Disclaimer: See Part 1
Authors Note: This is just a short chapter that I needed to add before I start getting to all the exciting stuff ;) I'm sorry that it's taken my so long to update this story and hopefully the next chapter will be updated sooner. If you want to email me, my address is jacklavigne13@hotmail .com
Thank you.
Chapter Eight
It's four days until the wedding and I swear that now, I am indeed losing my mind. I've been surrounded by friends and family for the past half a moon, but I feel so alone. I've hardly been able to spend time with any of them, so busy with preparations and also because my consort has serious jealousy issues. She knows that most of my friends are also friends with Xena, and she thinks if I spend time with them, they'll try and convince me that my soulmate and I should be together. I don't really blame Miranda, because so far, that's exactly what all of them have done.
It didn't happen right away, but over the weeks, they all started to say the same thing. I think they were trying to be happy for me in the beginning, but when they saw how Miranda treated me and how miserable I am, they all changed their tune. Even Joxer told me that Xena still loved me and that she would have me back in a heartbeat if only I would stop all this madness. I never expected to hear such things from Joxer, the man that I thought was totally oblivious to our relationship in the years we travelled together.
I thank the Gods that Miranda left on a hunting trip this morning. I like to think that I will miss her while she's gone, but I know that I won't. Our fights over the past days have gotten impossibly worse and when she told me last night that she would be gone until the wedding, I almost cried from joy.
I decided to use this precious time to talk to my friends and take some comfort from their company, considering that after the wedding, I probably wouldn't see many of them for a very long time. At the lunch time meal, I had some Amazon's push another large table against my own and made it big enough so that I could spend the meal with my friends.
I had my daughter on my lap when Xena finally entered the dining hut with Alexandria. They both looked magnificent as they entered, their strong bodies dripping with sweat. I unconciously squeezed my thighs together as I caught Xena's eyes and I waved them both over to the table.
Our conversation didn't last long and before I knew it, she was gone. I wracked my brain in an attempt to understand what I had said for her to make such a quick departure but I couldn't figure it out. Lost in my thoughts, I hardly noticed the midnight blue eyes gazing at me from across the table.
The rest of the meal went plesantly enough and I left to return to my paperwork that had been building up over the past weeks. I was surprised when Alexandria caught up with me on the way to my hut.
"Good afternoon, Alexandria," I smiled at the woman who returned my words with a brilliant smile of her own. I had hardly spoken to red head since she had entered the village, always too busy with other work. We walked together in silence for a few moments before Alexandria suddenly spoke.
"So, was all the pain I went through in my last visit to this village all for nothing? Are you seriously going to go through with this wedding or what?"
I stared at Alexandria in shock, almost stumbling up the steps to my hut. I had been expecting a conversation like this with the red head for a few days now, but I hadn't expected for her to be so blunt.
"Alexandria, I- I," I stuttered over my words, unsure of what to say.
"Look, Gabrielle," Alexandria started, gripping my forearm gently. "I just want to know if this is truly what you want. I know your personal life is none of my business but, Xena is my business. I dragged her out here because I thought that maybe you knew that you were making the biggest mistake of your life. I just need to know if I made the right decision in bringing Xena here."
We stared into each others eyes and I knew she could see the truth. I knew that I was making a big mistake, but there was no turning back now, was there? Like I had been trying to convince myself over the past weeks, the words 'I made my bed and now I have to lie in it,' ran through my head repeatedly.
"What am I supposed to do, Alex?" I whispered sadly, my shoulders slumping with defeat. "I will always love Xena, but I can't just cancel the wedding. I owe it to Miranda to go through with this."
"Gabrielle, for once in your life, you need to stop thinking about everyone elses feelings," Alexandria said with a small smile as she squeezed my arm gently. "If you want to marry Miranda, then marry her. But if you don't, then you need to realise that this your life and your happiness that we are talking about here. If you go through with this, I can promise you that you will never see Xena again. Everything you two have been through won't matter anymore because even though she loves you more than life, she isn't strong enough to stand around and watch you live your life with someone else. Just, think about it, okay?"
With another gentle squeeze to my forearm, and a meaningful look, Alexandria turned and walked back towards the dining hut, leaving me with my thoughts. I found myself desperately wanting to talk to Xena, but I decided against it, at least for now.
I needed sometime alone to think, and then maybe tomorrow I would seek out the dark haired warrior that I wish I was marrying instead of the short tempered Amazon that I had tried to replace her with.
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