XXV

*NOTE – Hello everybody, it's me, TheManFromMudos, and here I am again with another chapter of 'Xena'. I have to say, the last chapter was definitely one of the most mixed in terms of it's reception, but I can see that the cliffhanger left you all in suspense (that is the idea of a cliffhanger, after all). Anyway, I don't want to keep any of you waiting any longer, so here it is! I hope it's everything that I built it up to be. If not, don't hesitate to let me know what a cock-up I've made of it! Just remember that we're now back in the eyes of Matthew (this chapter happens simultaneously with Chapter XXIV). Now read on, and as always, enjoy. It's 'Xena'. THANK YOU!*

Darkness filled the room as I slowly opened my tired eyes. I wasn't sure what time it was, but it felt early. I could feel Xena's heavy body pushing down on me in the bed, her head hanging over my own. But it was a strangely comfortable sensation, so for a few moments, I simply embraced it. Soon, though, I realised that I would have to at least check what time it was. I rolled over slowly, heaving Xena's heavy head to one side. As I slid my arm from under her, she sighed happily, stirring a little as she tried to find a comfortable position. I stroked the top of her head gently, ushering her back to sleep. Then, I reached over to a small lamp by the side of the bed, and flicked it on. The room was suddenly swallowed up by the beaming shaft of light which shot across the room from the powerful lamp.

"Archie?" I whispered, squinting in the bewildering light. "What time is it?"

"The time is-" He began, his voice bellowing compared to my own hushed tone.

"For God's sake Archie, keep it down!" I snapped. "Can't you see she's asleep?" I pointed to Xena, who still slept heavily.

"Apologies, sir." Archie replied, in a much quieter voice. "The time is 1:27 AM."

"Oh, is that it?" I remarked, rolling my eyes. "In that case, I'm going back to bed." And with that, I flicked the tiny bedside light off, and turned back over to put my arms around Xena. I pushed myself right up close to her, my head leaned against her own. I closed my eyes, and found myself drifting back to sleep once again. And then…

"No…" I whispered, so quietly that it was almost inaudible. My eyes whipped open as I suddenly realised what was going on. I was in bed with Xena. I'd spent the night with Xena. I was still hugging her right now, for crying out loud! 'Ok, Matthew,' I told myself. 'Just calm down. I'm sure there's a perfectly innocent explanation for this...'

"Archie…" I began, quietly pushing myself away from her once again. "What exactly happened last night?"

"I'm sorry, sir." Archie replied. "But as we discussed earlier, I do not record video footage of any crew member's quarters."

"No, I know you can't see us, in the typical sense of the word." I asked, sighing. "But don't you have all sorts of scanners, and sensors, an- Look, can you please just tell me what happened last night, Archie?!"

"Very well, sir." He said plainly. "At 10:41 PM, there was a noticeable fall in your heart rate. This was most likely due to you falling asleep. At 10:46, a second life sign appeared in the bed behind you, before it's own heart rate reading fell at 10:49."

"Ok…" I said, nodding. All good so far. "Did either of our heart rates, you know… rise again during the night?"

"No, sir." Archie replied. "The only recorded rise in heart rate was when you awoke just now. It also rose significantly approximately two minutes ago, probably after you discovered that there was another life form in the bed with you."

"Too right." I sighed, placing a hand over my chest. A wave of relief washed over me. If neither of our heart rates had risen during the night, then that meant we hadn't… done anything. All Xena and I had done that night was sleep together (in the literal sense of the word). Nothing more, nothing less. Even so, it felt so strange. To think that I had actually spent the night with Xena right beside me. It felt… kind of nice, actually. I mean, I loved her, of course. I'd told her that already. Why shouldn't I have spent the night with her? It's not like anyone was going to find out, was it? Was it?

As I looked over at Xena once more, still sleeping peacefully despite everything, it occurred to me how little I'd really thought about me and her. Not once had I ever said to myself: 'What happens if we really do make it back to Earth?' 'What happens if we're still together in a few months, a few years even?' 'What if she wants… kids?!' And now, the more that I thought about subjects like this, the less I could see the two of us together. We came from different worlds. Literally. You couldn't find two more different creatures if you tried. And yet, we worked so well together. I loved her, and she loved me, and if the world didn't accept that, then… then… and that was where the barrier lay.

