Usual disclaimers apply.
Chapter 52
"Sam, wake up."
"Don't want to," I croaked my throat hurting more than ever.
"You're burning up again, little one, I want to put you in the bath and give you something stronger for the fever and your throat."
Saying nothing, I merely raised my arms and allowed Mama to carry me to the bathing room. After finishing, she returned me to my bed, putting another clean button down shirt on me. Not buttoning it, she began to apply the poultice from the bowl Mom was holding. Finishing, she closed my shirt and disappeared for a moment before returning with a piece of bluish green bread.
"Mama?"
"I'm going to mix this with some cider vinegar and see how you do."
"You made penicillin?" I asked quietly.
"I made something my future self told me about, I just hope it works." Scrapping some of the mold from the bread, she dropped it into a small mug full of cider vinegar. Handing to me, I drank the vile mixture, hoping that it would work too. I was so tired of being sick.
"We'll do that again in six candlemarks if there aren't any problems," she informed me as I fell back into a dreamless sleep.
***XENA***BARD***XENA***BARD***XENA***BARD**XENA** *
Walking into the bedroom, the bard pulled a chair with her and slowly sat in it placing her hand on Xena's arm. "How is she?"
"I think that last dose finally started working, her fever is starting to come down and I think it'll break by morning if we keep up the mold and cider vinegar treatment."
Leaning her head on the warrior's shoulder, Gabrielle sighed. "That's good to hear, I was getting worried that she'd come all this way, just to…" trailing off she took a deep breath and reached out to stroke her daughter's hand. "I'm glad I was wrong."
"So am I my bard," tired blue eyes searched the bard's face before leaning in for a light kiss. "She's still going to be in bed for at least a week, but at least she'll be feeling well enough to fight with us about it."
Chuckling, the blonde wrapped her arm through Xena's, "She is so your daughter."
"Oh no, Gabrielle, she's all you."
"Uh-huh," croaked a voice from the bed. "I am both of my mothers' daughter."
***XENA***BARD***XENA***BARD***XENA***BARD**XENA** *
My fever had broken two days ago and I was feeling a lot better. I still had a residual cough, but it was getting better and I was bored stiff in my bed. Mama wouldn't even consider letting me into the other room for another two days and had already informed me that I wouldn't be leaving the hut until she thought I was well enough to do so.
Deciding that I needed to occupy myself before Mom found something for me to do, I decided to work on my skills as a hunter. Rummaging through my room, I managed to find all the needed supplies to make a snare, a rather large snare. Rigging it by the door, I laid the trap and waited for my prey.
Hearing footsteps, I grinned until I realized that they were Yaya's and not Mama's. "Yaya, no!" I shouted just as she started to come into my room. Stopping short, she looked at me quizzically. Sighing, I took the trap apart and slunk back into the bed.
Starting to laugh, Yaya put a finger up to scold me, "Your mother did that exact thing to me when she was in bed for a week with a fever. Only she didn't warn me."
Grinning as she sat on my bed, my face brightened. "Really, what happened?"
"Gave my new wooden spoon quite the workout that day," Yaya smirked.
"Oh," rubbing my backside, I sighed again. "I'm bored and feel fine. Why can't I at least go lay on the couch. They always let me lay on the couch."
Yaya brushed the hair out of my face, "In the future maybe, but not here."
"Being here sucks," I muttered pouting. "Can Daria and Zivah at least come over and say hi. I don't have a fever anymore."
Yaya shook her head, "Your Mama made it clear, nobody is to visit, you are not to leave this room, and there will be no more traps set." She finished picking up my supplies before heading towards the door. "I'll be back in a bit with your lunch."
"Psst, hey Sam!" Hearing Zivah's shouted whisper, I stood on my bed and grinned.
"What are you guys doing here?" I asked noticing Daria next to her.
"Breaking you out, it's boring out here."
Grinning, I nodded, "Give me a minute to get dressed." Coughing just a bit as my excitement rose, I quickly donned the Amazon leather outfit Mama had made for me along with my warm socks and boots. Grabbing my staff, I opened my window and passed it through first.
Pulling myself up, I managed to get through the window far enough for Daria and Zivah to help pull me out. Coughing a bit as I stood upright again, I finally caught my breath before we headed out towards the woods.
***XENA***BARD***XENA***BARD***XENA***BARD**XENA** *
"I am going to kill her," Xena's eyes blazed as she addressed the bard. "She's not well enough to leave her bedroom yet, let alone the hut."
"Well, there are more than one set of footprints outside her window," Gabrielle commented. "My guess is, she had help."
"From my daughter and Daria," Ephiny commented as she came up behind Xena and Gabrielle.
"They never showed up for school today."
"I'm going to kill them all," Xena muttered.
"You're going to have to wait in line warrior," Gabrielle commented harshly.
