Disclaimer: All characters belong to MCA/Universal and Renaissance Pictures. No copyright infringement intended.
A/N: This story takes place after Season 4's A Family Affair, and contains spoilers from Season 3. As always, please read and review NO FLAMES! Also, this story contains heavy gore so if you don't like that kind of good stuff DON'T READ!!!! It's as simple as that.
Xena! No! I'm not gonna let you die! There's no way I'm going to let you leave me again!
"Gabrielle! Are you okay?" Xena asked shockingly as she fiercely shook her bard by her sweating arms.
All that escaped Gabrielle's lips was a soft moan. It was clear that she needed a doctor. "Everything is going to be okay Gabrielle, I promise. I won't let you die."
I have to take her to the shaman doctor. He is the only one I know who can heal you when you are in this state of being.
The hours grew longer and the path harder as Xena trudged through snow, rain, and wind for her friend. After five long days of hiking, Xena sat up camp. "We are almost there Gabrielle. You are going to be fine."
You lied to me Gabrielle. Now Solan, my only son, is dead, and his blood is on your hands.
Gabrielle shook violently as a small crack sounded in the air. "Aphrodite, what are you doing here?" Xena snarled protectively at the Goddess of Love as she drew her sword.
"Wait Xena, I'm not here to cause trouble. I'm just worried about Gabrielle, and I thought I could help." Aphrodite walked over to Gabrielle and placed her hand on the bard's sweaty head. All of a sudden, a golden light shone everywhere. "This is bad. Gabrielle is in a nightmare world, and every nightmare that comes she gets closer to death. The only way for her to live is for you visit the Goddess of Dreams and get her to take you into Gabrielle's nightmares. There you must defeat the evil within. Do you wish to except the challenge? If so, I can take you to the goddesses' temple." Aphrodite explained.
Xena nodded as her, Gabrielle, and Aphrodite disappeared in a flurry of golden sparkles.
Crack "We're here!" Aphrodite said happily as her, Xena and a sleeping, but evidently sick Gabrielle held in Xena's arms arrived at the goddesses' temple.
"It amazes me how you can be in a good mood at a time like this." Xena sneered angrily.
"Well, sweet pea, you can't always have your spirits down or the world wouldn't be worth living in." Aphrodite answered.
Xena smiled at her reply as she lay Gabrielle down at the temple's altar. Then she disarmed her chakram and sword as she prayed, "Goddess of Dreams, please help my friend in need. She needs your powers to help her cure her of awful nightmares."
When Xena finished, the goddess appeared and sat beside Gabrielle. " This girl is in great pain. Why have you brought her to me?"
Gabrielle! Help me! A man's voice screamed as he stared in shock at the woman above him, ready to kill him with the knife armed in her hands. Gabrielle screamed, then slowly ran forward, grabbed the knife out of the woman's hands, and before she knew what she was doing, she had murdered someone with her own hands.
Blood spewed out of Gabrielle's hands and all over her as tears ran down her face and a deafening scream escaped her deadened throat. "That's why." Xena said.
"There isn't much time…" Aphrodite said as she launched into the explanation.
When she had finished, the goddess turned to Xena and said, "You really care about her" If you do this, you know your risking your life. Die in her nightmares, and die in the real world."
"She would do the same for me, so take me in her nightmares. I have to save my friend." Xena said confidently as tears formed in her eyes, imagining what would happen if she was to fail.
"Be careful Xena…" Aphrodite's voice trailed off as the warrior was taken into Gabrielle's nightmares.