The next morning Gabrielle is awakened by Xena who shakes her gently.

"What? Aphrodite? Is that you?" the bard murmurs confusedly.

"No, it's me."

Gabrielle blinks and focuses on her friend, "Oh, morning Xena. Sorry, I had a … a dream about Aphrodite and…"

Xena smiles warmly, "No worries. Did you sleep well then?"

Gabrielle considers her answer for a fraction of a second but then says, actually telling the truth, "Yeah, thanks."

Then she hesitates, "You?"

Xena sighs and looks at her best friend for some moments. Taking a deep breath she finally confesses, "Yeah … I … I dreamt about Marcus."

When Gabrielle's gaze instantly drops to the ground the warrior reaches out a hand, somewhat confused by the bard's emotional reaction.

"I'm sorry, Gabrielle", Xena says and the bard immediately regains her composure and reassures her friend, "No, no, gods, Xena. There's nothing you need to apologize for … absolutely nothing … I'm the one who must apologize."

Xena looks utterly confused, "What? Gabrielle, what are you talking about?"

The bard hesitates, her heart thumping hard. "Xena, last night I …"

But before she can say any more, they hear shouting near their clearing again. Instantaneously, both switch to battle mode and, without hesitation, plunge into the trees. Once more the people from the village are screaming – but this time in terror.

Moments later Xena and Gabrielle come sprinting into the village square.

"I thought they had a deal preventing this sort of thing!" Xena mumbles in an exasperated voice.

Despite the seriousness of the situation Gabrielle can't resist smiling slightly, glad to have the typical Xena back at this moment.

"Yeah, you know, sometimes kings don't keep their promises, right?"

Xena grunts in agreement and together they charge at the thugs raiding the village. As usual, the warrior gives her battle cry and the men look around in surprise. They leer at the two women but this expression is quickly replaced by a look of panic as Xena begins to engage them in sword fighting, lets her Chakram fly and takes out five of them with her acrobatics. Gabrielle is using her sais expertly and the thugs are unpleasantly surprised by her technique and strength. In spite of their superb fighting performance, the enemy is fighting back. The two women now find themselves standing back-to-back surrounded by thugs. Xena and Gabrielle share a brief look over their shoulders.

"Let's show them that we have many skills", Xena snarls and Gabrielle responds, "Let's do this!"

So the two friends gather all their remaining strength and willpower and attack once again. Stunned by this sudden and aggressive onset, the thugs pay dearly for their lapse of attention. In a matter of minutes the warrior and the bard have knocked down the majority of the men. And with a last joint maneuver they take down the rest. The thugs then scramble to their feet and bolt from the village, shouting wildly.

Pleased with their victory but quite exhausted, Xena and Gabrielle turn to look at each other, glad to see the other unhurt and communicating silently, "Why the hell did Marcus not help us?"

Both of them stare at him and finally Gabrielle approaches Marcus and demands, "Hey, why are you just standing here? We could've used your help!"

Marcus stares at her blankly and then laughs mildly, "What? Me? But I'm not a warrior! I don't fight … except with words."

Now it's the bard's turn to stare. "So … you never fight or have ever fought?" she inquires.

In the meantime Xena has come over and is standing behind her friend, listening to the exchange with a sad and confused expression.

"Yes, I've never lifted a weapon in my life but you two are great warriors and we thank you for saving us", Felicus says.

His eyes wander from Gabrielle to Xena and he smiles, "I was fascinated by that round weapon you used, though. I've never seen anything like it. What is it?"

Xena looks stunned but recovers quickly and says in a dead sort of voice, "It's called a Chakram and it can be lethal – so nothing to be fascinated by."

Gabrielle shifts a bit uneasily. She can almost feel Xena's emotions going haywire – sadness, rage, disappointment, confusion – all at the same time.

To give herself something to do and to distract Marcus and Xena, Gabrielle asks, "So who were these guys? Are they the ruthless tax collectors we heard of yesterday?"

Marcus' attention snaps back onto Gabrielle, "No, we've never seen them before today", he says. "Besides I just negotiated a contract with the king and the tax collectors will honor it", Marcus assures Xena and Gabrielle.

At this both women exchange a look that says, "Yeah, we've heard that before."

"Right", Xena begins with a sigh, "then Gabrielle and I will track down these thugs and deal with them."

Marcus heaves a sigh of relief and thanks them profusely and, with a long look at him, Xena turns and walks away, Gabrielle beside her. On their way out of the village they receive thanks from the people and are offered accommodation. While they are grateful for and pleased with the praise, they politely refuse all housing offers.

The two women arrive at their clearing around noon. Xena immediately busies herself with kindling a fire.

"Want some lunch, Gabrielle? I'm cooking", she suggests in a brave attempt at cheerfulness.

Gabrielle hesitates and looks at Xena's back as she bustles over the fire.

Then, dreading what she's about to do and her heart beating fast, the bard approaches her friend and lays a hand on her shoulder, "Xena … You should talk to him."

To be continued...