Chapter 9
Gabrielle had never imagined that she would end up like this. To say goodbye to this world by cutting off her head. Then suddenly Xena came to mind. Yes, she had also said goodbye to life in this way. She felt a strange happiness that she would share the same feelings with her. She would finally be able to understand how she was feeling. But somehow she could not reach that end. With her eyes closed, she waited, waited for the end to come. Then she opened her eyes. There was a strange bustle and fear around. The executioner was puzzled about doing his job. In fact, he was looking around anxiously, not knowing what to do. The king of Persia looked at the fiery army approaching towards them. Then he looked at the Executioner.
"Finish her off immediately!" he thundered.
The executioner raised his axe in the air with a sharpness that could cut even a hair in half. He was about to land with all his strength on Gabrielle's neck when Xena's chakram came flying at the last speed with a whistling sound and broke the handle of the Executioner's axe in two just at the right time. The axe was broken. Suddenly, while the Executioner was trying to figure out what happened to his axe, the Carian soldiers pulled their Queen out of the guillotine where she was stuck by hand. Meanwhile, the Persian soldiers had gone on the defensive. A huge falcon was accompanying them, he was defending the soldiers he realized there was danger, and most of all, he was next to Xena. He was alert to the harm that would come to her from anywhere. A fierce battle had begun with the Carian soldiers. The agitated villagers were stunned by this chaos that had formed in an instant. The children were screaming and crying. A Decadent struggle had begun between the two armies. Gabrielle couldn't understand what was going on. How it happened. The Carian army had come to rescue her. She was looking around in amazement.
"Do not touch the innocent. Do not harm the village people!" someone shouted.
When she looked in the direction from which the sound came, she saw his daughter Xenia on the horse. Was she leading the army? How glorious it was. She called to her daughter from a distance.
"Americe and Virgil are still in dungeons, save them."
Suddenly, without realizing what had happened, she saw the Persian king looking at her with eyes full of anger.
"You should have surrendered. Everything was going to be easier."
He was walking towards Gabrielle with the dagger he pulled from his waist.
"I will kill you with my own hands. All this chaos is because of you," he shouted.
Just as he was about to plunge the dagger into Gabrielle, he was stopped where he was by a sword stroke he received. As he was falling to the ground, a huge, imposing black horse and someone with a red cape on it approached Gabrielle. It was the same person who knocked down the Persian king with a sword blow. She held out her hand to Gabrielle over the horse. Gabrielle paused. Her heart began to beat strangely fast. She just stood there. Then Xena took the cloak down from her head. With an infinite love in her eyes, she stretched out her hand to Gabrielle and made a movement with her head as if to say come on. Gabrielle threw herself into these safe arms without a thought. Yes, she should have been beheaded on the guillotine already. It should have been so that she had already gone to heaven. And just as she had imagined, Xena had come to pick her up with her horse. Yes, they were galloping towards the elisian fields. It's like the day Xena threw her on the back of a horse for the first time all those years ago. That's how it all started and that's how it should have ended, Gabrielle thought. She wrapped her arms around Xena's waist with confidence, just like all those years ago. She leaned her head against her back and closed her eyes. She didn't care about the rest anymore. She accepted wherever Xena took her. she was with her, or whatever was going to happen, now. She fought with a few sword strokes with a few soldiers who cut in front of them, Xena. Then she rode her horse up the mountains towards the forests. When they came to the woods , she stopped her horse. The big winged hawk, which protected them by constantly flying over their heads, also stood with them and was placed on one of the high branches of the trees.
"Have we arrived? Is this Elisian fields?" Gabrielle said.
Xena got off the horse when she believed they were safe now. She stretched her arms towards Gabrielle, smiling. Gabrielle jumped into her arms as if throwing herself with a great longing. They were hugging each other so tightly. It was as if they had become one body. The tears of both of them were mingling with each other. They didn't talk. They just hugged for a long time. Tears were streaming from her eyes as Xena took both of Gabrielle's hands in her palms and brought them to her lips. There was such a meaning in her gaze that she seemed to want to convey the longing of the years to Gabrielle with her eyes. She hugged her again and again, stroked her hair, pressed her to her own bosom, but still she could not get rid of the longing of the years.
"Xena...Oh Xena, how I miss you looking at me like that, holding my hand. For a moment I thought we'd never get back together."
