Kindred Hearts

by Web Bard

"Hi sweetie," said Gabrielle, taking Eve from the arms of the younger Amazon. "I need you to take care of your mom for me, okay?"

Gabrielle gently caressed the baby's hair as she continued to talk softly, "You know I love you, don't you Eve?" The bard took a deep breath and tried to hold back the sadness that was overwhelming her.

Xena looked up from the last saddlebag she was attaching to Argo. This trial separation was going to be good for both of them, wasn't it?  Wasn't it?  It would give them both a chance to step back and decide on their future lives together. I'm going to remain positive about this, she kept telling herself.  But looking at the sadness in Gabrielle's face was hard to take.  Eve and I need to go now, she thought.  If we don't, we'll never go.

"Finished packing?" said Gabrielle without looking at Xena.

"Yep."

Gabrielle gave Eve one last hug and kissed her on the cheek before putting her in the leather harness attached to Xena's back.

"Xe..", started Gabrielle, finally looking up at her friend.

"No, me first," said Xena. "Look, we're only going fishing for a couple of weeks, okay?  Please don't look at me like this is some kind of final goodbye. It's not. I promise.  I just need some time alone and so do you."

"I wish you wouldn't go...can't we just talk about things?" said Gabrielle pleading with her friend.

"No, I really think this is the best thing for both of us right now," answered Xena.

Gabrielle lowered her head and wiped away the tears that were now streaming down her face.

"C'mere," said Xena as she wrapped her arms around Gabrielle. "I love you, you know that don't you?"

Gabrielle pulled her friend into a tighter hug and whispered back, "Yes, I know you do. I love you, too."

Xena brushed the remaining tears from the bard's face. "I'll see you soon, okay?"

"Okay...please be careful" said Gabrielle as she watched her friend pull herself up on Argo. 

"You, too, my young Queen," said Xena as she smiled at her friend. "Bye."

Xena turned Argo toward the trail and waved at Gabrielle.

Gabrielle waved back. She waited until the warrior and Eve were out of sight, then she slowly dropped to her knees. Her heart was so heavy she could hardly move.

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Xena yawned and stretched her legs on the blanket. She rolled to her side to check on Eve. The baby was sleeping soundly.

"Well, Evie, here we are. Sleeping under the stars. Peace and quiet. No amazons. Just you and me"

The baby stirred, and looked up into her mother's steel blue eyes.  "Mamamama"

Xena giggled and kissed Eve on the forehead.  "That's right honey. It's mamamama."

Eve rolled over to look where Gabrielle usually slept, "Gagagaga"

"She's not here sweetie," said Xena wistfully. "Your Aunt Gabrielle missed you saying her name for the first time. She's gonna hate that. But you'll have plenty of time to tell her, okay?"

Eve patted the empty space. "Gagagaga"

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Gabrielle rolled up the last scroll.  She rubbed her eyes and walked out of the Queen's Hut into the bright sunshine. She didn't sleep at all the night before. She tossed and turned and never once found the peaceful sleep she yearned for.

Her foot caught the corner of something in the grass and she caught herself as she started to trip. "What's this?" she said as she bent down to pick up the offending object.

Gabrielle held the object in her hand and took a deep breath.  It was one of Eve's toys. Xena had handcrafted a small doll made of leather strips, cloth and string for her daughter. The toy was never far from Eve's tiny hands.  "Did you leave this for your Aunt Gabrielle, baby?" said the bard as she held the doll to her chest. "Gods, it's only been a day...I'll never last two weeks"

"Are you hungry little girl?" asked Xena as she reached into the saddlebag for a piece of fruit.  She knew Gabrielle had packed apples and other goodies for them in one of the bags.  Now, where were they?  She closed the first bag and reached into the next one. Her hand wrapped around something familiar, but it wasn't fruit. It was a scroll.

Eve started to crawl toward her mother. Xena pulled out the scroll, then reached into the last bag and found the fruit she was looking for.  "How 'bout I mash up one of these apples for your breakfast and then we'll see what's on this scroll, okay Eve?"

Xena prepared the apple for her daughter and fed her the fruit.  She carefully unwrapped the scroll, fully expecting to read a note from her friend. What she saw before her was a story. A story about her. A story about Gabrielle. And, a story about Eve.

