aside. “Aphrodite, please don’t hit him again, even if he deserves it. I think it would be counterproductive.”

            “Whatever,” the goddess fumed.

            “Hades and Zeus picked their realms and while they had the power to travel everywhere, I was confined to the oceans, made of water. Destroying the anvil broke the tether and broke their restrictions on me so I could change my form and move about on land and in the sea.” He explained to Gabrielle. “I didn’t know it would have the other…extreme effects until it happened.”

            “The ocean is two thirds of the fucking planet!” Aphrodite exclaimed. “You did this because you weren’t happy with only having two thirds? Asshole!”

            “No,” he countered, “I did it because I wanted to have more interaction with humans, and give mortals more control over their own destiny.”

            “Oh, nice job there,” Aphrodite said icily. “Only a couple of thousand years and we’re on the brink of mankind destroying the only planet they can survive on. Nice job, Ariel. You fucking dipshit.”

            “Unlike you, it seems,” he replied angrily. “I think that man’s greatest creativity and ingenuity comes from moments of desperation. They will devise a solution to save themselves and the planet and don’t need the bailing out, nor the game-playing of a bunch of spoiled Olympians.”

            “I think you give us too much credit,” Gabrielle said. “But that isn’t my concern at the moment. Are you going to be able to bring Xena back?”

            He nodded regaining his composure. “I believe I can. If the cuntessa is finished with her fucking tantrum.”

            “You asswipe,” Aphrodite screamed and launched herself at him again only to be stopped by Gabrielle doing her best to stop the enraged goddess. “You fucked all of us, even Zeus wasn’t this much of motherfucker.”

            “I said I didn’t know,” Poseidon protested, anger and possibly guilt rising with the volume of his voice.

            “Come on, both of you,” Gabrielle pleaded for calm. “Can we just get started on this and you guys can argue later?” the bard asked, looking between the two. “But you’re not to touch Aphrodite, I’m serious about that.”

            Poseidon shrugged, his anger having lost steam. “I’m fine. My niece has the fiery temper but it’s probably hormones.”

            Aphrodite jolted anew and Gabrielle caught her. “Aphrodite, please,” she whispered in the taller woman’s ear. “We’re on the cusp of getting Xena back; please don’t let him bait you.”

            She stopped struggling, and brushed her short hair off her forehead. “Whatever,” she said again, glaring at Poseidon.

            “What do we need to do?” Gabrielle asked.

            “Bring me the urn of ashes, the shell, and the hammer,” Poseidon said, not looking at his niece.

            Gabrielle and Aphrodite went back to the inflatable boat returning with the two metal cases and the hammer. Looking around the beach, the bard found it quite deserted. The sun was setting and the tide was coming in. They would be isolated on this patch of sand. The only boats in sight were distant cruise ships and her yacht, it’s gleaming white form standing out against the afternoon colors. It was anchored a safe distance away from the outer outcrop of rock, where the depth was sufficient for the mega yacht’s hull.

            “Why don’t you build a fire, Gabrielle,” Poseidon suggested. “This may take a while.” He opened the square case and extracted the urn with Xena’s ashes. He lifted it, trying to determine its weight. He nodded, satisfied, and scanned the beach for rocks.  While he went off to collect a few, Aphrodite helped Gabrielle with the fire.

            “Are you going to be okay?” the bard asked, clearly concerned.

            “Yes,” the goddess replied. “But I’m still really angry at him. If this were anyone but Xena I’d say ‘fuck it’ and kick his ass, although that punch hurt me more than it probably hurt him. And don’t try to hit him,” she warned. “I was only able to land a punch because I’m like him, and it still hurt me worse. If you were to try to hit him or any of us, you could be looking at a broken hand and angry god for your trouble.”

            A healthy fire was crackling by the time Poseidon returned. He had made two piles of rocks. One set larger than the other. “Aphrodite, I’m going to need you to take one of the smaller rocks and stand over there.” He pointed to a spot on the beach. “I want you to toss the rock underhanded in that direction,” he pointed out to sea. “I’m going to have to hit your rock with my rock,” he pointed to the larger pile. “We are only going to get one shot at this which is why we’re going to take four practice attempts.”

            “What is it you’re going to be doing?” Gabrielle asked, apprehension threading her voice.

            “When I prepare the urn, my niece is going to climb to the top of that formation,” he pointed to the arch where it now extended over the water with the high tide. “Walk to the edge with it and toss it out to the water. I’m going to have to hit the urn with the hammer. If I’m successful, Xena will be reborn in a similar fashion to Aphrodite, from the seafoam.”

            “Wouldn’t it make more sense to just stand in the water and hit the urn with the hammer there?” Gabrielle asked. “You can’t miss.”

            “If you don’t mind getting blown up, sure,” Poseidon replied. “Remember what happened with the anvil when the pirates struck it with their weapons? It wasn’t just the anvil. Hitting the urn with the hammer is going to release a lot of energy, destroying everything around it, I’m not sure how far out, which is why it needs to be midair when that happens. If the hammer connects too close to the water, it could hurt the creatures there and obviously I don’t want to do that.”

            “And my shell is going in the urn?” Aphrodite asked, concern threading her voice. Poseidon nodded. “And it’s going to be destroyed.” He nodded again. She looked away from the god and bard, her expression unreadable.

            “And you are going to have to be the one to put it in there,” he added.

            Gabrielle took a deep breath. Things just got complicated. “Why tonight?” the bard asked, desperate to get Aphrodite’s mind away from the shell and parting with it.

            “The new moon has a flat tide. The larger the waves, the more can go wrong,” he answered handing the goddess a rock.

            “And you’re certain that this won’t undo what Xena accomplished in Japan? That the souls of the 40,000 who perished at Higuchi will stay in a state of grace, out of the reach of Yodoshi.”

            Poseidon looked down at Gabrielle with the patience of one who is explaining yet again why Santa only arrives when you’re asleep. “What I said over 2000 years ago still stands, child. The gods of Japan have no dominion over me. You followed their rules.” He shrugged, “besides I’m sure you’ve considered by now that what you think you saw, that conversation with Xena, was simply a hallucination brought about by your grief.”

            The bard nodded. “Yes, I’ve considered that. I’ve had thousands of years to consider that and regret what I didn’t do in Japan.”

            “Well, we are trying to rectify that now. Aphrodite, if you’d toss the rock please.”

            For the first throw, Poseidon narrowly missed Aphrodite’s thrown rock. On the second he nailed it, the larger rock shattering the smaller, the pieces falling into the ocean. Nodding, satisfied, he walked over to the urn and carefully removed the stopper, sealed with wax which had been in place for over two millennia.

            “Gabrielle, hand Aphrodite the shell, please,” he requested.

            “Why do you need her shell?” she asked, as she opened the second case and extracted the luminous, pearl white shell. She was careful not to touch the sharp edge, and handed it to the goddess by the smooth side. Aphrodite’s hand trembled as she accepted the gift. As soon as the bard let go, a bright glow seemed to travel through the goddess, making her more beautiful, if that was even possible, and radiate a soft pale white light. The goddess stood up straighter, looked more regal and self-assured than at any time in the bard’s memory. The shell fragment did indeed do something to her.

            “You’re not going to like this next bit,” Poseidon said. “That shell is one of the few things that can cut a god’s skin, that’s why we need it. You need to cut yourself with the shell, spill some blood into the urn, and then cut me to do the same. The hammer hitting the urn with the shell inside it is going to release the energy we need to get Xena back.”

            Aphrodite caressed the shell looking into the depths of its shimmering surface. “I don’t think I can,” she said. “I think I need to keep it. I’m sorry, Gabrielle,” she said her voice sultry and warm.

            Gabrielle was instantly distracted by the sound of her voice, momentarily forgetting about the beach, her task, her dog, everything but the rich sound of Aphrodite’s voice. Like hearing the song of a siren; she felt turned on, wanting nothing more than to tell Poseidon to take a hike and tune out the rest of the world; tune out everything but she and Aphrodite. The memories of mere days ago came flooding back; what it was like to kiss the goddess, how her arms felt wrapped around that warm, lithe body- her hands and mouth everywhere. She didn’t realize how much she’d missed that…Argo barked once, then again, and Gabrielle returned to her senses, forcing the erotic thoughts from her mind and focusing on the task at hand.

Taking a deep breath, she walked over to Aphrodite and put a hand on the woman’s cheek, drawing her face up to make eye contact with her, tearing the goddess’ eyes away from the shell. “Aphrodite,” she said urgently, “if you can’t do this, I will try to understand, I really will. I won’t hold it against you.”

            “Thank you, Gabrielle,” the goddess purred and the bard bit her tongue to keep her focus.

            “But you will need to destroy me,” she said. “I mean this. If you can’t help me get Xena back, you have to let me go and kill me instead.”

            “No, I don’t,” she demurred. “We can forget Xena. We can enjoy our time together, like it was last week. We felt so amazing together. The way you kiss, the way you taste, your hands and mouth all over me, I want more of that.” She smiled a radiant, gorgeous, distracting smile. The bard wanted to get lost. Argo barked again, sharply.

            The bard shook her head. “Sweetie, you know it’s just a matter of time before you tire of me and will look for greener pastures. You said yourself I have thousands of years left. There is no way I’m going to be able to entertain you for thousands of years.”

            The goddess seemed to consider this, like a part of her was trying to focus. “I’m afraid, Gabrielle,” Aphrodite whispered. “I’m afraid of losing something that reminds me of who and what I am.”

            “I’m right here. I will remind you. I’m not going anywhere,” the bard assured her. “You don’t need something external to be what you are. You are the Goddess of Love and, I can’t think of a more loving gift you could give to me or Xena. Please, Aphrodite.”

            Placid blue eyes kept contact with green as the Goddess of Love quickly drew the sharp edge of the shell across the palm of her hand. She cried out in pain as thick amber liquid, looking very much like acacia honey pooled in her palm. She held her hand over the open urn and a dozen or more thick viscous drops fell inside.

            Gabrielle quickly ran over to the Zodiac and extracted a first aid kit. She withdrew several gauze pads and bandages and expertly wrapped Aphrodite’s hand when the honey-like blood had stopped flowing. The goddess helped her by holding down a gauze pad, but several drops of the golden blood got onto the index finger of her other hand. Gabrielle was going to wipe it off with another gauze pad when the goddess moved the finger away from her. Aphrodite glanced at Poseidon who frowned, then shrugged and purposefully turned his back on the two and tended to the fire. Maintaining eye contact, Aphrodite brought her finger up to the bard’s mouth offering it to her.

            Unsure what to do, Gabrielle had a moment of panic. If this were another person offering her a bloody finger she’d politely decline, although she knew enough about various customs the world over, religious and otherwise, to make this not that unusual an offering. Her mind flashed back to what she told herself the very moment she’d known she’d found the goddess. That she would say yes, to everything. That there would be no request she’d refuse. Keeping the tranquil blue eyes in focus, she opened her mouth and accepted the gift. Instantly she felt as though she could see through time and space, look into anyone’s innermost desires and fears. She felt supremely powerful and responsible; connected to everyone the world over. She felt so much love that it was almost overpowering, like hearing millions of voices at once, but they were feelings. Falling to her knees, she was able to stop herself with strong arms to keep from falling face first into the sand. Moments later, in what seemed like the distance she heard Argo bark excitedly, almost howling. In a rush, in the space between heartbeats she relived the most intimate moments she’d spent with Xena and everyone who came after. Every nuance of love was briefly spelled out for her, clear and concise but before she could grasp those threads of understanding they slipped from her grasp. She panted for several moments as the feeling of godhood coursed through her veins and dissipated. While it only lasted a minute or two at most, she felt like she had journeyed through millions of years. She had no doubt if the experience had lasted much longer she’d have gone insane. When she returned to herself Argo was next to her, wagging her tail excitedly.

            She stood and hearing her brush the sand from her jeans, Poseidon turned around rejoining them. Without another glance at the bard, he held out his hand to his niece. Aphrodite cut his palm forcefully and he winced; an aqua colored liquid seeped from the wound. He held his hand over the urn as well, and he let three drops fall before drawing his hand back.

“Being a little stingy, uncle?” Aphrodite asked haughtily.

He held out his hand for Gabrielle to wrap, but instead she handed him the first-aid kit. “You’re on your own, buddy,” she said having no desire to be at one with him or risk contaminating the memory of what she’d just felt. He frowned, but wrapped his own hand.

“Not at all,” he said. “Xena already had the…essence… of one god coursing through her veins. I do not want to throw off the balance of who she is by adding too much. There is a chance she may come back…different… than she was before, but I’m trying to minimize that.”

“Then why do we need your blood at all?” Aphrodite asked.

“Because Xena is going to be born of the sea and that’s my domain. If we were standing at the mouth of an active volcano to birth Xena by fire then you’d need the help of your ex-husband Hephaestus, but he’s not here, I am and the ocean is. We’re what you’ve got.”

“What do you mean ‘come back different’?” Gabrielle asked, sounding worried.

“Like, straight different?” Aphrodite wondered. “A pacifist? Pleasant?”

Poseidon shrugged, “I have no way to know. The Xena you knew had the essence of Ares. Now she will have the essence of Ares, Aphrodite, and myself. But if you want her back, this is the only way to do it at this point in time with what we have available to us. Aphrodite, if you please, the shell.” He held the urn and waited patiently. Clearly the goddess was having second thoughts once again, but Gabrielle took her injured hand tenderly and she deposited the shell in the urn. “This is my contribution,” he said as he sat the urn down and reached into his pocket withdrawing a small cigarette case. He opened it and inside was a piece of a flat, slightly reddish, transparent bit of material that looked like a half-melted clump of gummy bears.

“Ambrosia,” Aphrodite whispered, looking at the substance hungrily. Briefly the blue of her eyes intensified, glowing hungerily.

“Gabrielle,” he said waving the bard over to him. She released the goddess’ hand and stood next to Poseidon. He put his hand briefly over her heart and closed his eyes. She didn’t feel any of the sensations that she’d experienced when Aphrodite had done it weeks earlier. She looked at the goddess questioningly. Aphrodite just smiled and winked. Satisfied with whatever it was he was listening for, Poseidon pinched off roughly a third of the Ambrosia and put it in the urn as well. He closed the case with the unused portion. “I suppose I owe you this, at least,” he said handing it to Aphrodite who accepted it without hesitation.

“Thank you,” she replied. She opened the case and hurriedly consumed the rest of the contents. “I’d forgotten how amazing this is,” she said contentedly after she swallowed. As before, when she touched the shell, a shimmer seemed to transverse her body immediately after eating the Ambrosia. She radiated a power now, standing several feet away, Gabrielle could feel it; it was warm and sensual. Gabrielle had trouble focusing and only with another bark from Argo and Poseidon snapping two fingers near her ear did she shake off her reverie.

Poseidon put the lid back on the urn, tapping it down carefully with his fingers and then put the urn back into the travel case. “Gabrielle, go with Aphrodite up to the top of the arch. You take the urn; she may still change her mind and try to get her shell back. Aphrodite, you take the two rocks, they weigh about the same as the urn. When you get to the top, signal me and we are going to try two more throws.” Both women nodded and proceeded up the steep incline. The going was slow and difficult, each woman having an unwieldly burden to manage. When they’d reached the top, the goddess signaled Poseidon and threw the next rock. He missed it with his rock by a fair margin. She threw the next one, doing everything she could to keep the arc and distance consistent. He missed again, but just barely.

“What do you think?” she asked Gabrielle. “Do you want me to try again with the urn?”

Gabrielle looked down at where Poseidon was standing. He was waiting, holding the hammer. She couldn’t hear him or even tell if he was shouting to her. If he missed, Xena’s ashes would be lost, but the shell would be recoverable. If he was successful, the shell would be gone and Xena would return. She was about to tell the goddess to wait, to retrieve her shell and end her instead, but as she looked up she saw that Aphrodite had already thrown it, the clay pot moving in an upwards arc out above the water. From below Poseidon threw the hammer; it traveled end over end in its own arc. About ten feet above the water the arcs intersected, the blunt end of the hammer connecting solidly with the clay pot. There was a brilliant flash of bright light with pottery shards and ashes raining down over the water.

“I was going to tell you to wait,” Gabrielle said, barely believing what she’d just seen. Knowing there was no way now to change course or change her mind.

“I know dear one, that’s why I threw it.”

They made their way back down the rock formation to where Poseidon stood, watching the waves.

“What happens now?” Gabrielle asked.

“We wait,” he said. “It took nine months for your mother to make you. This will happen more quickly, but it’s still a big deal.”

“I’d feel more comfortable waiting if I didn’t know Ares was after us,” Aphrodite muttered.

Poseidon looked at her, alarmed. “What about Ares?” he asked, the worry evident in his voice.

“He knows who I am, he knows I’m trying to bring Xena back, he knows I found Aphrodite,” Gabrielle explained. “He sent forces after us in Greece when we retrieved the hammer.”

Poseidon looked from bard to goddess then back again. “I’m really sorry, but there is nothing more I can do for you, I gotta go.”

Aphrodite was indignant. “You’re that afraid of Ares?” she challenged.

“Look, I didn’t just eat a whole mouthful of Ambrosia. Damn right, I’m that afraid of Ares,” he had already begun to back away from the pair. “Gabrielle, just wait here, when you see the water recede more than normal, Xena should arrive on the next set of waves. I will be in touch with you soon to see how she’s doing. And I’d like your help with a new identity if you don’t mind?”

Gabrielle nodded; saddened at his departure but not faulting him for looking out for himself. He’d kept his end of the bargain, there wasn’t much more she could ask of him.

“I really think you should consider the name Ariel,” Aphrodite shouted after him as he turned and walked purposefully and quickly away from them on the beach. When he reached the place where the rock met the water, he quickly dove in and was gone.

Gabrielle searched the waves, looking for a sign but couldn’t see him. It was getting dark so she returned to the fire and sat down in the sand, listening to the waves, learning the pattern. “So, Greece,” she said. “Bullets just bounced off you, did they?”

“Pretty much,” Aphrodite said, taking the seat next to her. “When I saw that Vox had been hit, I moved in between her and the gunfire. I think I deflected a few shots.”

“She owes you her life,” Gabrielle said gratefully.

“And you!” the goddess said. “Amazeballs surgery, for the win.”

They were silent for a few moments watching the ocean. “So that other thing,” Gabrielle offered. “Are we going to talk about it?”

“We can if you want to,” Aphrodite said.

“Why did you…um…” Gabrielle was momentarily at a loss for words which was not a customary feeling.

Aphrodite chuckled as she unwrapped the bandaged hand. She held her hand in the light of the fire, showing Gabrielle that the deep gash had been replaced by the faintest of thin white scars. There was also no trace of her light honey colored blood on any of the bandages or gauze. “Ambrosia,” she said simply “but something that can hurt a god, can hurt a god.” She watched the fire a bit longer. “Maybe I was having an Angelina Jolie moment with the blood?” she asked teasingly. Gabrielle nudged her with her shoulder. “Okay, okay. I know you intimately, no not just that,” she said at the bard’s blushing evident even in the fire-light. “Because I’m a god, I know you intimately. I wanted to share some of that level of intimacy with you. You know, to be connected.” She was thoughtful for a moment then said, “Concentrate, how am I feeling right now?”

Gabrielle thought about it, not expecting any kind of enlightenment since the feeling of godly power had passed. Yet even as she thought the task beyond her, she could indeed sense how Aphrodite felt. “You’re worried for me,” the bard said. “You’re afraid Xena won’t be what I remember, or that she won’t adjust, or that something will be off…and you’re disappointed with yourself for hoping that’s the case.”

Aphrodite smiled sadly at Gabrielle, “I am as open a book to you now as you are to me. But like me, that kind of awareness only happens when you consciously look for it and I have to trust that you won’t do it very often, as I don’t with you.”

“Until just now,” Gabrielle said, “I didn’t think there was anything more precious you could give me than your shell.”

Aphrodite smiled affectionately at the bard and both women returned to watching the surf and waiting. As Gabrielle watched the small waves crash in succession she was lulled by the rhythmic sounds and thought about all the things in her life that led her to this moment. She could feel her heart pound and the sound of her own pulse in her ears overtook the sound of the ocean. So many small steps had led her here; thousands and thousands of small steps, the culmination of over two thousand years of struggles, hardships, successes and failures. Everything she had done since the moment Xena died, everything she had become, simply everything was directed at this moment.

They waited together for hours. After what seemed like yet another lifetime the rhythm of the ocean changed and the sea roiled. The water line receded further away than what would be normal; like the waterline heading out before a tidal wave. As if on cue, a much larger wave, easily three or four times as large as the small waves they’d seen, crashed onto the sand pushing forward and leaving something behind in its wake. Gabrielle rushed forward as the next wave hit nearly knocking the bard off her feet. She struggled to hold onto the barely conscious woman who was beginning to sputter and cough. As the water receded again she was able to get the warrior to a standing position and noted Hephaestus’ hammer dangling from the leather strap around her wrist.

Aphrodite was about to race forward as well when Argo charged in front of the goddess and laid down, stopping her. “I see your point,” she said to the dog and waited. This moment was for Xena and Gabrielle.

“Xena, Xena!” Gabrielle shouted, her heart nearly bursting with centuries of pent up expectations.

 “Gabrielle,” the warrior gasped, pushing her dark hair from her face and looking down at the bard.

At the sound of her name spoken from Xena’s lips Gabrielle’s eyes went wide. It hit her like a bolt as she looked up into the piercing blue eyes that she knew so well. The piercing blue eyes of the woman she loved for so long. And she realized that she didn’t love her. She felt nothing.

The realization rocked Gabrielle to her core. She had to love Xena, surely, she did love Xena, she just didn’t feel ‘in love’. She supposed that it might be the shock of seeing her after all these years, seeing a face she knew so well, yet almost didn’t recognize. The simultaneous distant and familiar; a voice that could make her heart race, yet at the utterance of her name from those lips, it did not.

“Gabrielle” Xena said again and Gabrielle began to cry. Xena looked down, clearly confused, puzzled by the situation as well as the bard’s initial expression then outburst of tears. “What’s happened?” the warrior asked as another big wave hit them. “I can barely stand.”

Hugging her tightly, in part to break eye contact for fear her feelings, or lack thereof were written all over her face, Gabrielle urged the taller woman forward, out of the water. Xena’s skin was cold and wet and Gabrielle was grateful that Aphrodite rushed forward with a blanket to wrap around the naked and now shivering woman. Xena stumbled onto the wet sand with Gabrielle and Aphrodite on either side of her.

