The Joining

by

Kamouraskan

For disclaimers, see part 1

Part 9

Chapter 1

It was night.

In a sheltered boundary area of the Amazon Nation, a tall, dark-haired male was digging. There were no torches to light his work, and when his shovel struck a large root, the sound of his muffled cursing echoed from inside the pit he was standing in. Two other figures sat ominously in the shadows watching.

Toris leaned onto the shovel, wiping the sweat from his brow, leaving a trail of dirt across it. "Ah, Sis? Tell me again why I'm digging this hole?"

The warrior didn't move from her squatting position. "Because Gabrielle wants it."

"Ah... fair enough." There was silence except for the sound of the shovel as her brother persevered for a moment. Then another pause. "But, Xena, tell me again why you aren't digging?"

There was grumble from the warrior. "I can't do any heavy labour. I'm undergoing an Amazon purification ritual."

Toris was silent for a moment. "Didn't you already try that once on Mom to get out of cleaning the cellar?"

The grumble changed to a growl. "Keep digging, Tor."

He struck a rock and the vibration rang right up through his arm. He stopped again, turning his head towards the second figure. "Gabrielle, you have all these Amazons...?"

The Queen spoke up from the comfort of her warrior's arms. "If the Amazons knew that we were burying any of my scrolls, eventually someone would want to dig them up. And the whole point is to keep them hidden until our friends can find them."

"And this will be...?"

"Not for a loooong time... so deeper, Tor."

Toris looked beseechingly to Gabrielle.

She responded sympathetically. "We're really sorry you have to do this alone, Toris, and we do appreciate it. In a way, well, it's sort of an honour that Xena asked you. We needed someone who we could trust completely, someone we both knew would never reveal what we were doing. It's the only way to really be sure that these will be here thousands of years from now."

Gabrielle almost lost it at the very familiar look of disbelief that crossed Toris' face. "Fine. I'll believe you, Gabrielle. But Xe... this is like the guys who built the secret chambers in the pyramids? You're going to throw me into the pit afterwards, aren't you?"

Xena's slow smile was visible even in just the moonlight. "Keep digging, Toris."

There was no trigger that Gabrielle could hear, but she responded instantly to Xena's slight repositioning, knowing the warrior had shifted so as to be able to jump from her crouch if necessary. The tightness vanished a moment later. "Small Amazon, twenty lengths away."

"Neshia," Gabrielle guessed.

Both partners rose and quickly pressed through the brush, meeting Neshia before she could approach any further. The small potter handed an urn to the bard, who inspected the wax seals.

"This is perfect, Neshia, I must thank you again," Gabrielle murmured in approval.

"You're very welcome, My Queen, and I will keep this secret." She paused, another question on her mind.

The Queen of the Amazons noticed. "There's a problem?"

"Your friends... is the male an oracle?"

The partners exchanged glances. "Well, sort of. Why?"

Neshia had never been alone with both of the tribe's celebrities before. And in her abashment she blurted out, "He was looking at some sketches I'd made of a pot showing Robin killing that panther, but he described them as if he'd already seen the original drawings I'd made, and that's impossible! Anyways, he started shaking, and talking in a weird voice...and the Hunter started yelling, and... What's a wizard? And why would it be hiding behind a curtain...?"

Xena was amused. "It's OK. We don't always know what they're talking about either. They have very strange ways."

Gabrielle eyes had lit up, and she began to smile. "Neshia, let me get this straight. No one could have seen your drawings. Right? But he described them, almost like you had already made the pot? As if he'd already seen it, as if you'd already made it? And that's when he started panicking?" Gabrielle smile turned to a grin at each nod.

"YES!!!" The artisan was bewildered even further as her Queen began an impromptu dance. "Gotcha, James! You are so going to get it later!" she called out to the night. Turning to the craftswomym, she ordered, "Neshia, get back home, and talk to no one about this. And thank you again." The confused artisan bowed, and shaking her head, began her return to the village, muttering about insanity being contagious. Gabrielle grabbed her soulmate's hands and started tugging. "Come on, warrior, we have a pit to dig."

"Gabrielle, no."

"Look, love, nothing says I can't help Toris."

"Yes. Me. You want me to watch you, bending over, sweating..."

"Xena." But then she saw the frustrated look in the twitching eye. She sighed and called over to the waiting workman. "Toris. Please keep digging?"

They resumed their earlier positions, but Gabrielle's mind was racing through the possibilities of what she'd learned and surmised. "Xena?"

"Yup."

"You realize that this means I was right? That this might actually work out? You're sure that this spot can be found, no matter how long, no matter what changes happen to the landscape?"

"Yup."

"How are they going to get here again?"

"Gabrielle. We can only leave the message. They have to come and pick it up."

"I wish we could do more." There was silence as Toris rested again. "Xena," Gabrielle asked. "Does it make you feel weird to think of them standing on this spot, thousands of years from now, when we're just dust?"

The warrior thought on that for a moment. "No. It makes me feel weird, sitting here now, listening to you TALKING about them being here thousands of years from now."