If the world didn't accept us, then what could we do? How could we go on like this? I honestly didn't know. Besides, I was too tired to think about shit like that right now. It could at least wait until the morning. I gazed at the clock, then back at the bed, then at Xena. It'd be several hours before it was time for me to actually get up. And she was here now, sound asleep, wasn't she? So I thought to myself, then: 'Fuck it. I've come this far.' I laid down beside Xena, thrusting my arms around her in a tight embrace. She nuzzled her head against mine, sighing happily once more. That was when I realised: I didn't really care. I didn't care what the world might think about me and Xena. This was love we were talking about, here. If things didn't work, we'd make them work. If things weren't right, we'd make them right. I fell back to sleep quite happily that morning, as though some great burden had been lifted from my shoulders. For now, I knew that what I had with Xena? It was real. It was true.

It was half past eight by the time I awoke again. Xena was already up, sat in my desk chair once again. She wasn't doing anything, just sitting there. I wondered how long she'd been waiting for me to wake up.

"Morning." I smiled, stretching my arms out as I got out of bed. Of course, she didn't reply, not with words at least, but she did smile back happily. Clearly, she had no recollection of what had happened earlier. After all, she'd been asleep the whole time.

"I was thinking last night, you know." I told her. I walked over to my desk and pulled out my timecard. "About you and me. About how we, by which I mean you, are going to survive this whole debacle." Xena cocked her head to the side slightly, confused by what exactly I was getting at. I held my timecard up in front of her, pointing to the text printed on the front.

"See this?" I asked, brandishing the card at arm's length. "Of course you can't. Sorry. The point is, it's a timecard. A symbol of my position aboard this ship. A symbol of my role as a member of Ashbridge Industries International." Xena nodded, although it was clear that she was not quite on the same page as I was.

"Let me make this simple." I continued. "This timecard is a physical representation of the stranglehold that Ashbridge Industries has on me. All the rules, the regulations, the 'appropriate conduct'. Well you know what?" I grabbed the card with both hands, and pulled until the card separated into two rough halves, torn down the middle.

"Fuck them." I finished. "If you're not welcome aboard this ship, then let's leave." At first, the look on Xena's face was one of uncertainty, like she didn't have much faith in my idea.

"Think about it, Xena." I explained. "We can't stay here anymore; not now. And we can't go back to Earth, can we? So let's go. Me and you. We'll take Syracusia 1 and leave, go somewhere else. Somewhere where they'll accept you for what you are." After hearing me put it like this, her expression perked up. She smiled, before pointing to herself as if to say 'You'd really do that for me?' I nodded back at her, as if to say 'Of course I would'. Then, I reached an arm out towards her, which she took with her own. I pulled her up out of her seat and tugged her closer to me. We placed our arms around each other now as if it were second nature. After all this time, we finally had a plan. We were going to escape.

After a few moments in each others' arms, I leaned back slightly, returning my gaze to Xena's face. I fell silent, as did she, as the two of us simply soaked in one another's presence. Then, I felt a compelling force driving me closer to her once more. I knew what was about to happen, and I wasn't going to resist it this time. I let myself go to her, and once again, I found myself locked in a kiss. It wasn't heat of the moment. It wasn't for the sake of it. It was because I genuinely wanted to. I wanted to kiss her, because I loved her. There was nothing in my life I'd ever been more sure of.

As Xena and I continued to revel in our warm embrace, there was a sudden knock at the door. I pushed it to the back of my mind, far too concentrated on our kiss. The knocking continued, and still we ignored it, too caught up in the moment.

"Matthew, you'll never believe this!" Nathan's voice called. Somewhere in my mind, an alarm bell was ringing, telling me to stop before it was too late. But then…

"We killed one!" Nathan shouted gleefully, finally pushing his way through the door. "We actually…" His voice trailed off at the sight before him. All of a sudden, the alarm bell in my mind reached full volume. I realised what I was doing. That Nathan was watching, and I was still going. And then, and only then, did I finally stop.