Chapter 21
Gabrielle looked around at everyone, tears still streaming down her face. She still felt a little confused and disoriented. She looked back at Xena, looking for confirmation that everything was alright again.
"Hey," said Xena softly with a small smile, "Welcome back."
"Thanks." she said to Xena, and then tearing herself away from her face, she turned to Athena, "And thank you. I don't know why you are helping us so much, but I am grateful for it nonetheless."
"You are welcome little one." replied Athena.
"Yes, Gabrielle. As I mentioned to Xena, we are indebted to you for bringing us back and for helping the world as often as you have, always trying to help the world prosper." Artemis said, her head still bowed a little as she was unsure of Gabrielle's feelings towards her.
"Artemis. I am glad to see you well again. Our nation needs a little help and guidance." Gabrielle said, smiling slightly at the Goddess.
Artemis looked up at Gabrielle and smiled back. She knew it was Gabrielle's way of saying she was forgiven.
"Well, I don't know about the rest of you, but I think we could use a little break. Let's leave these two alone for a bit." Aphrodite said as she got up. She moved over to the bard to hug her, then grabbed Artemis' hand, disappearing with her. Ares and Apollo followed shortly after with a nod at the warrior and bard.
"Athena, before you go, did you discover anything about that tattoo?" Xena asked.
"Yes, warrior child. I did. The tattoo is meant for protection, and nothing more. However, as you have now discovered Najara had a hand in this, I would suggest asking your new friends if she was meant to put a spell onto it for whatever reason."
"New friends?" Gabrielle asked.
"Yeah, you'll see in a moment." Xena said smiling, "DJinn?"
"Hey Xena!" The DJinn said in unison, appearing before them.
Gabrielle's eyes widened and she shuffled backwards further onto the bed. Xena noticed this and grabbed Gabrielle's hand again, using her other hand to bring Gabrielle's head up to look into her eyes. Gabrielle saw the reassurance there, and calmed down a bit. Xena squeezed her hand again before turning back towards the DJinn.
"Blue, I assume you have heard our discussions about the tattoo?" Xena asked.
"Yes, we have. We don't know if Akemi was instructed to put a spell into the tattoo for Gabrielle. Speaking of, Gabrielle, it's very good to finally meet you. We are very sorry our sister has caused you so much pain by twisting Najara around. We hope in time we can show you we are on your side." Blue said.
Gabrielle nodded slightly, but otherwise remained quiet. This also did not go unnoticed by the warrior. 'Uh oh. Gabrielle is quiet. That is never a good sign.' Xena squeezed Gabrielle's hand again, then glanced over to Athena.
"Could you and the DJinn go back to Jappa and see if you can talk to Akemi?" Xena said, trying to convey the message with her eyes that she needed to be alone with Gabrielle right now.
"Of course, warrior child. I believe I still have some favours I can call in so that I can be granted access to Akemi for a bit of a chat." Athena smiled.
"If Athena can get straight to the source, why do we need to go? We were hoping to get to know Gabrielle a bit." Green asked.
"Athena may be able to go to the source, but she wouldn't be able to know your spells and how to reverse them. I need you guys there to hear the exact words Akemi uses so you can tell if there is any of your magic involved." Xena said in an authoritative manner.
"Oh. Yes, then we'll join Athena. See you later then." Red said, and the DJinn disappeared in flash.
"You guys rest. I will bring any news I find tomorrow." Athena said, and she also disappeared.
Xena turned her attention back to Gabrielle and surveyed her for a moment. Gabrielle's head was down and her shoulders hunched. Xena squeezed the bard's hand again and used her other hand to lift her chin up so they could meet eye to eye.
"Gabrielle? If something is bothering you, please talk to me." Xena said softly.
As Gabrielle looked into Xena's eyes, her emotions got the better of her again and she started to tear up. Xena took the bard into her arms and cradled her, whispering soothing words until she felt the bard calm down. Gabrielle looked up at Xena again.
"I do want to talk about it, but I am tired and hungry. Can we eat and bathe first?" Gabrielle asked in a hoarse whisper.
"Of course my love. Bath then eat, or eat then bath?" Xena asked.
Gabrielle was about to answer when her stomach made a loud sound. They both laughed a bit at that.
"I guess you know my answer." Gabrielle smiled a little.
"Yup." Xena said as she got up to look in their packs, "We still have some rabbit meat, potatoes and vegetables. How about some rabbit stew?"
"Sure," Gabrielle said as she also got up off the bed, "You get started on the bath water, I will get started on the stew."
Xena leaned in for a quick kiss then headed outside to get water from the well. She worked as quickly as she could to get the water into the pots for boil and partially fill the tub. When everything was ready for the bath, Gabrielle announced that the stew was also ready. They sat quietly while they ate, as Xena could tell Gabrielle was in reflective thought and didn't want to disturb that. She knew that the bard needed to process a few things before she was ready to speak to her about them. When dinner was ready they stripped and got into the tub. They cleaned each other quickly, got out of the tub, dried off, and dressed in their night shifts. Gabrielle went to sit at the head of the bed and Xena sat at the foot. Xena looked out the window, watching the sun set while waiting for the bard to start talking.
