A/N: I know that this may not be accurate, but I have only watched up to season five. I know Americe was an Amazon friend of Xena and Gebrielle's, but I really couldn't think of any better names. I am also aware of the fact that Solan is Xena's son but I wanted her name to have some meaning since Gabrielle and Xena are practically joined at the hip. So this is really just a "spur of the moment" type of story, please don't judge too much.
Prologue
They all stared at me, their eyes wide and disbelieving. I stood stock still, not bothering to move. The dagger rest in my hands now, just as Ya'Kut predicted. I would be the next Amazon sacrifice.
I met the eyes of Americe, my one hope. I pleaded silently, the bloody dagger finally falling from my hand. Americe stared back blankly, only shaking his head disapprovingly. I dropped my gaze, my eyes falling to the man I killed.
His face was contorted with fear, blood spilling from his mouth. The dagger wound was in his chest, his armor doing no good against my skills. The blood had flowed to cover the floor, it's red color all I saw. I had just killed my father.
The realization hit me now that I had also killed the King. The King of the Amazons. That was punishable by more than death.
Americe came beside me now, his hand clasped my shoulder. He met my eyes, cupping my chin with his hand. I looked back to him, seeing nothing; feeling nothing.
"Why did you do it? Why Solan?" His voice was strained with confusion, his feelings of hate and betrayal peeking through. I yanked my chin from his grasp, my jaw set stubbornly.
"I did it because he asked me to. You were there, you should know." I glared daggers at him, my jaw still set. I heard his teeth scrape as he too mimicked my expression. We mimicked each others expressions of betrayal and anguish; of loss and pain. Suddenly Americe's expression changed to complete betrayal.
"He never asked you to do anything remotely like this! He loved you and would not have let you kill him!" Americe had anger in his voice now, shouting above all the crowd.
I flared in return, whirling to face him.
"You think I wanted this? That I wanted to be a sacrifice? Americe, He told me that if our tribe fell apart, he didn't want to live to see the day!" I paused for breath, letting the meaning of my words sink into everyone gathered here.
"He said, that if anything happened to his tribe, he wanted me personally to kill him. To end the suffering he would have had to endure!" Without thinking, I stormed out of the hut. I slapped the fur curtains away from me, leaving behind bloody handprints.
Chapter one, run away-come back.
I stormed out of the tribes' land, taking everything I owned. As I had packed, Americe had fumed at me. I just kept packing, and whenever he would plant a hand on me, I smacked it out of the way. I now had three saddlebags on my horse and two packs tied to my back.
I took off at a gallop, escaping law as fast as I could. Once our Queen Gabrielle found out, she'd be sure to have Xena after me in a heartbeat.
My heart raced at the thought of Xena, the best tracker ever, coming after me personally. I kicked my horse, pushing it harder than ever. My long black hair flew out behind me, my fur clothing barely keeping me warm.
As I rode, I thought of my actions. Why had I really killed my father? Why had I killed my Mother's husband? Joxer hadn't really been that bad, but I would always be cursed with my mothers good looks and his klutzy core. I would never be anything close to what my Aunt Xena was. I could never even beat Americe, though he was the best in our village. I had practiced with him and Xena daily, I was one of the better ones.
My father had always been so proud of me, partially because he could have never done anything remotely like I could. I also think it was because he knew how happy it made my mother. She always glowed when she saw us practicing. She always said it was because Aunt Xena finally had something to do.
Suddenly I was yanked from my thoughts at the sound of... The Chakram? I immediately ducked, barely in time. I swung off my horse, drawing my staff from the back of the saddle.
I went into my defensive stance, my legs keeping me balanced. Once I heard the Chakram whiz through the air again, I knew where to block.
I whirled to my left, putting my staff firmly in front of my face. The Chakram lodged into it, now unable to return to its owner.
"C'mon Aunty Xena! You know I had no choice! You heard his words yourself! So did Mom!" I shouted out to no one, just awaiting her appearance. I heard movement to the right, slowly rotating that way. I saw her in the bushes, her eyes meeting mine.
That was when she cried out. Her war cry rang through the air, she flipping out of the trees. Without another thought, I swung out with my staff. I caught her off guard, hitting her right in the abdomen. She grunted but went into her stance anyway. As we circled, she began to talk.
"Solan, I know you had to, but running from the situation only makes it worse." With that she drew her sword, the blade making contact with my staff. She did not strike, just gently rested it there.
"Yeah, and being the next sacrifice would be better? No thanks Aunty, I'd rather live." I smiled deviously as I cried out and swung with my staff. I hit her right on the shoulder, she stumbling in surprise. I quickly spun behind her, following through with a good hit to her back. Surprisingly, she fell face first to the ground. I held the blade of my staff to the back of her neck.
"Getting sloppy Aunty Xena." I said this with a joking tone, my face playing about with a smile. I could tell she rolled her eyes.
"Well, age might have something to do with it." This confused me. Eve was still only a toddler, I was one of the miracle kids. Mom had said she had had one before, a child named Hope. But she said that I was different, not a mutant spawn. Aunty X shouldn't be complaining about age.
"Your still young, you have bounds of energy Aunty. I know you do because Eve is proof." I giggled subconsciously, only then realizing her movements.
She swung her legs out behind her, catching me at the heels. I fell backwards onto my back. My staff clamored over to the side of the path, she now holding her sword to my throat. My eyes widened in shock.
"Rule number 30, never talk to your opponent without being able to fully see them." She smiled deviously now, her sword inching closer. I stayed still, not moving and inch.
