A New Dawn
By Leapr
copyright May, 1998
Disclaimers:
Xena: Warrior Princess, Gabrielle, Callisto, Hope, et al, belong to
Universal/MCA Renaissance Pictures. No copyright infringement is
intended.
Author's Note:
I NEEDED to write this, I've already watched the last episode more times
than I should. The ache is still there, I'll stay mad until September,
when we see how Xena saves Gabrielle...again. *s* Here's to the two
fictional characters I love to watch each week, may we continue to bring
them into our homes for awhile yet.
I never saw it coming.. if I had I would have stopped her some how, one
minute she was here, the next.
I looked on as she threw herself against the evil that was her child,
into the chasm where Dayhok emanated from. Silence...then as she fell
she turned and I saw her face.
The one I grew to love, I was WILLING to die, so the Dayhok could not
re-enter the world, I told her that.
She WASN'T supposed to die...not Gabrielle.
"GAB-BRI-ELLE!!!", I shouted as I dropped down. I'll never forget her
calling to me: "XEE-NA!!!"
She was no longer holding on to her daughter, who never cried out, after
all, she was going to her father once again.
I had almost shut down, I could make out Joxer's voice as he cried out
her name.
THEN..
The laughter, bubbling up from Callisto, her gleefulness. She tormented
me, how she could "FEEL" again, what she witnessed gave her life meaning
once more, thanking me for giving that back.
I rose from the edge of the chasm, the dagger with the hind's blood on
it, turning, I thrust it into her, my mind re-playing my last site of
Gabrielle.
"No more living for you", I told Callisto. You could say she goaded me
into killing her, which is what she wanted.
Ares... God of War.. possibly my father, my anger for him know no
bounds, he means nothing to me. He has created his worse enemy..
I stayed there in Dayhok's temple, wracking my brain for a plan,
anything to keep my demons at bay.
I find myself calling out her name as if she's still here...
"GODS...WHY!!"
Joxer has not left my side, I know he loved her. There is a hardness to
his eyes, the same look I faced everyday for ten years, I won't let him
fall into the same trap.
My chest aches.. the weight is tremendous. I can sense the wetness on my
check as the lone tear makes its way down.
I should FEEL something, anything..
Nothing.....
I'm ashamed, did I love Solon more than I loved Gabrielle?
No..
I keep denying to myself that she's truly gone. There has to be some way
to get her back, we've done it before...
"GAB-BRI-ELLE.... DON'T YOU LEAVE ME HERE.. I CAN'T DO IT ALONE..
please."
"Xena.. Xena..."
"Gab...Gab-bri-elle?"
"I'll always be with you...always. Get some rest, you'll know what to
do in the morning."
My eyes flutter, I resist, the more I fight it, the harder it becomes to
stay awake.
"Sleep.. sleep, that's it. You'll know what to do, you always do. I
love you Xena."
The morning comes, I rise, looking over to Joxer, he's a good man. I'll
send him to my mother's, she needs to get things ready for when
Gabrielle and I come home.
"Oh yes, my bard, you are coming home", I whisper, as I watch the
breaking of the dawn.