CHAPTER 9: TESTING THE DUDS
Cyrene stole Eve from Xena as she was reaching for her at the end of Eve's bath. "You two go have some fun, I'm sure you didn't get many nice quiet dinners alone while on the road." Cyrene prodded. "Thanks Mom. Gabrielle said she'd meet me at Boar's Head after she was done with writing in her scrolls at the lake." Xena stated. "Daughter..." Cyrene continued, "I have to say something before you leave. I know you said that you and Gabrielle are just friends but there is just something between you two that I see. You are so much more than that, and I'm afraid that you both just don't see it." she blurted. "To be honest Mom, Its been on my mind as well. Just the thought of not having her in my life makes my heart ache. At the same time however, this is all new to me. I love her and she loves me, but will there be passion? If we do take the leap and we find that there is no Greek fire...What happens then?" Xena questioned crestfallen.
Cyrene lifted her face by her chin and forced her to look at her. "Look daughter! If there is no fire, then you wind up where you started. You might feel awkward and embarrassed at first, but you two have been through tougher scrapes in your relationship. This will just be another that you will get over." Xena mulled over this answer. "You are right. It would be worth the risk and embarrassment if it means no one will be stealing her from me. We are soul mates, nothing can destroy what we already have. Thanks Mom." Xena quickly headed to her room to don her new clothes. She found that her heart was racing and that she was extremely nervous. "Nothing to lose, Nothing to lose." she repeated to herself as she headed out the door and towards Boar's Head tavern.
When she arrived, Gabrielle was seated at a table in her similar ordinary garb, loading her scrolls into scroll cases and placing them back in her bag. Xena slowly took a deep breath and took a few strides toward the table. She found that she was more afraid of the outcome than anything in her life. Well except for those times that Gabrielle had almost died. "Xena! There you are! Are you okay? You look a bit like you are sick." Gabrielle asked as she pulled out the chair across from her for Xena to sit in. "Yeah, I'm fine." She struggled to ease the nausea. "I ordered you some of those dumplings that you like, and I got myself a nice steak. Eve get to bed?" Gabrielle asked as she examined Xena's clammy hands. "Yup." The terse answers brought warning signals in Gabrielle. "Xena are you sure everything is okay, you seem to be closing up on me. Is there something bothering you?" Gabrielle questioned. "Nothing to lose!" Xena nervously chimed. Gabrielle stared at Xena with a quizzical and wondering look and chuckled. "Um okaay..." Gabrielle shrugged.
Xena was embarrassed that she stated her current mantra out loud. The food arrived and allowed her some relief from the embarrassing outburst. "These dumplings are great!" she mentioned as she enjoyed the meal that was ordered for her. "By the way our new clothes worked! I didn't get stared at on the way here." she added before she stuffed another dumpling into her mouth. Gabrielle also agreed about the clothes, "Yeah me too, it probably helped that it was past sunset." she finished with a forming smile. Xena put the correlation together and felt sheepish at her overzealous compliment on the clothes. "Its okay Xena, you must have your thoughts elsewhere." Gabrielle reassured while finishing the last bites of her steak.
