"Circle, Part Two" by Brian Davis ( fluffsterbrian@yahoo.com )

Disclaimer: Characters from Xena: Warrior Princess are the property of MCA/Universal, Studios USA, and Renaissance Pictures. The story is mine.

Warning: This story has some frank lesbian sexual content and is intended for adult readers.

Thanks and Gratitude: To Katelin B. and Lady Adrell for their support and encouragement of my writing.

Authors Note: This story is a sequel to my alternative timeline story "Circle". If you haven’t read the original story, this one probably won’t make a lot of sense. This story picks up right where the original left off.

by Brian Davis

The rain continued all the next day, much harder than the gentle shower with which it had begun the night before. Lao Ma and Xena had begun the day with their morning tai chi exercises, performed inside the yellow silk tent, rather than in the open air as was their usual custom. The heavy tarp which Xena had secured over the top and upper sides of the tent during the night prevented all but the occasional drop of water from invading the safety of their sanctuary, though the walls shook with the intensity of the wind, and could not shut out the reverberations of the thunder or the flashes of the lightning.

Lao Ma worked quietly at her scrolls, though with an intensity of focus Xena had seen many times before. Xena continued working at her brushstroke painting, though there was no serenity in her heart or mind today.

"I’m going to check on the horses," Xena said, giving up on her painting.

"The horses are fine, Xena," Lao Ma said quietly, looking up from her scroll. There was a reassuring sense of peace in Lao Ma’s expression, but behind it, a look of…concern?

"No, Argo’s upset by the storm, Lao Ma. I can sense it," Xena replied. "I’ll only be gone a couple of minutes. Don’t worry, water never hurt me."

"No, not water," Lao Ma replied. "Yes, Xena. Check the horses."

Without thinking about it, Xena instinctively put on the scabbard with the short curved sword in it, and walked out into the rain. "There now, boy," she said to Lao Ma’s black stallion, stroking the animal’s neck. "Sweet Argo," she said to her own beloved white mare, nuzzling her with her own face. The horses seemed as secure against the rain as the tent. What was it that had made Xena come out here?

Before she had time to think about it, Xena was saddling up Argo, then she was in the saddle, ready to ride. She was about to give Argo the kick in the side that would send the loyal mare charging wherever Xena needed her to go, when suddenly Xena paused for a moment, and looked back through the pouring rain to the yellow tent.

Lao Ma was standing just outside the tent’s entrance, the rain streaming down her black hair and red robe. Xena’s eyes met Lao Ma’s, and Xena was filled with a sudden wave of agony and regret. Lao Ma didn’t look agonized at all, just a touch of sadness and resignation was in her eyes.

Xena sent Lao Ma a wordless plea for guidance with her eyes. Lao Ma gave Xena a slight hint of a smile, and a small nod of her head which Xena knew was her way of saying, yes, it’s all right, go follow your heart.

Xena gave Lao Ma a slight, pained smile in return, and suddenly felt for an instant the love and spiritual connection between them. Then, seized by an impulse she could no longer control, Xena kicked Argo in both sides, and horse and rider charged into the forest.

"Gabrielle!" Xena cried aloud, as Argo carried her onwards through the forest at breakneck speed, lightning illuminating the sky like fire, and thunder roaring across the land. Xena’s untied black hair was plastered against her neck and blue robe by the torrent of rain. As she charged towards Amazon land, all she could see was the beautiful face of the blond Amazon warrior bard, and the piercing green eyes which had cut like a sword into Xena’s soul, that night in the Amazon camp when Xena had seen and heard Gabrielle recite her mesmerizing story.

"Gods be damned! The Tao be damned!" Xena said aloud as Argo charged onwards. "If I have to kill Ephiny and every last Amazon, I’ll make Gabrielle mine! Our love was written before the world was formed, and our destiny transcends anything that stands in our way."

For two days and nights Xena rode as in a fever dream, stopping only to rest and care for Argo, and to catch only the briefest of fitful sleep herself. The storm let up only briefly on the second day, tapering to a gray drizzle, then resumed its full onslaught again towards evening.

It was just after dawn on the third day, and as Xena stared ahead through the wall of rain, the patch of forest she was in started to register as familiar. Xena slowed Argo to a trot, and realized that she had ridden well within the boundaries of Amazon land. Here was the place where Queen Ephiny, Gabrielle, and the rest of the Amazons had bid Xena and Lao Ma farewell, and wished them well on their journey.

Ephiny. Ephiny the powerful and just ruler of the Amazons. Ephiny, the woman who had looked after Gabrielle after the Amazons had rescued her from the warlord who’d destroyed her village. Ephiny, who had grown to love Gabrielle, and had helped guide Gabrielle in her transition from frightened farm girl to full-fledged Amazon warrior. Who’d been as important and good to Gabrielle as Lao Ma had been to Xena.

