AN: I did one of those 'Send a prompt and an OPT' things on tumblr, and got quite a few. So, here's the first of them!
Disclaimer: I do not own Xena.
There was no music- there was no one but them, alone as they were in the forest. All there was was the slight whistle of the wind, the crackling of their fire, the occasional cricket that chirped in the background. Nothing else.
But they had never needed much. Wood for fire, something to fill their stomachs, each other- they had never needed much, and so even with that small bit of natural music they could pick out, they made it work.
Small, carefully measured steps, leading them around the clearing that was their camp. Gabrielle humming softly, picking out and keeping the tempo and tune. Xena following her lead, making sure her own movements mirrored Gabrielle's perfectly.
It was an old ritual, one that had started as training- dancing just for the sake of Gabrielle knowing the dances and because dancing could easily become a fight. But over the years it'd grown slow, the fast tempos and harsh movements mellowing into this. Into a closeness, a warmth, a safety as they just held each other and danced.
Round and round they went, neither willing to stop. Because if they stopped it would end, it would mark the end their of their night, and they didn't want it. Didn't want to slide beneath the thick furs and warm blankets, didn't want to close their eyes and allow themselves to slip into sleep.
Gabrielle didn't want to blink and find Xena gone, what remained of her swept away by the wind. She didn't want to feel the coldness where warmth had once been, didn't want to glance at the grass and only see a single set of footprints, didn't want to realize that while she had wood for fire and enough to fill her stomach, she was utterly alone.
So she didn't. She didn't stop, and Xena didn't go, and they continued to dance until long after the fire had died down, long after the wind had died down, long after the sound of the cricket chirping had died down. Until the sun rose and forced them to stop, reminding Gabrielle, as she watched the spirit fade, unable to keep its form in the strong, pure light, that her heart had died as well.