Gabrielle sat silently watching her Amazons animatedly talk about their mates and leaned closer to Ephiny. "Ephiny, do you and Epinon do a lot of things together like these other Amazons do with their mates?"
Ephiny looked at Gabby with a smirk, "oh, by the gods no. The highlight of her life is going out on hunting trips with Xena." She laughed and rolled her eyes.
"Xena and I used to do everything together. Now, I can barely get her to do anything with me. It really bothers me that all of these Amazons do everything with their mates and their own Queen does nothing with her partner. I’m going to make a change in that aspect." Gabby had a determined look in her eye as she turned from looking at the other Amazons to her faithful Regent. "Don’t you want to share more of your life with Epinon?"
"Nah, just as long as she is around for sex I’m good to go." Ephiny laughed and nudged Gabby.
"Ephiny, you can’t be serious?" Gabby asked with a laugh.
"Well, it would be nice if she wasn’t such a stick in the mud, but I like having my independence and I’m not sure I could handle being around my mate constantly, especially on those boring hunting trips."
"I want to be with Xena more often and I intend to spend as much time with her as possible. Even if it means going on the hunting trip with her." Gabby smirked and inhaled deeply, resolved to do just that.
"Good for you, but just remember to be careful what you ask for. It might not be what you’re looking for. I mean, Gabby do you really want to go hunting with Xena? To trample through the brush and hunt down an animal, kill it and then skin it?" She asked mockingly, knowing that Gabby didn’t enjoy such things.
Gabrielle shuddered at the thought and looked at Ephiny sheepishly. "Well, not really but that’s what she likes to do, so I need to make an effort to share that part of her life with her. Besides, when we were out on the road I would help her."
Ephiny narrowed her eyes in skepticism. "Gabby, you cooked the food AFTER she killed and skinned the animal. You never actually watched or did it yourself." She reminded with a laugh.
"True, but I’m going to do this so I can get closer to her. I miss sharing the little things with her." She told her and stood up, then turned to walk away.
"Okay, but just be careful of those crazy bunnies!" Ephiny called out as she watched Gabby walk away, laughing when she turned back to her with narrowed eyes and pointed at her warningly. "Gabby, hunting and skinning an animal. Now that might be worth paying to see." She chuckled under her breath and walked off towards her hut.
***
Gabby approached Xena who was attending to Argo. "Hi honey," she greeted her warrior, wrapping her arm around Xena, and lightly kissing her bare arm.
"Hey, Gabby. What’s the love of my life up to?" She cheerfully asked and kissed her bard on the forehead.
Gabby leaned her head against Xena’s arm. "Oh, I was thinking that we just don’t do many things together anymore. I thought maybe I could join you on your hunting trip and we could do some fishing too."
Xena stopped brushing Argo and looked at her faithful horse. Argo’s ears flicked once and she neighed softly before they both turned to look back at Gabby in shock. "Are you serious?" She was surprised that Gabrielle would even suggest such a thing.
"I’m very serious, when can we go?" Gabby asked eagerly, oblivious to the exchange that had just taken place between Xena and Argo.
The tall warrior stared at Gabby momentarily and wondered if she were pulling her leg, as well as Argo’s, with her request. When she saw that her partner was serious, she replied, "well, aah let me finish up with Argo and we’ll talk about this some more."
"Sure, I’ll see you back at the hut. Xena I’m so excited about spending this time with you." Gabby smiled flirtatiously. She kissed her on the cheek and giggled as she walked away.
Xena turned to Argo in disbelief. "That was Gabby right?" She asked the horse and chuckled when Argo bobbed her head, neighing in response. "I wonder if she ate some tainted nut bread or has she been into the port already today." She asked and laughed when Argo pawed the ground in agreement.
Xena thought for a moment and then decided she knew exactly who she needed to talk to about this. Patting Argo on the side, she walked off toward the center of the village.
"No, nothing like that Xena," Epinon answered as Xena paced the hut in front of her.
Stopping, Xena turned to face her and asked, "What do you mean?"
"Ephiny mentioned that Gabby was bothered by the fact that the other Amazons get to do things with their mates and she doesn't. Since she's the queen, she thinks she should be able to go too. So, now she says she wants to go hunting with you to show she can spend time with you too."
"Oh, really?" Xena asked with a smirk, as the realization of what Gabby was up to hit her. It was just because the others went and did things together, not out of any great love of hunting with her that Gabby wanted to go on this trip.