“I’m so sorry,” Gabrielle stammered, as they walked Xena over to the blazing fire.

“What happened?” Xena asked.

Gabrielle had instinctively shifted into Greek when speaking to Xena, but switched to English to ask the goddess a question. “How much do I tell her?”

“Tell me about what?” Xena asked.

Gabrielle and Aphrodite looked at each other puzzled. Then, Aphrodite said something to the warrior that the bard did not understand and Xena answered her, in the same unusual language.

“What was that?” Gabrielle asked.

“Xena, do you know what language you were just speaking?” Aphrodite queried, her voice calm and neutral.

“Elvish,” Xena answered, confused. “But I don’t know what an elf is.”

“Holy shit,” Gabrielle gasped.

“I guess that was my contribution to the new Xena,” Aphrodite said.

“Can someone please tell me what’s going on?” the warrior asked, starting to sound impatient. “Why was I in the ocean and naked? Are we still in Jappa?”

“Xena,” Gabrielle said, touching the warrior’s arm. “What is the last thing you remember?”

“Being hit with arrows,” Xena answered immediately. “The battle. The glint of a katana. We were fighting the forces of Yodoshi, saving the souls of the people who died at Higuchi. Were we successful? I thought I died.”

Gabrielle took a deep breath. “You did die, Xena. You’ve been dead a long, long time. I heeded your warning. I didn’t bring you back with the fountain. I had to find another way.”

“What warning?” Xena said. “I just remember being hit with arrows. And the sword.” Involuntarily, she shuddered.

“Shit,” Aphrodite murmured.

“Why?” Xena asked. “How long has it been?”

Shifting to move into the warrior’s line of vision, Gabrielle made certain Xena could see her face when she delivered the news.

“Xena, I’m so sorry. It’s been over two thousand years.”

Chapter 10: Learning Curves

The first light of dawn was stating to break over the ocean’s horizon as the Warrior Princess gazed into the slowly dying fire. She hadn’t said much for the last several hours, listening intently as Gabrielle relayed the tale- first of her life after Xena’s death to the point where she became immortal and secondly the brief version of the bard’s present life and how she’d found Aphrodite, gone to Greece for the hammer, and finished her mission to bring Xena back. Unconsciously, the warrior played with the zipper on the hooded sweatshirt she was wearing as she tried to put the pieces together. There was no denying the truth of what she was being told. Gabrielle seemed different, delivering the information as though by memory after a hundred practice runs. There was something different about Aphrodite as well, she looked at Xena with a sadness and sympathy that the warrior thought out of place with her recent resurrection. Intrigued by the clothes Aphrodite had brought and pleased that they fit perfectly, Xena let herself be distracted by the sound of the zipper and the soft feel of the fabric. Gabrielle had stopped speaking and after an overly long pause the warrior realized she was expected to say something.

“That’s a lot to take in,” she finally said, quietly. “Being immortal,” she was about to say something else, but stopped. Something told her that now was not the time to question the people around her, to voice how wrong things felt. She would need time to observe, to understand what was happening. “I guess I’m just a little disoriented right now; a bit tired perhaps,” she said instead. Argo was laying down between Xena and Gabrielle and shifted to put her large muscular head on the warrior’s foot; she chuffed softly. “Your dog is adorable,” she said with a smile, reaching down to give her a scratch behind the ears.

Gabrielle looked uncertainly at Xena then to Aphrodite. “I guess we should go back to the ship then?”

“Before we do,” Aphrodite interjected, “I’d like to test one more thing.” She opened the case that had held her shell and withdrew Xena’s chakram; the two halves fitting perfectly together to make a disk with a cross bar in the middle. “Why don’t you throw this over there,” she said pointing to some nearby rocks. “I’m curious to see if it bounces off and returns to you.”

“I don’t know why it wouldn’t.” Xena said as she stood and brushed the sand off her jeans. The disk was a blur as it traveled across the beach and embedded itself in the nearby rock. Crestfallen, the warrior looked at the goddess for explanation.

“I think the tether to Olympus also gave you some advantages with respect to the laws of physics,” she said then walked over to the chakram and withdrew it from the rock with a hearty yank. “There is a lot that is going to overwhelm you, Xena,” she said returning the weapon. “Just remember that time is on your side, whether you like it or not, and eventually all this will sort itself out.” Xena took back the chakram, disappointed that this too felt almost like a stranger to her now.

Gabrielle led the way back to the Zodiac and the warrior was clearly intrigued by the motor at the back with the propellers. She helped bard and goddess push the boat into the water and Argo leapt aboard. With practiced efficacy Gabrielle started the engine and they made their way out to sea to the yacht. “Are you hungry?” the bard asked, almost shyly. It was obvious to Aphrodite that something was wrong with Gabrielle besides the fact she had not thought about her reunion with Xena past the point of explaining how it happened. Uncharacteristically, the bard was at a loss for words. For all that two centuries of living had taught her, the bard of Potidaea was completely out of her depth.

“More tired than hungry I guess,” Xena replied looking from Gabrielle to Aphrodite and back. “Although having been dead so long you’d think I’d be well rested.”

The goddess shook her head. “You may not like this Xena, but you are essentially a newborn, and a mortalish one at that. You’re going to need extra sleep for a while and probably want to eat more regularly. Your body has undergone quite the metamorphosis, time may reveal different…abilities or senses you didn’t have before. Be patient with yourself. It’s only the beginning but it will get better.”

“Well, I can already walk and talk so that’s a plus,” she quipped, trying for a levity that she just didn’t feel.

As they got closer to The Hippolyta the warrior was visibly awed. She looked at Gabrielle with surprise. “That’s your ship?”

“The Hippolita, yes, she’s mine, although my Director of Finance might disagree.” The bard steered the inflatable to the back of the yacht where a lone woman was waiting to greet them. “Xena,” Gabrielle said as she handed the tie ropes to the woman. “This is Michelle Fender, she is captain of the ship this tour. Michelle, this is Xena.”

Michelle helped Aphrodite out of the boat and then Xena followed. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Xena,” she said with her hand extended. Unsure of the custom, Xena firmly grasped the woman’s forearm and gave it a shake.

“Thank you,” she said.

Gabrielle got out of the boat last, making sure Argo had cleared the inflatable. “Please have someone stow the gear. We were able to find Xena more quickly than we expected so nothing was really unpacked.” Michelle nodded, waiting for further instructions. “How are Vox and Shen?”

“Vox is fine, she’s getting stronger by the minute,” the captain replied. We wanted to wait for you, but I think the stitches on her head and shoulder can come out.” As if on cue the strains of For All We Know by the Carpenters began to play throughout the ship’s sound system. Michelle took a deep breath and continued. “Shen is fine, all things considered. He’s got a lot of company; he’s been talking about loss with the guys. It’s kind of sweet- he seems to have decided that the women onboard are better companions for his school-work and educational pursuits and when he wants to talk about his feelings, he finds one of the guys or Vox. He’s grown really attached to her. The guys are adjusting to having the sensitive chats” Michelle quickly glanced at Xena. “I think Vox is going to want as much ship duty as she can get, more for him than you at this point.”

Gabrielle nodded, relieved that all was okay. “Any security issues?” she asked.

Michelle nodded. “We got word from Technology that someone was trying to hack into our onboard systems. They prevented it and are looking into where the attack came from. Preliminary signs point to a troll farm in Russia. We’ve noticed heavier than usual drone activity nearby, some may have been curious tourists, but Wolfgang and Sarah have been using them for target practice and Bo has been retrieving them from of the water. They’re going to take a look and report back. Someone tried to bribe some people in the Mexican army to go after you when you went ashore, but they contacted someone we already have a good relationship with and they read us in so it wasn’t a replay of Greece.

 “Good,” Gabrielle said, visibly relieved. “When everything is stowed, please hoist anchor. Head back to Marina del Rey. We can regroup there. I don’t want to take a chance with Ares reaching out to someone we don’t know and being successful. I’m going to get Xena settled, I will check in with Shen in a few hours and check on Vox as well. Don’t hesitate to wake me if you need to.”

Xena watched the exchange with interest, clearly seeing the bard in a new light. Gabrielle was a leader, one who had done it long enough that it no longer required conscious thought, it was as natural to her as breathing or storytelling. It took only a short interaction to inform the warrior that this was no longer the Gabrielle she had known. If there had been any residual disbelief about the amount of time that had past, this laid waste to that doubt. While Gabrielle had grown tremendously in their years of travel together, as she had as well, her own progress had been halted by her death and this woman had continued on for an unimaginable amount of time. Xena’s thoughts were unsettling to her, causing a feeling of uncertainty as dramatic as any she could imagine so she decided to simply focus on her surroundings and leave the bigger questions for later. Following the shorter woman through the ship she glanced around, awed by everything she saw.

“I’ll give you a better tour after some sleep”, Gabrielle assured her.

“Gabrielle?” the warrior asked tentatively.

“Yes, Xena?”

“Who is singing? It’s beautiful.” Xena was looking around for the source of the music, clearly confused as to why she could hear it, but couldn’t see it’s source.

Aphrodite chuckled. “Another Carpenters fan,” she said.

“Her name is Karen Carpenter,” Gabrielle said. “But the music isn’t live, it’s a recording.” Not surprisingly Xena looked confused. Having an idea, the bard took out her phone. “We will go into phones in more detail later, but for now,” she opened an app and shot a few seconds of footage of the three of them standing together, she waved at the camera. She showed Xena the screen. “You can record something, and play it back later- repeatedly.”

Xena looked at the screen and the three of them from seconds earlier with Gabrielle waving. “Is it magic?” she asked.

“You will find that a lot of what used to be called ‘magic’ is now called ‘science’ but that makes it no less remarkable,” Aphrodite explained. The song ended and the opening notes of Helen Reddy’s I Am Woman filled the air. Aphrodite giggled. “Vox really wants out of sickbay, hon.”

They reached the bottom of the stairs where the elegant stairway opened up into Gabrielle’s sitting room. One hallway led towards the guest stateroom and the other towards the bard’s master suite. Gabrielle glanced at Aphrodite uncertainly.

“You kids get some sleep,” the goddess said cheerfully. “I’m going to have breakfast with Shen and then spend some time reading in the library. I can take Argo with me.” She pointed to the room adjacent to where they were standing. “Xena if you need me, you can find me there,” she pointed. She wrapped her arms around the warrior and gave her a warm hug. “I am happy you are back dear one,” she said. “Once the shock wears off, I hope that you are as happy about it as Gabrielle and I are.”

Xena nodded, “Thank you Aphrodite, I am happy to be back,” she said without enthusiasm. Argo whined uncertainly and sat down at the warrior’s feet.

The goddess turned to Gabrielle and hugged her as well, lightly kissing the top of the bard’s head. “You are in almost as much shock as she is right now,” she said gently. “Give yourself some time.”

Gabrielle squeezed her tightly then released her. “Thank you, Aphrodite,” she said. “For absolutely everything.”

The goddess winked at her then headed down the corridor. “Come on, girl,” she called to the dog. “Breakfast!”

The bard opened the door to her bedroom and held it open for Xena to enter. The warrior looked around the room then back at Gabrielle. “So, you live in a floating palace?”

Gabrielle nodded, remembering when a barn was a luxurious place for them to stay. “I guess I do. It’s a palace, a fortress, mostly it’s home.” The bard led the way to the bathroom and stepped inside. “Most modern conveniences will seem kind of strange until you get used to them.” Xena listened patiently while Gabrielle gave a tutorial on all of the room’s amenities; she was fascinated by the toilet and intrigued by the Jacuzzi tub and the shower. Next, she was shown the closet, where Gabrielle and Aphrodite had organized the warrior’s wardrobe.

“The clothes are comfortable, soft,” Xena said. “But they don’t seem to offer any protection, except the boots perhaps.”

“The weapons of aggression have changed somewhat,” Gabrielle explained. “Visible armor would cause more social scrutiny than it’s worth and unless you’re wearing Kevlar, which is a type of armor, it’s going to be noticed. You’re not going to want to carry your chakram around.” She was going to talk about the legal ramifications that would accompany Xena’s usual method of problem solving but didn’t; there would be time for all of that later. Instead she just said, “the tools of warfare have become ill-defined.”

They were both quiet and simultaneously glanced at the bed. Inwardly Gabrielle winced at the knot she felt gripping her stomach. Here was someone she knew so intimately, yet felt like such a stranger. She sat down on the edge of the bed and urged Xena to do the same. She took the warrior’s hands in her own. “I promise I will explain it to you,” she said. “All of it.”

Xena nodded and smiled at the bard, the grin not quite reaching her eyes. There was something different in the way Gabrielle looked at her. Not like the woman who could see into her very depths so easily but more like someone who didn’t really know her. “So, you are the leader of your own army now,” she said to fill the silence. “I’m not sure I’d have expected that.”

Gabrielle’s first impulse was to demure or self-deprecate but she resisted it. Xena had always been honest about her abilities as well as her flaws, albeit to a lesser degree. “I am,” she replied. “I will tell you that everything I know about being a leader, about being a good one at least, I learned from you.” She smiled up at the warrior, trying to convey that beyond any internal confusion she may be feeling, she was very happy to have her back. “Xena?” she asked. “Can you tell me the last thing you remember? Did I pull you from the Elysian Fields, or someplace nice?”

The warrior shrugged. “I remember the battle. I remember the pain of being pierced by arrows. I remember you trying to save me. The last thing that I thought about before I died was you; your face, your eyes, your touch.” She brought her hand up and gently touched the side of Gabrielle’s face. The bard was surprised that while essentially a newborn, Xena’s fingers were still calloused. “My regret was not getting to spend another sunrise or sunset with you. I was deeply disappointed in myself for taking you for granted- for not putting you ahead of absolutely everything else.” Xena took a deep breath and sighed. “You know what it’s like, right before you die. You get a clarity about what is really important in life, for me though I guess I’m dense enough that I had to die three times to really see it.” Inwardly Gabrielle winced. Concentrating on keeping her features open and passive, Xena’s words about death, clarity and priorities made her think of Susan Yin and what it would have taken for the woman to choose to end her own life. “After that,” Xena continued, “I remember tumbling in the surf with a hammer wrapped around my wrist. And you were there, picking me up- helping me out of the water.”

In the warm light of the cabin Xena could see Gabrielle clearly and for the first time noticed that she did indeed look older than she remembered. According to the bard’s story a decade or so had passed from the time she died to when Gabrielle became immortal but that was not the extent of it. The youthfulness provided by ambrosia did not mask the maturity of her bearing or the exhaustion evident in her features. “Let’s get some sleep Gabrielle,” she said. “You’ve promised me answers and I will hold you to it, but for now we both need sleep.”

Gabrielle nodded. “You are right. I need to go check on some things. I’ll be back in a bit.” Xena nodded uncertainly and stood to strip out of her still damp clothing.

