Rewriting the Scrolls
Alternate Ending of XWP: Post Episodes Series
Chapter 1
By Jinxie & Wifey
A/N: All ideas used in this story were created and written by Jinxie and her wife, aka Wifey. The chapter by line will state who is writing each chapter, of if we both contributed then a notation will be made in that section. You do not need to read the "post episode" series that I wrote in order to know these characters.
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters that are owned by the Xena people. I own the names/characters that they don't own.
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End of Season 6: Post Episode 134:
"Gabrielle, that feather is of utmost importance to all Egyptians and gods alike. If you were willing to get it back for me, I'd make it worth your while. Anything you wish for could be yours." He stepped closer to her and whispered "Anything."
"No one can give me what I want." She scoffed as she turned back to the entrance and continued walking to the door.
"I can give you Xena." His voice was confident, but he didn't sound like a sales man. He sounded honest.
She stopped dead in her tracks. Without turning around she replied, "At what cost? I don't like to be indebted to the gods."
"No debt. It would be payment for you returning the feather to me." He walked closer to her as she turned to face him once again.
"I'm not in the mood for games, Anubis." I just wish I could have had more time with her. Gods I miss her. No gods would help Xena and I without wanting more from us. She turns on her heels and storms out of the temple, her mind made up. She will have to live a life without Xena.
xxxx
by Jinxie
Anubis grinned, "As you wish."
…..It was a warm evening in Amphipolis as Xena played in a mud puddle. Yesterday it had rained all day, forcing her indoors to play by herself. Lyceus was sick and in bed; Toris was out hunting with his friend and his friend's father. She didn't particularly like playing alone, though she would never tell anyone such a thing. At twelve years old, she believed in acting tougher than she felt.
She was currently making an Amazon palace out of the wet, sticky mud. Hearing a noise, she looked up to find a woman and her daughter talking near the door of the inn. She perked up her hearing and tried to figure out what they were saying.
"Gabrielle, I'm sure I can find work here. I heard the innkeeper is looking for help in the kitchen. If not, we'll try another town, then head home. Ok?" the woman said to her blonde daughter.
The young girl was about Xena's age. She was a toe head blonde, shorter than average. "Ok mom, I'll wait out here." As her mom handed her satchel to Gabrielle, the blonde looked around. She spotted Xena in the mud and smiled. Her mom walked away into the inn. Xena returned the smile to be polite, but she didn't take too well to strangers. She shifted her position in the mud, sitting up on her knees. She plowed her hand into the palace she built, destroying it easily. "Why did you do that?"
Xena looked up to see green eyes staring down at her. "I was done with it." She shrugged then stood up. Gabrielle cringed at all the mud on the dark haired girl. A little mud splashed on her when Xena shook her hands to get rid of the excess gunk. Gabrielle quickly wiped it off and made another face. "Don't like mud?" Xena asked, noticing the faces the girl had made.
She shook her head, "It's smelly and gross. My mom hates it when I get dirty because she has to do extra laundry in the river. Doesn't your mom get mad?"
"No." Xena turned around and started walking to the back of the inn. Gabrielle followed her. She stopped when she heard footsteps and turned around. Her eyebrow cocked at the blonde.
Gabrielle stopped walking when she noticed Xena had stopped. "What's your name? I'm Gabrielle." Without much of a breath, she continued, "This town is so nice. Do you live near the inn? I hope my mom can get a job here. We've been wandering from town to town for over a month, picking up odd jobs here and there. We really need something steady. I really like this town; it seems very nice. And it's close to home, which is great because I miss home. Do you like living here? I be you do. Who wouldn't, right? I mean, gosh, look how nice everyone is."
Xena kept walking, letting the girl chatter away, without answering any of her questions. She finally reached the back of the inn and stepped up on the porch. "Well, this is home." She opened the door to go in and stopped from closing it when Gabrielle tried to walk in. Why is she following me?
"May I come in? My mom is in here trying to get a job." Her green eyes twinkled at her potential new friend.