"Want to come on a search with me, Ephiny?" Xena asked.
"You bet," the blonde responded running her fingers through her curls.
"Don't think I'm staying out of this one," Gabrielle commented.
"Or me." Talia walked up to the group. "I think it's time our daughters realize just how tight of a united front we make.
Ephiny grinned, "So ladies, I have a feeling this isn't going to be the first time we'll have to do this, maybe we should discuss future discretions on the way?"
Stopping the horses, the women dismounted and watched from a distance while their daughters practiced their knife throwing skills. Zivah looked to be a natural and even with the coughing spells she was having, Sam was a close second.
"I can't get it to do what I want," Daria protested.
"Like this," Zivah showed the girl what Nebula had showed her and the girl threw the knife, finally smiling.
"It worked. Thanks."
"No problem, Nebula is an expert at throwing knives," Zivah responded.
"And how is she at setting tail feathers on fire?"
Turning, I began to cough as our mothers stood in front of us. "Minotaur shit." I gasped before another wave of coughs took me.
"Oh you have no idea," Mom stepped forward and glared at me.
Turning to my friends, she spoke again, "We are handling this as mothers today, but if the three of you ever pull anything this stupid again, you can better believe that your queen will be sure to make an appearance."
"Yes my queen," we answered in unison.
Saying nothing, I merely handed Mama my knife and dagger watching as Zivah handed her knife to Ephiny. Since Daria had been borrowing our weapons, she merely stood and stared at her feet.
Feeling both arms being taken, I let my body go slack and groaned as Mama easily picked me up and threw me over her shoulder making my backside a prime target. "This one will ride with me on Argo."
Starting to cough again, Mama turned me upright and put me on the ground. My relief was short lived however when I suddenly jumped forward due to a swat on my backside.
Mounting Argo, Mama reached down to me and pulled me on behind her. Holding her waist tightly, I leaned into her smelling the scent of leather and found myself relaxing despite my current predicament.
The ride back to the village was quiet and over all too soon. Reaching the stables, Mama handed the horses' reigns to four younger Amazons and nodded. They smiled at her and happily took the animals as our mothers led us to our doom.
My moms were quiet as we headed back to the queen's hut. Entering, they sat me in the chair while they took the couch. Taking a deep breath, Mama felt my forehead and the back of my neck before frowning.
"We need to make some more of the vinegar and mold mixture. Put it in cider this time, I think it will do her some good as well."
Mom merely nodded and I watched as she did what Mama asked. Handing me the mug, I drank it with no complaints and it wasn't until I had handed Mom the empty cup that she finally spoke.
"Do you have any idea how dangerous this stunt you pulled was?"
"But I don't have a fever anymore and other than the occasional cough, I feel fine." I protested, "In fact, you would have sent me back to school at home."
Moving to the table in front of me, Mama took hold of my chin until I was looking into her eyes. "Sam, don't you realize how much trouble you're in right now?"
I shrugged, "I'm not sure, I mean, it's just a cough, it's no big deal and I was so bored, I just wanted out."
"It is a big deal Samina." Mom was finally weighing in on my jailbreak. "You're already feverish again, and if that cough moves into your chest deeper, you could die."
"But nobody ever dies of a cough," I protested.
"Maybe not when you're from, but here, they do. I've seen children and adults die from this Sammy, and I won't allow you to put yourself in the situation of possible death because you were bored."
As Mom talked, I noticed Mama's eyes becoming wet. Realizing that I had scared her more than angered her, I took a deep breath. "Am I in the worst trouble ever?" I whispered finally realizing just how wrong this stunt could have gone.
Wiping the tear from her eye, Mama managed a smile. "Maybe not the worst trouble ever, but you are close."
Moving to sit on the couch, they pulled me with them and I once again felt the familiar comfort and fear of being sandwiched between them when in trouble.
"What happens now?" I asked as I began to cough again.
"Well first of all, you get into that bedroom and get back into bed," Mama began.
"And know that your mama, myself, or your grandmother will be with you at all times until we feel you can safely leave the hut again." Mom continued.
"What exactly do you mean?"
"What we mean little one, is that as long as you are sick and confined to bed, someone will be in that room with you making sure you keep yourself out of trouble."
"Don't think we didn't hear about the snare earlier," Mom added as I groaned.
"This is so not fair. At least let me come out to the couch, I'm so sick of that bed and that room. Come on, please."
"You are in no position to negotiate Samina," Mama's voice was low. "Not to mention we will be having a long overdue chat once you are feeling better."
"Chat?"
Mom nodded, "The kind with very few words, but a lot of meaning."
"I'll go get into bed now," I gulped as both of my mothers stared at me.
I was finally back in my bed leaning against the wall when Mom came in. "First watch huh?"
She nodded, "Your Mama is going to spend some time with your sister before bringing you dinner."