Pausing outside her bedroom door, Gabrielle pondered what to do. Briefly she considered walking down the hall to Aphrodite’s cabin but that wasn’t what she wanted and the goddess had said she was going to breakfast anyway. Instead she walked through her office to the study beyond and sat down on the comfortable couch. The Scotch she had shared with Susan Yin was still sitting on the table so she helped herself to a healthy swig from the bottle. Feelings of sadness and confusion fought for dominance with the undeniable sensation of being overjoyed that Xena was alive once again, that her lifelong mission had been a success. Hoping for more clarity when she woke, she stretched out on the couch, covering herself with a quilt she’d made decades earlier. In seconds, she was fast asleep.

~~~~~~~

Xena woke with a start. For an instant, she thought she’d been dreaming but the moment was fleeting. She noted the softness of the sheets, the opulence of the room in general, and the fact that she was alone. Neither Gabrielle nor her dog were with her in the large bed. This hadn’t been a dream. She had died. She had missed over two thousand years and it was 2017.

After rolling out of bed and making her way to the closet she noticed a t-shirt on the floor and picked it up. Her clothes from hours before were still damp so she donned a fresh pair of jeans and the t-shirt she was still holding and made her way to the library. As she expected, Aphrodite was sitting in a cozy chair with her legs tucked underneath her reading a leather-bound book. At the warrior’s approach, she looked up and smiled.

“How did you sleep?” she asked.

“Well I think,” Xena replied. “How long was I out?”

 “About four hours maybe. Let’s go up on the deck and I’ll fix you something to eat. Do you need to use the bathroom or anything?”

“I, ah, used the one in Gabrielle’s cabin. Have you seen her?”

“No, I haven’t,” the goddess replied, a puzzled expression on her face. “Let me get my phone and I’ll find her.”

Aphrodite led the way down the hall to the guest suite which was smaller in size than Gabrielle’s room but just as luxuriously appointed. The bed was against one wall and on the other side were portholes that looked out to the ocean. Xena noticed that the room looked somewhat lived in which made her question for a moment her assumptions about the goddess and the bard. The goddess’ clothes were casually tossed on a nearby chair and couch with several books stacked on the nightstand. The closet door was open, revealing a chaos of more clothing inside. This cabin did not have the tidiness of Gabrielle’s.

Aphrodite retrieved her phone from the nightstand and quickly sent out of couple of text messages. Xena followed the goddess to the upper deck of the ship. They made their way to the barbecue area with its comfortable couch and loungers. There was a bar by the outdoor kitchen and Xena slid onto one of the bar stools so she could talk to the goddess who took her place behind the grill.

Opening the small refrigerator, Aphrodite was grateful that Sarah had brought up her request so quickly. Taking two large tumblers, she filled them with ice then water, squeezing a wedge of lime into each and depositing a disk of cucumber. She handed one to Xena and took a sip from the other. Xena followed suit, nodding with approval after her first sip. Curiously she poked at the ice cubes. Next the goddess extracted a plate of chicken pieces from the fridge and after turning on the grill proceeded to season them with salt and pepper. “Normally I’d to a light marinade with honey, lime juice, and sriracha,” she explained, “but I think for the time being you may want your food to taste like what you’re used to.”

“That looks like chicken.” Xena said as she watched the pieces get placed on the grill. Aphrodite nodded. “I have some basic vegetables here as well, I’ll grill those too. There is an amazing world of food that I’ve got no doubt Gabrielle looks forward introducing you to.”

“So. You and Gabrielle.” Xena said it as a statement of fact and took another sip of water watching the goddess carefully.

“What makes you say that?” Aphrodite asked casually. She was surprised certainly, but took pains not to show it. She wondered if the warrior was guessing or if this was some other ability, a godly one.

Xena shrugged, looking for an instant like an older, brunette, more self-assured Vox. “I saw how you were looking at her over the firelight,” she said. “I’ve looked at her that way myself.”

“It isn’t what you think,” she demurred, immensely grateful that Argo wasn’t on deck.

“No?” Xena asked arching an eyebrow knowingly.

Aphrodite regarded the warrior. “When Gabrielle found me, a couple of months ago she had been searching for me for over two thousand years. She had every expectation that the next piece of the puzzle may take years, decades, or centuries to complete. She was really lonely and sad. Both of us treated it like the temporary fling it was; two very old friends catching up and enjoying ourselves. As soon as she knew that the possibility of getting you back could actually come to fruition, she- we- ended it.”

“I see,” Xena said nodding. “I don’t see how you could spend a month with Gabrielle and not fall absolutely in love with her.”

“Well I am the Goddess of Love, so naturally I love everybody.” Aphrodite said, hoping that would end the conversation.

“Uh huh,” Xena replied, dropping the conversation but making it clear that she didn’t entirely believe the goddess. She was thoughtful for long moments, sipping her water then asked, “aside from your relationship- how is she doing? Is she okay? Something seems different about her.”

Carefully Aphrodite turned the chicken over on the grill checking its doneness and gently poking at the various vegetables she’d also placed on the hot surface. “Poseidon knew he was taking a risk by giving her Ambrosia in the first place. I’ll grant that he was careful in the amount he gave her and she didn’t suffer from the insanity that hit Valasca or Callisto when they had it. But when you’re a being designed to live, say, a hundred years and you stretch that out to two millennia- I was honestly amazed she’s as together as she is. She’s smart; she found purpose and focus in addition to her quest to revive you. I’m not going to tell her story, that’s for her to do. But I will say she’s one of the most remarkable human beings I’ve ever met.” Xena nodded in agreement. “That said however, she hasn’t had nearly the quantity of relationships that you would expect, and loneliness has certainly been a reoccurring theme in her life. The devotion she feels for you is every bit as present in every molecule of her being as the DNA she’s made from.”

“I didn’t understand most of that last bit, but I think I get your meaning.” Xena replied with a frown. She turned her head and looked out to the ocean, grateful to see something that looked unchanged. She said as much to the goddess who smiled sadly back at her.

“I wish that was so, Xena.” She said and left the grill to stand by the railing. She gestured for the warrior to join her.

“What are we looking at?” Xena asked curiously.

“Just wait a moment,” the goddess said. After a couple of minutes of silent observation, Xena saw something out in the distance she didn’t recognize. It came closer, it’s bright blue and white color scheme contrasting with the ocean around them.
“What is that?” Xena asked.

“A cooler, I think,” Aphrodite replied. “It probably fell off the back of someone’s boat and they didn’t notice it. “I think Michelle spotted it though, we’re slowing down.” Sure enough, they could see two people on the deck below reach out with a large net and scoop up the trash. “You could be anywhere on the ocean and it’s just a matter of waiting to see something manmade float by.” She pushed away from the railing and walked back to the grill. “I think lunch is ready.”

Aphrodite put several pieces of chicken and some grilled vegetables on a plate and passed it to the warrior, making a second plate for herself. As if on cue, Argo appeared padding her way across the deck followed by Gabrielle.

“Am I in time for lunch?” She asked taking the seat next to Xena. She smiled at the warrior and touched her arm as she settled herself on the barstool. Xena smiled in return but the grin did not meet her eyes. “Did you sleep well?” she asked as Aphrodite passed her a plate of food.

“Well enough,” the warrior replied not making eye contact.

All three women ate in near silence punctuated by compliments about the food and idle chit chat about the yacht and the common foods people ate. Aphrodite looked at the pair in front of her with concern but knew better than give voice to the tension. This was not the reunion of Xena and Gabrielle that she expected and no doubt the pair in front of her would agree.

 “So, I was thinking,” Gabrielle suggested as she finished her lunch, “that I’d take you to meet Shen and some of the crew if you’re feeling up to it? The fact that you can speak and understand languages has put us miles ahead of where I thought we’d be. It’s going to take us a couple of days to get back to Marina del Rey which is where I’ve had a home base for the last couple of years. Next would be acclimating you to the ship and the rest of life in 2017.”

“That sounds good,” Xena agreed. “You mentioned him earlier, who is Shen?”

“You know, I’m going to take these dishes to the kitchen and let you guys have a chat,” Aphrodite offered, neatly stacking up the plates on a tray. “You know how to reach me if you need anything,” she added with a nod to Gabrielle.

“What was that about,” Xena asked as she watched the goddess leave.
“I need to tell you about Shen and that involves discussing some of my somewhat recent history and it’s more of a private conversation I suppose,” Gabrielle replied almost wishing that Aphrodite had stayed, to what end she had no idea.

“Gabrielle,” Xena said with a frown, “I’m happy to hear it, but first I need to know what’s going on. With you- with us.” It was plain to the bard that Xena wasn’t angry, she was hurt and confused and Gabrielle could not blame her for that. She’d feel the same way were their places switched.

Chewing the inside of her cheek to keep from getting emotional and tearing up, Gabrielle ordered her thoughts. This was never a conversation she expected to have, with Xena of all people. She looked at the warrior, her open unguarded expression looking so out of place sitting on a barstool in jeans and a t-shirt. “Xena, I honestly don’t know what’s wrong with me,” she said. “I love you Xena, I truly do- but the connection I felt to you, that I could always feel so strongly…” her words trailed off and she shrugged. “Something feels different,” she tried again. “I can’t really describe it. There is just something different. I’m sure it will right itself- but it’s just…”

The warrior’s jaw was set and annoyance quickly flashed over her features. She opened her mouth to speak but then closed it. She was quiet a moment more before she spoke. “Is this about Aphrodite?” she asked, her tone neutral. For her part Xena was relieved that Gabrielle didn’t feign surprise or ignorance about the question.

“No,” the bard said simply, “it isn’t.” Cocking her head, Xena signaled that some elaboration would be appreciated. “I’m not sure how much you want to know,” Gabrielle continued at the warrior’s urging. “Yes, we’re close. No, it’s not the kind of relationship you and I had – have.”

Xena downed the last of her cucumber water and thought. Gabrielle’s use of the past tense stung, especially after her declarations after her arrival on the ship. But at the same time, she was still haunted by the memory of the intense regret she felt when she died. How she had taken her love for granted and had made Gabrielle secondary to her own personal mission of redemption.

The warrior could see herself at a cross roads- not at all unlike the one that had led her to burying her weapons before she first met the bard. She could put Gabrielle first; consider her resurrection a second chance to fully live the life that had been cut short. That would mean giving Gabrielle space and time to sort out her feelings and there was no guarantee that the story would have the ending she wanted. The other option was to indulge her impulse to withdraw. To put her own hurt and sense of rejection forward. Never a fan of talking about her feelings, Xena of Amphipolis was even less of a fan of living in this strange new world without Gabrielle- of that much she was certain.

“Gabrielle,” she said, her voice measured. “You haven’t seen me for a very long time. Aphrodite said you may be in shock- both of us probably are. I don’t expect things to instantly go back to the way they were,” Argo barked once and looked at the warrior expectantly. “Is your dog okay?” she asked.

There was a sadness in Gabrielle’s eyes as she smiled at the woman who she still considered her soul-mate. The woman who she had felt at one point in time understood her better than anyone could and had made her feel like the very best version of herself. She didn’t have the heart to tell Xena that she knew she wasn’t being truthful, there was a possibility that Xena genuinely believed what she’d just said. “Argo’s fine,” she said instead. “you can give her the cucumber slice from your water if you’d like.”

“So, tell me about Shen,” Xena said trying to sound reassuring as she tossed the cucumber to the pit bull.

Gabrielle took a sip from her own water trying to decide where to start. “I met this man from China- Chin, in 1912- one hundred-five years ago. His name was Shen Chu and he was new to America. He was part of the second wave of Chinese immigrants to the west coast- basically where we’re headed now. We met in San Francisco. He spoke very little English but I spoke Mandarin and Cantonese and I was able to help him learn. It was my second journey to this country. I’d arrived on the east coast a few months earlier after a pretty extreme disaster and had made my way west to start my life over once again.” Xena sipped her water and nodded, indicating that she was following the story.

“Anyway, Shen was a dear man. He was hardly more than a boy when I met him and he became one of my most trusted employees, a confidant, and a very dear friend. He grew up, got married and had a daughter. When Shen Chu and I met I was going by the name Ingrid Bard at the time.” Debating how best to explain how she’d survived, Gabrielle took a sip of water before continuing. “Xena,” she said. “One of the ways I’ve survived all these years is to periodically change my identity. I learned early on that living longer than people think is possible will cause a lot of confusion, suspicion and personal difficulty. Not drawing attention to oneself has been essential. I might change my name, move to a different village or country, take up a different profession. Create an entirely new life for myself. When I’d developed a business I wanted to keep and grow, changing identities would require years of preparation. I would create children away at boarding school or distant relatives, I’d try to age myself and finally go on some kind of extended trip or retire and my new persona would take my place and take over my business or whatever. I’d have to replace the top tier of people in my company that I worked closely with- I would either find them better jobs or pay them to retire, I’d start over fresh with a new crew from within the company that didn’t work directly with the ‘old me’.

“When the time came with Shen, I could not bear to part company. I did what I could to age myself and when the time came, I turned the company over to Abigail Evans. Shen played along, pretending that he hadn’t seen me every day for the past 18 years. It certainly helped the illusion within the company. His daughter started working for me in the 1950s and for one blissful year in 1970 when her daughter, Susan, started at my company I had three generations of this wonderful family at my disposal.” Xena nodded to assure Gabrielle that she was following along with the story and that it was making sense.

“Susan married her husband Tom about a year after she started, shortly before Shen Chu died. They had a daughter named Beatrix.”

“Did she work for you as well?” The warrior asked.

Chuckling, Gabrielle replied, “no, Trixie was an artist. She was a professional dancer for a time before she had her son, Shen. Trixie and her father Tom were killed last year in a car accident on Father’s Day. Susan was watching Shen so Trixie could take Tom to dinner and a drunk driver killed them. Shen had lost his own father when he was five years old. Dave, Trixie’s husband had a very serious illness called leukemia. For the last year Susan has been raising her grandson on her own.

Gabrielle took a deep breath, hoping she could get through the last of the story before choking up. “There is a custom here where you can designate someone outside of your family to step in as a “god-parent” should something happen to the primary custodian; like what you did with Tyldus for Solon. Susan died a few days ago. Ares captured her and she killed herself to avoid revealing anything about me or my organization. Since I am Shen’s god-mother, I am responsible for him. As of a little over three days ago, I became a parent again.”

With profound sympathy etching her features, Xena looked at Gabrielle. She tried to take in all that the bard had said and fathom a life where generation after generation you watch everyone you care for grow old and die. “All of this and still you came to resurrect me?” she finally asked.

“Xena, of course,” Gabrielle answered without hesitation. “I’ve never stopped looking for a way to get you back.”

The warrior frowned, “And you’ve seen Ares?”

 Shaking her head Gabrielle replied, “On the way to Greece- to retrieve the hammer, Ares contacted me with a video message- something similar to what I did with my phone when we first got to the ship. I could see Susan in the background. She was…signaling me as to what she was going to do and I knew she was just waiting to hear if I’d gotten Shen to safety first. I stalled Ares long enough for my team to get to Shen’s boarding school and get him to safety. When I let her know he was safe…” she shrugged, “well that was it.”

“So, the boy lives here now?” Xena asked. “On this ship?”

Gabrielle nodded. “I think he will. He’s ten years old. There is still a lot to sort out. My captain and executive officer, the second in command, have decided to share accommodations so he can have a room down with the crew, sort of like his boarding school. For the moment we are homeschooling him, keeping in close touch with his school and teachers. When it is safe he will go back to the school, if he wants to, and live here when he gets time off. If he doesn’t I’ll get a house or something and live on land for a while. I need to do some research into Susan’s…last wishes, but I expect that I will be legally adopting him.” She could tell by Xena’s expression that she was beginning to confuse the warrior and was frustrated with her inability to explain it better. She also knew that if she often thought of Xena’s son Solon when she saw Shen, there was no doubt that Xena would as well. And that was going to be painful.

“I suppose I should meet him then,” Xena said with a warm smile. Gratefully, Gabrielle smiled in return.

They located the boy in the conference room taking a test with Prisha waiting to review the results. Gabrielle was surprised to see the drum set in the corner of the room. “Are we interrupting?” she asked as she walked in, with Xena and Argo following behind her.

Shen looked up, his expression bright at the sight of his godmother. “I was just finishing a test,” he said. “History,” he added dejectedly. He put down his pencil and passed the paper over to Prisha who reviewed it with a frown. “I’ve already aced a math test, but you know…history.”

“One of my favorite subjects,” Gabrielle explained to Xena. “Shen, I want you to meet my friend Xena that I told you about.”

Shen got up and walked over to the warrior. “It’s nice to meet you,” Xena said, extending her arm the same way that Michelle had previously. “I’m not so good with history myself.”

“It’s nice to meet you too,” Shen said a bit formally, shaking her hand politely.

The smile on the warrior’s face was genuine, warm but Gabrielle could clearly see the sadness that briefly cloud her eyes. There was no doubt in the bard’s mind that Xena was thinking of Solon and wishing she could have watched him grow up. Gabrielle gave her a moment to compose herself before introducing Prisha Washburn.

The navigator shook Xena’s hand warmly. “Aphrodite mentioned you’re dealing with some memory loss,” she said. “If there is anything anyone on the crew can do to help you out, you just need to ask.”

“That is very kind of you, thank you,” Xena said feeling relieved.

“What kind of memory loss?” Shen asked curiously. Xena was about to answer when she felt Gabrielle’s hand on her arm stopping her.

“Xena had something happen to her which has made her forget a lot of things. Things like history, current events, how things work,” Gabrielle explained vaguely. “She will get her memory back, but it will probably take some time.”

“It's like amnesia?” He asked brightly. “From an accident?”

“Yes, sort of like that,” Gabrielle agreed. “Say, why is the drum set in the conference room?” she asked changing the subject.

Shen’s expression brightened, “Blake said he’d start teaching me if I do well on my tests, these were just pre-tests to see what I’ve messed up.”

“Well I can’t argue with that logic,” Gabrielle replied with a nod.

Prisha passed the test paper back to the boy with certain questions circled. She also passed him a laptop computer and a large coffee table book. “These are the questions that need some work,” she said. Why don’t you try looking up some answers and see what you find? You might also check them against the book you got yesterday, see how the websites compare.” He nodded and looked glumly at his paper.

Gabrielle’s watch chimed and she checked her phone. She replied with a text message and glanced over to Prisha. “Prisha, Michelle has got something for us on the bridge,” she said. “I also need to check on Vox. Xena, would you mind hanging out with Shen until I get back? He can show you around the ship if you’d like.”

Xena nodded. “After he checks his schoolwork of course, sure – I’d like that.”

Shen waited until Gabrielle and Prisha left before speaking to the warrior. “You know, we could probably just do the tour. I don’t think I’d get in much trouble. Gabrielle hardly ever gets mad.”

Xena chuckled, the bittersweet memory of Solon coming to the surface anew. “She gets mad once in a while and it’s kind of a scary sight. Maybe you should do your school work, just in case.” She glanced over at the book on the table. “That’s an impressive book you’ve got there.”

He drew the book towards them and opened it. “Michelle ordered if for me from Amazon,” he explained. “To help with my history.”

“It’s nice to know that the Amazons are still around,” Xena replied.

“Oh yeah,” Shen agreed “It’s a big company, they have everything. She requested one day delivery which is why they got it to me while we were in Mexico.”

Xena nodded. “I’m sure because she’s captain of the ship the Amazons were very accommodating. They’re very dependable. I knew them when they were just a small tribe.”

Shen looked at the warrior with a confused expression on his face. “I think they do the delivery as long as you pay the shipping. The book is a history of the world,” he opened it to the beginning chapters and showed the warrior illustrations about the formations of the planets and the dinosaurs. “Then we get to the ancient world,” he turned some pages to the sights that Xena found familiar. “This is the Middle Ages,” he said, a somewhat dejected tone to his voice. “That’s what my test was on, the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. I was going to use the laptop to check my answers first, you can look at my book if you want.”

Xena nodded and watched him for a moment as he opened the laptop and his fingers flew over the keys. She turned her attention to the book and turned the pages carefully, skimming the information, amazed that she could read the printing and understood it for the most part. The images helped and she was equal parts amazed and disheartened with each turn of the page. The people, both celebrated and notorious, the advancements, the struggles, war, more war, still more war leapt off the pages at her. “All of these things actually happened?” She asked as she turned the pages of World War II.

Shen nodded. “You’re pretty safe trusting books, well non-fiction research type books like this one,” he said. “Websites have a lot of fake stuff, so you can’t always trust what they’re saying.”

“Websites is that thingie?” She asked looking at the screen.

He nodded, “It’s faster if you can type,” he explained. “Hey, I’ll tell you what I’ve found, see if you can find it in the book, you can check the index.” He showed Xena the back of the book and how the index words corresponded to the page numbers.

She nodded and set to work learning about the Middle Ages.

~~~~~~~

Gabrielle stepped onto the bridge following Prisha. The lights were dim and the room was illuminated by the glow of the monitors and the sunshine coming through the tinted windows of the control room. She was a little surprised to see Aphrodite already there chatting with Hatsuo. Michelle announced her presence and everyone gave her their undivided attention.

“There’s news?” she asked.

Michelle nodded, making a slight adjustment to the onboard autopilot. “Susan’s body was recovered in Montana and has been moved to Quantico,” she said. “The Feds are involved.”

“Any of our people?” Gabrielle asked hopefully.

“No. We’ve got people tangential to the investigation, but the investigators on the case and the pathologist aren’t ours. We tried, but,” she shrugged.

Knowing it was a long shot to have people directly on the investigating team the bard asked, “What do they know?”.

Shaking her head, Michelle replied, “Not much at this point, I’m afraid. We’ve tried to get to the pathologist and have a look at the report. I don’t think they are going to release the body until their investigation is closed.”

“Why did the Feds get involved? Did we just get lucky?”

“We got lucky with a local investigator in Montana,” Hatsuo interjected. “There was the cyanide and it was clear that the body had been moved. When her identity was confirmed, Special Projects was able to raise the profile of the case and get the Feds involved. We’ve got more people in DC than we do in Montana.”

“I was telling Hatsuo that I can get us a meeting with the pathologist if you’d like a first-hand account,” Aphrodite offered.

“With investigators, we don’t know?” Gabrielle asked, surprised.

The goddess shook her head. “No, I mean I can get you a meeting with them too I suppose. But I mean just with the pathologist, getting us past security and such.” Gabrielle still looked confused. “Not unlike my ability to teach your dog new tricks,” Aphrodite tried explaining slowly.

“She means it’s a ‘god’ thing,” Michelle offered hopefully.

“Oh,” Gabrielle said, embarrassed for not catching on sooner. “Yes, absolutely. I’d like to get Susan back for a funeral as soon as we can and I’d like to see what we can do about Ares. Do we have the Gideon Power intel from Special Projects?”

“Yes,” Michelle confirmed. “I have it right here. But there are also a couple of other things that need your attention,” Michelle added cautiously.

“Of course,” Gabrielle said encouraging the captain to continue.

“When Shen was picked up they took everything from his dorm room, his clothes and computer, things like that. But he probably needs more from the house.”

  The bard nodded. “Okay,” she said at last. “First things first. When we get to the Marina, I’ll take Shen home to pick up some stuff.” She glanced at Aphrodite trying to gauge how much her next words were going to hurt. “I’ll take Xena with me.”

Aphrodite nodded, which Gabrielle appreciated. “You should also take Argo,” the goddess said “Shen will appreciate that.” The bard smiled gratefully, well aware that while expected, taking a back seat to the warrior would be painful. “Do you mind if I borrow a car? I’ve got some errands of my own to run.”

“Absolutely- anything you want in inventory is yours,” Gabrielle assured her with a glance to Michelle who gave an affirming nod. “Is a day enough time?” Aphrodite agreed that it was. “Great, we’ll meet with department heads the next morning, we can head to DC the next day. When exactly do we arrive home?”

“Day after tomorrow, early morning,” Michelle said.

“Okay, I know it’s short notice but see if Jorge can get everyone together. Please arrange for a car for the airport. I’d like to have Ed and the twins on duty if possible. While I’m thinking about it, why don’t I meet with Jorge, Sabin and Fiona before the rest of the department heads- to loop them in on the same stuff I told you guys.”

“Oh, the booze meeting,” Michelle affirmed, making a note.

“The booze meeting?” Gabrielle asked with a frown, glancing at Aphrodite who chuckled.
The captain shrugged. “Well, it’s our shorthand for it. I know what the three of them like to drink, should I have it sent to your study?” she asked innocently.

