POST-FIN This is a fixer-upper story. Xena and Gabrielle have never admitted the extent of their love for one another...until now. I have two chapters written and will only continue if there is interest. Please comment if you like it.

Xena sat on her rump, brows furrowed. Her heart was clenched, as it had been ever since she crossed over. She peered into the small space of light in front of her, feeling the blackness of Nothing surrounding her, threatening to swallow her. She had grown accustomed to the surrounding dark, but her eyes rarely left the brightness of the small window that let her see into the world of the living.

It had been 5 years since she was ripped out of her existence. 5 years since she was pulled away from the other half of her soul. At first Eli's God had allowed her to stay with Gabrielle as a ghost, to help ease her suffering. But as the days went on, she was allowed less and less time on Earth, and was forced to finally sever their contact. 'It was for Gabrielle's own good,' Michael said. 'Let her move on!' Xena didn't want to drag Gabrielle down, but her warrior bard made it very clear in the first few weeks Xena was dead that she didn't want to be left alone. Xena had promised her after all, that even in death she would never leave. And so she didn't. Even when God had stopped Xena from returning to her. Gabrielle didn't know it, of course. As far as she knew, Xena came to her less and less until suddenly she was gone...never to return. It had been 4 1/2 years since she saw Xena last. Every once in a while she felt her, but it was fleeting. What she didn't know was that Xena was once again ripped from Gabrielle, this time by the one God. Under his rules, dead was dead, and that meant no communing with the living. He had made an exception for a short time, because Gabrielle was so important. But when the time came, he took away Xena's ability to visit Gabrielle, leaving the bard to overcome her grief alone.

For Xena, though, it wasn't that simple. She had been given a choice. Let go of Gabrielle and come to heaven, or sit in purgatory, and wait for her in silence. True to her word, Xena never left her beloved Gabrielle, and waited for the time they would be reunited. And so she sat, watching silently, painfully, as her bard came unravelled.

It was much worse than Xena imagined, sitting in purgatory. In addition to the bottomless dark, it was cold. Still. Achingly quiet. She could watch Gabrielle but no sound came from the bright window, and even Xena's own voice disappeared into a void, leaving nothing but still, miserable, painful silence. But worse than Xena's discomfort was watching as Gabrielle slowly fell into despair. Xena thought she could at least take solace in seeing Gabrielle's shining eyes, watch her live a fulfilling and happy life. She kept a brave front at first, but Xena could see what was happening. The pure, determined, loving, spunky spirit of the bard was slowly seeping out. She had no drive to continue fighting for the greater good, but Xena couldn't fault her for that. No doubt it was her own destructive quest for redemption that had left a bitter taste for justice on Gabrielle's tongue. The bard stopped writing. She slept only short fitful sleeps. The times when she did step in to right some wrong, she took no mercy on the perpetrators, injuring them to the point of crippling them if not killing them outright. Xena saw the look in her eyes as she killed: So much anger. So much pain. And it was no doubt because the Warrior Princess, the other half of her soul, had vanished and abandoned her.

The nights were the worst. She watched as Gabrielle sobbed. Gabrielle pleaded with the one God, any god, all gods, to whomever would listen, to please let Xena come back to her. She begged and pleaded, spat out vulgar threats, and every time ended up drenched in her own tears, crumpled in a mess, sobbing herself to sleep. This was sheer torture for Xena. When Gabrielle's soul cried out, Xena's answered with a pain beyond measure; for she felt responsible for Gabrielle's suffering. Her personal need for redemption had left her soulmate to suffer alone. And so Xena suffered in silence, as her own cries of pain weren't even a comfort.

Gabrielle was walking next to her horse, head down watching her own feet drag. Her eyes were sunken in and surrounded by dark circles. The dazzling green eyes had dulled, no life left in them. Xena watched and shook her head in despair. She watched as Gabrielle happened upon some bandits robbing some villagers pulling a cart. Gabrielle just looked for a moment, not moving. Several children were among the party, and one was violently shoved to the ground. At that Gabrielle drew her sais and finally moved into action. Xena watched as she fought off the bandits almost lazily, half hazard. She was taking chances that she shouldn't be.

