Gabrielle didn't want to cut the physical contact she and Xena shared, keeping one hand curled around the back of the brunette's neck and the other on the warrior's arm just below the elbow. Their foreheads touched, both of them ignoring their tears. Gabrielle tilted her face up to kiss Xena again, gently, and the silence in their tent was heavy with emotion.
"We need to go to sleep," Xena said quietly. Gabrielle agreed, but she didn't want to. She smiled weakly.
"We do," she breathed, and relaxed back into her bedroll, ultimately pulling away from Xena. She kept one hand on her companion's arm, though, even as the warrior woman shifted away from her. The brunette turned onto her side, facing her friend, and lifted an arm.
"Come here, Gabrielle," she said. It was an easy command to obey, and Gabrielle was at Xena's side in a heartbeat. The blonde curled up against her, her face emotionless, and sighed.
"Doesn't it scare you?"
"What?"
"That this may be the last night we're together like this?" Xena didn't say anything for a long time. She thought again about telling Gabrielle about Ares' involvement conditions… But still she came to the same conclusion; it was a bad idea, at least to do so before the battle. She sighed, frustrated that the circumstances weren't just simple for once, but then smiled subtly in recollection of her ingenious plan to deal with Ares proposal.
"It doesn't scare me," she finally said.
"Xena?"
"It doesn't scare me because I know it won't happen." Xena looked down at Gabrielle, although not into the bard's eyes because of the angle. "Once this battle is over, Greece will be safe again and you and I will be just fine. I promise you." Gabrielle's brow furrowed, her faith in Xena's words more unstable than she would have liked. Something in her gut told her that the Warrior Princess was wrong, for one reason or another. It wasn't that the blue-eyed warrior was lying, it was more of a false sense of hope, and ill-timed faith, Gabrielle reasoned. The blonde traced her fingertips along some of the contours of Xena's neck, clavicle and shoulder absentmindedly as her thoughts wandered where they wished. Her eyes were surprisingly dry. Xena, too, was tear-free, but her mind raced simultaneously in every direction, analyzing the circumstances. "This battle may go on for weeks," she said. Gabrielle's touch hesitated, and it was in this pause that Xena actually became aware that her companion had been drawing invisible lines on her skin in the first place. She smiled subtly in this discovery.
"I know. I've thought about it," the blonde answered. She went back to ghosting over Xena's skin almost immediately, but her interest in the task died a quick death and her hand retreated, a fist curled against her own chest. "I'm ready."
"Good," Xena said lowly. "I need you to be' all of Greece does." Gabrielle smiled and then laughed weakly.
"Not to put the pressure on me or anything." Xena grinned at her friend's humor and found her fingertips in soft blonde hair. "…Xena?"
"Yes?"
"I've been asking this a lot from you lately, I feel like, but… Will you do something for me?" Xena's face became curious, her fingers pausing in her companion's long locks for a moment.
"I guess… I can try." Gabrielle smiled, a bit sheepish for requesting this again for the umpteenth time.
"Sing me something." Gabrielle didn't have to verbally explain her request any further; the tone in her voice said it all. And in hearing it, Xena knew her companion's qualms to be a partial truth, at least they were to the bard. Gabrielle wanted to hear her warrior's singing voice one more time before the battle, to commit the sound to memory in case…
Xena let out a breath and smiled weakly before inhaling, and began to sing. Her song was new, never before written and not of any language, but it spoke clearly of everything in the raven-haired woman's heart in those moments. The melody, in actuality, was haunting, and a little sad, but Gabrielle listened just as intently as ever, nestling her face against Xena's chest to get comfortable. She smiled a bit when she found the woman's heartbeat to match the tempo of the song and closed her eye. Without trying she took everything in; Xena's voice, her heart, her warmth, the feeling of her skin, her smell… Nothing went unnoticed in those moments, but as the mood in Xena's song changed in just the slightest way, almost to a lullaby, Gabrielle found her consciousness gradually more and more difficult to hold on to and eventually, the bard gave over to sleep. And it didn't take long for Xena to realize this, but she continued her song, quietly. She decided in that moment that the melody she was singing was for Gabrielle and for Gabrielle alone. She'd call it Gabrielle's Lullaby and commit it to memory, which she knew she could do, and after the battle was over let her bard hear it whenever she wanted.
Eventually, the warrior woman stopped singing, her muse gone from her, and the song ended in a note low in the brunette's register. She took a few breaths, trying to calm the sudden (and surprising) rush of emotion that even threatened tears at the backs of her eyes, and laid her head down. She wrapped a protective arm around her companion before letting out a sigh.
"Goodnight, Gabrielle," she said softly. And then, looking down at the sleeping Amazon in her embrace, barely in a whisper, "I love you."
The following morning was a frenzy of organized chaos, soldiers preparing for battle in the darkness before the sun's first light. Most were eating the last of their breakfast if they weren't already finished and packed, and were heading off to clear out camp. The army knew where it was to go, but even still Xena and Gabrielle dictated the soldiers' every action, dividing them carefully into two ranks. Weapons were distributed evenly and then their wielders were organized accordingly: Archers were set in the back in front of those who would man the catapults (of which there were few), men and women armed with crossbows were arranged in front of them, and then those armed with fighting staffs, maces, sais, spears and swords stood at the head. There was a confidence in the camp as it grew near time to depart, although no one smiled. The reality of war had long sank in, and Death loomed overhead not too far away.
In all the movement, Xena found Gabrielle, touching her arm gently.
"Are you ready?" she asked. Gabrielle nodded.
"Just about. You?"
"Yeah. Now remember the plan-"
"I know. I'll move the troops beyond the valley and wait for your signal."
"And then we'll move in."
"And what about Ares?" Gabrielle asked. Xena froze for a fraction of a second, but relaxed and covered her reaction well.
"I don't know. He'll be here… I just don't know specifically where or when?"
"He's good with specifics, huh?" Xena smiled, a bit impishly.
"You have no idea."
Gabrielle lead her half of the army in a silence with the emergency replacement commander only a few paces behind her. (both halves of the army had one of these in the event that either Xena or Gabrielle should fall during battle… The two had decided that it was a good precaution to take almost immediately after building the army in the beginning) Though she was focused on what she was to do, her mind raced in every imaginable direction, clouding up the remaining space in her head. She was surprised when she realized that she felt no fear in those moments. Of course, this fearless resolve was not supported by ignorance, she at least knew that much, but from where her bravery spawned the battling bard could not really explain.
With her hand she signaled for her ranks to follow her into a natural channel between two foothills, knowing that it would empty out into the far end of the valley where they would wait for Xena's signal. The group remained stealth as was humanly possibly, even the stirring of their armor hardly making a sound. As they traveled, Gabrielle's mind continued to wander and for a few moments she began to question Ares' involvement. After all, what could the God of War possibly get out of… But that was just it. This was a war, after all, and a big one. How could he help himself and otherwise stay out of it? This was as good an excuse as any to encourage bloodshed and possibly get involved directly himself. And besides, Xena seemed incredibly confident in Ares' aiding their cause, something she rarely was, and so if the Warrior Princess herself had faith, then surely Gabrielle could muster some up as well.
In this final thought Gabrielle and her ranks found the far end of the valley, at which they ceased further forward travel and reorganized formation. Once settled, they waited, and