Unwrapped
Disclaimer: Xena..hurr.. not mine.. *cries*
Summary: Takes place at the end of season 3 after Ulysses. A seasonal Solstice story :) A tradition I want to start for myself XD.
A drift of snow swirled about two women walking side by side on a mountainside. Heavily under wraps, it was still utterly cold and when the wind blew, they felt the chill seeping into their bones making them ache. The blond woman's teeth chattered with each step she took, and her staff began to shake with her shivering.
"Xena. A-a-a-a-s much fun as it is to see what it feels like to be a glacier, tell me again why we have to go down the side of a mountain to the coast in the middle of winter." the younger woman questioned, turning to her friend.
"Well it's simple really Gabrielle. Since we won't make it home on time, I thought maybe I could provide you with something slightly comparable." the brunette answered, the low timbers of her voice shaky from the cold. Looking at her friend, the shorter woman stopped in her tracks in a state of incredulity.
"How exactly would Santorini in the middle of winter bring the spirit of solstice to my step? The coast on a summer day would sound refreshing, but an island we had to take a boat to; in the middle of winter, to walk down a slope to the coast? A dip in ice cold waters is the last thing I would want to do right now. Do I look like a polar bear?"
"Oh ye of little faith. Quit complaining. When have I ever steered you wrong." Xena scolded, her own teeth starting a rattle of their own. Adjusting her winter coat slightly, attempting to shut out the wind, she let out a heavy sigh, starting to question her own idea. "There should be a cabin around here soon. When we get there, we can leave our bags there."
"But Xena, is it wise to leave our things unattended? I would have figured that last time our rations got stolen would have taught us a thing or two about leaving our things behind, even just for a moment."
"Gabrielle, look around. Does it look like we have any other people to worry about?" Xena responded, motioning to the empty mountainside and the body of water in the distance.
"I don't know Xenaaaaaa," the bard exaggerated her friend's name, "perhaps a former warlord intent on torturing her friend might be a few paces ahead of us."
"Ha-ha-ha," Xena mimicked a forced laugh and bumped the blond with her shoulder. "Cheer up. You know, you aren't very much in a Solstice spirit. Aren't you eager to see what I got for you this year?" the warrior intoned, her smile could melt the snow off the younger woman's heart. At the same time however, Gabrielle seeing Xena so giddy with excitement while she felt miserable, overshadowed her glee.
"Excuse me for not being an eager beaver. The last time I was on a snowy mountainside, I was lugging your dead body up Mount Nestos."
Xena winced. She had forgotten that Gabrielle had recently had that ordeal before she planned everything. "I promise, It's just a little more."
The cabin came into view and Xena perked up, pointing it out to her companion. "There it is!"
Taking off into a sprint, Xena left Gabrielle behind.
"Oh! Great! A tiny cabin, on a windy mountainside! Where have you been all my life! Now I can die a happy woman." Gabrielle grumbled sarcastically.
"I heard that!" Xena yelled back at her.
Gabrielle increased her stride and soon reached the cabin as well. Entering the open door Xena had gone through, she couldn't help but wince at it's contents. Nothing. Well, maybe a wooden bucket.
"Set your stuff right there, and leave your coat too. Once we round this bend behind the cabin, you'll see what it is I've been wanting to show you."
The grin on Xena's face instantly melted Gabrielle's dour face. It was too infectious to see the childlike happiness on her normally stoic friend's face. It was hard to believe that just a few moons ago, she had lost her. Since her coming back though, it had been a crazy spiral of emotions. After Xena had returned, they were all over each other. That goodbye kiss that Xena had given in limbo sparked a slew of feelings and stirrings.
Once Xena was back in the flesh, they had crossed lines of friendship that they never expected to. A comforting embraced turned into a night of unfettered passion. For Xena, perhaps it was the need to feel flesh underneath her fingertips and the joys of mortality, but for Gabrielle it was so much more. The blond was trying so hard to find the courage to tell her that she loved her, but her heart was broken when they had run into Ulysses. She swallowed up the feelings and hid them, not wanting to hold Xena back. Although Xena was with her now, she couldn't help but feel the heartbreak every time she remembered Xena's words on the ship. "Did you say love?" Her own sentence echoed in her mind. It would have been a welcome sentence, had it not been about Ulysses. From that point on, she receded and avoided Xena's advances, even after they had left Ithaca. She felt like second fiddle, but she hadn't told Xena that. She didn't want to seem a naive woman that fell in love so easily to the warrior princess; a woman of the world. She shook the thought out of her mind and returned to the present. She let out a long breath, sending a cloud up into the air.
"Xena. I'm warning you. This better be worth it. Or you'll be cooking for yourself for the next few days."
"Oh it'll be worth it! Trust me. If you don't like it, I'll owe you ten nights of massages and I'll even let you braid my hair." Xena chuckled. "I'll race ya there." She bounced up and bounded out the door they had just came in.
Rolling her eyes, the blond begrudgingly dropped her bag to the ground of the sparse cabin. Looking around and rolling her head over her shoulders, hearing a crack, she resigned herself to the brunette's surprise. She removed her coat and let out a string of curses to the wind about the insanity of going out without a coat. Gabrielle followed the tracks around the corner of the mountain lazily. Each step accompanied a mutter under her breath. She finally rounded the corner and her gaze was met by a beautiful sight.
The coast was as expected, but a pleasant surprise accompanied the blue and greens of the crystal clear water and copper rock and mud at the bottom.
"Surprise!" Xena smiled, holding out her hands displaying the radiance of the secret before her.
A mist of steam formed curly lines on the surface of the water. Gabrielle's jaw dropped in response and she immediately felt excitement bubble up.
"How?.." The bard stuttered with wide eyes.
"These islands, they're volcanic." Xena grinned.
Gabrielle's brows furrowed and concern touched her face. "Volcanic? As in volcano?" She spoke fearfully.
"Don't worry, they're dormant. That means they've not been active. When it was, it made these islands. Nothing to fear now, I promise. Come here." Xena called, motioning for the blond to come next to her, by the shore.
She pointed to the shore. "There and there.. the hot springs flow into this beach, making the water a nice warm treat."
The awe on her friend's face made her ecstatic. It was nice to make Gabrielle happy.
Shyly she reached for the blond. "Happy Solstice Gabrielle! Much better than a wooden lamb don't you think?"
When her fingertips met her friend's, a jolt of electricity seemed to tickle her. As humid as the area they were in, little zaps of static would be highly unlikely. Xena thoughtfully reveled in the phenomenon. Pulling the bard to her, she embraced her at the waist, so that they were a finger's breadth away. She breathed in the scent of Gabrielle, a mixture of mint, lemon, and her. Her heart swelled and she prepared to give Gabrielle the second part of her gift.
To be continued in Chapter 2