Xena stood by a river, undoing the clasps of her armor. Gabrielle was disrobing behind a nearby bush. "Come on, Gabrielle," she called. "It's just us." When Gabrielle didn't come out, she sighed. "Besides," she said, "I've seen it all already."

Gabrielle still didn't come out. "But what if someone sees?"

"They won't, trust me," Xena said. "Besides, so what if they did?"

"All right, fine," Gabrielle said. A minute later, she came out, completely naked. She kept hunching over, trying to cover her breasts and crotch. Xena smiled and stripped off the rest of her armor.

Whooping, she dived into the river. Popping her head up, she grinned and shouted: "Come on in! The water's great!"

Gabrielle smiled and jumped in, screaming as she hit the water. Popping to the surface, she sputtered. "It's freezing! How can you say it's great?"

Xena grinned and swam over. "It's absolutely wonderful," she said. "But," she said slyly, "if you want, I can warm you up." Gabrielle rolled her eyes and splashed her, diving under to protect herself. Xena spluttered and gasped, diving under after Gabrielle. They both popped up, gasping, in the middle of the river. "You splashed me!"

Gabrielle grinned and splashed her again. Xena swam closer to her, treading water right next to her. "You monster!"

"You love me anyway," Gabrielle said, grinning.

"Yes, I do," Xena said. She leaned over and kissed Gabrielle, suddenly breaking off mid-kiss and splashing her before swimming away.

Gabrielle gasped and tried to swim after her, but Xena was too fast a swimmer. She pretended to give up and stayed, treading water, in the middle of the river. Xena stopped swimming away and swam closer to her. "Are you all right?"

Gabrielle turned and swam away on her back, splashing water into Xena's face. Xena sputtered and swam after her, grabbing her legs. She pulled Gabrielle closer and splashed her in her face, laughing.

Gabrielle shrieked and giggled, kicking Xena away. The two continued splashing each other until Gabrielle swam to the shore. "It's too cold," she called to Xena. "You keep swimming."

Xena shook her head and swam to shore. "It's no fun without you," she said, climbing up onto the riverbank. She leaned over and kissed Gabrielle lightly.

Gabrielle smiled. "We should probably get dressed," she said through the kiss.

"Why on earth would we do that?" Xena reached an arm around Gabrielle's waist, gently moving them into a lying position on the ground.

Gabrielle pushed Xena gently off her. "No, Xena," she said, shaking her head. "Not here."

Xena nodded. "All right," she said, getting up. "That's fine." She smiled.

Gabrielle stood up. "Great," she said, grinning. "So, where are we going now?"

"I don't know," Xena said, picking up her discarded armor. "I thought we'd just stay here for a while. Things have been pretty quiet lately," she said. "I think we can afford to take a break."

Gabrielle nodded and took her clothes from behind the bush, putting on her shirt immediately. It stuck to her skin, becoming almost see-through from the water. She came up to Xena and put her arms around her shoulders, leaning against her. "That would be nice," she said. "You haven't taken a break in forever."

Xena smiled and wrapped her arms around Gabrielle's waist. "I know," she said.

"Not since Cyprus," Gabrielle said.

"Really? It's been that long?"

Gabrielle nodded. "Since you killed that snake-woman," she said. "Remember? We spent a month or so just…relaxing. On a beautiful, clear, beach."

Xena nodded. "That was nice," she said. She kissed Gabrielle. "Hey," she said, smiling, "you know where we could go?"

"You mean we'd have to keep moving? I thought we were just going to stay here," Gabrielle said.

"No, we'd stay here," Xena said. "There's a sort of clearing that's near here."

"Really?"

Xena nodded. "Yes," she said. "It's beautiful."

Gabrielle smiled and kissed her. "Should we go there?"

"I think we should," Xena said. "But tomorrow. It's quite a walk."

"All right," Gabrielle said, grinning. "So, what should we do until tomorrow? It's quite a wait, you know."

Xena leaned down and kissed her, grinning. "I think I know," she said. And together, the two retreated to their tent, where they spent the hours quite wisely indeed.