She placed Eve in her lap and began to read.  "I'm sorry Eve," said Xena as a lump rose in her throat. "I didn't expect this." This was about them. The three of them. This was a story about a family.  Xena stopped reading out loud to Eve. She blinked back tears and continued to read silently. Gabrielle had written the story of Eve's birth. The story of going to Tartarus and seeing Solon and bringing him to the Elysian Fields. The story of Hercules and Zeus. The story of a friend who delivered Xena's child. The same friend who held her while she screamed with labor pains. The same friend who threw her body on top of hers when Zeus threatened to throw a thunderbolt to kill Eve. The friend who gently washed her child after her birth and placed her back in her mother's arms.

Xena finished the scroll, picked up Eve and hugged her. "By the gods. What have I done to her, Eve? I should have known better. I knew her heart was breaking when we left and I turned away from her. We're her family, you know? We're her damn family and I took us both away from her. All for some fish and some peace and quiet. Your mom is an idiot, Eve."

"Gagagagaga?" gurgled Eve.

"Yes, baby," answered Xena. "We're going home right now. Home to your Gaga. Home."

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Gabrielle looked around the empty Queens hut. Most of the Amazons had left the village to go hunting. Peace and quiet, huh? The silence was deafening. She picked up Eve's doll and attached it to her belt.  I need to go for a walk. I can't take this anymore.

The young queen left the hut and reached for a walking staff. Maybe she'd practice a few drills with the staff while she was walking. She walked down the path Xena and Eve had taken the day before. Faint outlines of Argo's hooves were still traceable in the dirt. She reached down pressed her hands on the impression.  "Wherever you are, please be safe," she whispered.

Another wave of sadness rushed over her as she methodically walked down the path.  I've lost my center, she thought.  I'm an Amazon queen...but they aren't my family. My family left yesterday. My family is gone.

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"Hey Eve, we're almost back to the Amazon village," said Xena as she glanced back at her daughter in the harness. "Your Gaga is going to be surprised, doncha think?" Xena smiled and nudged Argo in the ribs to go faster.

She could see the outline of someone walking down the path in the distance.  As Argo galloped closer, Xena recognized the woman at the end of the road.

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Gabrielle heard approaching hoofbeats and out of reflex, gripped the handle of her staff. She looked up and tried to make out the horse and rider galloping down the road. Her heart stopped and she dropped the staff. She ran as fast as she could.

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Xena lowered herself from Argo in seconds. She started to walk, then broke into a run toward the small blonde heading her way at a high rate of speed. Xena finally saw the face of her beloved friend and felt her knees go weak. She dropped down and unfastened Eve from her harness, just as a flurry of arms and tears wrapped around the both of them.

Gabrielle took Xena's face in her hands and kissed both cheeks. She ran her hands through her friend's dark hair and smiled. Xena caressed the bard's face and then reached down to place Eve in Gabrielle's arms.  "Gaga?"

Gabrielle's grinned from ear to ear. "She knows my name?" she said to Xena.

"Of course she knows your name," said Xena. "You're her family. I'm your family. But most important of all, you're our family."

Gabrielle couldn't speak. She placed one hand on Xena's knee and gently rocked Eve with her other arm.

"I'm sorry for leaving...it wasn't right of me not to consider your feelings. It was selfish.." said Xena.

"Why...what made you turn around and come back? " asked Gabrielle.

Xena stood up and walked over to Argo. She reached in the saddle bag and pulled out the scroll.

"This," said Xena as she handed the scroll to her friend.

"My scroll. You read one of my scrolls?" said Gabrielle almost shocked that Xena had read one of her precious pieces of writing.

"I promised I would," she said quietly. "I'm so sorry that I never took the time to read them before. You always took such delight in telling them out loud...I guess maybe I thought reading them would be the same thing as hearing you say them, but it wasn't."

  "Well...what do you think?" said Gabrielle.

  Xena sighed. "I never expected them to take my breath away. I never thought they would reach down into my soul and then break my heart open. You have a gift, my bard."

"Thanks," said Gabrielle dropping her eyes away from Xena's. She liked them. She always knew she would.

"Gabrielle, we came home because after reading your scroll, I realized that my life, and Eve's, were not right without you. You complete our family. Do you understand that?" said Xena as she reached for Eve. " No matter what happens in the future, five years or twenty-five years from now, we'll always be family, okay?"

"That goes for me, too - - you know that don't you?" asked Gabrielle.

  Xena nodded, perched Eve on one hip and took Gabrielle's hand as they started walking down the road.  "Let's go home."

"I am home," said Gabrielle, as she squeezed the strong fingers interlaced with hers.