'Come on, Gabrielle, snap out of it!' Xena thought. 'You're gonna get yourself hurt or worse!' Then it dawned on her. Maybe that's what Gabrielle wanted. Maybe she was purposely trying to get herself into trouble...maybe to end it. Xena cried out silently at what had become of her beautiful bard. She had been a light, a beacon of hope. She loved life and held it so precious, the Gabrielle she knew would never give up like this. Xena's tears fell silently as she watched Gabrielle flounder in the fight, until a death blow lingered above her head. Gabrielle didn't fight back as the blade descended in slow motion toward her throat...
Xena watched in horror as the scene unfolded, and thought she would pass out as she watched the final blow descend. But before the blade hit its mark, the scene flickered and went out, leaving Xena in total darkness. She had no idea what happened to Gabrielle.

"No." She said, though no sound emerged. "No! Nooo! You can't do this to me! Gabrielle!" Xena flung her arms about, fighting an invisible enemy. When she had tired herself out, she stopped and breathed heavily. She looked out into the darkness, tears streaking down her face. Suddenly a light grew. Just a white, bright light, growing. As it grew, a sharp ear piercing sound accompanied it, growing louder as the light grew bigger. Having it been so long since sound hit her ears, Xena's hands went up to cover them, as the sound drove a piercing pain through her skull. Suddenly the light and sound faded, and her eyes focused on Michael standing before her.

Xena shoved him with two hands in the chest, causing him to stumble backwards.
"You bastard!" Xena covered her ears again as her voice echoed for the first time in five years. "What happened to her?! We made a deal! You promised I could watch her!"

Michael glared at her in annoyance. "Relax, Xena. I'm here to help you. Gabrielle is alive. But I'm afraid I need to break our deal."

Xena's eyes widened and she shook her head violently. "No. You can't do this. What kind of a god is this?! I thought he was just and kind! Why is he doing this?!"

"He is just and kind. He has rules about the dead communing with the living, you know this. His reasons for these rules are far beyond your understanding."

Xena glared. "Tell me what's really going on here."

Michael sighed. "Things are not going the way they are supposed to. There is something about to happen on Earth that is not in the plan. Mankind is fast approaching a terrible war, one that will allow great evil into the world. Gabrielle was destined to stop this war from happening. In fact, you both were, but you changed both your fates the moment you sacrificed yourself in Japa."

Xena was taken back. "What? I was supposed to die for those souls. They would have been trapped if I hadn't. I had to do what I did."

Michael shook his head. "You always were selfish Xena. It's not all about you." Xena glared as Michael continued. "You were so obsessed with your redemption, so blinded by your own personal quest for the greater good, you failed to see beyond yourself and look for other solutions."

Xena shook her head. "There weren't any other options. Do you think I wanted to leave?! Do you think I wanted to leave Gabrielle alone? Allow her to become what she's become?!"

Michael shook his head and glowered. "It doesn't matter anymore. What's done is done. But your actions have seriously affected the future. At first He thought we could work around your death, that Gabrielle could handle stopping the war without you. And she could have...but," Michael paused.

Xena kept her menacing glare and annoyed tone. "But what?"

Michael shook his head sadly. "But she's taking your death and absence in her life much harder than anticipated."

Xena grew angry again. "What did you expect?! She thinks I abandoned her! I promised her that I would never leave her, even in death, a promise I had every intention of keeping. And I would have if your God hadn't interfered!"

"He had no intentions of keeping you and Gabrielle apart. That was your doing. Even when you were alive you kept yourself from each other. He gave you everything you needed for a fulfilled life after you started doing good. You were just too stupid or blind to see it," Michael yelled.
Xena shook her head in confusion, but before she could speak, Michael continued. "The way you and Gabrielle did or didn't love each other is neither here nor there. If you would stop arguing with me for one minute, I'll tell you why I'm here." When Xena crossed her arms and raised her eyebrows, he continued. "As I've said, the altered plan was for Gabrielle to stop this war. But it seems she will be unable to do that without the other half of her soul."

Xena's arms dropped to her sides. "What are you saying?"

"I'm sending you back."