"Oh," I watched as she sat in the chair next to my bed reading a scroll she brought with her.
"Whatcha reading?"
"Amazon case law," her eyes never left the scroll and I sighed heavily.
"What am I supposed to do?" I whined.
Mom looked at me and shrugged, "Take a nap, work on that apology letter to Cesya, read."
"I told you, I'm not apologizing to Cesya." Pouting, I lay down and faced the wall. "And even with you in the room, I'm alone." I whispered into my pillow.
"When is Mama going to be here?" I asked once again.
"When she gets here, now, find something to do."
"I want Mama," I demanded.
"Xena will be here soon, until then, you need to stay calm."
"I want Mama," glaring at Mom this time, I kept repeating those words until I finally heard a voice.
"And why on Earth would you want to see me so badly?"
Escaping from my bed, I ran to her and hugged her tightly. "Are you staying with me now?"
She nodded, easily picking me up. "What's wrong?"
"I missed you," I said simply burying my face in her neck trying to stop the tears.
"Hey now, what's wrong?" Mama asked sitting on the bed and pulling me into her lap. Wiping away my tears, she looked at me gently and I was once again reminded how Mom hadn't looked at me once all afternoon.
Crying once more, I merely leaned against her and took comfort in the one person who was most like the woman I'd left behind.
"Gabrielle?"
"I don't know. She started asking for you about half a candlemark ago and hasn't stopped. I've read the same line about twenty times trying to ignore it."
Stiffening at Mom's words I began to calm down a bit, and my breath finally evened out between coughs. "Mama, will you sing to me?" I whispered in her ear.
Pushing me back, she merely nodded and tucked me into bed. "I'll be right back to sing to you, little one. I need to talk to your Mom for a couple minutes."
Nodding, I watched as Mama walked Mom to the door of my room and spoke to her quietly. Too tired to concentrate, I didn't try to listen, but sighed in contentment when Mama sat down next to me again. Taking my hand, she began to rub it while she sang.
Opening my eyes, I yawned and stretched. "Mama?"
"Hey there little one, how ya feeling?" She asked moving from the chair back to my bed.
"Hungry."
"I bet, you fell asleep before I could give you your dinner, I'll have Gabrielle bring it in for you."
"No, that's okay. I'm not that hungry." I protested wanting nothing to do with Mom at the moment.
"Sam, what's going on?"
"Can't I go with you to get the food?" I asked. "I promise, I won't move from the bed if you won't let me do that. Just, Mom's probably really busy with her Amazon stuff, please Mama can't it just be us?"
Mama's eyebrow raised and I looked at my fingers in the low light cast by the lantern. "What's going on Sam? Did you and your mom have a fight today?"
I shook my head, "My mom isn't here Mama."
"What are you talking about? She's right in the other room."
"That's not my mom." I sighed. "My mom never would have ignored me all afternoon. She didn't even look at me, I guess she really does hate that I'm here. I knew I was in the way."
Turning from Mama, I lay back down and pulled the blanket around me tighter.
"I'll be right back," Mama said, kissing my temple before leaving.
"Xena, what are you doing in here? You left Sam alone?"
"At least I left the room before I left her alone."
Putting her scroll down, Gabrielle looked into blue eyes as Xena sat on the table in front of her. "What are you talking about?"
"You ignored her the entire afternoon?"
"I was upset Xena, I was so afraid of losing her when I'd found out what she'd done. It was Solan, Hope all over again and I needed time to cool off. Not to mention that I was there in the first place because she's being punished. It's not my job to entertain her due to her bad choices."
"And you couldn't have explained that to her? You couldn't have bothered to look up from that damn scroll one time today to let her know that? All you've convinced her of is that her mom isn't here. That you don't want her here and that you hate her."
"By the gods, I never meant to hurt her like that."
"Well you did. " I walked into the room and sniffed. "And Mama's right, my mom isn't here, because my mom never would have done what you did to me to make a point."
Turning I headed back to my room and quietly closed the door before once more returning to my bed. Forgetting that I was grounded from my music player, I allowed it to materialize and put on the headphones managing to find my mom's voice telling me a favorite story before the tears came again.
Feeling my headphones being removed, and my music player taken from my hand, I started. "Give that back!" I demanded.
"You're grounded from this, I'll just keep it for the time being." Mom answered.
"That's not fair! I forgot and you're just being mean again. Go away, I hate you!"
"Samina, we need to talk." Mom's voice was stern and I glared at her as I tried to grab for the music player. Not being successful, I glared at her once more.
Turning away from her, I laid on my stomach and pulled the pillow over my head. "Go away Gabrielle," I snarled yelping as a very hard swat landed on my backside.
Turning onto my side, I glared at her once more, "Where's Mama?"
"Getting your dinner."
"I have nothing to say to you. I want Mama." Rolling away from her, I clutched my pillow tightly and tried not to cry.
