Chapter 18

Xena resented Eli during her journey from Kirkiz all the way to the Wei kingdom, but as soon as she reached the Zhu family she had a change of heart. Not only did the family welcome her as a lost sister, but the task that soon became evident that she had to do was, surprisingly, something she could look forward to.

"Who goes there!" An angry Liang had a firm grip on his pitchfork, but he wasn't pointing it at her. Chen's nervous face appeared in the doorway, and small eyes could be seen peaking around her.

"Liang, it's me, Xena." Xena said, exasperated.

"You sure don't look like her," he said, setting the sharp points of the pitchfork on the ground and leaning on it. Xena immediately understood. She still looked like her old self.

"Well, it is, I'm just… morphing back and forth between Greek and Chinese, that's all." She smiled at him, wishing once more that she looked Chinese.

"Prove it." Liang said gruffly.

They all flinched when she suddenly drew her sharp weapon from her belt, bouncing it from object to object until it returned to her hand. Her identity out of the question, they ran out to greet her warmly.

"Xena, we've been afraid of the worst for you! You left during such a horrid season-" Xena was surprised at the speaker, "-and it would have been all my fault if something had happened to you and we never would have known one way or another and oh I've been so scared!" Bao finished. Xena raised her eyebrows and responded by giving the girl a one-armed hug. Bao clutched her tightly as if she would never let go. Carefully, Xena reached into Bao's heart, suddenly convinced that she had found Gabrielle. Her essence was a warm rich red, and it overflowed with innocence and kindness. But it wasn't Gabrielle. Sadly, she looked down at Bao's smooth black hair.

"It's good to see you too, kid." Xena smiled down at the girl that barely passed her midriff for a moment before releasing her. The child unwrapped herself reluctantly from Xena, giving her a look of confusion.

"Please, come in!" Chen gestured with an exuberant grin, "I only just finished supper, it's still good and hot! It's not you're favorite, but it has chicken in it!" The thought of meat that hadn't been smoked to death or thoroughly burned by Xena's sub-par cooking skills brought a smile to her face, and she followed the family into the house without a thought of protest.

"Where - on earth - did you go in such a hurry?" Liang asked her over dinner. It was clear that no one else was going to come up with the nerve to ask her this question. Even Liang hesitated through his words.

"Kirkiz." Xena replied simply. "Wasn't much to do there, so I decided to come back… for the time being." Liang twitched this away in one small movement of his head, and continued smiling at her. He wanted her to stay forever; his family could use the help on the farm, especially after he left. "Anything happen while I was away?" Xena never liked to waste time. She needed to figure out her mission and get the Tartarus out of there.

"Yes." Liang said sadly, suddenly serious. "Emperor Shizu has decreed that one male from every family must join his army for a war against the Rouran, the barbarians in the north." Xena looked, startled, to the three-year-old Shing, but Liang shook his head. "I would go, of course." Of course.

"No, you wont." Xena said firmly. This was too easy. Why would Eli want her to take the place of one old man? It was so strange that she actually laughed out loud. There had to be more to it than that. "I'll go."

"But you don't even look Chinese! We barely even recognized you!"

"Don't worry about that." Xena said smoothly, "It'll be fixed by the morning."

He looked startled, but quickly went with it, "Besides you are a woman! You cannot fight in my place!"

"Watch me." She said, a fire in her eye. This was something she was good at. It was painful putting off finding Aphrodite, but Gabrielle would have to wait. Eli had made sure of that. But if he was confident that Xena would see her once more, she supposed she shouldn't worry. After all, she knew Eli to be an honest soul, and he had sounded most sincere when talking of how they would meet again. She took this to hopefully mean that she would be allowed to look in on Gabrielle's life just to make sure she was happy, though the thought of only being given a glimpse of her beloved soul mate made her heart ache. She wanted to hold the bard close and feel the warmth of her solid, warm body once more.

"No." Liang said firmly. "This is my home for me to protect. I leave in the morning." Xena shrugged nonchalantly.

"Well then, shall we head to bed?" her voice was calm and soothing, it didn't betray the tension in her heart. There, in her chest, the blood lust had returned and was boiling over with adrenaline.

"I- well-" Shing hadn't even finished with his meal, and his grandfather stuttered in defense of his supper. Liang sensed the warrior's bloodlust, and he quaked in its shadow, but he had to feed his son just as much as he needed to pacify this young female warrior. He wasn't about to let his grandson starve. "Sure, I guess. Shing, bring your plate to bed. I will tell you a story there."

Shing smiled with rosy cheeks and obeyed happily, completely unaffected by Xena's charged features. His two sisters scurried away after him, silently in awe of the warrior. Xena stood up. Though she felt guilty about it, she was in no place to stay and help Chen clean. Her feet didn't make a sound as she moved through the house. She knew where she would find it, both instinctively and with a simple deduction from the sparse options. As she went through the heavy wooden chest in the master bedroom she listened to the distant hum of Liang's voice as he told ancient tales to his beloved grand children. Xena would make sure that bond would not be broken by distance or death. Piece after leather piece she dressed herself in Liang's armor, and as she finished strapping down the last piece of armor, Chen's pale face looked around the door. Xena was immediately on the defensive, but she waited for Chen to speak.

"Let me do your hair for you." Xena relaxed her tensed muscles and allowed herself to be steered to a spindly-legged low bench, where she sat down carefully. Chen took a brush out of a drawer and gently brushed out the months of neglect. Once it had been untangled Chen divided Xena's hair in half and made a long braid on each side of her head. Stepping back to admire her work, she gave Xena a small smile.

"You'd better morph into a more masculine version of yourself this time… Xena." She suddenly became serious. "I am so thankful you have come back to save my husband. He is too old, too crippled to go out and fight anyone. He deserves a more peaceful death. You're giving this to him. I don't know if I could ever truly thank you as I should." A small tear of relief was now trickling down her cheek.

"Chen." Xena hesitated, "I am the reason Junjie died." Xena closed her eyes, unwilling to see the look of pain on Chen's face. "He died protecting me from my enemy while I myself was too weak to raise my sword." She forced her eyes open. "You owe me nothing." Chen's face was not as wrought with anger and affliction as Xena had anticipated. Maybe the old woman had already figured this out for herself. Chen simply nodded and watched as Xena squared her shoulders and walked straight through the house and out into the cold night air.