Epilogue:

            Gabrielle couldn't help smiling warmly as she drew away from the third hug Wu had given her. "Take good care of yourself and the men. I am sure you can keep the Empire safe without me. My decision stands my friend. I might come back to visit. But I don't think it's a good idea for the former queen of the amazons to get a title from the Empire. I don't feel the need to be nobler thank you very much," she said.

"I'll miss you just as much as when I thought you had died my dear friend. Please promise me that you will visit again," he asked.

"I will try, but if I must be honest my life isn't one which makes good of these kinds of promises. Be well Sun Wu," she said and gave him another farewell hug.

"Farewell Little Dragon," he whispered in her ear and turned away as soon as she let go to better cover his emotions.

Gabrielle smiled sadly as she walked over to the next pair of dear friends that she would leave within the next couple of minutes. "I am lucky to have two such good and loyal friends in my life as you two," she said with tears in her eyes, while addressing Mai and Chang. Gabrielle gathered them into a hug and held them there for a long time.

"You seem happier now than I have ever seen you before," Mai said in her meek voice as Gabrielle let them go again.

"I am. My place in life is with Xena. Our souls belong together. It is just that simple," Gabrielle tried to explain the depth of her emotions, but once again failed to find words that covered it as well as her actions did.

"I wish the both of you great luck in your life," Chang said and didn't try to hide that he was crying just as much as the two women. "I would follow you wherever you wanted. But my life is to serve Chin and I think you would want me to follow the path that is now open for me to do that," he explained.

"Besides traveling with two women can be rather bad for the male ego," Gabrielle commented then sighed. "Thank you both for taking care of Ghost and all my possessions… I just Fong could've been here. He doesn't deserve to grieve over me. He has so little life left to him that he should be living it happily," she mused.

Her friends nodded in agreement. "As soon as the messengers arrive he will learn the happy news. I bet that it will lighten his mood and give some spring to his step. Let's hope that he doesn't get it into his stubborn head that he wants to see the truth for himself though," Chang said and smiled at the memory of the roguish monk.

"Yeah," Gabrielle said. Mai looked at her and blushed while avoiding looking her in the eyes. Gabrielle knew her former maid well enough to know that behavior as an indication of something the shy maid didn't dare to say. "Speak your mind Mai please…" Gabrielle asked.

"I don't understand how you can be here now. Why didn't you return earlier? I know you explained it to the others, but no one… told… me," Mai explained.

Gabrielle gave Chang that had been present in Wu's tent, when she had explained all of this to Wu. "I think Chang is sorry about that, but I'll rectify his mistake. When you thought you saw me die after the battle with Temudjin, you were only half right. It was a sleeping poison meant to knock out a dragon, so I fell into a heavy sleep and yes I was dying too. So my friend the dragon took me back here to his valley and bathed my wounds in his own blood. The dragon's blood cured me, but I still had to spend a long time recovering. That was when he introduced me to Chen and his family of tigers. For some reason they decided that I had been doing the duties of a tiger and decided to adopt me," Gabrielle's right hand slipped over to touch the claw mark on her left shoulder.

"I was just about recovered, when Jenn tried to recapture the dragon. I decided to help protect the valley and the dragon, because I just knew that the Emperor would send Wu out to finish her off. That witch was too dangerous to have running around. So spend month after month defending this valley with the help of the tigers. Soon the wolves and bears, animal spirits just like the tiger clan, joined us. However not long ago I got wounded after slipping inside the fortress to steal one of Jenn's officers. We got a lot out of him including the fact that you were coming and the traps that had been prepared for you, but I had to recover and so I sent Chen out to meet the army instead of going myself. But when Chen returned with the news that you had been defeated I convinced the animals that you would attack in strength soon, but that you would be defeated if you didn't have us to help you. I was surprised to find half of Xena's chakram flying towards me as I scouted in front of my friends and ecstatic to see her alive. But the rest of the story you probably already know," she said and got a nod from Mai.

They had routed the Mongolians here, while Wu crushed the other army under a couple of rockslides and a massive sneak attack. After the battle Xena had been detached and strange for a while as well as unwilling to talk much about the events that had led both of them here. They had rested for a couple of days, but Gabrielle knew even after the years of separation that Xena wouldn't open up for weeks to come. Eventually she would but not yet.

Gabrielle cast another glance over her shoulder, where Xena sat atop her loyal mare Nike and Ghost stood awaiting her mistress. They had packed this morning and agreed to set out for home. It had been nearly three years since she had last seen Greece, her family and the friends she had left there. "If you ever need my help or just a friend don't hesitate to send a messenger towards Greece. I'll probably be around," she promised.

"Yeah sure, as if you'd stay in one country, when there are still horizons beyond which you haven't looked yet," Chang replied sarcastically.

Gabrielle smiled slightly and gave them an amazon salute with tears in her eyes, then turned away. She walked over and mounted Ghost for the first time in half a year. It felt good to be back in her saddle, but it felt even better to have the black haired woman sitting only a few feet away with her again. She didn't know how that had happened, but she knew that it was only a matter of time. They needed to talk about things. Time had passed and people had changed. Now it was time to see if their connection was stronger than that.

Teaser:

            Keep an eye out of the 6th and final part of the Darkness and the Light series: Stepping into the Light. Xena and Gabrielle are returning to their old haunts. But all is not well in their relationship. They have each changed in ways the other cannot understand. Can they work out their differences before the countryside explodes into a bloody rebellion?