Queen Ephiny. Gabrielle’s wife. The woman Gabrielle loved as much as Ephiny loved her. What sins I would commit, thought Xena, if I were to harm this noble woman. And what hurt I would cause Gabrielle in the process.

Suddenly, as in the same manner as when Xena and Lao Ma had first encountered the Amazons, Xena found herself surrounded by dozens of well-armed warrior women. Xena drew her sword and readied herself for a fight. She’d come for Gabrielle, and if that meant sins of great magnitude, if it meant the old Xena she’d left behind so many years ago was now being reborn, so be it. If it meant her own death, here and now, or the death of Ephiny, so be it. The rain seemed to pour down harder, as something fierce bubbled up from within Xena, and coursed through her veins like a river of fire in Tartarus.

Suddenly, through the curtain of rain, directly in front of her, came a voice which shot into Xena’s heart like a metal-tipped spear. "Please! Wait! Everyone, hold off!" came the piercing voice of the blond warrior bard, as Gabrielle came into view, unarmed and running on foot. "No one has to die here today. Amazons, hold your positions! Xena, put away your sword. I’m coming with you."

Another figure, a woman on horseback, emerged out of the rain behind Gabrielle. It was Queen Ephiny, her sword sheathed at her side, and her normally curly hair plastered to the sides of her neck and face by the downpour. A bolt of lightning struck a nearby tree, and almost instantly, the air was shattered by the sound of a tremendous harsh crack.

Ephiny addressed Xena. "A curse fell upon Amazon land, and our goddess Artemis deserted us, the day you arrived in our lands. I’m not here to fight you, Xena. I’ve already lost. For reasons even Gabrielle can’t explain to me, she has decided to leave us to go with you. I’d hoped Lao Ma would put a stop to this, but I see she no longer rides with you. So now I have no hope."

Xena looked into Ephiny’s eyes, then replaced her sword in its scabbard. Xena turned her gaze to Gabrielle. The object of Xena’s desire was looking up at Ephiny, tears in her eyes. "Ephiny…" Gabrielle began.

"No more words," Ephiny said to Gabrielle, a look of scarcely disguised anguish on Ephiny’s face. "Your time as an Amazon has come to a close. Go, Gabrielle. Go with Xena. And go with the protection of Artemis. And…go with my love."

"I love you Ephiny," said Gabrielle.

Ephiny turned her gaze back to Xena. "If you ever hurt her, I swear I’ll hunt you down and kill you, Xena."

"Queen Ephiny, you’re a good woman," said Xena. "I never wanted to hurt–"

"No more words!" commanded Ephiny. "Take her, and don’t ever trespass on Amazon land again. Or I will kill you."

Xena looked into Ephiny’s eyes a few seconds longer, pain in her heart. Then she looked at Gabrielle, whose green eyes once again burned into her soul, and set her whole body on fire. "Are you sure, Gabrielle?" Xena asked.

Without averting her gaze from Xena’s, Gabrielle said, "Ephiny’s right. No more words. I’m coming, Xena." Then the small warrior bard ran over to the side of Xena’s horse, and Xena lifted her up onto Argo.

Gabrielle put her arms around Xena from behind, and buried her face in her eternal soulmate’s wet black hair. Xena swiftly turned Argo around, kicked the white mare into a gallop, and Xena and Gabrielle rode off into the rain.

…………………………..

On a blanket on the ground, many miles south of both Amazon land and Lao Ma’s camp, the rain poured down on two intertwined female bodies. Neither woman even felt the rain, though, or heard the continuing peels of thunder.

Gabrielle and Xena kissed with a passion Xena had never known before, and, as their tongues dueled with vigorous intensity, Xena felt the blond warrior bard underneath her thrust her fingers deep inside Xena. Xena bucked against Gabrielle’s thigh, not even aware that the circular chi energy flow she’d experienced with Lao Ma was no longer with her. For Xena, there was only Gabrielle, an infinity and eternity of two souls reunited as one.

"Xena….Xena," cried Gabrielle, as her mouth hungrily explored Xena’s neck, and Xena explored Gabrielle’s left breast with her hand, squeezing the nipple between her thumb and forefinger.

"Forever, Gabrielle," Xena cried, then only wordless moans come from both women, as Gabrielle thrust her fingers harder inside Xena, while rubbing Xena’s clit with her thumb. Xena bucked harder against Gabrielle’s thigh, and felt herself headed towards a peak the likes of which she’d never known before.

Seconds later, Xena’s powerful scream mingled with the sound of Gabrielle’s fierce cry, splitting the air over the rolls of the thunder, and the steady sound of the pouring rain….

FIN

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