"Sure, come in." Xena sighed, as she was not in the mood for another chatterbox. She could barely handle one. Her brother Lyceus never seemed to shut up. for Xena, the worst thing about chatterboxes was all their questions. And she felt so much pressure to pay attention the entire time. Her attention span was quite short.
"Xena!" Cyrene yelled at her daughter as she tracked mud through the kitchen. She got down in Xena's face, which was only slightly lower than hers because Xena was so tall for her age, and scolded her, "What have I told you about washing off before you come inside?"
"I'm sorry mom! But she was following me and I was just trying to lose…" She trailed off realizing what she was about to say in front of Gabrielle. She glanced over and noticed the new girl's smile fade.
Cyrene grabbed Xena by the ear and guided her back out the door. "Wash up, now." She wiped her now muddy hand on the towel that was sitting on her shoulder. "I'm sorry about that, Hecuba. What were we talking about?"
The older blonde woman looked up from watching her daughter's heart being crushed. "Oh, I… Oh yes, we were talking about me living in the room off the kitchen." She pointed towards the door, hoping to be able to see it before they made arrangements for the job.
Cyrene nodded and led her to the back. "It's small, not much room for anything except sleeping. The bed is provided. You're meals would be free, just eat whatever meals you cook. Did I mention the job is just temporary? It's my busy season right now."
"Yes you did. Any work helps, no matter the duration." She walked into the room and noticed that Gabrielle was hot on her heals. She looked down at her daughter then up at the innkeeper, "Cyrene, this is my daughter Gabrielle."
Cyrene smiled, "Welcome Gabrielle. It's nice to meet you. I see you met Xena?"
"If you mean the mean girl that was covered in mud, then yes I met her." Gabrielle was more than a little hurt and mad. She crossed her arms and huffed.
"Gabrielle! Don't call her names." Hecuba looked at Cyrene, her eyes begging for forgiveness. Cyrene just waved it off.
"But mom, you heard her! She was not very nice to me, trying to get rid of me like that. All I was doing is trying to get to know her and make friends." Gabrielle sat on the bed with her arms still crossed. They heard the back door open and Xena walked in. She looked to her right, through the open door to the bedroom. Deciding to avoid the blonde girl, she quickly made her way through the kitchen and up to her room.
Cyrene looked back at Gabrielle, "I'm sorry for what Xena said. She can be very rude sometimes. She keeps to herself a lot, which means she isn't use to talking a lot. Give her another chance; I'm sure you'll get along fine. Now, Hecuba… Do you want to start tomorrow for breakfast?"
The two women walked back into the kitchen making arrangements for Hecuba's new job. As they did so, Gabrielle walked out of the kitchen and into the dining room. She found the room completely empty. She walked over to the nearest wall and began to study the paintings she saw there.
A few moments later, her mother walked out into the dining area and told Gabrielle that it was time for them to get settled for the night. She went into their new room and unpacked her bags, then got dressed into her pajamas. "Mom, is it ok if I sit at one of the tables and read before bed?"
Hecuba smiled at her daughter, happy that she had picked up an interest in poetry. "Of course, honey. Only for a little while, though. If you see Xena again, try to be nice."
Gabrielle gave her mom a smile even though the name Xena made her want to snarl. She put a blanket around her shoulders to keep her warm. There was a fire roaring in the dining room, so she decided to sit next to it for her reading. She quickly dove into the scroll in front of her, losing herself in the words; shutting out everything else.
A few minutes later, Xena walked in with her arms full of wood. She saw Gabrielle next to the fire. Great. That's all I need is someone to talk to and keep me from going to bed. She continued forward to put the firewood in its rack. Instead of carefully setting it down, she dropped it from her standing position. The noise was so loud, Gabrielle jumped a foot in the air and lost her grip on the scroll she was reading. It happened to land in the fire, quickly catching.
"No!" Gabrielle dove towards the fire and tried to reach in to get her precious poetry, but to no avail; the whole thing was on fire and too hot to touch. She sat on her hands and knees looking into the flames as they licked at the parchment, destroying her favorite scroll. Tears came unwelcomed, flowing down her cheeks. Anger began to burn inside her. That's it, this girl is not someone I want to be friends with! She stood up and faced Xena, glaring at her steadily.
