Title: Tangled Skeins
Notes: This story is pretty much fully drafted, but it's not all ready for prime time, as they say. Expect 1-2 chapters a week as I edit and add things. I hope you enjoy it!
Chapter One: Waking Up
Idly stoking the banked fire that would reheat dinner into breakfast, Xena looked over at a sleeping Gabrielle. She shook her head, but with a little fondness. Gabrielle's habitual late mornings ought to strike her as more aggravating than they did, but she knew the girl was still adjusting to the rigors of travel and sleeping rough. It took her awhile to fall asleep on the hard ground, and she needed a lot of it to help build up her strength and endurance.
Plus, the stubborn thing insisted on walking next to Xena's horse all the time.
At least her exhaustion gave Xena extra quiet time in the morning. The girl's incessant questions and stories didn't annoy her as much as she would have expected, but she still savored the peace of dawn - the birds, the dew, and the calisthenics she performed to help wake her own old bones. Not that she was really old. Was probably in her prime fighting condition, once she shook off any aches. But she still felt like an old warhorse if there ever was one.
Ah, the blonde head was stirring. Gabrielle went from lying bonelessly on her back, to an apparently luxurious stretch, to sitting up and looking at her. Endearing, sleepy blinking drew a half smile from Xena.
"Mornin'."
"G'morning." Gabrielle yawned and peered through the trees at the sun's position. "Yikes, is it that late? Thanks for letting me sleep; I must have needed it."
Xena raised an eyebrow at that, seeing as it wasn't later than usual, but she stood without commenting on it. "If you want to get dressed and roll up your bedding, I'll tack up Argo, and then we can eat and get a move on." She tapped the now-heating stew pot with a stick.
"Oooh, breakfast, too?" Grinning, Gabrielle got up, walked straight over in her sleeping shift, and hugged Xena. Very closely, heedless of her armor, and with her face pressed right up against Xena's neck.
A second of discomfiture preceded Xena returning the embrace.
Gabrielle pulled back to peer up at her. "Are you all right?" Her hands rested familiarly on Xena's flanks.
Xena figured the least awkward thing was to keep her own hands on Gabrielle's shoulders. "Me? I'm always all right." She tried for a rakish grin and received a sweet smile in return.
"Har de har, Warrior Princess. But thanks for spoiling me anyway." Casual as could be, Gabrielle leaned up and kissed Xena right on the lips, soundly, but so fast Xena almost thought she imagined it. Especially after Gabrielle turned away without a word or any sign at all that something unusual had just happened.
But as Xena stood there, blinking, her lips tingled, and a lick revealed a faint, new flavor. "Wh-" She belatedly realized her hands still hung at her traveling companion's shoulder level and dropped them. "What?"
In a distracted tone, Gabrielle spoke as she rolled up her bedding, "What what?"
"Are you all right?" Xena boggled. What had gotten into this kid? Sure, she liked to chase cute boys on the road, but she hadn't gotten so jaded on it that a kiss on the mouth meant nothing to her. At least, Xena was pretty sure. Was this a strange Potidaean thing? Did she kiss her sister like that? They were getting closer, sure, but…
"I feel all right. I know I slept late, Xena, but I don't think I'm getting sick."
Xena shifted her weight and crossed her arms. She hated to start a personal chat first thing in the morning, or ever, but she couldn't have this. Couldn't have Gabrielle kissing her like that when what it meant to Xena - what it felt like to her - was far from sisterly. It wouldn't be right.
"Look," she started, not unkindly, "I know we've only been traveling together a few moons now, but there's something I ought to tell you." I like women, sexually, and you're too cute for me to handle with any calm if you're going to kiss me. Dammit, how should she say it? She hesitated.
Meanwhile, Gabrielle's head shot up from her task. "A few moons?" She stood, whirled in place so fast her hair obscured her face a moment, and then froze.
She picked up the end of one long, golden lock and seemed to gawk at it. "What is this?"
"That's… your hair."
"But why is it long? I was only asleep one night, right? Not a year again?"
Awkwardness fled in the face of alarm. "...Gabrielle, I think something's wrong with you. C'mere, and I'll look you over. Do you feel dizzy?" Did they eat something they shouldn't have last night? Xena hoped whatever this was would fade on its own. And wasn't some god's trick. Ares could mess with her all she liked, but he had no claim on her innocent companion.
Totally ignoring Xena's request, Gabrielle dropped her hair and ran her hands over her arms and body. She squeezed a bit of belly and blinked, then hurriedly pulled the shoulder of her shift aside and spent a long moment looking at the totally normal, unblemished skin there. Her expression grew thoughtful, and she turned it on Xena.
"I was afraid you'd lost your memories, but I think this is something else." Despite how crazy her words sounded, her manner struck Xena as unusually serious.
"It's something all right. What're you looking for, anyway? Do you feel like you have bugs on your skin?" Maybe this was just a hallucination that would be over in a few hours?
"No, I have skin that's years younger than I'm supposed to be. Xena, I'm closer in age to you than me right now."