"Yep, can’t imagine why Gabby would go that far out of her element like that just to spend time with you. You do realize that if she actually enjoys going on the hunting trips it will ruin all of our fun?" Epinon asked with a laugh.
"Well, I’ll have to make sure she doesn’t enjoy it then, won't I." Xena’s tone was laced with sarcasm as she smiled mischievously.
"Just how are you planning on doing that?" Epinon grinned slyly.
"I’ll take her on a trial hunting trip, just the two of us and make it as unpleasant as possible then she won’t want to join our regular hunting trip. It will be a hunting trip to remember!" The two women laughed at Xena's plan.
"Let’s hope it works." Epinon added shaking her head uncertainly before walking away.
"Oh, it will." Xena replied with a chuckle and walked towards their hut, 'trust me, it will'.
***
"Gabby, I’ve decided that, seeing as how you are so interested in going hunting, we’ll go on our own trip tomorrow, and if you enjoy that, then I’ll take you on our usual one with the other Amazons."
"Oh, fantastic! I can’t wait! Thank you, honey. We are going to have so much fun!" Gabby proclaimed enthusiastically and hugged Xena tightly.
"Definitely." Xena answered and held Gabby, hoping that their trial trip would be unpleasant enough that she wouldn’t want to make the main hunting trip. These ritual trips had become a get away for most of her hunting buddies from their respective mates. The amazons that did have their mates with them seemed to be envious of the ones who were alone.
"I’ll be back in a little while, I have to let Ephiny know that I will be gone and what she needs to do in my absence." Gabby told her after breaking the hug. "Bye, honey." She smiled after kissing Xena and exited the hut.
"Bye!" Xena called out after she disappeared. If Gabby had turned around, she would have seen the tall warrior with a very broad smile on her face as she anticipated the adventure ahead.
***
"Eph! She agreed to let me go." Gabby called out exuberantly when she approached.
"Wow, how did you manage that one? Did you threaten her with no sex or did you seduce her into agreeing?" Ephiny asked with a laugh, knowing that always worked on Epinon.
"No silly!" She giggled and blushed embarrassed by Ephiny’s comment. "I told her I wanted to spend more time with her. She decided to take me on a hunting trip tomorrow to see if I will enjoy that. If I do, then she’ll take me on their main trip. I’m so excited and happy that she agreed to it."
"Don’t get so happy my dear Queen. She has something planned for you to keep you from making that main hunting trip."
"What? How do you know that?" She was slightly perturbed.
"You’d be amazed what information you can get out of someone with one seductive kiss." Ephiny answered with a sly smirk and a wiggle of her eyebrows. "Epinon told me that she intends to make the trip very unpleasant for you so you won’t want to go on the main hunt with them. From what I gather, they don’t want their mates to join in on their beloved hunt."
"Is that so. Well, I guess we’ll just have to come up with something to counter what she has planned for me." Gabby answered, already plotting ahead.
"Gabby what are you planning and how do you intend to involve me in this scam?" Ephiny asked nervously. Whenever the blonde got that glint her eye, it usually meant trouble for Ephiny.
"Oh, it won’t be too painful Eph. This is what I intend to do." Gabby grinned and leaned closer to Ephiny, whispering in her ear.
***
Gabby and Xena walked along the path, weighted down with their camping gear and Xena also carried her bow and quiver of arrows on her shoulder. "I still don't understand why we couldn't bring Argo to carry this stuff," Gabby complained as the straps of her backpack cut into her shoulders. The weight kept shifting and the uneven balance kept her walking off kilter. She shifted the backpack farther on her shoulders and trudged up the trail behind her partner.
"Because Argo isn't a pack horse and she needs the rest," she repeated for the umpteenth time. 'Wouldn't do to have her worn out for the real trip next week', she thought smiling to herself. She quickly wiped the smirk off her face and turned to look at the blonde. "You want to go back?"
Gabby's head popped up at the question and she shook her head firmly, "No, not at all. I was just curious because you never go anywhere without Argo, I couldn't help wondering why you left her home this time."
"Oh, okay." Xena turned back around whistling as she led the way down the path. 'I think another two miles should do it.' She had made sure that Gabby's pack was just as heavy as her own. In their other travels, she had always carried the lion share of the load, but this time, she decided to turn the tables.