Gabrielle rolled her eyes but nodded. “Yeah, makes sense. Getting back to the matter at hand, let’s see what we’ve got so far on the pathologist, the investigators, and Gideon Power.” The captain handed over her tablet and Gabrielle took a seat on the couch, scrolling through the documents. With her brow creased, she focused, reading and scrolling, tapping the tablet to open one document after the next. “One last thing,” she said. “See if SP can get anywhere with the computers for the investigators. I’d like to know what they know, and please have Blake or Samantha bring up some snacks, this is going to take a bit.”

~~~~~~~

Shen looked at his companion nervously. They’d long since finished reviewing the test and he’d explained as much as he understood of historical events from that point on. From time to time Gabrielle’s friend would point at something in the book and he’d tell her what it was, or look it up on the internet if he didn’t know. With each passing chapter, the woman’s mood grew darker. More than once he’d seen her wipe at her eyes. On the one hand, it was a somewhat of a comfort to meet someone who was hurting as much as he was, but he wasn’t sure how to deal with the imposing woman either. After filling Xena in on as much as he knew of the current wars in the Middle East he closed the book coming to a decision.

“Xena, I want to take you to meet a friend of mine,” he said, his tone concerned.

“Gabrielle said to wait here.” The warrior replied reaching for the cover of the book to open it once again.

“No,” he said firmly, which made bright blue eyes widen in surprise. “You can’t absorb everything you don’t know in one afternoon, that’s why school takes a bunch of years.” He stood up and in a tone, that brokered no argument said “Follow me.”

Inwardly Xena winced. The young boy’s defiance seemed so much like Solon. As traumatic as his previous years and days had been, he carried himself with more composure than would be expected. She decided to give him the win and complied with his insistent request. As they walked through the ship he pointed out the various rooms and features of the yacht. Xena asked where the various bathrooms were and he made sure to highlight them as they passed. They stopped briefly at the gym which seemed to puzzle the warrior. “I’m sorry,” she said. “It’s a room to exercise in?”

He nodded, not understanding why she was confused. “Yeah, so you can stay in shape. There are weights, weight machines, and some treadmills, over there is a stair climber and there is a rock wall that the crew can assemble. They have climbing races.”

“You don’t just stay in shape by lifting things or running and walking?” Xena asked, perplexed.

“Um. No.” Shen said shaking his head. “I mean I can I guess because I play sports at school. But adults sit around most of the time, it isn’t healthy.”

“They sit around because…”

“Their jobs,” he continued to explain. “Most jobs just use your brain and you sit and do brain stuff. I mean, I guess people’s brains are in great shape but the rest of them just kind of…sits.” The warrior frowned but kept quiet.

They continued through the ship to the lower decks. Shen made sure to introduce Xena to all of the crew that they encountered. The warrior offered her hand to each which they shook warmly and welcomed her aboard. There was no doubt that they had been alerted to her presence, since no one was surprised to see her and everyone offered to be of any assistance to her that they could. One man in particular, that Shen referred to as ‘Bo’ complimented her B52s t-shirt. The warrior had no idea what he was talking about but thanked him anyway. Finally, they reached a door at the end of the hallway. Shen knocked and when invited inside looked up at Xena. “This is sick-bay,” he said as he pushed the door open.

Vox was sitting up in bed watching something on her tablet. She smiled at the boy’s entrance which immediately faded to a guarded expression at the sight of the tall, dark brunette entering behind him. “Hey Vox,” Shen said. “This is Gabrielle’s friend Xena.”

“It’s nice to meet you,” Xena said extending her hand.

“Likewise,” Vox said and Argo, who had been sleeping on her bed, woke up and barked once. “That Argo, needs to stop,” she said tightly.

“Xena and I were talking about history,” Shen continued enthusiastically. “But it made her really sad, and you’ve been really helpful with me when I’ve been really sad, so I thought I’d bring her down here so you can help her too.”

Simultaneously Vox and Xena both looked at the boy, then at each other, then back at the boy. “Ah, dude,” the engineer said awkwardly, “um…I’m helpful to you because you and I know each other and we’re friends. It’s kinda hard to get that kind of help from someone you’ve just met. Like, literally just met.”

“But you guys already have a lot in common you can absolutely be friends. You’re both gay and you’re both in love with Gabrielle,” he insisted, confused. Vox and Xena locked eyes once again. “I thought that might help, having something in common. Aphrodite isn’t gay,” he added as an afterthought “she’s bisexual.”

Vox took a deep breath and let it out slowly making a mental note to have a conversation with Gabrielle so she could then have a conversation with the boy. For the moment though this was her mess to address. “Dude!” she said firmly. “First thing is you don’t just make assumptions about someone’s sexual orientation and then talk about it with someone they’ve just met. It’s totally rude.” She glanced at the dog watching her with interest before continuing. “Secondly, you shouldn’t make assumptions about how someone feels about someone else and again discuss it with someone who you’ve just met and isn’t in that relationship either, it’s a dick thing to do. It’s like you’re talking about Gabrielle behind her back, savvy?”

Shen’s eyes went wide and the boy looked genuinely wounded. “I’m sorry Vox, Xena,” he muttered.

Xena gently put a hand on his shoulder and knelt down to look him in the eyes. “I appreciate you trying to help me make friends, but the way you introduced me to the rest of the crew is the perfect way to do it.” He nodded mutely. “Neither Vox or I are upset with you, we’re just both kind of embarrassed at the situation,” she explained. “I know you’ve been through a lot lately, and I do appreciate you bringing me to someone that you think can help me. That is very kind of you.”

“Yeah, dude,” Vox agreed. “Your introductions just need work, that’s all.” He seemed to relax somewhat but his expression was defeated. “Say,” the engineer added brightly, “Argo hasn’t been on deck in a while, want to go throw the ball for her? You’ve made the intro, now Xena and I can have a chat.”

“You know,” Xena added, “Work on becoming friends.”

He nodded and happily, oblivious to the warrior’s smirk grabbed the tennis ball sitting on the desk. In a flash, the pit bull jumped off the bed and followed him out of the room.

“Well this is awkward.” Vox said dryly.

“So, you’re in love with Gabrielle?” Xena asked cheerfully, with a genuine smile. “I think there is a fair amount of that going around the ship.”

Vox chuckled, impressed that the woman standing across from her was willing to make the embarrassing downright insufferable. “Kids say the darnedest things,” she said dismissively. “I’m an engineer on the crew, that’s all I am to Gabrielle.” She didn’t make the proclamation with any trace of self-pity or sadness, simply a stating of fact.

Xena rolled her eyes, “the Gabrielle I know would no doubt see each and every one of you as family.” The blond woman shrugged. “I do have some questions for you if you’re willing to answer them,” she added sincerely.

“As long as they’re not too personal, go ahead,” the engineer replied with a grin. Vox took the opportunity to really study the newcomer. Xena was tall, imposing, nicely filling out an old t-shirt and new pair of jeans. Her hair was down albeit somewhat tousled and messy. Her bright blue eyes were piercing and she looked like a woman unafraid of anything or anyone, yet unsettled and out of place. She could easily picture Gabrielle with this woman and that awareness of it only served to annoy the younger woman.

“What’s a B52?” Xena asked, looking down at her shirt.

“Oh that,” the young woman said, taking note of the tour shirt. “It’s a band. That’s one of Aphrodite’s shirts, I’ve got to say though, you wear it well.” Vox picked up her tablet and tapped it a couple of times. In moments, a song played through the ship’s sound system. “This is the B52s” she explained. Xena listened deciding that she found the music she heard earlier more enjoyable.

            “What’s next?” Vox asked gamely.

            Xena’s eyes widened in understanding, “You’re the person responsible for the music?” she said. “The beautiful singing.”

            Vox nodded. “Well at least until they let me out of sick bay I am. I’m glad you’ve enjoyed it; the rest of the crew is ready to kill me. Blake has been in here twice offering to take my stitches out himself.”

“Well the ones in your head are ready, so I don’t see why not.” Xena remarked after a casual glance. She looked at the bandage on the woman’s shoulder exposed by the tank top she was wearing. “May I?” she asked.

“You a doctor?” Vox asked dubiously.

“I was a warlord,” Xena said without pride or enjoyment. “I wasn’t a healer specifically but I had an army to take care of.” The engineer nodded and Xena leaned forward to lift the bandage away from the wound. Vox was surprised that her hands were gentle.

“So how do you know Gabrielle exactly?” the blond woman asked conversationally.

Xena lowered the bandage and looked at the younger woman considering her answer. There was something about the engineer that she sensed she could trust. While she wasn’t certain if it was the other woman’s love for Gabrielle that simultaneously endeared her, and annoyed her or if it was something else, she came to the conclusion that being honest would provide her the most useful information. “We met shortly after I stopped being a warlord. Her village had been raided by Draco, another warlord, and he had rounded up a bunch of people to sell to the slavers. She’d never been away from home then,” the warrior recalled fondly. “After I bested Draco, Gabrielle left home and followed me. We traveled together for a year or so and fell in love. We were lovers for a number of years, traveling around, doing goods before I died. Her immortality happened about a decade after my death.” Xena replied simply. “By the way, the stitches in your shoulder are ready to come out too.”

The woman’s eyes grew wide and she blinked a couple of times. “I’m sorry, did you say you died?”

Xena nodded. “They tell me I died over two thousand years ago. Gabrielle and Aphrodite met Poseidon on the beach in…” she thought for a moment, “Shen called it ‘Mexico’. They just brought me back. Apparently, Gabrielle has spent over the last two thousand years searching for a way to do it.”

“You know Gabrielle from Ancient Greece. And you’ve been dead? You speak English perfectly.”

Xena shrugged. “I will admit it doesn’t feel ancient to me, but yes, we met in Greece. I’m not Greek though; I’m…” she thought for a moment for the correct terminology, “Bulgarian-Thracian, whatever. Apparently, I can speak all the languages that Aphrodite can. It seems to be some by product of the resurrection, from her blood. I don’t know if there are any side effects from Poseidon’s blood… I don’t even know how the blood figures in to all of this. From where I stand it’s kind of confusing.”

“You can say that again,” the engineer agreed, then her eyes went wide. “Wait, wait, wait…” Vox said, waving at the warrior to slow down. “Poseidon? The Poseidon.” As soon as she said it she felt foolish. She’d already seen the Aphrodite in a bikini swimming in the ocean with a pit bull, the concept of a real Poseidon seemed obvious when she thought about it.” Xena gave her a dubious look. “Yes, I know. I’ve met Aphrodite,” Vox muttered calling out her own foolishness. “So, for you, yesterday was a day that you died in Ancient Greece.” Vox nodded at her appearance, “the same age as you are today?”

The warrior shook her head. “No, Gabrielle and I were in Jappa- ah… Japan, but yes I died as I am and it does feel like it happened yesterday.” Unconsciously she rubbed her shoulder where one of the arrows had pierced her, “I was shot with arrows. A lot of them. Then beheaded.”

There was an innocence in the way that the imposing woman spoke that made the engineer inclined to believe her. She seemed guileless and as confused by the world she now found herself in as a person could possibly be. “Okay, here’s the deal. For the moment, I’m going to say I believe you, until I spend another five minutes thinking about it and decide you must be nuts.” Vox gestured to a nearby chair and encouraged the woman to sit. “I’m surprised that Gabrielle hasn’t mentioned this, but you can’t say the resurrection thing to anyone else.”

“Why not?” Xena asked. “It’s what happened.”

“Even so,” the engineer assured her, “it butts up against people’s religions and they will freak out. When people feel shaky about their religion it’s easier to attack the person challenging it than to think what they’ve believed their whole life might not be so. And make no mistake, people will freak out.”

“What exactly did Gabrielle tell you about me?” Xena asked. It seemed odd to the warrior that if Gabrielle were depending on the highest ranks of her private army, as she assumed the crew was, that they would know nothing of the mission objective. While they might not know the specifics, or all the details, surely they knew something.

Vox frowned, something about the warrior’s tone implied that she didn’t agree with Gabrielle’s leadership and that didn’t sit well with the engineer. “She told us what she felt we needed to know. I was with her in Greece, obviously,” she nodded at her shoulder. “I knew she was after this hammer which was somehow necessary to find you. We know that she’s immortal, we know Aphrodite isn’t like most people- but you only have to meet Aphrodite to realize that.”

At the mention of the woman’s shoulder Xena started looking around the sterile looking room for something to cut the stitches. “You want me to take those out?” she asked. “Like I said, I’ve done it many times.” The engineer acquiesced, happy to distract the woman from questioning anything about Gabrielle’s decision making. She pointed to a drawer with a pair of small scissors. Xena tried them out, impressed at their ease of use.

“Why don’t you tell me why Shen is so concerned about you,” Vox asked, genuinely interested. Xena shrugged as she began to remove stitches and asked about the events in Shen’s book.

~~~~~~~

Gabrielle knocked softly at the sick bay door, surprised by the sound of conversation inside. The voices weren’t heated, but animated enough for Gabrielle to clearly make out the sound of a frustrated Xena trying to understand something. She knocked at the door a little louder and was invited inside. It took only an instant for the bard to notice the tray sitting near her patient’s bed with a pair of scissors and the remnants of the sutures that had been removed. In a heartbeat, she was at Vox’s bedside examining the wound in the woman’s head and shoulder. “You took out the stitches?” She asked Xena, pointedly keeping her voice calm.

“They were ready to come out,” Xena offered.

“You’re cool with anyone removing your stitches?” she asked her patient as she made sure none had been missed.

“Well she did say she was a warlord and had experience,” Vox replied innocently. Gabrielle looked pointedly at the woman’s abdomen and without being asked, she pulled up her tank top, perhaps a little higher than was strictly necessary, and gave Gabrielle access to the bandaged area.

“What have you guys been chatting about?” She asked, keeping her voice neutral. Twice Vox inhaled sharply as Gabrielle touched her, the first when the bard’s examination lead to a sharp pain and the second when her touch was very much the opposite. Gabrielle apologized for the second and asked Vox to roll over on her side. After a quick examination of the exit wound, she let the younger woman settle herself in the bed once again.

“We’ve been talking about what’s happened in the world that I’ve missed.” Xena said, her tone flat and unyielding. “And I’m having some trouble understanding how this has all happened.”

“Your abdomen is healing nicely, but those stitches need to stay in a while longer- front and back.” Gabrielle said to Vox, buying herself some time before addressing Xena. “Your shoulder and head are fine. You can move back into your room now, but you are not cleared for work. You’re still recuperating. I want you to let me know if the pain gets any greater, or if you feel any heat or swelling. Anything that’s different from how it feels now, unless it’s better you tell me, got it? I know you’re going to be moving around more. And keep taking the antibiotics until they are finished.”

“Yes, Doc.” Vox replied obediently. “I…ah… suggested to Xena that she may want to keep the resurrection thing to herself, by the way.”

The warrior shook her head, “With everything else that is happening, I don’t see why that would be the biggest…”

“Xena,” Gabrielle interrupted, not wanting to have the argument that she could feel coming in front of the engineer. “Why don’t you and I go on deck and talk about this.” She forced a smile to her face and nodded at Vox before leaving the sickbay.

Xena extended her hand to Vox before she left, “It was very nice meeting you,” she said. “I am grateful for…the talk.”

“Anytime,” the engineer said with a smile wondering at the moment who she felt worse for.

The warrior nodded and followed Gabrielle through the lower deck to the stairs that led up through the main deck to the upper deck. They were at the stern of the boat and could faintly hear the commotion of Shen playing with Argo at the bow. Xena breathed deeply of the sea air, enjoying the balmy touch of breeze and spectacular view. Gabrielle cocked her head looking up at the warrior. She was amazed that after all this time how quickly some old patterns reasserted themselves. Then she had to remind herself that for Xena, no time had passed, these patterns weren’t old to her. “I had hoped to fill you in on what’s happened in the world myself,” she said somewhat sadly. “I’m sorry that you’ve found out like this.”

“This has to do with me, doesn’t it?” Xena asked, her piercing blue eyes searching Gabrielle’s face for an indication that she might be wrong. “Why the world is this way.”

“Yes and no,” the bard replied. “Yes, the tether to Olympus was broken when I sent a Titan after a giant with the anvil of Hephaestus. The anvil, Titan, giant, and tether all destroyed in one blow.”

“Oh Gabrielle,” Xena said, her voice saddened and somewhat shocked.

“No, I didn’t know that was what was going to happen, and no, I didn’t ask.” Gabrielle shrugged. “Instead of bringing you back I got the ambrosia, and like Aphrodite and whomever else from Olympus was trapped on earth I watched as the world has changed and evolved over the centuries.” She could see the question forming on the warrior’s face and answered it. “Aphrodite has already pointed out that had the tether not been broken our gods would have been in better position to fight off the encroaching mythologies.” She shrugged. “who knows if that would have changed anything.”

“How could it not change everything?” Xena asked dumbfounded. “The crusades, the wars between religions…”

“I have every confidence that people would have found something else to fight about,” Gabrielle replied. “If not religion than resources, or territory or god knows what. The ‘World Wars’ weren’t about religion. I think the industrial revolution would have still happened and that has led to a great deal of the mess we presently find ourselves in. Xena, I’ve had two thousand years to consider the ramifications of what I did and to ponder the possibilities if I had not. Ultimately that point is moot.”

With eyes narrowed in anger, Xena looked down at her companion. “I’m sorry Gabrielle, I’ve had less than a day to digest all of this. I apologize if my questions are moot.”

Gabrielle closed her eyes, forcing herself to stay calm. “I’m apologize Xena. I don’t mean to be short or appear dismissive about your concerns. But I can’t pretend that I haven’t already thought about the things I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about. I’d much rather focus on what I need to do in the here and now about the future. Until less than twenty-four hours ago my primary concern has been working on the things I needed to do to get you back. Sure, I’m upset by the things that are happening; the things that are obviously attributable to Ares. But that concern has been secondary to resurrecting you. Now I can devote all of my energy into doing something about Ares.”

“Great,” the warrior said icily. “We have something in common after all. You’ve had two thousand years to combat the forces of Ares. It doesn’t look like you’ve made much progress. You need to be able to fight on more than one front. Maybe you didn’t learn from me as much as you think you did.” As soon as the words were out Xena realized she’d gone too far. Gabrielle looked like she’d been slapped and her eyes narrowed the pain and anger evident on her face.

“Fuck you Xena,” she said turning on her heel and walking away.

Xena fully intended to follow, to apologize, to rephrase but her feet did not move. Instead she moved to the railing, pacing back and forth as she fumed, angry at her own inaction. She wasn’t just angry at the situation in the world, she was angry with Gabrielle and she knew it. Angry that time had passed for only her. Angry that the woman she loved didn’t look at her the same as she had just days before. Angry that she wasn’t loved in return. She knew that Gabrielle had managed quite well for two thousand years without her; she was surrounded by the evidence of this fact. Yet, she also felt that there was something missing in the bard’s strategy of dealing with Ares all these years in spite of the fact that she had not lived those years herself. Looking out at the ocean and around at the yacht where she stood she felt at once lost and trapped.

In the past a disagreement such as this may have led her to Amphipolis to sort out her thoughts away from Gabrielle; here on the bard’s ship, she did not have that luxury. She also felt lost without her. Knowing that Gabrielle had turned her back and walked away, and now not knowing where she was on the ship presented Xena with an anxiety that was unfamiliar and unsettling.

She was drawn from her thoughts by the very soft sound of something climbing the stairs. She glanced in the direction of the noise to see Aphrodite followed by Argo crossing the deck towards her. The goddess moved silently, but the metal tag on the dog’s collar did not. Xena turned her back on the stairs fairly certain that a visit from this particular goddess was not what she wanted at the moment. She was wearing Aphrodite’s t-shirt; from the floor of Gabrielle’s closet. The dog however, was a welcome diversion.

Aphrodite approached and casually leaned against the railing looking at the warrior. “You wanna talk about it?” she asked.

“Not especially,” the warrior replied dryly. “I’m surprised you’re not having this kind of helpful chat with Gabrielle.”

“Any chat I’d have with Gabrielle right now would quite likely lead to something decidedly unhelpful,” she replied with a shrug. Argo studied the two women through amber colored eyes but was silent.

Xena turned angrily on the goddess, “Why don’t you just go to her then? Gabrielle has clearly moved on from me,” she said. “In more ways than one,” she added her voice pained. The pit bull whined and butted her large head at the warrior’s shin urging the tall woman to stoop down and pet her.

The Goddess of Love watched the faint clouds in the midday sky for a moment before responding. “I’ll be honest with you Xena,” she said. “I am very much considering that. But I also know that if I indulge myself at this point in time, Gabrielle will never forgive me, or herself for that matter, and that I simply cannot bear.

“A part of me,” she continued, “is quite content to let the two of you make a mess of things for the next few decades until you both pull your heads out of your asses and come to your senses. But the world is barreling toward a very dark place and I don’t know if a few decades is something it has to spare- maybe, maybe not. So instead of just staying out of it, I’m going to give you the cold hard facts and let you make up your own mind.”

“Oh goody,” Xena muttered sarcastically.

“I knew this was not going to go well the moment Gabrielle told me what she was planning,” she said matter of factly. “You’ve always been the worldlier of the two of you and letting go of that isn’t in your wheel house. But the fact of the matter is, no matter how badly you screw things up now – there are very few creatures on this planet that are going to be around for the long term, so you and Gabrielle are kind of stuck with each other whether you like it or not. And I know you both genuinely love each other, so it would really do all of us a lot of good if you could get over yourself sooner rather than later. Furthermore,” she added, “you are essentially a newborn. There could be…side effects developing from your resurrection and you need to be kept watch over. For the time being anyway. You’re not running away from this.”

“This is some pep talk.”

“Whatever,” Aphrodite replied, dismissively.

“I am not wrong to think that this whole Ares thing could have been handled differently,” Xena said defensively.

Aphrodite shrugged studying the warrior. “Maybe. You are a master at strategy, and it’s possible you’d have figured out earlier that Ares was on earth when the tether was broken, hell you probably would have figured out sooner what the ramifications of destroying the anvil were. But I’m not sure you’d have made it the two thousand years with your sanity intact the way Gabrielle has. Intellectual curiosity and emotional awareness were never your strong suits.

“Oh, by all means, tell me what you think,” Xena continued losing none of her sarcasm. “What have you done to turn the tide of things the last two thousand years?”

Aphrodite turned to face the warrior, her pale blue eyes icy with fury. “Xena, what I’ve been up to these past two thousand years would fucking break you. I bring love and hope to places that don’t have enough of it.” Her eyes narrowed and were uncharacteristically cold. “You wouldn’t last five minutes. Yes, I spend time intermittently among the financially and emotionally wealthy and then it’s back into the trenches. I’m sorry you died, I truly am. And I’m really sorry I didn’t know about it to comfort you at the very end. But don’t even think that you are in any place to consider you could have made better decisions than I or Gabrielle have made until you live a hundred years or so in this place to make them.”

Xena nodded, knowing full well the goddess was right. “I’m sorry Aphrodite,” she said. “I was out of line.” She was silent for a moment until the goddess nodded, accepting her apology. “What do you suggest I do?”

“We don’t get to Marina del Rey until the day after tomorrow, in the morning. Take that time to sort things out. Gabrielle has some meetings as soon as we land and you will get more insight then as to what we are all up against. I also suspect Shen showed you where people gather to eat, get to know these people. Do what you need to do to get your head straight, that’s the best advice I can offer you at the moment. Maybe take a shower.” Xena nodded, looking none too pleased. As an afterthought the goddess added, “I’ll have Shen or Vox find you tomorrow and show you how to use your phone,” she held up hers as example. “It’s the device you’ll use to communicate with people as well as look up all the shit you don’t know.” She turned and walked away leaving the warrior to stare in the direction of her retreating form.

She glanced down at the dog purposefully leaning against her leg to get her attention. “Argo,” she said. “Something tells me there is an awful lot of shit I don’t know.” Argo grinned up at her wagging her tail happily. With a heavy sigh, she smiled in return and gazed out at the ocean.

A short while later she heard footfalls on deck approaching from the opposite direction from where the goddess had departed. Briefly hoping it might be Gabrielle, affording her the chance to apologize, she knew however that the footfalls she heard did not belong to her bard. She was already looking at the newcomer before Elaine turned a corner across the deck, saw the warrior and froze.

The petite woman was shorter than Gabrielle with the build of a retired gymnast. There was a soft fullness to her compact form although her reflexes where sharp. Momentarily surprised, she recovered quickly and smiled nodding at Xena, walking the short distance to the railing where the warrior stood.

“I’m sorry,” she said in greeting. “I didn’t expect anyone to be up here. I hope I didn’t startle you. I’m Elaine Jackson. I’m the executive officer of The Hippolyta.”

“Xena,” the warrior replied extending her hand which the black woman shook warmly. “Executive officer?”

Elaine shrugged, “ships don’t really have co-pilots. Once upon a time we were first mates.”

The warrior nodded, relieved, “ahh that is a term I know.”

The newcomer wistfully looked out at the expanse of blue all around them. “I’ve served on Gabrielle’s team for nearly ten years, nearly all of it on her ships. I’m originally from Hati, I just can’t get enough of the ocean. You’re her friend.”

Her conversation with Vox playing back in her mind, Xena nodded politely but was cautious about what she could share with the newcomer. She was also regretting having been abandoned by Aphrodite and that was not a feeling she enjoyed having. “I’ve spent some time on the water too,” she said deciding it was a safe topic. “Unpredictable and unforgiving as the sea can be, sometimes it makes more sense than people.”

Elaine smiled gently and Xena had the uneasy sensation of already having divulged too much about her present circumstance. “I’ve had friends,” the ex-o continued smoothly, as if they’d been chatting together for some time, “where we lose touch for years, but then you try to get back into synch – it can be rough going those first few days.”

The warrior listened to the short woman and studied her more closely. She appeared to be roughly the same age as Xena, looked a bit older than Gabrielle appeared perhaps. She had a rough scar that ran down one side of her face, from her temple to jawline. It was clearly visible though given that her dark hair was pulled back in a professional bun. She was dressed in the same manner as everyone else the warrior had encountered, similarly to the outfit she wore, and there was no outward indicator of her rank among the crew. Yet the scar, told the warrior a more expansive story.

It took only the briefest of glances while shaking hands for the warrior to determine that the woman in front of her had been viscously attacked a long time ago by a much larger, stronger person. The fact that her first words were that of placation; to diffuse any tension and assume responsibility for the warrior’s potential surprise, when in fact she had been startled. She’d also been able to ascertain, in a heartbeat Xena’s present mood, her disease at the lack of connection with Gabrielle. Here was a woman with heightened empathy, the kind of skill at reading people honed from years of abuse. With practiced discipline, Xena pushed aside memories of her own warlord past when her fits of pique and unpredictable outbursts had instilled similar skill in the people she interacted with; at least the ones who survived long enough.

“Gabrielle and I have been out of touch for a long time,” Xena acknowledged, answering the woman’s unasked question. “I feel like I hardly recognize her.”

Elaine nodded. “Like I said, I’ve worked for Miss. Evans’ company for nearly ten years,” she said. “I met her though when I was barely fourteen. I was in a hospital in Hati and she was there, exactly the nature of the mission I do not know. But…my situation… was desperate. To be blunt, she saved me from human trafficking. She brought me back with her team, I moved in with a very nice woman who worked in the Political Division and had the opportunity to go to school. She has since passed on, bless her. With her support though, and that of the whole organization, I became a citizen, joined Navy and after completing my service, I’ve been in the Transportation department ever since. Honestly this company is the closest thing to a family I’ve ever known. I started on the ship before she had this one. And my story is hardly unique. Gabrielle Evans is one of the smartest, kindest, yet most closed off people I’ve ever met. I feel like seeing her day in, day out for a decade- I know a lot about her, yet I hardly know her.” Xena blinked in surprise and the short woman smiled. “I bet you’re going to tell me that you knew Gabrielle to be open, and loving and the most generous person you ever knew.”