"Huh?"
"The mind you're talking to belongs to a future me. Don't ask me how, but I'm in my teenaged body, back when I first started traveling with you."
Xena's mind slowly grasped at the logic. "Future you? As in you have memories of the next few years already?"
Gabrielle did a pleased little jump. "Yes! You got it."
"Impossible." Even in dealing personally with the gods, she'd never heard of such a thing.
The fledgling bard frowned. "Well, I don't see another explanation. But I guess you won't believe me unless I prove it to you."
"You got it," Xena parroted.
Gabrielle sighed. "Shouldn't be too hard." She ranged around the clearing, then began to pace. "Of course there's nothing like a staff around here. It's a shame. This me could barely throw a straight punch, so a skill demonstration would do it… If this body could handle it."
Xena arched an eyebrow. "What, do you want to spar with me?"
A sharp exhalation and a small smile accompanied Gabrielle's, "No, not really." She tapped her foot. "Let's try facts I know that young me wouldn't know. Okay?"
"Sure." This was weird enough anyway, why not?
"You have a… No, let's not go there. You were a Valkyrie once. And you've... been to Chin. You also know how to find Ambrosia, the food of the gods, even though you'd never search it out to become a god yourself. These days, anyway." Her expression turned wistful. "Your mother Cyrene makes the best meat pies this side of Thebes, you turn into a total little kid when you get into a prank war, and you don't know it yet, but dressing up in costumes for elaborate plans is going to be a passion of yours."
For the second time that morning, Xena found herself stunned beyond coherence. "You… All that- where'd you learn all that?"
Gabrielle snorted. "Not all at once. I usually only learn about your past when it tries to kill us, or else you suddenly go haring off after it." Oh, gods, that did sound like her.
"You know about all that stuff, and you still travel with me?" That was at least as unbelievable as traveling into her own past body.
"Yep."
Xena's mind snagged on a thought. "Gabrielle... why did you kiss me?"
"Because I love you." She delivered the words as simply as the "yep" before them, but their impact rivaled a minotaur's hammer.
"You love me?" came the blunt response, itself answered by a peaceful smile and nod.
"More than life."
Quietly, several moments later, Xena asked, "You don't mean you're in love with me?" Adorable Gabrielle, the gentle, stubborn thing who, Xena had begun to think, had a bright future in the peaceful arts? Who charmed or swindled her way out of trouble and made their coin go twice as far as Xena could? The kid who hid behind bushes while Xena - gladly! - did all the fighting for her? Gabrielle loved her, a damaged and violent warlord, and apparently fought at her side?
No. No, that couldn't be right. This was some kind of trick.
But Gabrielle was walking toward her with a familiar gentle concern on her face. Once up close, she breathed, "Oh, Xena. I know it's hard to believe. I was a flighty mess at this age. But I was a little bit in love with you already, even if I couldn't recognize it yet. My soul knew." She rested her hand over Xena's heart, and Xena just stared.
"Yours might, too, if you let yourself feel it. I never asked when you started… well. Maybe you're not even attracted to me yet. I'm still a kid to you, after all." Now looking up through pale eyelashes, Gabrielle offered a self-deprecating smile. "You were gorgeous from the first moment I saw you, even if I didn't understand why I found it so interesting at the time."
"Um." Xena found she did not feel threatened by this strange Gabrielle's proximity, and she held onto that instinct. It was usually spot-on. Meanwhile, the rest of her was just lost in discombobulation. "Of course I noticed you- I mean, not in a creepy- I'm supposed to keep you safe. But you're a- an attractive young- oh what am I doing?" She whirled away a few steps and took some deep breaths before turning back.
"If what you say is true, we have to do something about it. Do you remember triggering some artifact or anything last night? Did we piss off a god or a shaman? And if you're here, where's my Gabrielle?"
The blonde smiled teasingly. "Your Gabrielle, huh? Good question…"
Gabrielle let consciousness find her slowly. Though she could sense light beyond her eyelids, the world around her sounded ever so peaceful. No crackling morning fire, no bandits on the attack, and no impatient warrior princess stalking around. Besides, she was sooo warm and comfortable. A lot moreso than usual, now that she thought about it. They must have found a soft patch of ground last night, and her head was pillowed on…
Wait. What was she using as a pillow? Her brow wrinkled. She was wrapped around it, too, with one arm and one leg flung over it. It was uneven, and it smelled faintly of leather and spice… and clean skin… and it was breathing.
"Mornin', sleepyhead," came a familiar but sleep-roughened voice from above her head. Before Gabrielle's mind could even start to reel at what was going on, the owner of the voice pressed a kiss to her hairline, sighed, and squeezed her closer.
Because she was holding her. Xena. Both arms. Xena.
Gabrielle's eyes finally flew open, and she hauled herself onto an elbow to look and make sure. "Xena?"