"But we won't be dust."

"Not if you're right. Not if they get together. We'll live on in them and their children."

There was a long silence. Then they looked at each other. And back at the resting workman.

"Keep digging, Toris!" they both yelled.

Toris sighed.

Chapter 2

Strangely enough, back within the village, it was also night. Had anyone dared to be outside the windows of a certain hut, they might have heard a great deal of panting, completed by an exclamation...

"How the hell do Xena and Gabrielle get to do any of the things in the scrolls? Hell, how do they get out of the hut every morning? And this is supposed to just get stronger? James, stop laughing!"

"I can't help it. I can… feel… you. So much."

"So I guess no more sneaking up behind each other."

"Or accidentally overhearing conversations."

"Oh, right. James…?"

"I don't want to think about that now. It's too late to stop feeling what I feel."

"This isn't a death sentence, damn you! I love you and we aren't going to lose this. I swear. I promise you. If we got back, and I forget all this again… Without this, I'd… you don't think I wouldn't notice the loss? That I wouldn't know that I was missing something this important? Living half a life?"

"So you'd miss the Amazons?"

"You great asshole! Listen, James...You remember the ads for the army? Well, to me the Nation is like that. Boot camp."

"Boot camp. For what?"

"Well. Look. I was thinking... you're going to need... Like, you can't just keep dropping out of the sky on top of Warrior Princesses or whoever without someone to watch your ass, you know."

"You want to..."

"Yes."

"Like partners?"

"I think that's what we're supposed to do, yes."

"Robin..."

"Yeah..."

"This ass?"

"Uh huh."

"You going to look after it?"

"I think you should just accept that your ass is mine, from now on."

"Have I told you lately…"

"That you love me?"

"That too. Actually, I was going to say you are a filthy minded, incredible, wonderful woman."

"Thank you."

"Why are you moving?"

"James, you need a break and we do need to talk. About using the pot."

"Only if you stay lying just like… that. Perfect."

"Yeah...."

"Okay, I was saying that I don't think asking Neshia to leave something like the panther's teeth in the pot will work, because it's under glass in the museum, right? And if you don't remember anything, you wouldn't go to the museum on just my say so anyways."

"Maybe we're obsessing about the pot, and we should just mark something else we know survives."

"I know, we'll go to the Parthenon and write on a pillar, 'For a Good Time, call Robin...' Oww! Hey! No hitting!"

"Rules? Since when were there rules?"

"Civilisation ended when the legs on the bed broke? Wait! I know! Your phone number, that actually might work!"

"Right, James. Dateline, the Louvre. A mystery 200 generations old was solved today when archaeologists dialled a phone number discovered chiselled on the butt of the Venus de Milo..."

"No, Robin, on the pot. Wouldn't you freak out if your phone number was on a pot with your face on it? We ask Neshia..."

"When did freaking become a good thing?"

"Was a few minutes ago..."

"Shush. It would have to be in Roman numerals...."

"I don't know, a Roman reference might change its value. Change history. The Museum might not buy it."

"But James, she could work it in as a part of the pattern on the rim... and you can't see it unless you know to look."

"But, Robin, how do we get you to look at it?"

"I'll write me a note. Well, I'll compose a note for you to give me, with stuff only I would know about me. That should get my attention."

"You realize that by changing the design, or Neshia's making it later, may have already changed the future, and that's assuming it really is the same pot and not some parallel version..."

"Look, James, stop that. We'll do whatever we have to, because I am not going to lose this. We are not going to lose this. Do You Believe Me?"

"Robin? When did you get that growl?"

"I don't know... Do you like it?"

"Seems appropriate for someone who owns my ass. Yeah, I like it."

"Good. Because that and your ass are just two of the things I'm going to keep."

Chapter 3

"Well, we got out! But you look so exhausted, James." Robin's grin seemed brighter than the sun this morning.

They were standing on a hill overlooking the boundary grounds. It was lit by early morning sunshine only occasionally obscured by the few clouds drifting on a light breeze. Below them, Amazons and guests were sparring, or generally milling about. The lovers leaned against each other, their hands and hips occasionally brushing against each other, still unable to move too far apart, despite feeling as though they were connected by all of their senses.

Reacting to her teasing, James threw Robin a half-meant glare. "Please! Don't tell me you're a morning person." He unsuccessfully fought a yawn. "If I had known letting you have a few extra hours to sleep this morning would put you in this horrible and unpleasant condition, I wouldn't have wasted my precious sleeping time writing poetry."

"Wasted?" Robin pouted. "I distinctly remember waking up and letting you read it to me."

"Let me? Oh, lady, that extra sleep is a thing of the past for you."

"Promises, promises."

"If I have anything to do with it, you will be red-eyed and..."

"Miserable? I don't think so..." She pulled his head down and kissed him. "And here I was, worrying about that bet you lost with Xena."