"Xena. Thank you for rescuing me." Gabrielle said.
'Guess it's a good a starting point as any' Xena thought, "You're welcome. You know I am always here for you."
"That's the problem Xena. My mind is having a hard time with that." Gabrielle held up her hand, as Xena was getting ready to argue, "Look. I know logically that you never mean to leave. But the truth still stands that when it comes down to it, and your past catches up with you, you leave. You say you won't, that we are stronger together than we are apart, but then something happens. Recent examples are what happened in the Norse lands, and, of course, your death. You made choices that didn't include me. So, you can see why my mind and fears would have a hard time with that. I said I believe you, and I do. But only time will quell the fears in me completely."
"I'm sorry Gabrielle. I really do not mean to leave you, and this time I really do mean it. I suppose you are right and only time will show you that." Xena said.
"Well, I like the idea of time with you." Gabrielle said with a small smile.
"Me too." Xena smiled back, then went quiet again for a moment, "So, what happened with Najara?"
Gabrielle frowned, "She kept going on about how we are meant to be together, and that my love for you and our souls being linked is a delusion we have to overcome. She explained about the DJinn saying we needed to be together, which is why when the appeared her I freaked a little, sorry about that. Basically, she tried to talk me into seeing it her way. Trying to out-talk a bard didn't really work though."
Xena laughed loudly at this comment, "No, I bet it didn't."
Gabrielle smiled before continuing, "Then she went away for a bit to let me rest. When she returned, I was tied to a chair, and she started to mess with my mind, using some sort of magic to show me memories to try and break me. The first couple from my childhood didn't really faze me and I was able to shut them down creating doors in my brain to lock them down, though it did take energy from me. The next couple, as you probably know, did hurt a bit more, but I was still able to shut them down and fight back. That's when she delved into my fears and created that final, for lack of better word, memory. I had to use all of my strength to lock that down, and it caused me to black out. I don't remember anything else until I heard Athena in my head."
"You amaze me Gabrielle. As I already said, I would have broken down after the first memory." Xena said, smiling at her.
"Thank you." Gabrielle blushed a bit at the praise, "So, now it's your turn. I see you have a bandage on your arm, and with Artemis being here earlier, you obviously beat the trial. Basically, give me the run down of what happened after I was transported out of Varia's hut."
"Well, I knew I had to go hunt, so I called on Aph and Ares to go track you. I took Ephiny, Solari and Eponin with me to go hunt. When we found the cave, we went in and were eventually found by the DJinn..." Xena said, when Gabrielle interrupted her.
"The DJinn are on our side?" Gabrielle asked.
"Yeeessss." Xena said, "Let me finish my story."
"Sorry." Gabrielle said, imitating sealing her mouth shut.
Xena smirked before continuing, "They came and talked to me about how they have an evil sister who twisted Najara, and they needed our help. We have to go on a quest for them when we are done these trials, by the way. Anyways, they showed me to the beast, which I fought, gaining a scratch on my arm. We went to revive Artemis, then the Amazons went back to let the village know what was going on, while we came to you. Ares used some of his warlords to distract Najara while Athena worked on the force field to your cell. They had found you in a catatonic state. Ares came to get all of us, and we transported you back here. Then while Athena worked on releasing your mind, we worked on getting Najara to talk so we could find out exactly what she did to you. Once we knew that, we knew what to look for in your head, and I came in and got you."
"Another quest huh? Guess we won't be settling down after all." Gabrielle said, irritation evident in her voice.
Xena moved herself closer to Gabrielle so she could hold her hands and look into her eyes, "Look at me and listen. I promised we will settle down. I do not intend on breaking that promise. But you and I both know that Najara will not rest until she has me killed and you broken at her side. So we have to deal with that before we can rest peacefully. I will not let her continue to harass you."
"You're right. I'm sorry." Gabrielle said, followed by a rather big yawn.
"It's okay my love. We've had a hard couple of days. Let's get some rest. We're probably going to be heading out to sea tomorrow." Xena said as she pulled Gabrielle down so they could lie down snuggled together.
"Ugh. Boats." Gabrielle said as she positioned her head on her favourite spot on Xena's shoulder and wrapping herself around the warrior.
Xena chuckled at the comment, "You'll be fine. You seemed to do alright the last few times we travelled."
"Yes, well. I used pressure points and I didn't eat anything but bread and cheese. Hopefully we aren't out to sea for too long." Gabrielle yawned again.
"Hopefully not. Alright, time for sleep. Good night my bard." Xena said, kissing Gabrielle on the head.
"Good night, my warrior." Gabrielle replied, leaning up to kiss Xena on the cheek before snuggling back down, as both of them drifted off quickly.