Disclaimer – The characters are not mine, they belong to Renaissance pictures and their affiliates. Only the plot and character of Nicole are mine. No profit was made from this story. Some direct quotes from Xena: Warrior Princess have been used, again I take no credit for these and they belong to the rightful copyright owner. I will place direct quotations in italics as much as possible.

This is predominantly a femmeslash story, which means it's about two adult women in love, and physically expressing this love. If this offends you, or it is illegal where you live please read something else.

Pairings – Gabrielle/Xena, Gabrielle/Ares, Gabrielle/OC

If you have any reaction to this story or any comments at all please review!!

Now, enough with the legal mumbo-jumbo, on with the show!

Xena: Warrior Princess – Season Seven, Episode One

When sidekicks become heroes.

It has been a year since Gabrielle returned from the land of the rising sun, a place further east even than the Land of Chin, a place that had robbed Gabrielle of everything she held dear. It robbed her of her friend, her travelling partner and her wife.

In the time that had past Gabrielle's hair had grown longer, and she had taken to dressing in dark colours that covered her arms and legs but allowed her freedom of movement during a fight. She was never without Xena's chakram on her belt and Katana on her back and she would never travel without the black armour she had been given in Japan. Her face was pale but as beautiful as ever, yet her eyes had lost their sparkle of innocence and peace since Xena died.

Much of her trip to Japan was still a blur at this point. She could remember clearly having to take down and wrap the mutilated body of the woman she loved; the image of Xena's naked body tied between two posts would never leave her. On seeing her body Gabrielle had believed with all her soul that she would be able to save her, as she had scores of times before. She hadn't banked on Xena's spirit stopping her from bringing her back to her.

Gabrielle slept by the spring that night, so she could feel at least the tiniest part of Xena with her and figuring that now the sun had set it would be safer to wait till morning to make her way down the mountain to collect their stuff and start towards the coast. Gabrielle had always known that should Xena die, she wanted to be buried with her family in Amphipollis and this was where she was determined to go next.

Xena's spirit made one last appearance on the boat back to Greece, swearing to stay with her always but Gabrielle hadn't seen her since. She was beginning to doubt if she had even been there on that boat at all. With everyday that passed without her Gabrielle's hope of seeing her again faded.

The journey to Amphipollis was long and tiring, seemingly endless days in the saddle. Some days, when the weather was fine, she made good progress, although for every one-day of fine weather there were three when it rained. She was soaked through and her horse struggled to walk through muddy tracks but Gabrielle barely felt the cold anymore and just kept going. Getting Xena's ashes back to her hometown was all she cared about. While she was travelling towards the little village she still had a mission, knew what she was doing, it was what came after she placed the little earn next to her brother that scared her to death.

After months spent travelling more than half way around the world she arrived in Amphipollis. It was very different to the last time her and Xena had visited. People had started to return to the village and many of the houses had been rebuilt. Xena's mother's tavern had been rebuilt but the small crypt behind the building had been left to ruin. Moss and ivy covered the entrance and there were cobwebs and birds nests all over the low ceiling. Gabrielle took it on herself to make the small building a fitting memorial to her wife and spent several days cleaning and rebuilding with what materials she could find. Once it was done Gabrielle went back to her room at the inn and picked up the earn with Xena's ashes and slowly walked, as a funeral procession of one, to the crypt. She knelt before Xena's brother's stone coffin and gently placed the little earn on top. She laid some freshly picked flowers around the little pot and finally broke down, collapsing on the floor and sobbing so loudly that the whole village must have been able to hear her grief.

After hours of crying on the cold stone floor Gabrielle could cry no more and gingerly got to her feet and left Xena, looking back and saying a final goodbye before closing the door forever.

After a good meal and several drinks in the inn Gabrielle decided she'd visit Potedia and see if she could settle there. She loaded up her horse with supplies for a week and set off that very day.

When she arrived her home village wasn't as she remembered it either. She still had some distant relatives there but she hardly knew them. With the passing days her reasons for leaving all those years ago came flooding back and so she decided to leave again, although this time there was no life of adventure waiting for her. She got back on her horse and went back to her Amazon sisters.

She returned to a jubilant welcome, her sisters apparently happy to have their Queen back. She was pleased to be among friends again and after a large welcome home feast Gabrielle fell asleep and slept for days. Once she woke she was finally able to think clearly and decided not to stay with the amazons but to start travelling again and honour Xena's memory by continuing her work. For several months she did just that, saving a group of villagers here, stopping a bar brawl there but it was all empty.

No matter how many people she helped or how many good deeds she did it didn't numb the pain of losing her. After a while it started to seem pointless. Xena was doing this for redemption, anything that Gabrielle had done wrong she had paid for and then some.

She started to frequent taverns more and more, finding solace in the bottom of a flagon of wine or in beating the crap out of a sleazy small time warlord that no one would have ever expected her to be able to take. She knew it was dangerous to pick fights with these guys but part of her didn't care if she was beat down and was never able to get up again. She had nothing left in this life.

And so it was one night, she'd found herself in yet another dingy bar, staring into the bottom of another glass when she saw a guy leering at her. In her inebriated state she thought it would be a good idea to go and reprimand him for objectifying her like that, but things soon escalated into yet another fistfight, during which the barman grabbed her by the neck and marched her to the door.

"And don't come back!" Was the bellow from the burly barman as he tossed Gabrielle out into the street. She landed with a thud on the muddy road, her head landing half an inch from a jagged rock. She passed out. When she awoke she heard an all to familiar voice.

"That's gonna leave a bruise in the morning"

"What d'you want Ares?" said Gabrielle, as she shakily got to her feet.

"I just came to check up on you. You here with your little Amazon buddies? They in there?"

"If they were d'you really think that guy would have thrown me into the street?"

"I guess not. So where are they?"

Gabrielle didn't answer, she jut stared at the ground, dizzy, and looking around as if she'd lost something.

"Aww did you guys have another fight? Find a better Queen did they, younger…" he looked Gabrielle up and down, she really was in a state, "someone….. .firmer?"

"Shut up Ares! You have no idea what's going on!"

"Whoa whoa tiger!" said Ares, taking a step back and putting his hands up at this display of anger from the usually placid Bard. Gabrielle started to walk away, but in her drunkenness she only managed five steps before falling down again. Ares helped her up.

"Ok slugger, that's enough of that, where are the Amazons? I'll take you to them and they'll help you sober up." Gabrielle started to cry. Even Ares was worried now. "Gabrielle, what's happened?"

"I can't do this anymore." She leaned into Ares and started to really grieve for her lost companion. All Ares could do was hold her as she sobbed, completely in shock. And so there they sat, outside the bar, until the sun began to show above the trees and Gabrielle fell into a restless sleep in his arms.