Title: Someone please believe in me

Disclaimer: I don't own the characters on "Xena Warrior Princess"

Message from the author: I once again apologize for taking so long to write the next chapter. This term has been the most hectic one in my life so far so I have unfortunately not had any time to write. But I'm trying to make up for lost time now.

Merry Christmas to you all!

/VictoriaBard

Annie had never thought it would be possible to feel this bad. She had never been drunk before. Several of her friends had been drunk at parties but she away declined if they offered her anything. But last night both she and Metaxas had thought it would be a good idea, for some reason, to try it. They had asked around for Xena and were directed to the inn where she had been spotted. There they had sat down and ordered one ale. And then another and another until they had had way too many. Suddenly talking to strangers had felt great. Annie didn't have anything to be ashamed of. And most people seemed to think she was good company and laughed at her antics. Metaxas had just smiled and once lost his balance and fallen off his stool now and then.

She had been awake now for at least ten minutes but without opening her eyes. She knew she wasn't alone in the room and wanted to avoid the awkward confrontation.

"I know you're not asleep, Annie. You might as well open your eyes." She heard a familiar voice.

Annie opened her eyes and slowly got used to the light. She gazed around the room and could see that it wasn't morning. It was midday. She stared at the ceiling and at first refused to look at Xena but could see her in the corner of her eye. She was sitting on a stool by the window across the room.

Xena stood up and strode over to the bed Annie was in and sat down. She tilted the girl's head so she was forced to look at her. She had a serious and not very pleased look on her face.

"Good morning." Annie replied gleefully in an attempt to lighten up the warrior's mood a little for she looked so grim. "Look, Xena I…" she started but Xena raised a hand and stared at her with such intensity that the girl fell silent at once. For a few minutes they just looked at each other which gave Annie a sense for how much trouble she was in. It was obviously a lot. Finally Xena gestured for her to sit up in the bed. She handed her a glass of water and told her to drink it all at once. She did as she was told. She looked at the other bed and noticed that Metaxas wasn't present in the room which she found odd. She mustered the courage to open her mouth and ask though.

"Where is he? He's not hurt is he?"

Xena took the glass from her and put it away. "I sent him out for some supplies." She answered.

"Okay." was all she said not daring to push the matter further. Even though she was dying to know where he had gone off to.

"We need to have a talk. Just you and me. That's why I sent him away for now." Xena said in a calm tone which only made Annie more worried. "Last night you did something that I will simply not tolerate from you ever again. I feel I should be quite clear on that point. And I will be. But first I'd like to take a look at your back."

Annie flinched. She had almost forgotten about the sting on her back because of her very much upset stomach and the headache. Xena touched her back very gently and even that stung a little. She moved away from the warrior.

"No, I don't want you to!" She exclaimed and pushed Xena's hand away roughly.

Xena was surprised Annie acted the way she did. She hadn't had an opportunity to talk to her about what had happened at the school yet. "Look, I already know what happened to you back there. It's no secret. We went to see you at the school yesterday and heard that you had run away. When I spoke to one of the girls who told me what was done to you it all became clear."

Annie settled down a little. "I'm sorry I ran away. I know you wanted us to stay there until you came back." She said. Suddenly it all came back to her. How lonely she had felt hiding in the kitchen, hoping and praying that Xena would burst into the room and save her from her faith. She remembered the pain she had felt while being punished by Gemma. And last but certainly not least, the fear. Tears flooded her eyes and she couldn't hold them back any longer so she let go and allowed her self to cry for the first time since she and Metaxas had been left at the school.

When Xena looked at Annie and knew why she was crying she felt so guilty. Guilty that she had agreed to go on this mission in the first place even though Annie was supposed to come first. She got up into the bed and pulled Annie close to her and began rocking her back and forth while she allowed her to just cry. When Annie stopped crying they stayed like that for some additional time until Xena let her up. Without saying anything the warrior signalled for Annie to turn her back towards her. She did and Xena lifted her tunic and took a look at the bruises and cuts on her back from the whipping. They would of course heal though she might be scarred for a while from the deeper cuts in her skin.

Annie turned her tunic back down again and turned and faced Xena. "On a scale from one to ten, exactly how angry are you?" she asked.