Gabby let Xena get a few steps ahead of her and, when she was sure she wasn't looking, she looked back down the trail to see if Ephiny was still following them. There wasn't any movement or sound to give away the Amazon, but Gabby knew that she was back there when she heard the low whistle. Smiling, she turned back around and caught up with her partner.
***
At just about sunset Xena decided to stop for the night and Gabby just sat down on the nearest rock, too tired to even remove the weight that threatened to pull her over backwards all day long. She wasn't sure what Xena had packed, but it felt like she was carrying most of their worldly possessions on this trip.
"Is this where we are fishing? The water looks too shallow to catch any fish." She commented staring at the small brook before them.
"No, my favorite place is farther upstream, but this is a better place to camp." Xena answered and began to unpack her bedroll.
***
"Oh, Gabby it’s time to wake up." Xena said in a singsong lilt and waited for her blonde bard to wake.
"Gabby." She repeated and still, no response. She looked around and saw Gabby’s scroll and quill lying nearby. She grinned mischievously and picked up the quill. Squatting down, she tickled Gabby’s nose with the quill. Gabby brushed the offensive object away from her nose and rolled over, grumbling something inaudible. "Hmmm." Xena muttered and realized she was going to have to resort to something far more drastic. She leaned down close to Gabby’s ear and shouted, "GABBY!" startling the slumbering bard out of her sleep.
Gabby jumped up to a sitting position and looked at her warrior with a startled look that quickly turned evil. "Xena! Have you lost your mind?" She asked, perturbed by the rude awakening. "I thought I told you to wake me slowly so I don’t get a headache!"
"Hey, I tried to wake you slowly, but I got no response. So, I had to wake you by the next best method."
"Yeah, well why are we up so early?" She mumbled as she wiped the sleep from her eyes.
"You, my love, are the one who wanted to spend time with me and, if we want to catch a lot of fish, we have to get up early. So, let’s get going." Xena encouraged and grabbed the fishing poles.
Gabby stood up mumbling under hear breath for the early wake up call. Picking up their sacks, she followed Xena down the trail towards the warrior's favorite fishing spot.
***
The sun was high in the sky by the time they reached the stream. "How much farther Xena? I’m tired of walking." Gabby whined and removed her boot, tired from the long trek. She turned it upside down to remove the offensive pebble within.
"I like fishing farther upstream." Xena answered as she helped to steady Gabby, who was attempting to put her boot back on.
"You know, I think I’m going to fish from this part of the river." She put her foot down and looked up at her tall warrior.
"Gabby, the fish are better upstream then here."
"I’ll bet you I catch more fish from here than you do from upstream." Gabby smiled, challenging her partner.
"Oh, really?" Xena smirked as she looked at her. "Okay, I’ll take that challenge and see you in a little while." She smiled mischievously and kissed Gabby before walking through the brush out of sight.
Gabby quietly walked up towards the opening of the brush and watched as Xena settled upon a spot farther upstream from her.
"Ephiny." She called out in a hushed tone as she looked through the trees. She didn’t see her cohort in crime and grew more concerned that her plan was not going to work. "Ephiny." She whispered again and jumped up startled when Ephiny repelled from the tree above her.
"Yes, my queen. Can I be of service to you?" Ephiny chuckled as she looked at Gabby.
"Very funny." She smirked from the quirky comment. "Where’s the fish?" She asked and held out her hand, and then looked over her shoulder to make sure Xena was still in her fishing spot.
"Here you go." Ephiny held out a string of freshly caught fish. She had already been up at the stream that morning to catch them.
"You’re the best. Where will you be hiding out?"
"Just down the pass. I didn’t want to get too close."
"Good idea. I don’t want Xena figuring anything out. Okay, get going and I’ll call for you later. I have a very important nap to take while I wait for my warrior to return." She smiled devilishly and watched as Ephiny tugged on the vine and ascended back up to the trees.
"Ha ha Xena. Let’s see how many fish you bring back." Gabby chuckled as she looked over the fish she had in her possession. She put the fish in her sack and sat down in the shade next to a tree, leaning her head against it. "Aah, now back to my interrupted sleep." She mumbled and closed her eyes.
***
Xena walked up to their campsite shaking her head in disbelief that she was only able to catch two fish. She stopped in her tracks when she saw Gabby napping against the tree. She smiled wickedly and walked towards the sleeping bard.
Gabby’s nose twitched, something wasn’t right. Visions of wet leather came to her mind and she mumbled, "Xena you really need to take a bath."
