Looks like this fic is getting a couple hits, let's see what you think of chapter 3 :)

Disclaimer: see chapter 1.

Coming to stand behind her, I lay a hand on her bare shoulder, startling her a bit.
We watch the sun set behind a snowy mountain in companion silence.
Strangely, our minds are at peace at that moment: Mine is empty and so is hers.
It's magical this bond we shared from the very beginning: this utter trust although we had no reason to. Guess faith has a funny way to play with your life sometimes.

- "You cold?", I ask her as I feel her shiver.

A second later she lean back against my body, reaching around she grabs my hands and loop them around her waist.
I'm more than happy to oblige her as I hug her tightly. A soft whimper escapes her lips, as she gets comfortable.
Laying my chin on her shoulder, I can't help but whimper too.

- "You know we can't do this", I whisper a long moment later.
- "What are you talking about?", she queries softly.
- "What you have in mind", I explain softly, feeling her stiffen in my arms.
- "As much as I'd love that, you can't commit suicide"

She doesn't respond and I can hear her mind work around that new problem.
I always loved to see Gabrielle's mind work around difficulties and now that I can actually see it from inside, I'm even more mesmerized. She can foresee any difficulty from many points of view. Amazing, she really became a great warrior.

Although I'd like to take credits for that, I can't, not fully. Gabrielle was a diamond which just needed guidance to reveal its full potential.

- "Xena…", she starts but I interrupt her, I know it wouldn't take much to convince me.
- "Gabrielle I know why you want to do it but world doesn't resolve around us"
- "It did before ", she counters angrily.
- "I know but not anymore"
- "The Greater Good?", she asks not so gently.
- "Yes", I breathe not very convinced myself.
- "Greater Good isn't always right Xena. You'd know that by now"
- "This has nothing to do with the Great Good or your role in it, right? You're mad at me", I state very matter of factly.

I wanted to convince her gently but now I'm confronting her.
This has been going on for way too long.

- "You bet I am", she shouts as she frees herself from my embrace and faces me.
- "Gabrielle …", I start but she cuts me off.
- "How dared you make such a decision Xena? How dared you put the well being of faceless strangers before us?"
- "They weren't faceless Gabrielle. I knew many of them. I knew Akhemi…"
- "Yeah… right … Akhemi, don't remind me. She knew from the very beginning what this would lead to"
- "Gabrielle I don't think she…"
- "Com' on Xena, don't give me that bullshit. She knew from the very beginning. And she knew you'd be the perfect person for her sick plan. She knew your craving of redemption would make you accept this shitty plan!"

I try to lay a hand on her shoulder to force her looking at me but she slaps it away angrily.

- "Don't you dare touching!", she growls.
- "Gabrielle… please…", I try slowly but she cuts me off once more.
- "Please what? Please what Xena?! I trusted you with my life, with my soul. And you destroyed it!"
- "Gabrielle, I had no other choice! Those souls…"
- "What change did that make? You are dead for God's sake! And I'm all alone!"
- "You're not alone Gabrielle. I'll never leave you, you know that."

A maddish laugh cuts me off, when she looks up at me with tears in her eyes, I wish I'd reach out for her and gather her in my arms.

- "Don't you get it? You are dead!", she yells in my face.
- "But I'll…"
- "I know you'll always be with me. Don't you get that it's not enough?! Don't you get I need more? I need you!", she shouts before facing away from me.
"I need you", she repeats softly, voice laced my tears.

Seconds later she drops on her knees, her back to me, hammering the ground with her fists.

For a long moment, I watch her, unable to move, frozen on spot.
The warrior princess speechless, now that's something many would have paid to see when I was alive.

But when it comes to Gabrielle, in death as I was in life, sometimes I'm disarmed.

When I feel I can move again, I slowly walk to kneel by her side. She slaps away angrily my attempt at touching her.

- "Gabrielle …. please", I beg her.
- "Don't you dare touching me!" she growls, fury in her eyes.
"For all we've been through Xena, I never thought you'd be so selfish"
- I'm not", I retort although I know I am. She's right but I refuse to admit it.

Once more, a maddish laugh mocks me.

- "Oh yes you are Xena, and you know it. When you taught me your pinch trick I'd have known something was wrong. I'd have known there was more to it than what you were telling me. But I didn't. I would never have thought you'd something so selfish to me. For everything we've been through, you owned me that much Xena"
"You owned me the truth", she whispers as she rose on shaky legs.

Still kneeling on the ground, I remain a long moment observing her.
She's now standing a couple feet away, her back to me, watching the lake below us and her quivering shoulders tell me she's crying.

I take some time to gather my thoughts, to decide how to approach her.
Gabrielle is strong, determined but she's although the most caring person I ever met. Her emotions often conflict with her actions. And today is no different. It's only amplified by the situation we are in.

Once more I'm reminded that I'm the cause of her despair.
Once more I'm reminded that I hurt the person I love the most in the world.

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