“Yes, exactly,” the warrior agreed.

“She is those things, but while she will ask how you are, provide any help or assistance you need, when it comes to how she is, or what you can do for her…” the woman shrugged. “We’ve had conversations long into the night, on this very deck looking out over that beautiful expanse of blue. She can have a conversation about any topic with a deep knowledge and understanding. She can discuss politics, art, poetry, film, food, philosophy, science, and so much history- but rarely an insight into her background, how she feels. I understand that, I’m fairly closed off myself. There is a lot about my past that I want to leave there, and I think that’s one reason she and I get on so well. We’re happy to exist in the present, not interested in delving into each other’s past.  I respect her a great deal. I like her as a person, but I wouldn’t say I really know her.” She chuckled, clearly making a joke to herself. “And this is coming from someone onboard who isn’t smitten and battling a crush on her. Those poor fools know her even less than I do.”

“It does seem to be a reoccurring theme,” Xena agreed with a chuckle. The bit of levity felt like a tonic to the warrior. Whether planned or accidental, Elaine had given her a much-needed lift. Like a raft in a very turbulent ocean, and she was grateful for it. She smiled warmly at the smaller woman. “You’ve been very kind, and I thank you for trusting me with your story.”

 Elaine smiled warmly. “I have no doubt you’ll reconnect. Friendships take effort like any other amazing work of art,” she assured the warrior brightly. “Well, I don’t want to keep you,” she added extending her hand once again. “I always do a stroll on deck when I get off duty. Make sure everything is ship-shape. I come from sea-faring stock since my ancestors were hauled to this country in the holds of ships packed in like sardines. There isn’t anything quite like the sea air from on deck, with the freedom to move as you please. Xena, it was a pleasure to meet you, and if you need anything at all, I would be more than happy to assist you.”

Xena grasped the offered hand warmly saying, “thank you, Elaine. It has been a pleasure to meet you.” She would have to think about what the executive officer had said. The Gabrielle she described did not sound like the Gabrielle she knew, who was always searching so desperately for meaning, for spiritual fulfillment for life’s answers. She sounded like a Gabrielle who had possibly either found out the solutions to life’s great mysteries or had come to the conclusion that there were no great answers to be found. While still angry and confused, she at least felt less alien in this new world. And for that, the warrior from Amphipolis was very grateful.

Chapter 11: Co-Parenting

Xena decided to give Gabrielle space while they were, for all intents and purposes, trapped together on the ship. She joined the bard, goddess and the rest of the crew for meals and managed to sit next to Gabrielle at the table and chat civilly but otherwise chose to stay away for the most part. There was no denying that the bard was not thrilled with the arrangement but was still either hurt or angry enough with the warrior not to voice that objection. The warrior spent her time with Vox and no one was more surprised than Gabrielle at how inseparable the pair had become. The rest of the crew was more than pleased as the parade of hits from the cheesiest offerings of the nineteen seventies abated and a general musical retrospective seemed to have taken its place. For her part, Gabrielle tried to table her current discord with Xena and focus on what she needed to do over the next few days, which meant splitting her time between work and Shen.

Aphrodite leaned against the doorway to Gabrielle’s study and for long moments watched the bard work. There was an intensity to her features that would have looked more scholarly if the goddess hadn’t known that it came from a place of profound sadness and avoidance. Argo dozed contentedly on the couch against the wall, untroubled by the human concerns in her orbit lulled to sleep by the occasional soft clicking of her human’s fingers on the computer keyboard. Several minutes passed until the bard looked up to see herself being watched, and she returned the goddesses gaze. Pushing herself away from her desk she leaned back in her chair. “I’m trying to figure out if you’re gloating or not,” she said quietly. “I wouldn’t blame you if you were.”

Taking the seat across from the desk, Aphrodite smiled. “No, love,” she said, “I am not gloating.”

“What is Xena up to anyway?” the bard asked indifferently, pretending to organize folders and documents on her messy desk.

“She has Vox walking around on deck, getting her strength back.”

“What is it with those two?” Gabrielle asked imploringly. “I swear they’re inseparable.”

Aphrodite chuckled. “You’re not jealous, are you?”

“No, of course not,” Gabrielle replied rolling her eyes. “I’m just trying to understand it.”

“Think about it. Xena is everything Vox wants to be when she grows up. A toppy badass who has you moving heaven and earth to find her.”

Gabrielle shrugged feigning disinterest. “And Xena?” she asked.

“In Vox, Xena has found someone who she doesn’t mind looking foolish in front of with her questions. Xena knows people, she was a master manipulator long before you reached puberty, my dear.” It was clear to the bard that Aphrodite wasn’t passing any sort of judgment, just calling it as she saw it. “No doubt she sees your engineer as no threat whatsoever, and certainly has no malicious intent, but is very aware at how much she’s being looked up to.” Aphrodite shrugged. “She’s feeling insecure. Who doesn’t want to be around someone who idolizes them when they’re feeling insecure?”

“I look up to Xena,” Gabrielle said quietly, staring at the wood grain on her desk, unable to meet the goddess’s pale blue gaze.

“Sweetie, you did,” Aphrodite said gently, leaning forward. “That was over two thousand years ago and while Xena has changed zero percent since the day she died, which for her was like, two days ago, you’ve lived what, twenty-five to thirty lifetimes at least?”

The Goddess of Love leaned back in her chair and crossed one leg over the other. She was wearing jeans and a black t-shirt from the Hard Rock Café in San Francisco with the colors of the pride flag in the logo. Gabrielle could tell that she was making a concerted effort to look less spectacular, in hopes of being less of a distraction. The bard didn’t have the heart to tell her the effort was in vain. A tomboy looking Aphrodite was every bit as sexy as a dressed to the nines Aphrodite, perhaps more so. The goddess simply couldn’t help it.

Aphrodite watched the bard study her a trifle guilty at how much she’d missed the attention of late. She knew Gabrielle was digesting what she’d said and that a question was coming. A very small part of her wanted to make up the worst advice possible and she smiled to herself as she considered that Gabrielle would know that. Not just because she’d given her the ability to sense her feelings, but because she’d shared enough with this woman that Gabrielle knew her. There weren’t many people in the history of Earth that could say they really understood The Goddess of Love, but the Bard from Potidaea was one of them.

Gabrielle looked at Aphrodite almost shyly as she asked the question. “You could fix this, couldn’t you? Make me feel how I’m supposed to feel.” She didn’t have to wait for the answer to know how the goddess felt; torn between her own wants and what she knew was best for Gabrielle.

“Honey, if I did that, you’d forever question if any feeling you had for Xena was really yours or something I put there. Sweet Pea, you’re going to have to do this the hard way.” Aphrodite smiled sympathetically.

With a helpless shrug, Gabrielle asked, “So what do I do?”

“Have you considered that it’s okay if you’re the one that Xena looks up to?” Gabrielle opened her mouth to speak and Aphrodite raised her hand to stop her. “I get that topping isn’t really your thing,” she said with a slight smirk. “But I know you can be alpha when you want to be.” The bard’s cheeks flushed crimson but the goddess continued. “Shenanigans in the bedroom aside, you run your company, you tell people all day long what you want done and how you want it. The years have brought you into your own. Don’t hide that from Xena. You be you. You are going to be the consummate tour guide for her of the twenty-first century. Yeah, Vox and Shen taught her how to use her iPhone and programmed everyone’s number into it and I’ve seen her google some stuff, but that isn’t going to be how she learns to live in this world. Once upon a time she taught you how to live in her world, when you were so determined and tenacious that you could not be kept away. Now you need to return the favor and teach her how to live in yours.”

“Great,” Gabrielle said without enthusiasm.

“Well, you’re in for a bit of luck. I think it’s going to rain tonight so it’d be stupid for Xena to sleep on deck again; even if she can’t catch a cold or something. I’m not saying jump in the sack with her, unless you want to of course, but you’re going to have to let her get to know you all over again. She thinks you’re the old you. You’re not, she is. At the very least you need to tell her she’s going with you tomorrow to Shen’s house, start there.”

Gabrielle nodded unconvinced, but hopeful. “And you?” she asked. For long moments the two looked at each other. Studied each other’s faces, marveled at the depth of feeling reflected in their eyes. Gabrielle tried to put herself in Aphrodite’s place, knowing that even with the most altruistic of intentions, the present situation must be hard on the goddess. Yet at the same time, having experienced a minute or two of godly power, she knew that she had neither the knowledge or vocabulary to really know how her friend felt.

Aphrodite smiled at her companion across the desk. It was an expression of caring but also one of gratitude. “Gabrielle, the fact that with everything going on you’re also worried about me means a lot it speaks volumes about your character. But I need to make this crystal clear in the most-gentle way that I can. Maybe there will come a time when something happens where you need to worry about me, but this isn’t that. I feel the love that you have for me, I truly do. And I know you feel the love I have for you. I am never not going to be the closest friend you have, aside from Xena of course.

“When I made the decision to help you it was not a halfway proposition. Honey, I’m all in. That means I appreciate that your focus is Xena and Shen. After that, our issue with my brother, then your company – I am woven throughout all of that but I’m okay not being the center of attention. Really, a lot of that is for show. I am quite mature when I want to be. We’re solid sweetie.”

Gabrielle nodded, determined to keep the tears welling in her eyes from falling. Feeling overwhelmed, it meant more than words could convey to have at least one relationship in her life rock solid.

~~~~~~~

As the goddess predicted the night did indeed bring rain. Unlike the gentle drops that woke her on the sundeck of what now seemed like eons ago, this rain was hard and it was steady. Argo was reluctant to do her business on the AstroTurff in the onslaught so Gabrielle held out an umbrella for her. Once finished, the pit bull hurried back down the stairway to the decks below. It didn’t take the bard long to find the warrior. Xena was sitting on a bar stool at the outdoor kitchen looking glumly out at the ocean beneath the protection of a sunshade. There was enough wind that the warrior was still fully soaked, but at least she wasn’t sitting directly in the rainstorm.

“You’re not spending the night on deck.” Gabrielle said matter-of-factly as she approached. She folded the umbrella and took a barstool next to the warrior, not the least bit perturbed that she was getting wet as well.

“Your ship is fairly full at the moment,” Xena noted dryly.

Gabrielle took a deep breath and studied Xena. It occurred to her that the arrangement she presently had with Aphrodite—to know what the other was feeling if she concentrated—would be supremely handy with her soul mate. But even as she thought it, she chided herself. Knowing what Xena was thinking or feeling was indeed part of what made them soul mates. “Xena, there are a variety of places you can sleep on the ship that will keep you dry that aren’t in my quarters if you don’t want to sleep there. You can bunk with Aphrodite, you can crash in the library, or the den- there are comfortable couches all over the ship.” She was quiet a moment before adding “Or you can just use my cabin.”

Silence descended for long moments with neither of them speaking. Green and blue eyes looked out at the rain that was now coming down with gusto. “Do you remember that barn, not far from Thebes – the rain storm?” Xena asked as she studied the downpour.

Gabrielle searched her memory, trying to put aside all the hundreds of rainstorms that had happened since her life in Ancient Greece. She looked at Xena, taking the time to study her face, her eyes. Those piercing blue eyes; it had been so long and the surrealism of their reunion was still uncomfortable. But there was something, something in the way that the warrior looked out at the rain, her glum expression, which triggered something in the bard. “Was that shortly after I left the Bard Academy?” she asked. “We were traveling from Athens to Delphi, we hadn’t quite made it to Thebes because the weather got so bad. And by the gods, that barn leaked like a sieve. But it wasn’t particularly cold because it was the end of summer.”

Xena nodded, happy that Gabrielle remembered, although not entirely surprised. She’d always had an exceptional memory. “Yeah,” she said looking out at the rain. “At the time, I had kind of wished it was colder.”

“Really?” Gabrielle asked curiously.

“I’d have had an excuse to try and keep you warm,” the warrior replied with a shrug.

Gabrielle smiled and Xena felt, for the first time perhaps, that she was indeed sitting next to the person she’d known for years. It was Gabrielle. A few years older than she remembered perhaps, but the way her green eyes sparkled when she smiled, it was her. “Follow me,” the bard urged, “I want to show you something.”

Obediently, Xena followed Gabrielle down the stairs. They walked in silence and stopped in the library. Gabrielle walked over to one of the four large bookcases that dominated the room. The polished wooden cases held leather bound volumes of similar height and thickness. Climbing a nearby ottoman, Gabrielle checked the spine of one of the first few volumes on the top shelf of the first bookcase before carefully pulling it free. “These are journals,” she explained. “I rewrote much of what I had in my scrolls and kept going…obviously” she said with a nod to the other cases.

 “You wrote all of these?” Xena asked, her eyes widening in amazement. There were dozens upon dozens of books all neatly presented in the cases.

“You are of course welcome to read anything here,” Gabrielle continued with an affirmative nod. “I wrote all this stuff down so I could share the things I’d been through with you in the hope that we’d reconnect someday.” She checked the dates listed on the spine of the volume she held, which was the first one on its shelf. After opening the book, she quickly turned pages until she found the passage she was looking for. Her finger on the paragraph she wanted Xena to read, she passed the book over.

Nervously Xena accepted the book. Reading had never been her strong suit. While not illiterate, as many warriors were she wasn’t much of a reader either, unless it was a map or sea chart. But just like with Shen’s book she was surprised and relieved that the combination of languages used to write the text made perfect sense to her and she read the paragraph with ease. She chuckled and closed the book, passing it back to the bard. “You were wishing it had been colder too, huh?”

Gabrielle nodded, not the least bit embarrassed. She smiled. “I remember having such intense feelings, and not really knowing what to do with them, or why I was having them. I mean obviously, I’d heard tales in Potidaea of the women of Lesbos- you remember I’m a big fan of Sappho- and I had a vague idea, conceptually at least, that there were women who wanted to be with other women…like that. But growing up I never really thought I would be one of them. And then Perdicus and our whole betrothal thing.” She shook her head, as if she couldn’t imagine ever being that young or naive. “Anyway, it wasn’t too long after we met that I knew something was different and even when I’d figured out what, you know, the figuring out of how is the next hurdle.”

Blue eyes scanned the rows of books, moving from one shelf to the next, trying to take it all in. “These first seven volumes comprise our adventures together and if you go to the eighth one, that starts my journey after you died.”

The blatant perspective hit Xena hard. Seven volumes barely made a dent in the first shelf of the first bookcase. Each bookcase had eight shelves, each shelf housed roughly forty books the warrior guessed. She was looking at hundreds and hundreds of books, and their time together made up seven. “You’ve lived so much more of your life without me than the time we spent together…”

“No, Xena,” Gabrielle said adamantly. “You can’t think of it like that I don’t. You may have died, but there hasn’t been a day I’ve spent since we met that hasn’t been ‘with you.’ Every single story, in every one of these books is informed and shaped by the impact you’ve had on my life.” She pulled the third volume down and opened the book, handing it to Xena. “Think of Lao Ma,” she said. “Would you argue that at any point she stopped having an impact on your life?”

Xena glanced at the story, seeing her own words, as she’d relayed them to Gabrielle, staring back at her. “I’m hardly Lao Ma,” she muttered.

The bard shrugged. “Maybe you are to me.” The watch on Gabrielle’s wrist vibrated and she glanced at it. “Xena, tomorrow morning we’re going to get back to Marina del Rey. I need to take Shen to his grandmother’s house for him to collect some things and I’d like you to join me. I’d also like you to sit in on a meeting that I will be having with my department heads. That will be the day after tomorrow.”

The warrior nodded. “Of course, Gabrielle.”

“It’s late though and I’d like to get some sleep,” she glanced off in the direction of her quarters.

Xena nodded, taking in the spines of the various books once again. “Do you mind if I stay up and read for a while, I’d like to know a little about what I’ve missed and not have it come from a…” she searched her recent memory for the correct word, “reference book.”

Gabrielle took a step towards the warrior and hugged her warmly, it felt good to be on the same wavelength again. “Absolutely. Goodnight Xena,” she said and gave her an almost shy kiss. Still feeling awkward about the exchange, Xena watched her go then pulled the eighth volume from its shelf and opened it.

~~~~~~~

            “Gabrielle, we’re going to be at the Marina soon,” Michelle’s disembodied voice said through the cabin speaker. Opening one eye and then the other, Gabrielle replied to her captain then rolled over and looked at her watch in its charging stand. Turning her head in the other direction she saw Argo stretched out next to her, the muscular dog using the other pillow, dreaming contentedly her legs twitching, but no Xena. She got up and walked the short distance to her library, still in her t-shirt from sleeping. Xena was stretched out on one of the couches, an open journal flattened against her chest; a small pile of several other journals stacked on the floor nearby. She returned to her quarters to shower and got dressed in a comfortable pair of jeans, a soft t-shirt, and mechanic’s over shirt. She also pulled out a business suit to wear to her meeting the following day. While she was at it she decided to select some clothes for the warrior as well knowing Xena would have no idea what kind of attire would be appropriate for their day’s activities. She laid an outfit on the bed, jeans, thin hooded t-shirt and sneakers. She also put aside a suit that Aphrodite had purchased for the warrior for the next day’s business meeting. A moment later a quick note was sent to Blake to see to the ironing.

            Returning to the library once again Gabrielle paused before touching Xena to wake her. With her eyes closed in sleep Gabrielle was once again reminded of that fateful day in Japan when she’d tried in vain to save her warrior’s life. It was almost like looking at a memory; the memory of a passion she had felt that she desperately wanted to feel again. Gabrielle had a perspective now that she did not have in her original life as she’d come to think of it. She glanced at the seven volumes on the top shelf of the book case, the seven books that represented their less than a decade together. She had had several relationships since then that had lasted more than twice that length. She thought of Mistos and William and several of the women she had partnered with over the centuries. The transition of a relationship from white hot passion to something more companionable was not alien to her, in some cases as with the men almost a relief, but she didn’t think that adequately described how she felt about Xena now either. She was saved from further self-reflection by blue eyes that fluttered open. “Good morning,” she said smiling down at Xena.

            “I must have fallen asleep reading,” Xena said, a little embarrassed.

            Gabrielle’s smile grew broader. “I can honestly say Xena, that is a sentence I never thought I’d hear coming from you.” The warrior sat up and rubbed her eyes. “Where did you leave off?”

            “You were still in Egypt,” she replied. “Gabrielle, I’m very sorry that you thought I was talking to you all those years. Honestly, if I was a spirit I have absolutely no memory of it.”

            “I’ve come to the realization it was my own grief talking,” she said. “Although at the time, it was a comfort to have you around. Our time together was cut unfairly short.” Gabrielle could sense that the conversation was steering in a direction that neither of them were ready to address at the moment so she changed the subject. “I’ve put some clothes out on the bed for you, for when we go to Susan’s house. There is another outfit laid out for tomorrow’s meeting, but those are going to get ironed- just wear the comfortable clothes. Culturally, bathing is a daily exercise here. In other parts of the world, not so much, but here obsessive cleanliness is a thing.” The warrior nodded paying attention. Gabrielle had no doubt that Xena intended to master the customs of this place and time as she had with every other unusual situation she’d found herself in. She’d been a pirate, warrior, warlord she’d helped countless people, often by slipping in somewhere undetected, always fitting in. “There is an unusual looking undergarment,” Gabrielle went on to explain, “it’s called a ‘bra’ and it fastens in the back, it goes on under the t-shirt. She lifted her shirt to show the warrior. Everything else should make sense. You can either use the bathtub or the shower like I showed you yesterday. Remember, the shampoo is first, then the conditioner.”

            “Which is just your hair and the body wash stuff goes all over, and the small brush is for the teeth- with the toothpaste,” Xena replied carefully wanting to make sure she had it correct. She knew these instructions were basic and was determined not to need it explained a second time. Gabrielle nodded, unsure if she should hang around and wait for Xena to get ready in case there were any questions. “Gabrielle, I’m sure I’ll be fine.” The warrior said with more reassurance than she actually felt. “I’ve bested countless armies, remember? I’m not going to be defeated by getting dressed in the morning. Go ahead, I’ll meet you on deck when I’m ready.”

            Gabrielle whistled for Argo who was at her side in an instant. She left the library leaving Xena to her own devices. She fed Argo before making her rounds to Vox, now recuperating in her own cabin, and to the bridge- somewhat surprised she hadn’t encountered Aphrodite there. She enjoyed a quick cup of coffee as she touched base with Elaine who had just come on duty. Satisfied that everything was in order, she made her way to Shen’s cabin to collect the boy. The door was slightly ajar but she softly knocked anyway.

            “Come in,” Shen replied. Gabrielle pushed the door open surprised to see Shen sitting on his bed and Nicolai sitting at the small desk. There was a tray sitting on the bed with some empty breakfast plates and a half-drunk glass of orange juice. Both Nicolai and Shen were sipping something hot and steaming from teacups. Immediately Gabrielle could tell that the boy had been crying although he wasn’t at the moment. “Nicolai made me some syrniki for breakfast,” he said, doing his best to sound cheerful. “And some porridge. I don’t want to finish my orange juice; would you like it?”

            Gabrielle accepted the glass that Shen handed her and took a sip. “Fresh squeezed,” she said with a smile to the sous chef. “Very nice, thank you Nicolai.”

            The large man was wearing a long-sleeved t-shirt with a bright unicorn on the front- chosen she had no doubt to bring a smile or laugh to his companion. “We are drinking tea,” he explained, “like the men do in Russia for breakfast.”

            “Ah, I see.”

            “I will take the tray back now,” he continued, then to the boy added “you remember what I told you. There is no embarrassment with your family unless it’s from too much Vodka. You will come and see me when you get back, I will need help in the kitchen.” He picked up the tray, pausing so Gabrielle could deposit her now empty glass and left the cabin. She squeezed his arm in appreciation as he left. His sad smile spoke volumes.

            “You know,” Gabrielle began gently, ‘you don’t have to go to your house if you don’t want to. I can take care of this stuff for you.”

            Shen nodded but seemed resolute. “I know. Nicolai told me you’d say that. But you’re going to decide what to do with grandma’s stuff and my stuff right? What to put in storage or bring to the boat?” Gabrielle nodded knowing it wasn’t going to be easy for him. “I think I should be there, even if I’m not sure what to store or what to take.” She hugged the boy- a hug he returned very tightly and noted that his hair was still a little damp from an obvious recent shower. She had been around enough children to know that his valiant attempt to be brave, and mature and do all the right things was not going to last. He was nearing his breaking point and a melt-down was imminent- she just didn’t know when or where it was going to happen.

