Day 104 (directly after 'Hooves and Harlots')

Xena spun around silently, taking in every detail of the quiet forest which surrounded her. In the far distance, she could hear a gentle murmur of sounds coming from the Amazon village, but here, in the clearing, everything was silent.

Then she heard it; a noise which cut through the silence like thunder. Somewhere, a twig had snapped. Instantly, Xena was running towards the sound on feet which were as light as air and as quiet as a panther. There was the twig, there were the delicate footprints leading up to it, but where was she? Xena stopped for a moment, perplexed.

There was a giggle and then a soft thud behind her as Gabrielle jumped down from the tree and landed on the ground. 'Said you wouldn't be able to find me,' she taunted.

'No you didn't. You said I wouldn't be able to catch you before you got to the lake. That's not the same thing.'

'You're so...literal!' Gabrielle sighed in mock annoyance. Then she has turned and was running 'still haven't caught me though!' she yelled over her shoulder.

Xena set off after her, making sure that she looked as though she was running her fastest, when, in reality, she was letting Gabrielle win. They chased each other through the trees, feet flying, hearts pounding, breath coming in short, sharp gasps. And there was the lake, glistening sapphire in front of them.

'I win!' Shouted Gabrielle and then tripped and fell flat on her face, still laughing as she did so.

'No you don't!' Seeing an opportunity, Xena ran faster, scooped up a rather muddy Gabrielle and unceremoniously tossed her into the lake.

'Xena!' Gabrielle's head broke through the surface of the lake with an anguished cry. Xena lost focus for a moment, transfixed by the way Gabrielle's new Amazon clothes suddenly clung to her body. She was so transfixed that she didn't notice one of Gabrielle's hands shoot outwards and make a grab for her ankles. Xena fell backwards and was pulled, feet first, into the water. At that point, the two of them looked at each other and burst out laughing.

We're like a couple of lovesick teenagers, Xena thought to herself. And they were. All they seemed to do these days was play. They played chase, they played word games, they played hide and seek. Yesterday, they'd come oh-so-close to playing catch with the chakram. Xena had never known anything like it – even as a child, she hadn't played this much. Not that she wasn't enjoying it, because she was. Immensely. It was just...unexpected.

They were flirting as well, or at least Gabrielle was, although Xena wasn't sure if it was deliberate or even if Gabrielle really knew what she was doing. For her part, Xena was trying her hardest not to flirt back and failing miserably. There was prolonged eye contact across the campfire at night, bedrolls which were slowly creeping closer together, accidental hand brushing as they passed one another things. Gabrielle was riding on Argo more, her body pressed up against Xena's back. And, strangest of all, Xena found herself talking all the time; she kept finding excuses to talk to Gabrielle about the most trivial of things, and, every time there was a moment's silence, she would try and think of something to fill it. They talked all the time anyway, but suddenly it didn't seem like enough.

The laughter had stopped now and been replaced with yet more prolonged eye contact. Both of them were shaking although it was hard to know whether that was from the cold of the lake or from something else entirely. As Xena watched, the smile slowly faded from Gabrielle's face and was replaced with an expression which was far more serious. The green eyes kept flicking to Xena's lips and then back to her face, small hands had found their way to Xena's shoulders and they were standing so close that Xena could feel the soft tickle of Gabrielle's breath on her neck.

With a physical effort, Xena stepped away and one foot went straight into a dip in the bed of the lake. Xena stumbled and fell backwards which, luckily, was enough to break the tension between them because Gabrielle began to laugh again.

Much later, as they were sat by the campfire, finishing their evening meal, Xena noticed that Gabrielle looked deep in thought. A month ago, she would have left Gabrielle to her silence, but not now. Now she had to know what was bothering her. 'Everything ok?' she asked.

Gabrielle's head jerked upwards in surprise. 'I was just thinking about some things.'

Old stoic Xena would have left it at that and gone off somewhere to polish her armour. New lovesick Xena couldn't. 'Any things in particular?'

'The Amazons.'

It wasn't quite the answer which Xena had been expecting and for some reason she felt a crushing sense of disappointment in her chest. Silently, she quelled it. What had she been expecting, that Gabrielle would declare her undying love? And, if she had, what then? Talking about the Amazons was at least easier than that.

'What about the Amazons?'

'While we were there, I noticed some things...' a deep blush was spreading across Gabrielle's face. Xena had a horrible feeling that she knew what was coming next. 'I saw them...kissing,' Gabrielle was staring at the ground, so red she almost glowed and Xena was struck anew by just how sheltered her upbringing had been.

Xena tried to make a joke out of it to ease the sudden awkwardness. 'Well that happens sometimes...when people love each other...'

'I know that!'

'I know you know that, but...'

'But the Amazons are all girls! There were girls kissing girls!' Gabrielle said it all in a rush as if she didn't particularly want to be having this conversation either and wanted it over with as quickly as possible.

'Gender isn't always important when you love someone...'

'So does that happen a lot? Girls and girls, I mean...'

'More often than you'd think.' Xena paused, wondering how many of her own past experiences she was ready to share and how many of them Gabrielle was ready to hear.

But Gabrielle got there before her. 'Have you ever...? With a girl...?'

Now Xena was blushing which was distinctly odd. Normally the subject of sex didn't bother her. 'Yes,' she said softly.

'What's it like?' Both of them were looking away now, intently staring at the ground, the treeline, the stars, anything but each other.

'Wonderful,' Xena replied 'And awful and all the things in between, but that's not because there's another woman involved, that's just what being in love is. It's like every feeling is magnified a thousand times, like every detail matters. When you're in love, the smallest smile can make you happy beyond reason, the tiniest disagreement can make you miserable for weeks...'

'It sounds remarkable.'

'It is.'

They both looked up at the same time as if compelled to do so. The starlight made Gabrielle's hair gleam silver. Her lips were parted slightly, her eyes were deep emerald pools in which Xena could have got lost forever. For several seconds, neither of them spoke and then Gabrielle whispered in a voice so soft that it was barely louder than breathing 'you're very beautiful.'

'Just what I was going to say,' Xena whispered back. Then, realising what was about to happen and knowing she should stop it, she stood up and mumbled an excuse about having to tend to Argo and disappeared off into the woods.

That night, Xena made sure her bedroll was on the other side of the fire to Gabrielle's and neither of them slept very much.