**Takes place just after "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun"**

"Thank the gods, I was beginning to think he was going to stick around!" Xena was obviously relieved that Joxer was taking his leave.

"I didn't want you to kill him," Gabrielle said jokingly.

"I'm sure he appreciates that," Xena replied sarcastically, as she mounted her trusty horse Argo. "Care for a ride?" She extended her arm down towards her friend.

"Guess it couldn't hurt." Gabrielle grabbed the warrior princess' strong arm and let her pull her up behind her on Argo's back. Truth is, she'd always hated riding horses, but she couldn't shake the feeling of wanting to be close to Xena. It was as if being a Bacchae and turning Xena had changed everything in her mind. "Where to now Xena?" Her arms were wrapped around the warrior's strong abs and she couldn't help but look at her neck, where she'd just bitten her only an hour before.

"Oh, I don't know, east maybe. I haven't really thought about it." Xena's mind was also reflecting on what had just happened. She'd heard stories of how sexual a Bacchae bite could be, but she didn't expect this; as much as she hated to admit it, she'd enjoyed it. What's worse is that she felt that she only enjoyed it because Gabrielle was the one who transformed her; she began to worry that she might be falling for the young girl whom she considered her closest friend. "It's getting late, we should probably set up camp for the night."

"Sounds good to me, I'm getting hungry too. Maybe we can catch some fish?" Gabrielle nodded to a stream nearby.

"Fish sounds great, as long as you're cooking."

"I'd rather eat my cooking any day," Gabrielle joked as she hopped off of Argo.

"Well, I'm a better cook than Joxer at least. Besides, I do the hunting." Xena began setting Argo up for the night as Gabrielle began to set up camp.

"Should we start a fire before you fish?"

"Ah, yet another one of my many skills. Who needs to cook anyway?" Xena joked as she started up a fire for the young bard. "I'm off to catch some fish." She stripped off her armor and boots and waded into the stream, in just her leather slit, finally giving her mind a break and solely focusing on fishing.

"Catch a ten pounder Xena, I'm starving!" Gabrielle said looking up; she couldn't believe how beautiful Xena looked while she fished. She was sure she'd noticed before, but she couldn't help but stare on this night. She felt so foolish for admiring her best friend in such a way. She knew that even if they did have a connection earlier, nothing would come of it. This was Xena, the warrior princess, she would never accept a farm girl from Potedia as anything more than her trusted companion.

It wasn't long before Xena was walking up with her triumphant smile, ensuring that there was more than enough for them to eat. "Dinner as promised."

Gabrielle looked up at the dripping wet warrior princess who proudly held the fish out in front of her. She felt herself fall short of breath and hoped Xena didn't notice. "It's about time." How she managed to pop those words out, she'd never know.

"All good things are worth the wait." Gabrielle felt that Xena's words had some hidden meaning behind them, or was it just wishful thinking? She shook the thought out of her mind and began to cook the fish.

Xena dried herself off and took a seat close to the fire where she could steal glances at the beautiful young woman cooking her dinner. She desperately wanted to talk about what had happened that day but didn't quite know how. She didn't want to just blurt out the connection they experienced, for fear of looking like the furies had taken over her mind. Just as she was about to ask how Gabrielle was holding up, she was cut off by the bard herself. "I'm sorry about today, Xena."

Slightly startled by the apology, Xena had to know, "Why are you apologizing?"

Gabrielle was serving the fish and wasn't looking at Xena. "I feel like I'm always getting in the way of things. If I hadn't gone dancing, I never would've gotten bitten and caused you and Joxer to chase me down."

"Gabrielle, if you hadn't gotten bitten, it would've taken us longer to find Bacchus' lair. Besides, only a Bacchae can kill him." Xena placed her hand under Gabrielle's chin, lifting it until their eyes were locked. "I'm glad that you were the one to transform me. It's always easier fighting with you on my side."

Gabrielle felt weak at the mere touch of her loyal friend, she wanted nothing more than to lean forward and plant a passionate kiss on those soft succulent lips that always seemed to let the right words escape. "Xena, at the risk of sounding like I've lost my mind, there's something I need to know."

Xena could feel her heart pound a little louder. She became afraid that she may have made her friend uncomfortable, or inappropriately hinted at her true feelings. She pulled her hand back and began to pick at her fish.

Gabrielle, feeling less courageous without Xena's touch, suddenly felt more uncomfortable than she had ever felt before. She spoke timidly, "Xena, we've been through a lot over the course of our time together." 'Stay strong,' Gabrielle thought to herself. "Becoming a Bacchae helped me see things in a totally different light, does that make sense?"

"Yes. I mean, different creatures experience things differently. I can honestly say that being a Bacchae felt completely different to me." She could see that the bard was nervous, and hoped that it was for the same reason she was.

"It's just that, when I bit you, I felt your essence, your life force. I just felt so close to you." Her heart was pounding so loud it was all she could hear; she began to worry she'd said too much.

Xena turned to face the young bard and took those soft, strong hands into her own. "I felt the same way, Gabrielle, I've heard that being turned into a Bacchae is very sexual; I just never thought it was true."

Suddenly looking conflicted, Gabrielle inquired, "Why didn't you tell me Xena?"

"Tell you what?"

"About the Bacchae? About what I would be feeling now?"

The warrior moved closer to her friend. "I didn't know this would happen, but it's not necessarily a bad thing. We're best friends, we're supposed to be close right?"

"I suppose you're right," Gabrielle said, slowly pulling her hands away, assuming Xena was saying she didn't want her as anything more than just a friend.

Fearing she was going to lose her chance, Xena scrambled to hold her friend again. She quickly reached out and softly cradled her friend's face in her hands and corrected herself, "I didn't mean it like that."

"Then what did you mean it like, Xena?" Gabrielle's voice cracked, and her eyes allowed two tears to escape their grasp. She was overcome with emotion and just wanted to know exactly what Xena was thinking.

Xena gently wiped the tears away with her thumbs. She looked at the beautiful woman she held in her hands and felt an incredible amount of love surge through every muscle in her body. "Like this." The words barely left her lips before she melded them into the quivering lips of the bard, who quickly and passionately returned the affection.

A noise in the distance thrust the warrior princess to her feet. "Who's there?" She grabbed her chakram from her bedroll and walked into the woods. Gabrielle wiped her lips with the back of her hand, tussled her long, strawberry blonde hair and got up.

Xena walked back towards the camp, "Must've been a rabbit."

Gabrielle raised her eyebrows, clearly irritated by the interruption, "At least it's not trouble...I'm going to lay down; feeling tired."

Suddenly realizing the moment was lost when her protective instincts took over, she replied, "It is getting late, we should probably call it a night." The two lay down in their separate bedrolls, both analyzing what had just happened.