            She grabbed a jacket for Shen and followed the boy through the ship, Argo trailing behind him to the stern where the taxi boat would meet them. Xena and Aphrodite were already there, the warrior holding an extra jacket that was hers. Gabrielle was taken aback at the sight of the pair of them. Xena, freshly showered with her hair neatly combed dressed as unremarkably as anyone else in the marina in a t-shirt and jeans. Still, she stood out. It was her posture, her remarkably fit body her intense gaze that set her apart from everyone. Gabrielle was happy that the sight of her made her stop and take notice. It was almost like remembering the lyrics to a song you thought forgotten or the steps to a dance from childhood. Aphrodite on the other hand was dressed in a casual retro fifties dress with a cardigan sweater matching purse and heels. Part of the clothing line she’d purchased when fitting out Xena’s wardrobe, she looked like she might be going off somewhere for a fancy brunch or meeting. “You guys look great,” she said joining them. “Thank you for grabbing my jacket, Xena.”

            Xena handed over the jacket, smiling at Gabrielle and returned Shen’s offered fist-bump. “Hey Shen,” she said. He nodded in reply, clearly not really trusting himself to talk.

            “I know it’s a bit cooler today,” Aphrodite said conversationally, “but it might be sunny later on. Shen, I picked these up for you. If it’s sunny, I thought they might be useful. Xena I got you a pair as well.” With that she extracted two pairs of sunglasses from her purse and hand handed one to each of them. Xena took the case and watched Shen as he opened his, following suit.
“Oh cool!” he said, donning the pair of Wayfarers. “These are like the sunglasses you and Gabrielle wear.”

            “Not quite as old, but yes,” Aphrodite said.

            Gabrielle smiled at her knowing full well she’d given them to him so he could cry less self-consciously and was touched by the gesture. She noticed that Xena held onto the case, not trying the glasses on and was grateful for that as well. There was no disguising the look of wonderment and disbelief on Xena’s face as the huge vessel approached the spot where it was going to anchor. The marina spread out before them with its vast array of boats, beyond the boats were the neighborhoods and business districts with the ever-present assortment of cars. “This is unbelievable,” Xena muttered under her breath.

            “Where are you headed today?” Gabrielle asked Aphrodite as the taxi-boat carried them the short distance to the marina.

            “I’m going to check in with Dwayne and have lunch with Max’s eldest daughter Kara. I’m also going to pick up some things for our upcoming trip to D.C…”

            Gabrielle was going to respond when Aphrodite’s expression stopped her. She looked pointedly at Xena who was staring in disbelief in the direction they were headed. Aphrodite pointed out a flock of pelicans flying low over the surface of the water and nudged Shen over a little way to get a better view, trying to afford them some limited privacy. “Xena, what’s the matter?” Gabrielle asked, her voice barely above a whisper. “Is it the cars?”

            “By the gods,” Xena whispered back, “I saw them in Shen’s book of course but I had no idea… this is…science?”

            Gabrielle urged the warrior to take a couple more steps towards the back of the boat, further away from Aphrodite and Shen. “Xena, you told me that you learned to swim by Torus tossing you into a local lake, right?” When the warrior nodded, she continued. “Today is going to be like that. There is a lot that you’re going to take in that will either seem impossible, or it won’t make sense or it will seem silly. This isn’t going to be all that different from all those times when you left me at one tavern or another while you had to go fight some bandits. I had to trust that you’d come back for me, but I also had to trust that you weren’t bringing me along because I really wasn’t ready for that kind of combat. The twist here is, while you’re not ready to come along to fight the bandits- I’m bringing you anyway and you are going to just have to trust that I will explain all of the things that seem strange later. Even for a person who has lost their memory, there are things that Shen is going to expect you to be familiar with, or at least not freaked out by.”

            Xena nodded forcing a smile to her face that almost looked natural. “I hope you appreciate now the wisdom of me not taking you fight the bandits back then.” Argo nudged her comfortingly, expecting to get her ears scratched.

            “If it’s any consolation, none of the things we encounter today will put you in harm’s way. Cars are just as safe as horses. Besides, you’re immortal now, more indestructible than ever.” As they disembarked the familiar face of Ed standing in-between two cars greeted them in the parking lot. One of the cars was the Tesla she’d been driving of late, the other- from storage, was a vintage Mustang convertible, painted candy apple red. Gabrielle looked at the goddess with a smirk. “Figures,” she muttered.

            “Hey!” Aphrodite protested, “you said anything from inventory. It’s your car. I’m just helping you out by driving it some.”

            “Woman after my own heart,” Ed said cheerfully as he handed her the keys.

            “Be careful,” Gabrielle urged, “that thing is a magnet for speeding tickets.”

            “You’ll have to tell me which department to send the speeding tickets to for payment,” Aphrodite replied with a chuckle. She gave each of them a hug, including Shen who didn’t seem to mind. “I’ll text you when I head back to the ship.”

            “Sounds good,” Gabrielle agreed. “Ed, can we drop you somewhere?”

            “Thank you, but I’m good. I’m meeting with the team from Transportation to go over the airplane. We weren’t happy with the initial clean up. I’m doing the orientation for Allison today, new member of the flight attendant staff.”

            Gabrielle, nodded. “This is us,” she said to Xena, gesturing at the other car. She opened the gullwing door so Shen could get in the back with Argo, then opened the door for Xena. When she sat down she carefully fastened her seatbelt, watching as Xena followed her actions. Had the circumstances been more jovial, she might have taken delight at the warrior’s expression as she started the car and followed Aphrodite in the Mustang out of the parking lot. Trying to casually grip the sides of her seat with her hands, it was clear her companion was as amazed by the automobile as she had been when she’d ridden in her very first Model T. As it was she felt sympathy for both of her passengers, Shen for his pain and Xena for her confusion. Argo was the only one who seemed to be having a good time.

            Aside from morning traffic the drive to the Pacific Palisades was an uneventful one. Gabrielle checked the rearview mirror from time to time, not surprised that the boy was wearing his sunglasses even though it wasn’t sunny yet. She was also thinking about where they were going, the dinners she’d had in this house. Susan had asked her opinion about the investment when Trixie was small and she and Tom needed a larger place. The room that had once been her daughter’s became her grandson’s and it wasn’t all that long ago she’d helped Susan redecorate it after its stint as a guest room. She parked in the driveway and waited for the others to join her before unlocking the door and stepping inside. It was hard to believe this might be her last visit here. While she’d had countless ‘last visits’ to houses over the years for a variety of reasons, they were generally nostalgic sometimes painful, like this.

            Choking up a little Gabrielle looked around. Scenes from various played out in her mind like visiting ghosts. Watching Trixie take her first steps in the living room, her practices for dance recitals and graduation parties. Pot-luck dinners with various co-workers as they gathered around eating in the kitchen, too eager to get to the food to make it to the dining room. The engagement party for Trixie and Dave, the young man clearly intimidated by his fiancée’s god-mother. Shen’s baby shower in the back yard and all of his firsts. The solemn meeting sitting at the kitchen island when Susan told her about Dave’s leukemia. His memorial not long thereafter and the gut-wrenching wake for Trixie and Tom two years ago. Gabrielle remembered sitting silently with Shen in his bedroom giving him a respite from receiving the grief of so many family and friends.

            With discipline she pulled her thoughts from memories of the past to steadfastly stay in the present. She could reminisce and cry later, this wasn’t what Shen needed now. She gazed around making inventories in her head- instructions she’d give to SP personnel about what to put into storage for Shen and what to dispose of, most likely by donation to a worthwhile charity. One advantage of knowing a family for three generations, she had very clear knowledge of which items were of value both sentimental and monetary.

            Shen opened the door to his room and stepped inside followed by Gabrielle, Xena, and Argo. He looked around as did his guests. There were superhero posters; Avengers from Marvel, and Wonder Woman from DC, action figures, meticulously crafted models and some glass sculptures sitting on a nearby shelf. “I guess I need my clothes,” he said. He was quiet a moment then cleared his throat. Gabrielle could see his eyes misting over as he’d left his sunglasses in the car. “Um…can I…can I have a few minutes to do this by myself?” he asked. The bard nodded and kissed the top of his head before holding the door open for Xena. Argo looked hesitant, not wanting to leave Shen but Gabrielle called her and she obeyed.

            The two women walked into the living room, not far from the bedroom, now with a closed door. Gabrielle typed some notes in her phone as to what items from there to store. In moments the first crash was heard and Xena started back towards the bedroom, only to be stopped by Gabrielle. “Let him be,” she said firmly.

            “Gabrielle, something just fell over in there,” she said, concern threading her voice. She started to move again and Gabrielle pushed back, forcefully.

            “He’s destroying his room Xena,” she said. “He’s venting. He’s a mess right now and he needs some time to be a mess. I did the same thing the first time you died. I destroyed a staff and a palm tree.” Her words were punctuated by the sound of another loud sound of something breaking.

            Xena shook her head, the worry evident on her features. “Gabrielle, you can talk to him. He needs reassurance. This isn’t how you handle grief. He could hurt himself.”

            “I’m sorry Xena,” the bard said, adamant. “But he needs to get this out of his system.” The sounds of breakage continued and the warrior looked more frantic.

            “But he’s destroying…”

            “It’s just stuff, Xena.”

            “Gabrielle, you need to listen to me.” The warriors voice had shifted from trying to persuade to something more commanding.

            “Xena, I’ve raised 5 children and countless grandchildren and great-grandchildren. I think I know what I’m doing here.” As soon as the words left her mouth Gabrielle regretted it. Xena looked like she’d been slapped, not unlike how she had felt the day before. “I am sorry Xena, I…” Her apology was cut short by a howl of pain from the other room. In a heartbeat, the bard was through the door to Shen’s room to find the boy standing there with a hand to the side of his face, blood trailing down his cheek, oozing between his fingers.

            “What happened?” Gabrielle asked calmly as she grabbed a pillowcase from a pillow on the bed and put it to his face to staunch the bleeding.

            “I threw the Hulk over there and it hit a glass thing which flew back this way.” He said between sniffles.

            “Xena, please make sure Argo stays out there,” Gabrielle said after a brief glance at the boy’s face. Noting that it was a superficial injury and that the glass shard had missed his eye, she relaxed and surveyed the room. “There is glass all over the floor and I don’t want her to cut her feet.”

            The warrior had been about to enter the room and stopped short, keeping the pit bull on the other side of the door, although she whined in protest.

            Gabrielle held the pillowcase firmly in place then replaced her hand with Shen’s. “The Hulk. It figures. Hold this here,” she instructed. “Let’s go into the kitchen where the light is better and Argo can chill out.” She followed the boy out of the room, firmly closing the door behind her. Argo snuffled at Shen’s free hand until he stooped down to pet her. Once in the kitchen, Shen climbed up on a stool at the bar while Gabrielle turned on the lights and did another quick inspection of the wound. The room was cheery and bright, contrasting mightily with the mood of its inhabitants. “I think there is a first aid kit in the bathroom, I’m going to go get it.”

            Once Gabrielle left, Shen was about to lower his hand and Xena stopped him. “Here,” she said. “I’ll hold it.” She kept firm pressure on the wound and regarded the boy. “Do you want to talk about it?” she asked, matter-of-factly.

            “No,” he said glumly.

            “Okay.”

            “Life isn’t fair,” he added.

            “No, it is not,” Xena agreed.

            “I was just starting to not be sad all the time,” he whispered. Xena touched his shoulder reassuringly knowing that anything she could say in this moment could sound trite and empty. “I know you’re sad too,” he added. She nodded.

            Gabrielle returned with the first aid kid and Xena gently lowered the pillowcase. The bard replaced it with a gauze pad and dabbed at the cut with some antiseptic. “The good news Moose, is that there are butterfly bandages in here we can use instead of giving you stitches, even if stitches might teach a more meaningful lesson.” Shen grunted non-committedly and let her work, flinching a bit at the cold antiseptic. Carefully holding the wound closed, skilled fingers applied several of the small bandages in a neat row. “I don’t think it will leave a scar, but if it does it will just make you look more roguish.” She looked at him thoughtfully for a moment before softly asking “is there anything left in your room to keep besides the clothes?” He nodded mutely in the affirmative, his lower lip starting to quiver.

            Reaching down, Gabrielle hugged Shen tightly and picked him up. He burst out crying with the same level of desperation and ferocity that Gabrielle had days earlier when Susan had died. He wrapped his legs around her middle and his arms around her shoulders burying his face in her neck as he cried. Gabrielle wasn’t tall and Shen wasn’t short but in this moment, he seemed like a much younger much smaller child, frightened and lost. Strong arms held him tightly and securely. Gabrielle walked the living room rocking him and reassuring him that in time, all would be oaky. Xena watched transfixed. This was something she’d never been able to be with Solon, or even Eve, and something Gabrielle was not able to be with Hope. It was obvious by her tone and movement that she’d done this countless times before. While Xena ached watching something she’d chosen not to have, she wasn’t jealous. Rather she felt awed watching Gabrielle and watching Shen as he quieted and after several minutes, slipped into sleep.

            “Xena, could you pick up my phone?” Gabrielle asked softly, not wanting to wake the boy. The warrior nodded and did as she was asked, typing in the security code and opening the app with the bard’s notes. The two of them walked through the house and the bard dictated notes about each room, what items to keep and what to donate.

            “What will happen to this house?” Xena asked quietly, looking around in wonder at the beautifully appointed home.

            “I need to see Susan’s official will of course,” Gabrielle replied. “But I suspect she owns it free and clear and it belongs to Shen now. I will have it cleaned out, maybe use it as a rental property, for the time being while he’s young and when the time comes, turn it over to him with the proceeds from the rent.” The warrior nodded, feeling like she understood the gist of what Gabrielle was saying.

            “Does everyone live in places like this?”

            “No,” Gabrielle answered. “My company pays really well because I’m not in it for myself. Some people live better than this, of course but most not as well.”

            Silence hung in the room like an uninvited guest. Xena looked around; she recognized some of the objects around her and was mystified by others. Not knowing what else to say, she spoke her mind. “So you had five children?”

            “Xena, that’s not how I wanted to tell you,” Gabrielle replied softly.

            “I know.”

            Gabrielle sighed and listened to the rhythmic breathing of the boy in her arms. Confident he was truly asleep she continued quietly. “It was about a hundred years after you died. His name was Mistos. We had a decent life together and my children were wonderful. Two boys, Lyceus and Minos and three girls, Lila, Arianna and Xena.” Gabrielle looked over at her companion and could see her eyes misting up- she was touched by the gesture. “They all married and had children and it was excruciating out living them and the grandchildren. I began to pull away when the great-grandchildren came along and had fully pulled away when they reached adulthood. I’ve had limited interaction with my descendants since then. I know there are still some in Salem- in the United States- and some in Greece and a few other places but I’m not attached.” Gabrielle was quiet a moment before continuing. “In the interest of full disclosure, I’ve had several marriages to men, and a handful of long term relationships with women. Depending where you are marriages to women aren’t always legal. I’ve genuinely loved all of my partners, and it’s all in the journals, I didn’t hide anything.”

            “The last thing I would ever want Gabrielle, is for you to be alone.” Xena said, her voice soft and sincere. “I won’t lie though, it’s hard to take all of this in.” She felt the urge to hesitate but didn’t. “I know you don’t feel the same…as you did. I can’t expect you to feel like no time has passed when so much of it has.” She could see the bard’s eyes glisten with unshed tears as they made their way back to the boy’s room. “We need to focus on this Ares thing and then see where we’re at. It’s not like I’m going anywhere.” Xena smiled as she spoke, putting a more positive spin on things than she actually felt. She didn’t think Gabrielle believed her, but could also sense her companion was grateful for the gesture and for the space and time that gesture implied. They entered Shen’s room once again and Xena shut the door to keep Argo away from the glass. “Should we clean this up?” she asked looking at the mess on the floor. All of the models were broken, the sculptures shattered. Some of the posters were ripped, only the Spiderman poster appeared to have survived. There were a couple of awards, both scholastic and athletic that still hung on the walls and some photos on a bulletin board as well as an autographed picture of Scarlett Johansson with Shen from ComicCon.

            “I’ve got people for that,” Gabrielle said. “I’ll have a team pack up the place. I think there are a couple of empty boxes in the garage. I want to take his clothes, some of the photos, awards- the Spiderman poster, the action figures and these stuffed animals with us. There are also a couple of things from Susan’s bedroom and the living room I want to take. The rest SP can handle. Let’s go back to the living room, and could you bring that bear with us?”

            Xena followed Gabrielle with the stuffed bear and watched achingly as the bard managed to get the boy situated on the couch without waking him up. Indeed, there was a practiced ease to how she moved, lifting his arm and wrapping it around his bear, that implied that she’d done this many, many times before. Solon came to mind again and a glance to Gabrielle’s face told the warrior that the bard’s thoughts were travelling the same path. Even all of these years later there was a haunted look of regret, and an inability to make eye contact that told Xena that Gabrielle still felt remorse about what had happened.

            “He’s lucky to have you,” Xena said, feeling like she should say something; the tension was palpable.

            Taking a measured breath, Gabrielle replied, “when I had children of my own, real, human, wonderful amazing children, it brought back how ridiculously naive and foolish I’d been about Hope. I know we got past it, that we forgave each other- but even now I’m still disappointed in myself that…” she stopped and shook her head. “I just wish I’d done better by you Xena,” she said. “That’s all.”

            Knowing how hard it is to take the advice that is so easily given, Xena nodded. “I forgave you, Gabrielle,” she said. “You need to forgive yourself.” The bard smiled at her, a smile that didn’t quite reach her eyes. “We should get back to your list?” Xena asked.