"Sammy, please, just listen."
"No, I don't care what you say. I want Mama."
"Well, right now you have me," Mom's voice was stern. "And you are going to hear me out."
Putting my fingers in my ears, I began to hum, "I can't hear you, go away." I repeated as I hummed louder.
"Samina," Mom's voice was sharp as she tried to pull my fingers from my ears.
I began to hum louder at this and repeat the mature phrase of lalalala every time she tried to talk to me.
"Samina Ephiny Bardos, stop that this instant!" Mama's voice came from the doorway and I slowly sat up and leaned against the wall as she placed a tray with my dinner in front of me.
Saying nothing, I began to eat, my eyes never leaving my food.
"Sammy, please, let me explain today."
"Who's Hope?" I kept my eyes on my dinner, but felt Mama tense up at the question.
"I'm not ready to share that with you yet, Sam. Who Hope was has no bearing on you right now, on you being here."
"You said that when I ran off it was like Solan and Hope all over again. She must be important to you."
"Sam, leave it." Mama's voice was deep and I nodded, knowing that I'd find out who Hope was eventually.
"Are you ready to listen to me?" Mom asked as I finished my stew.
Looking up, I searched her face and shrugged. "You can talk, I won't promise I'll listen."
Watching as she stood and began to pace, she sat on the chair again and tried to take my hand. Pulling it back, I tucked my hands under the covers as Mama removed the tray from my lap.
"I should have explained to you why I was behaving the way that I was today Sam. I'm still learning too, the Gabrielle that you're used to had ten years to figure these things out. I've had less than six moons."
"That's no reason to be mean." I huffed. "Mama doesn't act like that, even when she's really upset with me. Even when I used her chakram, she made sure I was talking to you on the phone before she left the principal's office to cool down. She even sang to me that night. You wouldn't even talk to me today!"
"Sammy, I was upset, scared, and angry. Sometimes I find it best to hold my tongue so I don't say things that might hurt you. I guess my silence today hurt you more though. For that I am sorry. Still, you are being punished and it is not my job to entertain you when you're being punished."
I sniffed and held onto Mama's hand. "Okay, you've said what you wanted. Can you go now please?"
Nodding, her eyes fell and I saw a flash of hurt across them before she stood. Leaning over me, she gave me a quick kiss to the top of my head before turning to leave. "I do love you Sammy." She said quietly as she left my room taking my music player with her.
Not able to stop the tears, Mama held me as I cried. Finally calming, I pulled back and looked up at her, "Mama, how come you're not as different as Mom is from what I'm used to?"
"What do you mean Sam?"
Waiting until a slight cough had passed, I shrugged. "Well, the way you act and how you are with me. She's so different. I've never seen her get mad like that before, and when she spars here, she's, it's like someone I've never met before."
Leaning into Mama, I relaxed, allowing myself to get lost in the comfort of just being held. "I really miss her."
"Oh little one, she's trying. You have to remember, this Mom hasn't had the life experiences your Mom did. She's younger, she hasn't had ten years to grow with you, and she's still coming into herself in a way."
"And you? You're younger too, you haven't known me for ten years either, but you don't act so different."
"We're different people Sam. I've become so calm since Eve's been born, but your mom has become quicker to temper, to fight. The gift we were given in Eve has changed both of us, and then to be given the gift of you," Mama stopped to look into my eyes. "It's changing us too, but we wouldn't have it any other way. We love you Samina, more than you can ever imagine."
Leaning back into her, I began to trace a pattern on her leg, "Will you sing to me now?"
Feeling her chuckle, she gently moved, tucking me under the covers. "I would love to sing to you now little one."
***XENA***BARD***XENA***BARD***XENA***BARD**XENA** *
Slipping into the bed, Xena laid down and waited for her partner to move to her usual spot, head on her chest. Wrapping her arms around the bard, Xena kissed the top of her head. "You okay?"
"That depends, does she still hate me?"
"She doesn't hate you Gabrielle, she's just a little lost about why you are so different than what she's used to."
"Why isn't she having the same problem with you?" The bard snuggled closer into the warrior.
"Because you grew a lot more than I did after Eve was born, after what we went through. You read the letters we wrote to ourselves. You came into your own my bard, I just mellowed."
Slapping her lover on the stomach lightly, Gabrielle chuckled, "You mellowed? That'll be the day." Leaning up, she kissed Xena lightly. "I want to make this right with her, but I don't know how."
"Give her time Gabrielle, she's got to let her version of you go first. After that, the two of you can move forward."
"When did you get so good at the sensitive chats?"
"I have many skills," Xena answered with a laugh, leaning down to kiss her bard and show her a few of the skills she possessed.
***XENA***BARD***XENA**BARD***XENA***BARD***XENA** *
Thanks again to everyone for their reviews and comments.