"Oh, really?" Xena answered incredulously and lightly slapped her in the face with the wet, stinky fish.
Gabby’s eyes flew open when a cold slimy object touched her face. She quickly swatted at the dangling offensive fish and looked up at Xena through narrowed eyes. The reclining woman then grinned mischievously and said, "That’s it? Just two? I think you’re slipping in your old age my love."
"Oh, like you did better?" Xena quipped sarcastically and moved the fish away from Gabby’s face, even though she wanted to give her another love slap with the slimy fish for that comment.
"Well yes, in fact, I did do better than you my love." Gabby smiled devilishly and stood up with her sack. She squared up to Xena and reached in the sack. She pulled out the lead full of fish and held it before her tauntingly wiggling the fish.
Xena’s mouth dropped open in disbelief and embarrassment that Gabby caught more fish than she. "But how…" Xena’s voice trailed off as she stared at Gabby’s fish.
"I told you this was a better place to fish, but you didn’t believe me, darling." Gabby smirked.
Xena cleared her throat and shifted her weight from one leg to the other, hating the fact that she was going to have to congratulate Gabby. "Good job, hun." She replied grudgingly.
"So, what do you have planned for us now?" Gabby questioned enthusiastically and put her fish back in the sack. She smiled as she wrapped her arm around Xena’s waist and looked up at her. "Shall we go back to camp?"
Xena was still preoccupied with her thoughts of trying to figure out how Gabby caught so many fish. She wanted revenge. "How about we head back to camp and the last one there has to scale and cook the fish?" Xena challenged.
"Oh, you are such a sore loser because I caught more fish than you did." Gabby taunted.
"Okay, to prove to you that I’m not a sore loser I’ll give you a head start and I’ll carry everything back." Xena offered with a smirk, knowing she was going to easily beat Gabby back to the campsite.
"Ooh, you got it darling. I’ll see you at the campsite." Gabby smiled and moved onto her tiptoes to kiss Xena on the cheek.
"Good luck." Xena chuckled and watched as Gabby started to walk away.
"You too." Gabby smiled and winked before disappearing.
"There is no way she’s going to beat me back to the campsite." Xena mumbled as she picked up their belongings.
***
Gabby ran down the path until she was sure she was far enough away from Xena and stopped. "Ephiny, where are you?" She called quietly.
"Right here, what’s up?" Ephiny answered stepping out from the bushes.
"I need to beat Xena back to the campsite and she’s right behind me." She told her out of breath.
"Well, you’re chariot awaits." Ephiny chuckled and pointed to the horse tied to a tree off the path.
"Great, just what I need a horse. Let’s hope this one likes me more than Argo." She quipped and climbed on after Ephiny mounted the horse. "Don’t forget, we have to stay off the path or Xena will see the tracks." She reminded and ducked as Ephiny guided the horse through the tall brush.
***
Ephiny stopped the horse near their campsite and watched as Gabby dismounted. "I’ll run the rest of the way. I need you to meet me in the early morning. Xena mentioned going bow hunting." Gabby looked up at her.
"Don’t worry I’ll be here." Ephiny smirked and rode off through the brush.
Gabby turned and ran down the path to their campsite. She grabbed the water skin and took a sip of water, laughing that Xena had not arrived yet.
***
Gabby paced the campsite looking through the trees to see were Xena was. ‘Where is she? It’s been quite awhile since I left her.’ She wondered and sat down near the tree. She snapped her head around when she heard a crack of a branch and saw Xena hurrying into camp, flushed and out of breath.
Xena stopped in disbelief that Gabby had beaten her to the campsite. She dropped their belongings and bent over with her hands on her knees trying to catch her breath as she had run a full out sprint all the way back. ‘I can’t believe she beat me. I am losing it!’ She thought dismayed. She had even taken a shortcut back to camp.
"Are you okay? What took you so long? I was worried when you weren’t here when I got back." She tried to sound sincere, but inwardly she was laughing hysterically as she patted Xena on her back.
Xena looked up and saw the water skin lying near the tree. She stood up and walked towards it as she wiped the sweat from her brow. She picked it up and held it above her mouth, with nothing coming out. "No water?" She asked and looked back at Gabby.
Gabby grinned sheepishly. "Oh, I’m sorry I used it all. I had enough time to wash my hair."
"You washed your hair?" Xena responded incredulously as she stared at Gabby.