            Visibly relieved, Gabrielle nodded and they spent much of the next hour moving from room to room making the appropriate inventories for the Special Projects Division.

~~~~~~~

The drive back to The Hippolyta had been a somber one. Shen was silent in the back seat, glumly looking out the window through his sunglasses with Argo’s large head resting on his lap. Xena and Gabrielle were each lost to their own thoughts thinking about the other. Gabrielle was disappointed that nothing in her two thousand plus years of living had prepared her for her current circumstance. Sure, there had been times in her life, times too numerous to count where someone had stronger feelings for her than she had for them. But this was Xena and that state of being was unacceptable. Still, she knew enough that emotions couldn’t be forced, not with any hope of longevity at any rate so she hoped that with time the shock or whatever she wasn’t feeling would subside and the universe could return to its normal axis. Xena on the other hand inwardly reminisced about first meeting the bard.

Almost instantly she felt drawn to the younger woman. Sure, the interest was strictly physical at first, but given Gabrielle’s innocence Xena considered it part of her overall redemption to not indulge her appetites as she would have in the fairly recent past. Knowing now, that on a rainy night in a leaky barn near Thebes that Gabrielle felt the same way she did shifted her perspective. She felt like she now understood how the bard must have felt all those years ago yearning for a connection that she did not feel was reciprocated. Blue eyes gazed out the passenger window marveling at the vehicles whizzing past that at once fascinated and terrified her.

“Are you hungry Shen?” Gabrielle’s voice broke the silence as she glanced into her rearview mirror at the boy.

“No,” he answered glumly, staring at his feet. Argo lifted her head from his lap and cocked it to the side, chuffing softly.

“Argo says you’re not being completely honest,” Gabrielle observed, as she smoothly changed lanes.

Shen frowned and looked at Gabrielle, then back at the dog. “That’s impossible,” he said. “You’re teasing me.”

“Try it out for yourself,” the bard replied with a shrug.

Shen looked at the dog. “I can fly,” he said. Argo looked back and reached her head up to lick his face. “See,” he said to Gabrielle.

“Moose, you’ve ridden on the company jet and helicopter more times than I can count. Isn’t that flying?”

At first uncertain, his expression changed to serious which Gabrielle saw in the mirror and knew she’d made a big mistake. “Grandma isn’t…grandma isn’t…” he was starting to get choked up with the question and the bard was furious with herself. What was meant to be a diversion clearly wasn’t and she should have considered this possibility.

“I’m three hundred years old,” Xena said quickly hoping to distract the boy.

The dog barked once and poked the warrior’s shoulder with her nose.

“And I had chocolate cake for breakfast,” Gabrielle added, relieved beyond measure that her dog barked once again, this time eliciting a chuckle from the ten year old.

“Cake for breakfast- I wish,” he muttered, looking at Gabrielle. “There has to be some sort of trick,” he continued seriously. “A dog doesn’t know what three hundred years means or know if your breakfast was called ‘chocolate cake’ or not. I just can’t see how you’re signaling her.”

“A magician never reveals her secrets,” Gabrielle assured him, relieved beyond measure that Xena had jumped in and that he’d decided this was a magic trick. “Even so, we’re going to get off the freeway and have some lunch.”

She stopped at a restaurant that she knew the boy liked. It was fancy enough that that the trio were on the receiving end of dismissive looks from some of the other diners as they rolled in wearing jeans and t-shirts. Xena seemed particularly aware of the eyes following them. Assured that the attention was just from their wardrobe, Gabrielle allowed herself to relax and let her lips crease into a smile as she followed Xena and Shen to their table. Like she’d done so many times in the past, the warrior took the seat with her back to the rich wood paneling so she could see the entrance. By taking this position, Shen was seated safely in-between the two of them.

“Xena, it’s safe,” Gabrielle said quietly as they took their seats. “I’m confident we weren’t followed, none of his people are here.”

“There are a number of people looking at us,” Xena whispered back.

Gabrielle opened her menu, wondering what the specials of the day might be. “It’s only because we’re underdressed,” she assured her companion.

Shen was also surveying his menu, often looking out the window behind Gabrielle where he had an unobstructed view of Argo, laying down quite peacefully in the shade of a small tree. “People always get the wrong idea about Gabrielle—I mean Susan,” the boy said after closing his menu. The warrior’s brows furrowed in confusion as she looked at the bard. “When we’re out in public like this, she usually goes by Susan Vincent because it matches her credit card.” Shen explained in hushed tones to Xena. “It’s so people don’t freak out because she’s a billionaire.” His eyes grew misty and he sat back, straight in his seat “at least that’s what Grandma said. If Mr. Pink is here, you’ll see. He’ll treat, ah, Susan like she’s Lady Gaga.”

“Lady who?” Xena asked, perplexed.

“Thank you, Shen,” Gabrielle said gently. “I’ll take it from here.” She smiled a bit bashfully at the warrior. “He’s basically right. I don’t really look the part in places like this unless I really have to and…” Her explanation was cut short when a short bald man with a moustache hurried over to the table.

“Miss Vincent,” he said with a slight bow as he took her hand and quickly kissed her knuckles. “So very good to see you again.” Several of the other patrons noticed the lavish attention and the ambient noise level in the dining room dropped slightly. “I’ve sent Sven out to take some refreshment to dear Argo and would love to tell you the specials.” He smiled and turned to Shen shaking the boys hand “Mr. Teal, very good to see you sir.” Gabrielle could see that he did a double take at Shen’s injury and was happy that he was too polite to mention it. Instead, he turned to Xena. “Miss, I don’t believe I’ve had the pleasure.”

“This is a very dear friend of mine…” Gabrielle began.

“Miss Romanoff,” Shen supplied helpfully. Green eyes darted to the boy with a distinct frown.

“Miss Romanoff, you are radiant,” the short man said, taking her hand as he had with Gabrielle.

“Natasha, this is Gordon Pink, he owns the restaurant,” Gabrielle said smoothly, cocking her head knowingly at Shen who grinned ear to ear, his first genuine smile of the day.

“It’s nice to meet you,” Xena said as she glanced at her two companions.

With the specials of the day considered, Gabrielle ordered something that she thought Xena might like. As she expected, Xena simply requested the same as her companion. Shen asked for something off the menu and Mr. Pink was more than happy to oblige him.

“Everyone gets a fake name?” Xena quietly asked Shen when Mr. Pink had returned to the kitchen with their order.

“Just the adults I think,” the boy replied. “The ones that are high up in the company at any rate. Grandma had a few different passports with different names. Natasha Romanoff is one of the Avengers. She’s called Black Widow and she’s a superhero.”

“Well that sounds like a great name then.” Xena agreed. “I’d like to be a superhero. I think.”

            When the food arrived, Gabrielle was grateful that Shen dug into his meal with enthusiasm. Sadness tended to eclipse her sense of hunger and she was grateful that the growing boy now in her care did not seem hindered by that affliction. After a few silent moments of eating, the boy looked over at Gabrielle, a genuinely curious expression on his face. “Does this mean you have to adopt me, Gabrielle?” he asked.

            There was no hiding the expression of love and concern that he saw reflected back in the bard’s face. “Moose, it’s never a question of ‘have to’ honey. It would be a tremendous honor for me to adopt you; but it would be up to you. I think there will be some documents of your grandmother’s I will be reviewing tomorrow and she may have left specific instructions. Still, I think she would want me to keep an eye on you which is why your mom asked me to be your godmother.”

            He listened intently, his expression serious as he looked from one of his companions to the other. “Would you both be adopting me?” Xena could tell that he was nervous, genuinely wanting to know, but afraid of overstepping as he had when he introduced the warrior to the ship’s engineer.

            “That might be a bit premature of a conversation at this point, Shen.” Xena said gently. “I’m still getting back on my feet, and Gabrielle and I aren’t… married.” Xena glanced to Gabrielle to check if she’d framed it correctly and the bard’s gentle smile told her she had. Shen nodded sagely, taking it all in. “But adopted or not,” Xena continued, “you can always count on me to be your friend. Like Vox, Aphrodite and everyone on the ship- you have a lot of friends you can count on and as you grow up you’ll realize what an important thing that is to have.”

            He pushed the last few remaining gnocchi around on his plate deciding what to ask next. “How did you two meet…and become friends? And how did you get lost?” Xena smiled at Shen then turned to Gabrielle.

            “You’re better at telling this story than I am,” she said, her rich voice tinged with amusement as she picked up her wine glass, marveling at the wine and the meal she was enjoying. Food had certainly improved in many respects in the twenty centuries she’d missed.

            Gabrielle dabbed at the corners of her mouth with her napkin before proceeding. “I was young,” she began, “maybe six or seven years older than you are now, Shen. The…city that I grew up in was having some trouble with some…bad people coming to town.”

            “Like the angry thugs that march for the President?” Shen asked, genuinely concerned. “Or a drug cartel?”

            “Sort of,” Gabrielle agreed. “More like the thugs than a drug cartel. Anyway, I decided to leave town and that’s when I met Xena. She had…left her previous job and was looking to start a new career doing something different. She wanted to use her skills in a different line of work. So we became sort of a team and I helped her. With her work.”

            “What kind of work?” Shen asked, not the least bit unexpectedly.

            “Crime fighting.” Xena supplied, talking around a forkful of fish she’d just put into her mouth.

            “Really?” Shen asked, impressed. “Like Black Widow? So you are a super hero!”

            “I guess,” Xena agreed after thinking about it for a moment. “I mean, we didn’t have secret identities. But we did help people who were being bullied, or solved a mystery here and there. Sometimes we came up against some pretty devious villains.”

            Once again Shen looked critically from Gabrielle to Xena and back, clearly trying to determine if the warrior was telling the truth or not. For her part Gabrielle smiled shyly at Xena. The taciturn warrior was not known for her story telling ability but here she’d come up with a fairly accurate and twenty-first century plausible explanation of their years of adventure. Gabrielle readily admitted to herself that she could not have come up with a better story.

            “Is that why you run an organization that does the same kind of work now?” Shen asked curiously as he helped himself to another piece of garlic bread.

            “Did your grandmother tell you that?” Gabrielle asked, wondering how on earth he’d gotten that idea.

            With a shrug, the boy finished his lunch, just as Mr. Pink came by with a tray of assorted desserts, leaving it at the table for the trio to try. “Well, once I asked grandma what you did with all your money,” he explained. “She said that you had different parts of your company set up to help people in different ways. And that the reason you made money was so you could help more people. She said it was for the greater good.”

            “That sounds like Gabrielle,” Xena affirmed.

            “And you learned how to help people from Xena?” He asked.

            “I’d say we figured it out together,” the warrior corrected him gently.

Chapter 12: Battlelines

            A crisp and clear night afforded Xena and Gabrielle an unobstructed view of a meteor shower from the upper deck of The Hippolyta. The ship was quiet, precocious ten year olds long since tucked into bed, and an efficient crew invisibly went about their nighttime duties. Xena had built a fire in the small fire pit not far from the barbeque and the saltwater swimming pool. It didn’t take much of an imagination for either woman to imagine themselves being many years in the past, traveling from one place to another stopping for the night. Somewhat guiltily, Gabrielle was grateful that Aphrodite wasn’t back yet, or if she was, that she was elsewhere on the ship. For this moment at any rate, the bard felt on the same page as her companion and she did not want to risk any intrusion that might upset the harmony they seemed to have arrived at. Relieved to not be arguing for the moment, they enjoyed an ease in their rapport that hadn’t happened since the warrior’s resurrection.

             “This is a thirty-one year old whiskey, from the United Kingdom,” Gabrielle explained, handing Xena a glass. “It’s called Craigellachie.”

            The warrior smiled approvingly after tasting the amber colored liquid. “And ‘United Kingdom’ is England, what used to be Britannia?” she asked.

            “Yes, with Scotland, Whales, and Northern Ireland. You’ve picked up so much so fast Xena.” Gabrielle took the glass back and quickly rinsed it out with some water, letting the run off spill on the deck. She poured a pale-yellow liquid from the collection of bottles that covered the table next to her. “This one is a whiskey from Finland. It’s only ten years old and is called Teerepeli.”

            “It’s the same color as the white wine from lunch. The chardonnay.” Xena observed as she sniffed the glass before trying its contents. “Definitely not the same stuff. I like it. It reminds me of fruit…and straw, I think. The older one would be better for spitting fire though.” Xena grinned, her mood clearly enhanced by all of the spirits she’d sampled thus far. What are those clear bottles over there.”

            Gabrielle allowed herself a giggle before gently pushing the warrior’s hands away from the bottles. “Not so fast Xena,” she said. “There is a methodology here. We’re going in order. The vodka and gin will come after the rum. But first a tequila.” Gabrielle knew she was just pretending, putting loss, danger, and complications out of her mind and enjoying the simple pleasure of introducing her friend to a world of alcohol, but she also knew that these moments of putting everything else aside and enjoying something simple were fleeting. She poured two shots from an ornate hand painted bottle, then handed the bottle to the warrior.

            “ Dos Artes Extra, Anejo Reserva Tequila,” Xena said, Reading the bottle. “It’s beautiful,” she added after tasting the dark amber liquid. “Both inside and out. It looks expensive?”

            Gabrielle shrugged. “It’s about one hundred twenty dollars a bottle. Hard to adjust that into dinars from the old days. Let’s say it would have been well out of our price range. You’d have been able to get a new sword and armor for the same price.”

            Xena looked at the bottle with newfound respect as the bard switched to the next spirit.

            “I have a question for you,” Xena asked, trying a sip of the Bundaberg dark rum from Australia she’d been offered. “what’s a billionaire? I mean it sounds like a made-up number. I’ve never heard of a ‘billion dinars’.”

            “It means I have a ridiculous amount of money. It is absolutely made up.” Gabrielle replied, offering her a spiced rum from the United Kingdom next. “Think about all of the royalty we ever encountered in all of our travels together. King Lias, King Gregor, King Kaltor, Ulysses, Helen- all of them. If you were to add all their wealth together, with their lands, their treasures, everything. I’m sitting on top of many, many times more than that. Here try this coconut rum; it’s one of my favorites.” She passed the glass over and noticed the puzzled look on her companion’s face – that wasn’t about the drink. “Over a thousand years ago I realized that money, and a very patient long view of life, would be key to my survival,” she explained. “I’ve seen governments and armies come and go. The Pharaohs ended, the Knights Templar ended, hell even the Whig political party of this country disappeared. Some endings are great – the Nazis getting put down in Germany was a very good day. Other endings are like a knife to the heart – like seeing the Native American tribes all but wiped out here was tragic. With that in mind, I’ve learned to put wealth aside, let it accrue in value to fund the things we’ve always believed in, the greater good. I also use the resources to keep me safe, to maintain a worldwide network of informants about everything from political movements to financial opportunities- in addition to my search for the intel I’d need to get you back of course. I’d suspect that I’m one of the wealthier individuals on the planet. I don’t know if I’m still the richest, but I’m probably still in the top three. Xena, I know you think I’ve done a terrible job of it, but I have tried to combat the forces of Ares the whole time I’ve been looking for Aphrodite in order to get you back. Even if I didn’t realize how much Ares was taking an active hand in everything, I was still fighting his darkness.”

            They had moved onto vodka and Xena accepted the offered glass of Russian Zyr without speaking. She downed its contents enjoying the warmth that radiated from the clear liquid as it traveled down her throat. She heard what the bard was saying but had to admit she was only half listening. The orange of the firelight danced off Gabrielle’s green eyes the way it always did. If this had been Ancient Greece, the bard might have been wearing her green top, brown skirt and leather boots; her toned muscles thrown into greater relief by the firelight. If this had been Ancient Greece she might have leaned across the small distance between them and kissed her, knowing her kiss would be warmly received and returned with earnest. There were so many times they’d undressed each other in the fire-light oblivious to how cold it might have been and enjoyed each other completely and fallen into a satisfied sleep, content with a horse named Argo to keep watch.

            But this wasn’t Ancient Greece. Xena studied the woman sitting next to her wearing jeans, a sweatshirt over her t-shirt, and not wearing any shoes. Gabrielle’s eyes met hers and the bard looked away, cheeks flushed; embarrassed. Xena knew the ardor was visible on her face and feeling the warmth of the alcohol, she was not inclined to hide it. She smiled, not minding her companion’s discomfort. After several different vodkas she tried the gin and frowned. “Okay, I’m not a fan of that one,” she said.

            “It’s better if you have it served as a gin and tonic,” the bard said, making eye contact hesitantly. Mixed drinks will be a whole new revelation. There was no mistaking the stirring that Gabrielle felt, almost like a once forgotten song that comes back to you, the sound soft and warm.

            Xena smirked. It felt good to know that she could still read her companion to some extent at any rate. In addition to the ‘I said something important and you’re not listening to me’ look, she saw attraction in those green eyes. It was doubtful she even realized how dependent she’d grown on the bard’s love for her, until she felt apart from it. She put the desire to lean over and kiss her companion to the side and addressed the more practical concern. “Have you considered that while what you’ve built is a fantastic way to fight for the greater good, you might need to shift your forces somewhat to combat Ares directly? Do you know what kind of forces he’s supporting? How long he’s been active here?”

            Gabrielle nodded in agreement. “I suspected Ares was here on earth all along- not on Olympus. I didn’t really know for sure that he was in America right now or who he was posing as until just before we got you back. That is a big piece of the puzzle. I’ve got some people working on uncovering everything there is to know about Gideon Power. When we know who this guy is, what he’s involved with we will have a better handle on how to confront it. I’ve been doing my homework, Xena. It’s what we’re going to discuss in the meeting tomorrow. We’re going to come up with a plan of attack.”

            Xena nodded and had her attention diverted by Argo who came bounding up the steps to greet them. As the pit bull approached Gabrielle felt a presence at the back of her mind. Almost as if permission was being asked to join them. “I think Aphrodite just returned to the ship,” Gabrielle said, scratching her dog behind the ears. “Argo lets me know whenever someone comes aboard if she’s not already with me.” Her connection to Xena in the moment felt too good to risk damaging it by giving voice to the goddess communicating directly with her in her mind.

            “You should have her join us,” the warrior suggested. “She’s more of an expert on Ares than she lets on. And what did you say about her being able to detect someone lying?” Xena asked, as she accepted the affectionate greeting she was offered by the pit bull.

            “It was something Aphrodite did to her.” Gabrielle explained as she texted the goddess. “She said it’s an ability dogs have to begin with, she just encouraged Argo to be more vocal about it.”

            “That could be useful if you get her in the same room with the right people,” Xena observed.

            Gabrielle considered her comment as Aphrodite made her way across the deck followed by Michelle and Vox. There was no doubt that the ship’s captain was off duty because her curly brown hair was down, falling in tight ringlets around her shoulders.

“Nicolai mentioned you’d just about emptied the liquor cabinet and I’ve got to admit I was curious, Aphrodite thought it’d be okay if we joined you guys.” Michelle said as the trio approached.

“I’m glad this wasn’t strictly a private party, thank you for the invite,” Aphrodite said with a slight wink to the bard.

“Please, pull up a seat,” Gabrielle said as the newcomers joined them. She couldn’t help but notice that Vox took the seat next to Xena and the two greeted each other with a fist bump.

Xena shifted, a little uncomfortable before speaking to Michelle, “I…ah…forgot a lot about the spirits of the day and…”

“It’s okay, Xena – I know,” the captain said grinning broadly at the warrior. “The whole crew. We know you’re from Gabrielle’s time but that you’ve been in some sort of stasis, we know that’s what the ‘amnesia’ is.” Gabrielle looked over to Aphrodite who shook her head.

“I didn’t tell them anything,” she said.

“We figured it out on our own,” Michelle explained. “I’ll admit, it took some effort to wrap our heads around your situation,” the statuesque captain continued with a nod to the bard, “but once you get past you being over two thousand, and Aphrodite being the Aphrodite – anything after that isn’t as heavy a lift.”

Gabrielle’s eyes briefly met Vox’s and the engineer shrugged. “So, is this a booze free for all?” she asked hopefully.

“Have at it,” the bard replied gesturing at the bottles with relief. The engineer’s tone assured her that she’d kept her word about Xena having died. ‘Stasis’ was as plausible an explanation as any.

“Great, I’ve got to introduce you to this great drink that Wolfgang and I came up with while I was still in sick bay.”

“You’re not supposed to drink in there,” Gabrielle replied with a frown.

“Whatever, it was pain management. Anyway…” she said stepping behind the outdoor kitchen counter by the barbecue. She rummaged through a cabinet and extracted five martini glasses. Working with practiced efficiency, she rimmed the glasses with honey then pink sugar from a bottle in the drawer. Not over doing the flare, she handled the bottles and ice like a skilled professional.

“I had a summer job as an underage bartender,” she explained as she filled a shaker with ice then added pineapple-mango vodka, then coconut rum. From the fridge below the counter extracted a Monster Pipeline Punch energy drink and added that to the glasses after she’d poured the shaken spirits.

The quartet of women took the offered glasses and each sipped took an experimental sip. The quartet of smiles was obviously appreciated in the bashful grin they received in return.

“This is fantastic!” Gabrielle said beaming.

“Really nice,” Michelle echoed. “What do you and Wolfgang call it?”

With cheeks now flushing pink the engineer mumbled. “Wolfie really wants to call it an ‘Aphrodite’ and I can’t think of anything better so…”

“I must say I’m honored,” the goddess said with a wink. “Even if I’m not the biggest fan of the color pink.”

Xena looked at her in surprise, “well that’s a switch,” she said.

“Given enough time we all evolve Xena,” the goddess replied. “But a very nicely balanced drink I must say- cheers!”

Clearly uncomfortable with the attention focused on her, Vox cleared her throat and addressed Gabrielle. “Were you guys up here plotting how we take down Ares?”

            “Not exactly,” Xena admitted as she finished her drink and passed the glass back to the engineer to prepare another.

            Aware that she could feel her relaxed inebriation fading as she began to think more seriously Gabrielle admitted a trifle guiltily, “Mostly we were drinking.”

            “Shen had a rough day?” Aphrodite asked sympathetically as she studied the duo watching the two of them nod in agreement.

            “He was due for a melt-down and he had it.” Gabrielle explained. “Poor guy has been through so much.”

            “Fortunately, children are pretty resilient,” the goddess replied. “Do you think he’s still in danger?”

            Taking another sip of her drink, Gabrielle shrugged. “Ares used Susan as leverage against me,” she said. “I could see him using Shen as leverage as well, if he knows about him. He was hell bent on us not…reviving Xena, so now that we have, I don’t know what his angle would be. There is a viciousness to Ares that feels new, different.”

            While the beverage left a pleasant sweetness on Gabrielle’s palate and warmth radiated from her throat, a chill still coursed through her. “Anyone I’m close to is in danger of being used as leverage, and that includes everyone on this ship or in my company,” she said seriously to Michelle. “I hope the crew has had an honest discussion about that very real possibility.”

With a somewhat sad smile, the captain nodded. “We have Gabrielle. Especially in the wake of what happened to Susan, it isn’t lost on any of us that all of the release forms we sign when taking this job are very real and there for a reason. While it hasn’t happened in a long time, people sometimes die in this kind of work.” She glanced at Vox before continuing. “You know the crew meets regularly. We’ve had blunt conversations that this particular danger isn’t like any of the potential dangers we expected when joining your company and moving up in its ranks. But dead is dead regardless as to the ‘how’ of it. Still, every one of us is behind what you’ve done. Not only in the work you do, the causes you support, the change you try to effect but who you are as a person. We see how you treat people Gabrielle, what you offer the world around you and what you expect in return. If that isn’t something worth working and fighting for, I’m not sure I know what is.”

Gabrielle was too moved by the captain’s words to notice that Aphrodite was closely watching Xena as the warrior was listening to what was being said about the Bard of Potidaea. “That means a lot to me Michelle, thank you,” she said. “I really thought that some of you would make the decision to transfer out, and I absolutely wouldn’t blame anyone if they did.”

“Someone might transfer, but not for the reasons you think,” Michelle affirmed with a nod. “Rebekah Luna put two and two together and is convinced you’ve been a lawyer in addition to a surgeon, acupuncturist, musician- we’re figuring out any number of professions you must have had. Elaine set up a white board in our cabin to keep track and people come by to add guesses. Rebekah doesn’t think she’s needed to be onboard legal liaison and is seriously considering a transfer to the home office.”

“Home office here or Ireland?” Gabrielle asked with a frown.

“Ireland, I think,” Michelle said with a shrug indicating she wasn’t sure. “You know she loves Ireland.”

“I’ll talk to her,” Gabrielle replied. “Just because I’ve done a thing doesn’t mean I want to keep doing it, or have even done it recently or am even good at it.”

“She also thinks that if she leaves, there will be room for an onboard tutor for Shen. We can’t take the place of his teachers forever,” Michelle added in a tone that made it clear that she didn’t disagree with the decision.

“We can talk about remodeling the crew’s living section and making more room at a later date,” Gabrielle said, still not thrilled with the idea of losing a member of her crew. “We’re getting a little off track.” She looked over at her warrior companion as Xena accepted a second drink from the engineer. The blue of her eyes flickered in the firelight and image of the well-proportioned woman next to her in reveling armor was recalled from memory. Wearing jeans, a sweatshirt, and sneakers she simply looked beautiful, not beautiful and deadly. “Xena,” she asked, “do you have any idea why Ares would be so afraid of you…being awake? In this time period specifically?”

            The warrior shrugged and studied the flames of the fire before responding. “I have no idea,” she said. “Certainly, you and I got the better of him more than once in the past. It might be as simple as that. He has a lot at stake and doesn’t want to risk it all tumbling down. I mean, I know how he thinks- I used to know his strategies, but that was a long time ago. I don’t think I have any weapons or anything that can hurt him now.”

            “Let’s face it Xena,” Aphrodite added. “My brother is in love with you. He’s in love with the idea of you leading his army yes, but also in love with you as a person, duh. His ‘little brain’ overriding his ‘big brain’ has resulted in defeats in the past, he probably wants to avoid that now. The world is a more complicated place than telling a smelly army ‘go raid that village’. His schemes are more complex, more moving pieces and possibly more vulnerable in that sense. You are not something he’s factored in and that probably rattles him. And you know strategy.”

“Gabrielle has built an army- I don’t doubt that you have other people who can strategize, I’m not sure why Ares is so worried about me,” the warrior replied.

The captain turned to the goddess sitting on her right. “You’re his sister and his equal I’d assume,” she continued. “Why isn’t he worried about you getting in the way of his plans the way he’s worried about Xena?”

Aphrodite had finished her name-sake drink and had moved on to tequila, pouring herself a very healthy portion into the sugar rimmed martini glass. It was clear that she would have helped herself straight from the bottle, but wanted to keep it within reach of the others, should anyone want some. “Ares and I can’t directly hurt each other or any of the remaining Olympians. It’s a thing. I punched my uncle recently and it hurt me more than it hurt him, I’m sure. He also knows my ability isn’t a strictly destructive one. I mean people can be plenty destructive in the name of love, both to themselves and to others but that isn’t my intention. I won’t directly kill someone or even physically hurt them if I can help it. I guess that makes me no threat. There have been countless wars that I couldn’t stop, only comfort the anguish and try to get people to see a different path.”

“But wars do stop,” Vox observed. “On occasion peace breaks out and people prosper and get a breather from his destruction. There has to be something that Xena’s presence triggered…” The young butch woman’s ice blue eyes widened and shot from Xena back to Aphrodite and Gabrielle. “It wasn’t Xena’s arrival that set Ares off- it was the awareness that you were planning…to wake her up. It was only after Ares got confirmation that you and Gabrielle were together in Catalina that he kidnapped Susan.”

Inwardly Gabrielle winced. She saw Xena’s posture stiffen slightly though she knew that wasn’t necessarily how Vox meant the statement. “There had to be something,” the engineer continued, “that, by the two of you joining forces worries him. Unless, of course Xena is the only being on Earth who can out think him. I mean, he is a god, right?” She studied the flames for a few seconds more, puzzling through the problem like an engineering puzzle. “What did you use to…wake Xena up?”

This time it was Aphrodite’s turn to shrug. “A seashell of mine, which got destroyed…”

“And a hammer which we still have,” Gabrielle added. “I picked up the hammer with my sai and Xena’s chakram.” Green eyes met piercing blue. “The hammer was forged by Hephaestus,” Gabrielle said, her voice barely a whisper.

“As was my chakram,” Xena replied. “Although Ares won’t admit it. It must have been.”

“It will be easy enough to tell if we look at it,” Aphrodite commented after a thoughtful sip of tequila. Everyone around the small fire stared at the goddess. “What?” Aphrodite said, as though her statement were obvious. “My ex-husband monogrammed everything. There will be a small ‘H’ somewhere on it. Do you want me to check?”

Instantly the hairs on the back of Gabrielle’s neck stood on end. “No,” she said quickly and with conviction. “No. It’s off the ship, safe. I want to leave it where it is.” She looked around at the dark of night around them. There was no one onboard but her crew and she absolutely trusted every one of them, and they were only reachable from the marina by a small boat, or someone with training. Still, she felt uneasy this close to land and wished they were out at sea for this conversation. There could be drones out of sight. Catalina had made that much clear. “I don’t want to touch it until we’re ready to use it,” she added quietly. “It’s safe,” she repeated.

“What we need is to figure out is how to get to him,” Michelle observed. “Gideon Power, the guy pictured on the internet isn’t Ares, but he may be a clue to get to Ares. Maybe SP can get to him first?”

Gabrielle leaned forward, towards the warm firelight. Xena was impressed that immediately Michelle, Vox and even Aphrodite did the same, waiting for the bard’s instruction. She leaned forward as well already picking up that Gabrielle did not feel completely safe on deck. “Michelle, you are going to join us for the directors meeting tomorrow,” The bard said quietly. “I think that the captain will have a permanent place on the board. There are things that the active crew knows that the rest of transportation might not and you guys should be represented there. You will debrief the rest of the crew at your discretion and see if their skill sets, and knowledge of…the situation at hand can complement the actions taken by other divisions in the company.

“Xena and Aphrodite will also be at the meeting,” She looked around at the nods of agreement and added “Sorry, Vox.”

The engineer shook her head. “No worries. I’m happy to assist Michelle on the crew side.”

“You put some pieces together tonight,” Gabrielle countered. “I want you to keep working that. I’m going to ask for different people’s perspective in who else in the company I need to read in on this, I’d like your take on that as well,” she added. If Xena noticed the young engineer beam at the compliment, she was polite not to show it.