Xena had almost forgotten about the night before. She had let her own guilt totally overtake her. "About ten I would say." She said. It felt strange and unfamiliar to her to be having a conversation like this. She didn't like to say too much. Usually she expected people to understand when she wasn't pleased with something they had done just by looking at her. She didn't always like to use words. But now she felt she had to. Annie wasn't an adult and she still needed guidance in her life. She had to explain things to her so that they would be clear. Not only so she would follow the rules and be safe but also so that she would feel safe. That was important for all kids and she was no exception.

"Annie, when I agreed to keep you with me I accepted a certain amount of responsibility. I have a responsibility to keep you safe at all times and to guide you. That means that you have to follow the rules I set for you." She explained. "I'm not angry with you for running away from the school. After what happened there it was perfectly understandable. I am on the other hand very upset with you for drinking last night. "

Annie nodded. "I didn't think you'd be back until morning." she whispered.

Xena sighed deeply at her poor excuse. "And that makes it all right for you to do what you did and behave like that?!" she asked in a voice that said it certainly wasn't.

Annie just bit her lip and shook her head no. She already knew that but hadn't been able to think of a better reason. "But you never told me I couldn't drink." she protested and felt she had to defend her actions at least a little.

"I know I never did, Annie. That's why I'm telling you that now. You are never allowed, under any circumstances, to drink anything with alcohol in it. I know I never told you this in the beginning. But I still think you know this within you if you think about it."

Annie felt guilty about drinking. It had seemed like a good idea at the time. But she could see it clearly hadn't been a good idea at all. But she also knew that if Xena had just kept her with her it would never have happened. She wanted to ease her own guilt slightly by having something to blame Xena for too. And suddenly it just came out. How hurt and abandoned she had felt when Xena left the school just came out in words.

"You're damn right you can't hold me responsible! I didn't ask for you to leave me and if you hadn't I would never have gotten drunk either!" She yelled at the top of her lungs. She got up and headed for the door but felt a hand grab her arm and haul her back towards the bed again. "Don't!" she cried desperately and tried to get lose.

Xena felt plenty guilty about everything already but she was not so blinded by it that she didn't see Annie's attempt to use it against her. "Annie, that's quite enough." But the girl didn't stop fighting and soon Xena ran out of patience. She lifted Annie and carried her back to the bed and put her back down determinately. "You listen to me, young lady. I know you're upset. But we still need to clearify a few things. After that I'll leave you alone for a while." she assured her.

"No, I don't want to stay here and you can't make me." She argued.

Xena raised a brow. "Oh really? Well, I'm not going to let you run around town again. I think you've had enough of that for a while. And you think I can't stop you? Think about that for a minute, okay?"

Annie frowned but settled down a little.

Xena continued. "I feel very guilty about leaving you; but right now I'm ignoring that. The fact that I made a mistake does not in any way excuse the fact that you made a huge one. "

Annie stubbornly looked away and allowed herself to shed a few more tears.

"Now I want you to promise me that you'll never repeat the mistake you made last night again. "

Annie turned her head and glared at the warrior.

"And I will do the same. I promise to never leave you for that long again unsupervised. It will never happen again" Xena assured her.

Annie sighed, but not in a nonchalant way. "I promise." she just said.

"Good."

"Where are Gabrielle and Toris?" she asked. "Are they out as well?"

Xena got up from the bed. "They left yesterday with a ship to North Africa. We found out that's where Emarentia has been taken to be sold as a slave. There is another ship leaving tomorrow morning and we're going to be on it." She explained.

Annie's face lit up and she looked excited. "You're taking us to North Africa?!"

Xena just nodded but stayed serious. "Yes I am. And until then you're not allowed to leave this room. You are to stay here and think about what you did wrong last night. And when we're on the ship I will talk to the captain and he will give you work that needs to be done there. That should keep you out of trouble for a while."

Annie jumped up "No way! What gives you the right to…"

"I have every right and I think that's something you need to work on understanding. Now if I hear one more protest out of you you'll be making it worse for yourself."

Annie stood there with her mouth open. She hadn't thought Xena would actually punish her. She sat down again and watched the warrior exit the room. She felt ashamed and also a little angry. But at least she felt no fear and no loneliness anymore. She was safe.

To be continued