Xena looked up from the flames, shrugging, "I had to put the wood down."
"That's all you have to say for yourself! You are such a jerk!" She grabbed her blanket and ran to her room, crying.
Xena looked back at the fire, feeling bad for what she did. But the girl had it coming in her mind; after all, the girl got her in trouble with the mud in the kitchen ordeal.
xxxx
A couple of days went by with more than a few hitches. The two twelve-year-old girls seemed to annoy each other at every turn. Cyrene had been more than upset at Xena's treatment of the new girl, but Xena had an excuse every time. In turn, Hecuba begged her daughter to try her best to get along. She did not want to lose her job because her daughter couldn't get along with the innkeeper's daughter.
One particular fight demanded the attention of both mothers. Xena had acquired her younger brother's help in playing a prank on Gabrielle. The prank ended in Gabrielle being covered in mud and bird feathers. She hated being dirty. Without thinking, she ran into the front door of the inn and spread mud over the dining area. Many of Cyrene's patrons were upset and it caused the room to smell. She had to close the tavern early that night.
In retaliation, Gabrielle put some of her mother's perfume on Xena while she slept. She did not just dab it on, she drenched the tall brunette with it. Of course, being a tomboy made it so that Xena was furious at smelling girly. Xena woke and spotted Gabrielle when she was trying to leave, but Gabrielle ran for her life. Unfortunately, the perfume bottle had broken during the chase.
The punishment was something that both girls hated; mucking stalls…together.
by Wifey
"Okay," the dark haired girl started, "which job do you want to do? I figured we could split the work since there's so much to do…" Xena trailed off as her thoughts went to the vast amount of work they had to do on the stalls.
Her brothers typically did this, but like Xena, they hated it and only performed a half-assed job to get by. For Toris and Lyceus, this usually meant just throwing new hay on top of the old to create what looked like new bedding. Less than an hour of work and they were free for the day. However, Cyrene had caught on when the boys' lack of effort had begun to manifest itself in nasty ways; horse hair was caking in the corners, manure and hay were sticking together, creating a thick, smelly layer of rancid plaster, and the guests' horses were coming out dirtier than when they went in. Not only was this bad for business, it was bad for the poor horses.
Gabrielle felt her stomach turn at the mess before her eyes. Flies. Dirt. Animal Hair. Poop. And not just in one stall, but several. "I say we do one half of a stall each. You start clearing out the straw on one side," she swallowed hard at the realization that it wasn't straw, but manure mixed with old moldy, straw, "and I'll do the other side." She glanced up at the taller girl. This isn't fair! She's the one that's being rude! She's the reason I've gotten filthy and lost a scroll… She felt her temperature rise as her anger grew. "Or you could just do it all yourself since this is your fault."
Xena's eye darted to Gabrielle. "My fault? My fault?" She motioned to herself as her eyes widened in disbelief. "This is your fault! You're such a brat! If you hadn't had been so annoying I wouldn't be here right now!" Her fists clenched at her sides.
"You're such a jer-" Gabrielle was cut off by the sound her mother and Cyrene both clearing their throat. The girls flung their heads around to meet their mother's stares.
Cyrene folded her arms. "Now girls, we told you both that fighting was strictly forbidden during this task. Xena, I want you to apologize for calling Gabrielle a brat and annoying. You know she is neither of those things." Cyrene said, holding up her hand to stop her daughter's protests. "Not a word."
"And Gabrielle," Hecuba said, speaking to her child. "You need to apologize to Xena for blaming this all on her. You are both doing this job because it needs to be done. You are responsible for what happened just as much as Xena is." The blonde's mother said softly as her gaze turned to her new boss.
Cyrene nodded her head agreement and looked at the two young girls before her. "Hecuba is right girls, and please try to understand that this is not only a good way for you two to get to know each other, but it is also a big help to me. I don't trust the boys to do this right, but I'm trusting you girls to. Their punishment for their behavior is much worse than mucking stall, believes me." The innkeeper sighed as she saw the state her horse stalls were in. They were filthy.