The woman herself cracked an eye open and frowned at her. "Oh, don't start. I know it's late, but someone kept me up all night." Xena opened both eyes and gave some kind of half-lidded, teasing smile that Gabrielle was freaking out too much to parse. "Besides, you usually like it when I sleep in with you."
"I-I'm sorry. I don't… weren't you sleeping on the other side of the fire?"
Unmistakable hurt bloomed on Xena's features. Stiffly, she said, "Then I'm sorry. I didn't think you were still that upset. I mean, last night, we… Did you not want to? I wouldn't have pushed you." Now she looked disturbed on top of the pain.
Gabrielle's heart went out to her instinctively, but she still really wanted to figure out how they had ended up like this. She took a breath and spoke softly.
"I'm not upset with you; I just don't remember." As she watched Xena's face turn questioning, she steeled herself for the next bit. "Aaand I'm guessing I should apologize for - rolling ontopofyoulikethis? I don't want to be clingy… or weird. I'm just not sure how it happened. I guess… I got cold overnight, and you were warm?"
Hurt had been replaced with full-blown concern. "Sweetheart, are you all right?" Xena pressed a hand to Gabrielle's forehead. "You feel warm, and you look kind of red. Lay back down, and I'll make you some tea, all right?"
"...Yeah, okay, tea sounds nice," Gabrielle squeaked. Sweetheart?
Xena smoothly rolled Gabrielle onto her back, extricated herself from the covers, and tucked her companion in. Gabrielle looked up, lost, as worried blue eyes took inventory of her, and hands gently smoothed her hair back and squeezed her shoulder.
"Do you hurt anywhere? I can add willow bark to it."
The mere weight of her concern made Gabrielle blush anew. "No," she answered in a small voice.
As Xena puttered around the campsite in her sleeping shift, Gabrielle mentally went over the morning so far. She had never woken up tangled with someone like that. Resting lightly against that amorous boy from the village that worshiped the Titans, sure. That night, she had lost her nerve in the face of a near-stranger's wandering hands and de-escalated their passion until they were sleeping together almost chastely. She wasn't even sure how to compare that to suddenly waking up pretty much on top of her friend and mentor. Her friend being a woman, at that.
A corner of her mind admitted it had been extremely comfortable, though. Soft, toasty, and the way they'd fit… She'd never thought about what it might be like to curl up with another woman, and now she could hardly forget.
But how did they get there? What was it Xena had said? "Xena?"
"Yeah?" The warrior shook some herbs into a pair of cups as she spoke.
"What were you saying we did last night?"
Xena looked over at her. "We had sex."
Gabrielle's mind went blank. "We what."
Xena cocked her head. "We had a pretty long day, camped like usual, and had sex. As a matter of fact, I thought it was your idea. Instead of staying up half the night writing or whatever it is you usually do, you crawled right into bed with me when I laid down."
"I… don't remember that," Gabrielle said distantly. Sex? With Xena? What, how, why her? How should she feel about this?
"I know I was a little tired, but I didn't think it was that forgettable," Xena responded in a joking tone. When she received only a flat look in response, she frowned. "It's all right, Gabrielle. We'll figure out what's wrong with you."
Okay, Xena seemed to think this was all normal. Like they had done… it... before, even. She certainly wasn't acting like she had done anything wrong. And for all her faults, Gabrielle trusted Xena completely with her safety. Except for that one time Ares had messed her up, but - could this be Ares again? But what would he have to gain from an awkward morning after something Gabrielle couldn't remember?
She was a virgin! She didn't even know how two women might…
When Xena brought the cups of tea over, Gabrielle sat up woodenly and took one. However, before she took her first sip, Xena's hand covered both of hers to still them. They were shaking. She almost pulled away, but one look at the deep emotion in Xena's face held her steady.
"Hey," Xena said quietly. "I love you. It's going to be all right. Just tell me what you're feeling. There are lots of herbs around here, and we can make the next town in a few hours if we need to."
Gabrielle's churning thoughts collapsed into a heap. "You… love me?"
Xena looked absolutely stricken, so much it made Gabrielle's heart clench. Who was this woman? The Xena Gabrielle knew had about four facial expressions: Blank nonreaction, benign tolerance, vague annoyance, and bloodlust.
But this Xena, still all softness and anguish, put her cup down and cradled Gabrielle's face in her hands. "Of course I love you. I'll always love you. Gabrielle, sweetheart, how could you forget?"
Sweetheart again. Wondering, she still managed to say, "The last thing I remember was going to sleep across the fire from you. It's been a quiet few days, I think… the last major thing was when I was an idiot and woke up those Titans."
"The Titans?" Xena blinked, and her expression turned intense. "Not Crius and the others. The two men and the woman. Not them, right?"
"Yeah, those." Gabrielle gently shook her head to clear it and to turn away from the intensity of that gaze. Once Xena reluctantly let her go, Gabrielle reached up to run her hand through her bangs. But something felt wrong. She felt around some more.
"Where's the rest of my hair?!"
Now Xena looked a little sick. "Gabrielle, your hair got cut years ago."