A New Beginning

The Amazon Village, Corinth, six years after S6E22

He'd been with them for a few weeks. Varia hadn't liked having a man in the village but he was wounded and Gabrielle had insisted they bring in him inside and patch him up. She'd seen something in him that reminded her of Perdicas. In the mumblings he'd made before he was fully conscious, he talked about the greater good. He wanted to do right by somebody. When he finally opened his eyes, they were dark brown. He had a soft face, round at the edges. His hair flopped over his brow in curls, and he looked right through her, like he already knew her.

They sat together at the fire one night, after Gabrielle had let him stay until a large wound on his leg healed and Varia had made him agree to abide by their laws. He slurped at the water in skin and then shovelled stew into his mouth. Gabrielle scrunched up her nose at him and raised an eyebrow. "What?" He asked when he caught her looking at him. With her arms folded and covered in deer hide, she looked the picture of an amazon queen. Her hair had grown long again, but she kept it tied back with a piece of leather, not wanting it to get in her way. She had notches on her shoulder from various kills, and bands of metal wrapped around arms that squeezed her tightly.

"You remind me of someone I used to know," she replied, he was still a stranger after all. But she'd found his name to be Khaled.

"Oh yeah?" He raised an eyebrow back and put down his empty bowl beside the fire. He paused, then said, "you ever been married?"

Gabrielle scoffed, "yes, but it's a long story."

"I've got nothing but time." He shot back, leaning onto his knees and picking his teeth.

Gabrielle also leaned forward, "I'm a widow. Then I lost my greatest friend, actually a few. Now, I am here..." She trailed off sadly. She looked down at the ware on her hands, years of holding wooden weapons left their mark. Now that she too, had a bow. "Khaled," she said softly, "I have taken pity on you, please try not to abuse that pity." Her gaze stiffened, she hadn't expected him to dig this deep so early into their relationship. She found that she was nervous now he was looking at her. Chuckling to himself as he warmed his hands over the fire.

Gabrielle thought on it as she tossed and turned over the sheet that night. He'd been here for a few weeks, he was no longer a stranger, she found. When she saw him in the morning it was like he was always there, like he was supposed to be there, like his presence was right. She caught him looking at her out of the corner of her eye many times during the day. During the various daily activities, he was there somewhere, helping one of the girls. It was like he was suddenly everywhere, though he'd been here, doing those things all week. It was now that she noticed. Now that he'd looked at her with those eyes and almost got her to talk. The years had twisted her heart in vines. They wrapped tighter and tighter each day, blocking off parts of herself that were no longer needed. She still needed to care, needed compassion for her tribe, but that part of her that loved wholeheartedly, was locked away. Xena had taken the key when she'd died.

Two days later, she was sitting on the floor in her tent, her legs crossed. She was trying to focus on what she wanted, on the laws of the Amazon Nation. Her mind had been in disarray these past few months. It'd been years since Ares backed down on his attacks, but the village needed thriving, needed tending like a garden. They'd become lacklustre, without anything to rally them. The Romans had left well alone since Augustus took the throne of the empire, and the few centaurs that remained were allies. They were without enemies.

So, she was meditating when Khaled entered the tent. He was trying to be quiet but she could still hear him take every footstep. Xena had taught her that, to listen out for the tiniest sounds. She spoke without opening her eyes, "sit down Khaled."

He didn't question her, just sat like she was, legs crossed over, hands in his lap. "I wished to talk," he said, his voice small as opposed to his usual booming gruffness.

"So talk," she replied calmly. Her tone almost like she was singing each word, each sound reverberating around until it hit him. She was mesmerising.

"I think I belong here, Gabrielle." He said, leaning forward, his legs starting to ache because he wasn't used to sitting on the floor.

The queen opened her eyes, "you do?"

He reached for her hand, "your ways are so-" he couldn't find the word, "full of love. The way you care about all of them," he pointed outside, "you look after them, you love them like they are your sisters. I have never seen such love before."

Gabrielle slowly opened her eyes, she'd never seen anything like him before. A man who could look at the way they lived and understand them. He had no arguments, no objections. He just wanted to be. He was like Eli, he had seen and now he understood. She felt his hand in hers and his warmth flushed her cheeks. "Khaled, do you understand there has never been a man allowed into the nation of the amazons before?"

She watched him nod, she thought about how Xena saw her for a moment, rather than the person she had become. She thought she could hear her voice on the wind, whispering, let him in. "But I am willing to make an exception, I shall have to gather the council, this is matter we need to discuss. To vote on. It will take time." Then she lowered her voice, "Khaled look at me." He did, his eyes shining blue for a single second, "don't tempt fate. Don't fall into the wrong hands. Keep yourself safe." Then she lifted his hand to her mouth and kissed it.