The woman gestured to the kids. "Well, we said apologize…" Cyrene said as she waved her hand.
Hecuba gestured to her little girl. "Gabrielle…"
The youths, almost in unison gazed at the ground, then each other, and then back at the ground. "Sorry." They both said softly at the same time.
Cyrene motioned to Hecuba, who gave her approval at the apologies. They were quiet, but it was probably all they were going to be getting out of them at that time. Without another word the women turned to leave.
"Remember, no fighting." Hecuba called out one last time before they were out of sight. "Sorry for all the trouble, Cyre-"
"Don't even worry about, Hecuba. Kids will be kids." The innkeeper assured her.
While Cyrene had originally intended to make boys do this, her and Hecuba found that this was a fitting lesson for the girls. It would teach them hard work…and not destroy each other's property, or else they would have to muck stalls. For her boys' punishment, Cyrene decided that thoroughly cleaning out the guest's waste buckets was good enough to teach them not to lie to mother. Like the stalls, Cyrene and Hecuba promised to check their work; warning them they would have to do it again and again until it was satisfactory.
xxxx
The girls watched their mothers disappear, and turned back to the mess before them. Xena looked down, feeling embarrassed at getting yelled at by her mother. She decided that she would at least try to be nice to Gabrielle. If anything it would make the day pass quicker. "I think your idea was good. We'll both clean a side, then both put new straw down. I'll get the heavy stuff since I ruined your scroll." She was really trying to present an olive branch to the blonde.
Gabrielle nodded with a slight bit of hope that Xena was going to start being nice to her. "And while you're moving the heavy stuff out of the stalls, I'll try to break up the dried manure so that it's easier to shovel out." Gabrielle said, a smile growing on face. She wasn't looking forward to the dirt, but she was looking forward to Xena and her being nice to each other for once. She hoped Xena was a nice person, deep down.
They each smiled at the other then began their tasks.
xxxx
by Jinxie
Mid morning approached and Xena was hungry. She had long since burned off her breakfast and sweated out all the water she had drunk. Deciding it was time for a snack, she looked at the new girl. "You hungry? I think I'll go get a snack for us."
Gabrielle nodded, so Xena walked towards the inn. She found a fresh loaf of nut bread in the kitchen. She licked her lips, excited for the tasty treat. Since her mother and Hecuba were not in sight, she quickly grabbed the bread and ran outside. When was around the corner, she realized she had forgotten to fill up her canteen. Instead of risk being caught with the whole loaf of bread, she decided to go straight back to the barn.
Gabrielle was sitting on a bale of hay, leaning back against the horse stall. She looked like she was asleep. "Hey, I got some nut bread."
The blonde girl immediately perked up at the mention of her favorite food. "Nut bread! I love nut bread. I could eat it for every meal." Gabrielle leaned forward and took it from Xena's hands.
"I've got to go get some water really quick. I'll be right back!" She darted out of the barn and ran to the well behind the inn. She pulled the bucket up and filled the canteen with fresh water. After a few swigs, her stomach rumbled with hunger. She jogged back to the barn to find that the bread was completely gone. "Where is the bread?" Gabrielle looked up at her with a guilt-ridden look upon her face. Xena noticed crumbs around her mouth. The smile she had on her face fell to a frown.
"Uh.." The blonde wiped her mouth on her sleeve. "I ate it?"
"I'm confused. Are you asking me if you ate it or telling me? How could you eat a whole loaf of bread so quickly! I was gone no more than a couple minutes." Xena walked over and looked on the ground all around the bale of hay. She was hoping that Gabrielle was tricking her.
"Xena, I really did eat it. I didn't hide it." She looked down thirstily at the canteen that was now on the floor. "Can I have some water?"
Xena glared at her as she handed the water over. "I can't believe you ate it all. What am I supposed to eat?" Her stomach growled right on cue.
"I'll go get you something else." The blonde stood up and walked out of the barn.
"By the gods, I didn't know someone could eat so much in such a small amount of time!" She sat back against the stall and waited to her friend to come back.