~~~~~~~

It was late, quite late when Gabrielle and Xena arrived back at the library just outside her quarters. The warrior had been a bit unsteady on her feet on the way down the stairs, more than once reaching out to Gabrielle to steady her. Gabrielle was unconcerned and assured the warrior that her tolerance for alcohol would improve and that if she were in danger or startled her mind would clear instantly. Her advice was to enjoy the sensation while it lasted.

“I haven’t over indulged this much since…since…” Xena’s voice trailed off as she tried to remember the last time she’d been drunk.

“Wasn’t it the Artemis festival with the Amazon’s when Joxer had followed us to their village?” Gabrielle asked after searching her own memory.

The warrior chuckled, “and Ephiny was so annoyed with us she made him sleep outside the hut we were using and we had to be quiet.”

Gabrielle’s laughter joined that of Xena’s. “We could both barely walk the next morning and he kept asking us why.”

“I was so tempted to tell him if only to get him to shut up about it,” Xena replied, her laughter subsiding. “I miss the people from our past.”

“I do too,” Gabrielle replied. As she had the previous night, she took the ottoman to the first bookcase and on top of the books, at the far end, was a separate volume – larger in size than the others but not as thick. Xena now noticed that nearly every one of the shelves had one of these larger books laying flat on top of the net row of vertical volumes. The bard opened the book and over her shoulder Xena saw page after page of meticulously rendered sketches. As the pages were turned she saw familiar faces fly by; her mother, Lyceus, Torus, Autolycus, Ephiny, Solari, there were many drawings of her as well as Argo. There was the occasional drawing of people they’d battled, Callisto, Alti, Caesar, even Ares. A number of drawings were of Gabrielle as well as her family- her mother, father and Lila graced the pages. “These are amazing, Gabrielle. Who drew them?”

“I did,” Gabrielle said shyly. “I took up drawing and painting awhile back. This is something that helps me remember. I miss all of those faces from our life together and sometimes I open the sketch books and just sit and remember. The pictures help inform my writing and the writing helps me visualize the images. I don’t know, goes both ways I guess.”

“Awhile back?” Xena asked wryly.

Gabrielle blushed a little “Okay, maybe seven hundred years ago or so. I mean you can’t really live through the Renaissance and not get into art…oh, here we go,” she announced as she found the page she was looking for. She showed it to Xena and it the warrior couldn’t help but smile. “I tracked down Minya. She and her friend, the actress had a rather unconventional relationship with her boyfriend Hower.

Xena touched the page reverently, she looked at a beautifully rendered sketch of an Minya, Hower, and Paulina, much older than Xena remembered them surrounded by several small children. Everyone was smiling or laughing and they looked like a family that enjoyed a lot of humor and love.

They had a son they were kind enough to name Gabriel. As I recall they had two more daughters then another son they named Xenan. Both Minya and Paulina bore two of the children – a son and a daughter each. Here…” She flipped through a few more pages and found another drawing of the family. This time the children were young adults, smiling and happy, with three parents who clearly loved them, each other and the life they’d built together. The expressions on the faces spoke as plainly to Xena as if they’d been talking. The likenesses captured not only their appearance but personalities as well.

“It seemed like everyone we loved had died,” Gabrielle continued. “Epainy, Solari, Joxer… I had a difficult relationship with Lila until the end, but got on better with her children, I tried to find anyone we knew from the old days. Minya and Hower were the first, then I tracked down Zoe and Rastums – the brother and sister who owned that Inn where we stayed – Zoe wasn’t in very good health but Rastmus took wonderful care of her and managed the Inn all on his own. He never married, but was very close friends with the daughter of another woman the pair had befriended and he left the Inn to them when the time came. I couldn’t find anyone else we knew, only the descendants of people we knew,” she explained.

Xena touched the various pages gently, careful not to smudge the graphite drawing. “And you got to be a part of all of that.” She shifted a little unsteadily on her feet and Gabrielle put the book down and grasped each of the warrior’s arms to steady her.

            Green eyes found blue and held them. “Xena, if I could go back, change time and space so we could live out our lives as we should have, I’d do it in an instant. Being that I can’t, I am both sad and relieved that you did not have to live out that time in Greece. There was joy, I won’t deny that; Minya became famous in her region for helping people, she was a local celebrity by the time I found her. But Xena, there was a lot of pain too. It’s hard to revisit so many places that spoke to me of you, without you. To see that life had moved on without us, so many people we loved – gone. It was like the feeling of waking up from our twenty-five year sleep over and over again. I’m sure you can imagine.”

            The warrior could imagine. At her own pace she turned the pages she looked with reverence at face after face from their life together. There was Eve, and even a sketch of her on horseback as Livia before she followed in her mother’s footsteps and changed for the better. “What of Eve?” she whispered.

“I tried to find her but was unsuccessful, I learned in the ensuing years that she traveled extensively in Chin and India, spreading the message of Eli and returned to Greece when I was in Egypt,” she replied gently. “She married and had children, from what I’ve learned she was happy well loved and respected by the people who knew her – very few knowing of her past as Livia and even when they knew, refusing to give voice to something they felt she’d redeemed herself for. You did right by her Xena.”

Absently the warrior nodded, continuing to turn pages and see their friends and family as she remembered them, young and vital, often surrounded by other drawings of people she did not recognize. Younger people she assumed were their children. Xena could feel her eyes fill with tears and she wanted to look away, to tell Gabrielle to stop, but she felt that she owed it to the bard to at least hear what she didn’t have to endure.

“I tried to find Torus but was too late,” the bard explained. “I learned that he married and welcomed twin girls named for you and your mother, also a son named Lyceus. He lived to be an old man, stubborn till the end and died from complications from horse riding accident.” Now Gabrielle’s eyes were welling up as well at the memory. “Off the top of my head I can think of probably a dozen or more children named Xena or Xenan from the people whose lives we intersected with. A few named Gabrielle or Gabriel too of course. We had a positive impact on a lot of lives and you left a legacy that endured and was remembered.”

            The pleasantly muddled feeling of the drink was passing quickly as Xena thought about what she might have left behind in the world and marveling at the very idea that the scales might have actually have been tilted toward the positive. Gabrielle gently touched her cheek drawing her from her thoughts. “Did you want to stay up and read?” she asked softly. “I’m going to turn in.”

            Xena nodded but she knew she didn’t have it in her to read, not tonight. When the bard took her leave she studied the bookcases following their logical progression to the most recent shelf. As she suspected the books here looked less worn. She checked the dates on the spine of the last volume and deduced that the present-day book Gabrielle was writing in must be in her bedroom. Xena didn’t mind. What she was looking for was the most recent sketchbook. She didn’t want to read, she didn’t want to see faces from her past, but she did want to see more of the bard’s drawings. There was something about the line quality, the precision to the shading that made the portraits come alive and speak to her. She opened up the most recent book of sketches and immediately frowned.

She’d started the book from the back, moving past the blank pages to the most recent drawing Gabrielle had finished which was a scantily clad Aphrodite sitting on a beach mid laugh. The contrast in value had the sunlight highlighting the goddess’ face and short hair, her fit form in gentle relief. Xena felt like she was being mocked. She rolled her eyes acknowledging it was jealousy that she was feeling. Skipping back several pages she did indeed see familiar faces, but they weren’t from the past. There were drawings of the bard’s crew going about their usual routines, clearly unaware they were being sketched unless Gabrielle was just drawing from memory. She didn’t recognize all the faces, but she did notice Shen, Vox, Wolfgang, Michelle, Elaine and the man with the unusual hair- Bo. There was an older Chinese woman that she assumed must be Susan and a family picture of Susan with a man looking over the shoulder of younger couple holding a baby. Even here though, as she flipped through the pages, among so many faces she didn’t know she’d see her own face. There would be a drawing of her in her armor sharpening her sword or even drawings with her face wearing the contemporary clothing of the day. Some were just studies of her face or hands, others were fully rendered scenes.

People were not the only subjects of the drawings. There were sketches of her dog Argo as well as buildings, landscapes, other animals- many of which looked fanciful to Xena. One was a funny sort of striped horse, another was a large animal with legs like tree trunks and a long horn on its face. Xena took the phone out of her pocket to google and realized there was no help in typing ‘what am I looking at,” into the search engine. She turned several more pages and made a mental note to ask Gabrielle or Vox about the animals in the morning. She put the sketchbook back where she’d found it and selected an earlier volume from a higher shelf.

She opened the book to a random set of pages and a piece of paper fluttered to the floor. Xena was going to pick it up but was distracted by the faces looking back at her. It was like looking at her own reflection, but it wasn’t. Two women that very much looked like her and Gabrielle, but dressed even more strangely than in the clothes she was presently wearing, gazed back at her smiling, with a large dog at their side. She picked the piece of paper off the floor and opened it. The heading said “obituary” and what followed was a story about an elderly couple that had been killed in a car accident. There were pictures in the article showing the two women as they’d been in the drawing and again later in life when they were older. She read the article, pausing to research words like “archaeology” and the lecture series one of the women had been speaking at. While she could only guess at the paper’s significance she could tell that this was important so she gently folded it and put it back, turning the page to see other drawings.

Once again, most of the faces were unrecognizable. The occasional crewmember she knew, a few sketches of herself, some of her dog looking more puppy-like. From time to time there was a drawing of Callisto, or Solon, Eve, or even Hope as an adult. Clearly Gabrielle was interested in remembering all of her past, not just the happy memories. As she put the book back Xena considered her place in Gabrielle’s life and felt reassured that regardless of who else might be important, her place in the bard’s mind and heart was secure. After restoring the book to its shelf, she sighed; she was tired. She considered sleeping on the couch again, which was quite comfortable, but decided against it. Instead after turning off the light in the library and with a nervousness she had not felt in many years, opened the door to Gabrielle’s bedroom and stepped inside. They had spent many nights as friends sleeping side by side, she knew she was kidding herself to think this was no different, but persisted regardless.

The room was dark illuminated only by a soft light coming from the bathroom. Xena made her way there and closed the door enjoying the decadence of being able to clean her hands, face and teeth whenever she liked. She made her way back to the bedroom and as Vox had shown her, used the screen of her phone to provide soft illumination to the room. She smiled noting the leather-bound volume on the nightstand near Gabrielle, Argo contentedly curled up in a soft cushion on the floor. After making her way to the other side of the bed she stripped down to t-shirt she was wearing, after noting that Gabrielle was still wearing hers from earlier that day and assumed it was the custom.

Carefully she slid between the sheets amazed once again at their softness. There was something about the room, it’s ambient sound- the contented breathing of the dog and the soft breathing of the dog’s mistress coupled with the scent of lavender and wood. There was also a very slight rocking sensation as the yacht shifted back and forth on the water that made Xena feel an ease she had not felt in a very long time. She had spent enough time with the crew to know that people were awake, even now as she prepared to sleep, making regular sweeps of the ship in pairs with any number of other security measures also employed to keep them safe. Even at the height of her warlord days, with the same resources at her disposal Xena was not certain she’d have put together as efficient and measured elite team. Truth be told she was curious to sit in on the meeting with the other division leaders for a closer view of how Gabrielle’s Army was organized.

She was drawn from her thoughts as her unconscious companion shifted in her sleep, rolling over onto her side. Like magnets drawn to each other, a hand reached towards her and held it, squeezing gently at random intervals. Steadfastly Xena resisted the temptation to wonder if the bard were dreaming about someone else, someone who had recently shared this bed. Firmly she reminded herself that she was the person who was here now; the person who Gabrielle had chosen to end her previous relationship for. While the bard still felt distant, just out of her reach when they were awake- here and now, she was inches away from the sleeping woman who had reached out to hold her hand. It made for the first night in a long, long time when Xena Warrior Princess fell asleep with a smile on her face.

Chapter 13: The War Councils

Gabrielle woke wondering if she’d missed the wake-up call from the bridge. It was rare that she woke up unassisted, but not unheard of. Before she rolled over to check her watch, something dark moved in her peripheral vision. It took only a slight turn of her head for Xena’s peacefully sleeping face to come into focus. Quickly searching her memory the events of the previous night came into sharp focus including her retiring for the night alone. In vain she tried to remember the last time she’d seen the warrior sleeping so peacefully. She smiled, drinking in the relaxed face and peaceful expression of her unconscious companion, pleased that Xena felt comfortable enough to join her. Silently she slid out of bed and after using the bathroom made her way across the cabin to the door only snapping her fingers to wake the dog when she was well into the library. Argo’s keen hearing picked up the sound and the dog followed her up the stairs to the deck to do her business.

“You’re up early,” she heard from behind moments later. Gabrielle turned to see Aphrodite and Michelle approach. The two were walking close together but not touching. Michelle was dressed for her on-duty shift with her curly hair in its professional bun. She wasn’t wearing the usual crew attire of jeans and t-shirts or other assorted vacation wear, rather she was dressed for the meeting with the department heads in a dark gray business suit with a crisp white blouse. She looked stunning. Aphrodite opted for a rich navy pinstriped suit and skirt combination with a pale blue blouse and looked beyond stunning, the adjective of diabolical was the first thing that popped into the bard’s mind. If anyone maintained focus during the meeting, she suspected they might deserve a bonus or a promotion.

“Hey guys,” the bard replied, a bit annoyed with herself that she couldn’t keep the suspicion out of her voice seeing the pair together at this early hour.

“Look, who’s adorable when she’s jealous,” Aphrodite replied with a chuckle.

“We were up talking, that’s it,” Michelle quickly explained with a genuinely worried expression on her face.

Now it was the Goddess of Love’s turn to look annoyed. “You don’t need to explain that to her, sweetie,” she said. “Not only does she not have standing to be jealous, she’s more evolved than that,” she assured her companion.

Gabrielle, who well knew what endearments could mean when uttered by the Goddess of Love, decided not to pursue the issue. Not only was Aphrodite correct on both counts, she was more concerned about Michelle’s vulnerability in the situation than her own feelings and reminded herself that the captain knew who she was dealing with, not to mention being a grown ass woman capable of taking care of herself.

“Everything set for this morning?” Gabrielle asked, smoothly changing subject.

“Yes, with one minor change,” the captain replied, relief threading her voice. “You’d requested that Jorge, Sabin and Fiona arrive early for their ‘booze meeting’ and Heather Martin has also asked to arrive early. She wants to discuss something with you before the general meeting, but I don’t know what.”

Gabrielle leaned her back against the railing of the ship thinking. “That’s fine,” she said. “Might as well include her, I was going to read her in, makes sense to do it now.”

“The more the merrier,” Aphrodite suggested with a grin.

“Let’s hope I can do this without having to impale myself,” the bard replied with a slight frown. “I also want to have a quick word with the whole crew, please have them assemble in the conference room before the department directors. When everyone is onboard, I want the ship away from its moorings for the meeting. I’ve got this feeling… I want everyone to stay extra sharp about bugs and drones and shit that can spy on us.”

“Will do,” Michelle replied with a nod. “Shall I take Argo for her breakfast while you get ready?”

After an affirmative nod, Gabrielle watched the departing form of her dog happily trailing behind the captain for a moment before turning her attention back to the goddess who was intently studying her. “What?” she asked.

“You’re a bit of a mess and I’m worried about you,” Aphrodite said seriously.

“You’re kind of a mess yourself,” Gabrielle replied with a small smile. “What did I say about throwing moves at the captain of my ship?”

Aphrodite shrugged. “I like the captain of your ship. What can I say; you reminded me how much fun it is to spend time with women. Besides, if I seem less available, you might get your shit together faster.”

“Like you having a girlfriend is going to make you any less available,” Gabrielle said unable to hide the genuine amusement in her voice.

            “Asshole,” Aphrodite replied with a frown but no further argument.

            Gabrielle playfully punched Aphrodite in the arm as they turned to walk back to the stairs that would take her back to her quarters. “I’m not going to ask you to not hurt my crew because I know you wouldn’t,” she said stopping at the stairs. She was rewarded with the million-watt smile that could make the bleakest day seem sunny.

            “And you are correct,” she said. “I will tell you though, that you’re going to need a new captain, since I think she may want to join me when I go traveling after this shit with my brother is handled. I know you’ve got plenty of qualified people who can step up.”

            “As captain maybe,” Gabrielle replied departing. “Getting someone who cooks like she can is going to be another challenge entirely.”

            “That’s your problem, now stop changing the subject.” The goddess replied crossing her arms. “Why are you a mess?”

            “I’m not sure what’s going on with Xena. I mean not with Xena, I know where Xena’s head is. With my head and Xena – that’s the problem.”

            “It’s not your head darling, it’s your heart,” the goddess said sympathetically.

            “You know what I mean,” Gabrielle replied, the frustration in her voice clearly directed at herself, not the woman standing next to her. “I love Xena. I know I love Xena. Xena is the other half of my soul for fuck’s sake. I woke up in bed less than an hour ago with Xena sleeping next to me and I had a moment of panic wondering if we’d done anything. We hadn’t, but why wouldn’t we? We’re in love. I can only imagine how this is making Xena feel and that’s probably the worst part of it. I love her, but I’m not ready to be what we were and I feel completely ridiculous staying that out loud. Of all the potential things that could have happened with her return, this is not one I anticipated.”

            Aphrodite nodded understandingly. “Gabrielle, you have spent the last twenty centuries rationing how much of yourself you share with someone. I have no doubt that there have been magnificent relationships where you felt like you were nearly as in love as you were with Xena- nearly being the operative word here. Maybe you were even eighty percent open with them, in other instances maybe it was sixty or forty or who knows fifteen percent if you were just looking for a distraction and wanted to get laid on a regular basis.” Gabrielle nodded, considering the goddess’ words seriously. “You are old enough and mature enough to know that there isn’t just one ‘happy ending.’ You can passionately and deeply love more than one person, even more than one person at the same time,” she continued with a self-satisfied smirk. “But your heart, as an emotional muscle has atrophied. It hasn’t had to be fully present, fully authentic with anyone until I showed up.” Gabrielle gave Aphrodite a ‘aren’t you full of yourself,” look and the goddess shook her head dismissively. “This is not an ego thing Gabrielle, although hello, being The Goddess of Love an ego thing would be totally warranted here. What I mean is you didn’t have to hide who you are with me. Your background, your real history, what you’ve been up to for the last two thousand years- you haven’t had to lie to me once.

            “You don’t have to lie to Xena either; about your fears, your frustrations anything rumbling through that gorgeous blond head of yours you can tell her like you always would. That was the strength between the two of you. She was cranky and beat people up and you reminded her that even so, she had a soul and was worthy of being loved. She reminded you that you’re nobody’s fool and can be in charge of your own destiny.” Gabrielle smiled and hugged her warmly.

“You really are a goddess,” Gabrielle murmured.

“Oh and that you’re sexy as fuck,” the goddess added playfully in her ear.

            “You’re not happy until the line is behind you, are you?” Gabrielle asked with mock seriousness when they parted.

            Aphrodite winked. “Admit it, I had ninety percent, didn’t I?”

            Gabrielle shook her head as she turned to go down the stairs. “Don’t sell yourself short,” she said playfully. “Ninety-six percent, easy.”

~~~~~~~

Part 4

Author's Page

Back to the Academy