Meg

Chapter One

Dreams

"Ya know what? I'm cookin' in here. I need somethin' to wet my whistle," Meg complained.

"Try that," Joxer said, handing her a small, metal flask of wine.

Meg took a long drink. "Thanks."

"Hey -- what's with this whole cake thing?"

"Well, I needed a way to earn a few extra dinars," she said as she swiped a finger through the thick cream that covered her breasts, as well as her genitals, then stuck her finger into Joxer's mouth.

"Mm-m-m-m."

"What do you think?" she asked.

"Banana cream. My favorite." Then after a few moments, he said, "You know? A classy lady like you shouldn't be here. I'm gonna take you away from all this."

"You are?"

"Yeah."

"Well, what happened to your other good friend -- Gabrielle?" she asked, sounding slightly sarcastic.

"Oh, her?" he replied, now becoming somber. "Haven't you heard? She's dead."

"I'll drink to that," Meg said cheerfully, and a took another swallow from the flask.

Joxer now became angry and grabbed the flask from her. "Can't you see I'm grieving here?"

"Well, sorry, Babycakes, but dead is dead. Can't change that."

"No -- but I can try," he said, and stormed out.

"Hey, wait a minute! These cherries cost 5 dinars a bushel!" she yelled at him, pointing to the two cherries she had put into the cream where her nipples would be.

Harry woke up suddenly and sat up, somewhat disoriented. He then realized he was in his own bed. He laid back down, and told himself and it was just a dream. Just another dream. Just another dream about Meg.

He wasn't sure when the dreams began. He could have been having them most of his life but never remembered them √ until just after Xena and Gabrielle showed up a month ago. And once they were settled in with Annie and Mattie, the dreams became more frequent, more realistic, and left him longing for more. At first he thought the dreams were just random scenes, not making sense, as most dreams are. But then he began to realize they were more than just dreams. They were actual memories of his life as Joxer. And all of them included Meg.

Every time he would wake up from the latest memory dream, he would try to remember the actual circumstances surrounding it. Sometimes he was successful, sometimes not. This time it took a while but he finally remembered some of it. Xena had signed a scroll promising to marry Ares if he would help her find Gabrielle after she fell into the lava pit and taking Hope with her. He, as Joxer, had ordered a huge fake cake with a woman inside to try to tempt Ares into wanting her instead of marrying Xena. Unbeknownst to him, Meg was the one inside the cake.

Harry looked over at the clock. It was 5:15, still too early, but he had a feeling he wouldn't be able to get back to sleep. And being as quiet as he could, he took a shower, got dressed, went into the kitchen and started the coffee. He then started slicing potatoes and dicing onions to fry up for breakfast.

"The coffee smells good."

Harry turned around to see Annie standing in the door from the dining room. He immediately poured a cup of the strong brew and handed it to her. He then turned back to the counter and put the onions and potatoes into a frying pan and set the pan on the burner.

"They might actually cook if you turned on the burner."

"Oh, yeah," he replied and reached for it, but Annie's hand was on his, stopping him.

"Why don't you pour yourself a cup of coffee?" she said. "Let's have a talk."

Harry hesitated, then nodded his head and began to fix his coffee -- three teaspoons of sugar and one fourth of the cup with French Vanilla creamer.

After his first sip, Annie began. "I know you think we're so wrapped up in each other that no one pays much attention to you, and you're right. But it doesn't mean we don't know when you're around and when you're not. And it doesn't mean we don't know when things are bothering you. Mattie and I both have noticed that you've been distracted lately, and you're not as open and as cheerful as you were before Xena and Gabrielle showed up. Are they the problem? Would rather they weren't here?"

"What? No! Of course not! I love them being here! It's just that. . . ." Harry hesitated, not exactly sure how to say what he wanted to say while Annie waited patiently. "It's just that I've been having these dreams."

"Nightmares?"

"No. Nothing like that. Good dreams, you know?"

"Care to share?"

"Well, I've been dreaming about -- Meg."

"Meg? Okay. What kind of dreams?"

"Well, they're not really dreams. I mean, they ARE, but they're more like √ memories. It's like I'm remembering the things we did, but just bits and pieces."

"Are you sure they're memories and not dreams? Dreams can be very realistic sometimes."

"At first I thought they were, but they're aren't crazy like dreams are. They're things I'm certain that happened."

"Can you give me a 'for instance'?"

Harry thought for a few seconds. "Last night I was dreaming about Meg jumping out of large cake at Are-- at someone's bachelor party. And I didn't know Meg was the girl in the cake until she popped out. But I know it happened just that way. At least, I think it did."

"Anything we can do?"

Harry shook his head rather than answer, but Annie knew there was something on his mind.

"Harry? I know you. And I know there is something going on in that quirky little brain of yours."

"Well -- I was just thinking about. . . ."

"Hmmm? About. . . ?"

Harry took a deep breath and let it out. "About how the four of you went back to your past lives and got to relive all those times you had, and I was thinking, wondering, hoping if maybe Mattie could do the same thing for me -- and Meg."

"I don't know. But I guess it wouldn't hurt to ask her. I don't know why she would refuse."

"Who would refuse what?" Xena asked as she came into the kitchen and went straight to the coffee pot, then noticed the frying pan of uncooked potatoes and onions. "You do know this isn't cooking, don't you?"

"We know," Annie replied.