"Solan, you're an exceptional person and creation. Please don't turn against Gabrielle, she has lived through that before." Aunty Xena's voice was sincere, her eyes filled with love for my mother. I let out a sigh, rolling my eyes over-dramatically.
"Fine. Drag my ass back there before I change my mind." Xena lowered her sword helping me up. I suddenly saw a change if expression in her face.
"Well, we have to make it convincing." With that she recoiled her fist. The last thing I felt was a punch to the eye.
I woke up with my feet bound and someone attempting to get me off a horse. I didn't help, I let Aunty Xena struggle. Once she succeeded in getting me down, she saw that I was awake.
"Just in time squirt." She smiled deviously and ruffled my hair. I moaned back, not daring to speak. I followed reluctantly but obediently as she dragged me to my mothers hut.
"WHAT DID YOU THINK YOU WERE DOING SOLAN? WHY WOULD YOU RUN OFF LIKE THAT?" My mother ran to me, her arms forming around me. I grumbled amongst myself, trying to come up with a good explanation. Before I could speak again, my father stepped from the bedchamber. I saw him and at first thought nothing of it. Then I did a double take and gasped this time as it hit me who he was.
"Daddy? How is this even possible?" I whirled around to my mom again, her face bright with love.
"Well, it turns out we had an intruder. You killed him, not Joxer." She smiled sweetly, signaling for Xena to untie me. Aunty Xena walked over, smiling as she did. She ruffled my hair once more before cutting the rope.
In the split second it took for the rope to fall to the ground, I was running to my father. I slammed Ito him, laughter escaping his lips. He wrapped his arms around me, his lips kissing my forehead. I cried into his chest, rambling on about how sorry I was. I rambled and rambled before my mom finally came over and hugged me as well. Joxer wrapped his arms around both of us, Xena holding Eve in the corner. That was when Americe came in.
"Your highnesses?" He did the customary bow, causing all of us to turn to him. My mother smiled and walked over to him.
"Up, Then you mat speak." She laughed as he chuckled but obeyed.
When he spotted me, he also spotted my father. He shook his head as if The King was a hallucination, then decided it wasn't. He continued, dragging his faze from me.
"Um, We... uh, well it's not important seeing as the King is still alive." He stuttered barley keeping his eyes off of me. I smiled genuinely back, giving a little wave.
Mom laughed and explained. She then asked for everyone to leave the room, leaving only Americe and I.
He stood there awkwardly, his arms behind his back. I smiled and giggled, walking over to stand in front of him.
"Look, Solan, I have a lot to apologize for. I'm so sorry I yelled, I didn't―" I stood on my tiptoes, planting a perfect kiss on his cheek. He flushed, his eyes going wide.
"Americe, I'm so sorry about all of the things I said as well. I didn't mean any of it, I just..." I lowered my head, slipping back down to my normal height. Unexpectedly Americe wrapped his arms around my waist, pulling me against him. I let out a tiny gasp, my arms flying out in front of me. Now my hands lay on his chest, his around my waist.
"Americe―" He lowered his hands, playing with a string on my skirt now. He tilted his head to get a better look at me. I cooperated and tilted my head up at him.
"Please, for once, don't do anything reckless." With that he lowered his lips to mine. I stayed frozen for a second then slowly returned the kiss. My eyes fluttered closed, my hands reaching up to wrap into his hair.
He kissed me with such passion I almost swore I was going to have a heart attack. My heart fluttered as fast as possible, pounding against my chest. Americe pulled me closer, crushing me to him.
I tightened my hold on him, kissing fiercer. He returned the kiss with yet more passion. Slowly he pulled his lips away.
I stood up onto my tiptoes, trying to reach him again. He chuckled and obeyed, lowering his face to mine again.
This time, I opened my eyes to study his face. His golden hair fell in front of his eyes, shading them perfectly. His face was square but his lips made it seem less pronounced. I slowly slid my eyes shut again, my lips kissing passionately now. Americe was mine, my angel now.
We heard my parents slowly come back to the hut. We pulled away unwillingly. Americe still had me against his chest, he slumping over to lay his forehead on mine. I giggled and wrapped my arms around his neck. My parents came in and immediately stopped talking.
"Uh... sweetheart, did we―" I just giggled again, slowly turning in Americe's arms. I backed against him, his lips now by my ear.
"No Momma, you're fine." I giggled as Americe tightened his arms around me. I backed into him some more, his arms wrapped around my stomach. My parents watched in awe as I blushed deeper and deeper but Americe continued his little exhibit. Soon his face was blocking mine as he kissed me once more.
This kiss made me reach up to cup the back of his head. I tried to pull him closer, but he just chuckled and pulled away slowly.
"I have to go." He whispered this to me mostly, my petrified parents forgotten.
"Mhmm." I hummed back, barely able to think let alone talk with him this near.
Slowly he slid his arms from my waist, walking backwards to the door. He spun around and nodded respectfully to my parents.
As he left my parents shifted their eyes to me. They were wide eyed and my mother looked happy. When they knew that Americe was out of earshot, my mother squealed and ran to my side.
I laughed and pulled her into a hug. We giggled and immediately went into speed-talk mode. We were so happy, we didn't remember my sulking dad. We both stopped laughing at the same time and turned to face him.
He had his arms crossed over his chest, a very menacing look on his face. I smiled angelically, trying to win him over. Slowly I saw a smile come onto his face.
He came over and pulled me into a hug. He spun me around, my feet coming off the ground. My mom and I exploded into laughter again.
"Be good Kid." My dad said this sternly, but the biggest grin was plastered on his face.
I laughed loudly, the sound filling the hut.