"Yes and it was so refreshing." She smiled thoroughly satisfied and shrugged her shoulders. "Here, let me have the skin and I’ll go get some water for you. You look exhausted." The blonde offered.
"No, no that’s okay. I’m good." Xena thwarted her offer, embarrassed that Gabby had beaten her and there was no way she was going to allow Gabby to cater to her. Xena grumbled to herself as she staggered to the brook to refill the water skin.
Gabby watched and snickered under her breath. ‘That’s what you get for trying to trick me.’ She watched as Xena walked back with the water skin and sat near the tree, resting her weary body. "So, is this what you all do on your hunting trips? It doesn’t seem very hard to me." Gabby said and sat next to her.
Xena sighed trying to contain her temper as she looked at her. "I think we should get some sleep, we have an early morning hunt tomorrow." She suggested and took another sip of the water. ‘Let’s see how well you do tomorrow.’ She said under her breath.
"Wait, I thought we were going to eat fish this evening and you were supposed to cook it? I’m really hungry." Gabby said and rubbed her stomach.
Xena turned to Gabby with a menacing expression and looked at the backpack that sat near her. She reached in a grabbed a bundle and tossed it to her. "Eat this!" She retorted sarcastically and retired to her bedroll.
Gabby opened the bundle and took out a piece of bread, giggling quietly. "I was so hungry for fish too!" She taunted.
"Gabby." Xena replied in a low assertive tone and pulled the blanket over her head.
Gabby covered her mouth to conceal her laughter. She shoved the bread in her mouth to contain her giggling at what she was doing to her warrior, knowing that this was killing Xena.
***
Gabby woke before Xena to put into action the next phase of her plan. She was surprised when she saw that Xena was still sleeping and didn’t stir after she got up. She quietly walked towards the edge of the brush after seeing Ephiny peek out.
"How are we going to do this?" Gabby asked in a whisper as she looked at Ephiny.
"I tied a piece of cloth on that tree as a target." She pointed out the target in question.
"Where?" Gabby asked and squinted her eyes trying to see where Ephiny was referring.
"There." She reiterated in a whisper and pointed again.
"Oh, there. Okay. So, where will you be?"
"I’m going to be behind this bush. You need to stand right next to it and make sure Xena stays behind you or else she’ll see me shooting the arrow for you." Ephiny explained in a whisper as she looked at Gabby.
"Won’t she see that my arrow isn’t the one hitting the target?" Gabby questioned confused.
"No, just make sure you stand as close to the bush as possible and shoot it to your left at exactly the moment I shoot the arrow. Take a deep breath and sigh loudly, that will be the cue to shoot. This would be so much easier if you knew how to shoot an arrow."
"I know, but I’m really bad at it." Gabby whined with a sheepish grin.
"You’re the Queen of the Amazons Gabby. I think it’s about time you learn." She teased sarcastically.
"I know and I will. Now let me go wake up my grumpy warrior." She grinned and walked back towards Xena.
She knelt beside her. "Oh, Xena." She crooned softly as she stared at her. She snickered when she heard Xena snoring. "Xeeeennnaaa." She said a little louder with no response. "Xena!" She shouted and thumped her on the forehead with her finger.
"Why I oughtta…" Xena replied with a threatening look after she sat up quickly.
"Now, maybe you’ll remember to wake me slowly." Gabby grinned.
"Yeah, yeah." Xena grumbled and rubbed her face to wake up.
"Come on honey, it’s time to hunt!" Gabby giggled excitedly and grabbed Xena’s hand as she stood up, pulling her along with her.
"Are you sure you are going to be okay shooting with the bow?" Xena asked with a skeptical look.
"Oh, no problem. I’ve been up practicing." Gabby flashed a smile and waved off Xena’s comment as she leaned over, picking up the bow. She reached down and lifted the quiver of arrows. She put it around her neck and moved it to her back. She then reached back and removed an arrow. "Okay, see that piece of white cloth down there?" She asked and pointed it out.
Xena craned her neck and looked around. "Where?" She questioned and squinted her eyes to see where Gabby was referring.
"There!" Gabby reiterated and pulled Xena down by the shoulder for a better view as she pointed it out.
"Oh, that one. Okay. Are you sure you can hit that? It’s pretty far down there."
"I can do it, but stand right here just in case. You never know as good as I am, there could be a wild one." Gabby chuckled and pointed where she wanted Xena to stand, completely out of line to see Ephiny shoot the arrow.