James lowered his head and closed his eyes, slumping forward in defeat. "Okay. I give. I am apparently the last person in the village to know what this frickin' bet was. It sure as hell must be something, considering the looks and the smiles I've been getting. I don't get it! What could be so embarrassing in losing to Xena, right? Everyone here must have done that at least twice?"

Robin was trying to hold a straight face. She allowed only a small smile, but it was a strain. She began to explain in a very controlled tone.

"Well, you see, your bet with Xena was..." She took a breath.

"Yes," James said impatiently, "I bet Xena…"

"The bet was to see..." Robin looked down at the ground, "...to see who could pee the furthest." And the strain was too much and she exploded with the repressed laughter.

"And I LOST?" James' eyes were coming out of his sockets.

Robin was trying to control her laughter but not succeeding. She wrapped her arm around him. "James. She suckered you. You were too drunk to take down your pants." She broke up again.

She put her hand on her lover's shoulder. "Oh, I'm sorry" slowly containing herself, "I shouldn't be laughing, James, but..."

To her surprise, he seemed amused. "You know, I'm such a pompous asshole. I suppose the whole village knows all about this, right?"

Robin nodded.

"So, I've worried about being thought of as a danger to the women here. A Threat, a lean mean raping machine," he started a rueful chuckle. But then his head cocked and his tone and eyes changed. "So I suppose I owe Xena one, don't I? For helping me like that, I mean."

Robin saw the look in his eye, and worried. "Uh, James, I really don't think you want to get into paybacks with Xena."

They heard a cough behind them and found a still sickly looking Hercules and Iolaus standing behind them. James frowned at Robin. "I thought you were supposed to hear people sneaking up behind us, Amazon?"

Iolaus added, "And I thought Amazons walked more smoothly, but you both have this strange stiff..." Hercules hit the grinning blonde on the shoulder. "Ow! Hey, you're the one who told me that you could hear them like they were in the next room... Ow!"

Robin and Hercules both hit him this time. James wished that he wasn't blushing. Robin just looked mad. She put her hands on her hips and asked, "Well, are you two going to start picking teams? Though I can't help feeling it sounds less like a wedding that a flashback to gym class."

James grinned. "Except this time, the geeky kid is the captain."

Robin looked at the demi-god and joked, "You used to be geeky?"

Iolaus laughed, "I don't know about geeky. I don't even remember him having bad hair days."

Hercules was becoming embarrassed and his weakness wore at his patience "Can we get started? Because right now, I think I'm willing to trade Iolaus for Robin."

The blonde started to interrupt, but James stopped him. "That's not a bad idea. Look. I know that Gabrielle expects Iolaus on her side, and that after yesterday, everyone sees Robin as a miniature Xena... but I think it would mean a lot to Xena, after all that's happened with you guys in the past, if Iolaus was standing up for Xena. If that's all right with you?"

Iolaus blinked and nodded. "If it's OK with Xena, I'd be proud to..."

"It would mean a great deal to me," came a low murmur. This time, all were caught unawares, as none of them had heard the warrior approach. They watched as she slung an arm around a suddenly nervous looking Iolaus. "Fact is, I think we all know, that if this really was a battle between Gabrielle and I, I'd be out there alone." The Warrior added, muttering," and that just might include my mother. So, I'm glad of the support." She released the apprehensively smiling Iolaus. Robin realized that Hercules had probably told his partner that Xena might need... relaxation. Having experienced this particular relaxation herself for the first time, well, first times, Robin tried to imagine what going without might be like. Xena looked almost fine, except for that nervous twitch under one eye.

"Well, then," James said blandly, " I know that several of the Amazons are ready to fight each other for a position with Gabrielle. And since we have to have equal numbers, the more on Xena's side, the better for peace in the tribe. So, I'll give you Joxer, Maleager, Minya..."

Later Robin took James aside and said "That was very... considerate of you, James." She gripped his face with her hands. "Obliging. Actually accommodating...."

"You're suspicious."

"Oh, yeah."

"You know how this ceremony is supposed to work?" he asked.

"Yeah, it's a throwback to raiding parties. The two factions, representing the couple's tribes, arrive fully armed for battle. They present their weapons, then symbolically disarm, allowing the couple to be joined in peace, joining their tribes as well." As with anything to do with the Amazons, Robin had quizzed Ephiny in detail.

"Well, maybe that's how other people get married around here, but I don't quite see it that way. You see, if we had Iolaus and Xena had Hercules, our tribe would be seen as the number twos. The sidekicks. Not going to happen.

"It's not going to be a marriage of the great Warrior Princess and her sidekick. If this is ever to be seen as a union of equals, then people have to see it as the Queen of the Amazon Nation choosing her Consort. AND, after all these years of trying to get the jump on Xena, Pony is going to piss herself when she realises she's on the wrong side." He grinned.

"James. " Robin was beginning to be worried. "This doesn't have to do with Xena and the bet, does it? You are planning a wedding, right? Gabrielle's wedding? Don't you think she would like to be consulted?"

"Consulted? It was her idea." Robin stepped back, shocked.

"I'm just going to enjoy it a lot more, now." And he grinned again.