She walked to the bush and looked back at Xena, flashing a smile. She turned back towards the target and readied the bow and arrow. She inhaled deeply and sighed loudly as Ephiny had instructed just before releasing the arrow.
Xena heard the whistle of the arrow and the thud it made when it hit the target. Her eyes widened in disbelief and looked at Gabby who turned to her.
"See, I shoot pretty good." She smiled proudly.
Xena arched her brow in skepticism looking at Gabby. "Beginner’s luck." She commented flatly.
"Okay, I see that you still don’t believe me so I’ll do it again." She smiled and turned back, then readied the bow. Sighing, she shot the arrow and hit the target again.
‘No way. This can’t be happening.’ Xena thought in disbelief of what she just saw.
Gabby turned and smiled. "I am shooting so good. I think I’ll do another." She announced enthusiastically and readied the bow, quickly shooting the arrow.
Ephiny scrambled to get her arrow ready to shoot, but Gabby was too quick.
Gabby grimaced when she realized she shot the arrow before Ephiny and watched as the arrow finally hit the target. She turned back around to Xena and smiled. "Wow, that was crazy huh?" She chuckled nervously and walked towards her. "Well, I think I’m ready to go hunting." She said in a hurry, trying to keep Xena from finding out the truth.
"Wait a minute, something fishy is going on." Xena said with a skeptical look.
"Oh, look do you see that turkey?" She called out and ran towards the bush shooting an arrow awkwardly over the bush.
"What turkey?" Xena questioned as she looked around, not seeing the animal Gabby was referring to.
Gabby ran past the bush out of sight and grabbed the animal from Ephiny. "Ephiny, it has no feathers."
"I couldn’t help it. I couldn’t find a wild one, so I had to buy one from a merchant."
"Gabby!" Xena called out wondering where she had disappeared to and walked towards the bush.
***
"Get out of here." Gabby shooed Ephiny away in a hushed tone.
"Gabby?" Xena said as she peaked around the bush.
Gabby stood upright with the featherless turkey in her hand a grinned sheepishly. "Look honey, what I just killed." She smiled proudly and held it out to Xena.
Xena looked at the animal and knew her bard had tricked her. "Wow, you do some really good shooting Gabby. Not only did the arrow kill it, but it’s featherless too!"
"Well, what can I say? I’m good." Gabby smiled nervously knowing that Xena was going to kill her when she found out she had played a trick on her. "So, let’s go eat." She chuckled and attempted to walk past her.
"No wait. I think I see another turkey in those bushes right there, and it’s a big fat one too!" Xena commented and pulled her chakram off her side. She was ready to throw it and Gabby stopped her.
"No, Xena no, it’s not necessary to get another one. This one is big enough." She attempted to bring her attention away from where Ephiny was hiding, but couldn’t as Xena walked towards the bush.
She reached in and grabbed Ephiny by the arm, pulling her out. "Well, here’s the fat turkey I saw!" She pulled her to her feet and stared menacingly at her.
"Xena, Gabby wow, I can’t believe I ran into you two here." Ephiny smiled nervously trying to get the two of them out of the sticky situation, and glanced past Xena to Gabby who was waving her hand to get her to stop. It was no use, they were in big trouble with the Warrior Princess.
"Yeah, it sure is." Xena growled and turned to Gabby. "What in tartarus is going on?"
"Oh, okay I’ll tell you." Gabby relented and moved closer to Xena. "Epinon told Ephiny what you had in store for me with this trip so I thought I would turn the tables on you instead. Ephiny helped me with everything at my request."
Xena turned to look at Ephiny. "Hey, I’m just following orders. She is my queen after all." Ephiny grinned and shrugged her shoulders.
Xena looked back to Gabby. "I really don’t want to go on your hunting excursions, I just want to spend more time with you so there will be a balance. I’m sorry. " Gabby hoped Xena would understand as she smiled.
"I’m sorry for not spending more time with you too." She smiled and moved towards Gabby, hugging her. "You got me good little lady. Here I thought I was getting old and it was you two playing tricks on me." Xena laughed, as did Gabby and Ephiny.
"Well, you are getting old, but you’re my old warrior." Gabby grinned and hugged Xena tighter, who did the same as the group laughed in unison.
Xena kissed Gabby on the head and said, "I love you Gabby."
Gabby smiled and looked up at her saying, "how could you not?"
"You two get a hut." Ephiny remarked sarcastically and the group laughed.
Fade to I Love Gabby theme song and credits.