At that time, Xena heard smoke coming out of the place where the struggle was continuing and screams. She checked her Sword and Chakram, jumped on her horse and returned to the battlefield, leaving Gabrielle there.
"Xena... Is the war going on? We... Aren't we dead?"
Gabrielle just stared after Xena. She was trying to find explanations for the confusion in her head, muttering to herself.
"If we're not dead, what are you doing here? If we are dead, why are we still fighting? XENAAAA!"
Gabrielle screamed with all her might behind Xena's back. But she could not make her voice heard. Xena had already thrown herself into the warm arms of war. She was fighting with the enemy just like in the old days. Gabrielle was watching Xena's fight as if she was looking for answers to dozens of questions in her head. The Carian army was fighting a magnificent fight against the Persian army. Americe and Virgil had also come to help the others who had been freed from the dungeon. Gabrielle suddenly wondered why she still hadn't joined the war herself. Where had the old battling bard Gabrielle gone? Was she going to leave Xena alone in this battle? of course no.
"I'm coming, Xena... I'm coming. I can't leave you alone." she muttered to herself.
Then she rushed to the battlefield. While Xena was struggling with 3 men at the same time, she suddenly felt a support on her back. Gabrielle had already started hitting one of the men with a tree branch who had his back to her. They were back to back again. They were watching each other's backs again. What a reassuring and emotional picture this was. Americe and Virgil were also fighting back to back. Suddenky Americe stood as if in shock.
"Hey where are you looking?" Said Virgil.
A man almost would have blown his head off if Virgil hadn't intervened.
"Do you see what I see?"
"What?"
"Look there?"
When Virgil looked at the place where Americe showed him, he couldn't believe his eyes. He even thought he was dreaming and slapped himself.
"Is that Xena?"
"I don't know how this can be, but I think it's her".
"Has Xena come back?",
"She has come."
Americe looked at them with emotion and her eyes were filled with tears.
"Look at how extraordinary they are."
"Just like in the old days."
"I'm going to cry"
"Me too."
"Hey, look behind you, we'll cry later."
"Get down!"
Americe had saved Virgil from a blow by warning him at the last moment.
At the end of the hours-long struggle, the Persian army had suffered a great defeat. The army retreated, the people scattered to their homes in fear, almost no one was left around. The Carian army was advancing towards Caria accompanied by its leaders. Everyone was tired but happy. They had saved everyone, everything, including horses loaded with gifts.
Xenia looked at her mother and Xena with pride and happiness. The two were riding along on the horse together. Americe approached Xenia on her horse without revealing it. She had noticed that since they had seen Xena, not a word had come out of her mouth.
"Hey Xenia, why isn't Xena talking?"
"I don't know. She hasn't spoken to me either since she arrived."
"There must be a reason."
"I think so, too. But because she didn't talk, she didn't tell me anything. I don't know why."
Looking from a distance, they could see that Gabrielle was tightly wrapped around Xena's waist. She closed her eyes as if she wanted to feel Xena in all her cells. After moving a little further, they decided to take a break by a lake. Filled with curiosity from everyone, but unable to ask anything, they tied their horses to the tree shadows. Xena got down from her horse. Then she held out her hand to Gabrielle.
"I'll go down myself."
Xena looked at her in silence. She could sense that Gabrielle was angry with her. she put her hand on her knee apologetically. Gabrielle got off the horse by herself, ignoring it. She was the leader of the people of Caria. The Decadent union between her and Xena was on everyone's lips. That's why she knew that she couldn't talk about these issues with Xena in public. She got off the horse and went to Xenia.
"My dear girl, I have missed you so much!"
"Mommy. I'm so glad you're okay. What if you had died, or if those men had cut off your head."
"Fortunately, I'm fine and I'm here. I think you have a lot to tell me."
"Actually, I don't know any more than you do, Mom."
Gabrielle looked at Xena, who was washing her face in the lake with a falcon on her shoulder.
"How did this happen? How did she get back?"
"Ask her that, not me."
"In public?"
"You'll find a way, Mom."
Gabrielle wanted to go and talk to Xena at that moment, but she was angry with her. But she couldn't do it without talking. What should she have done. She went to Xena with slow steps. She looked at her from behind. Yes, she had changed a little. She had white hair and streaks on her face. Her body was thinner than before. It was in disrepair. But that aura and charisma that she had spread around had never disappeared. She gathered all her courage and touched her on the shoulder. Xena was suddenly startled as she took the water in her palm and put it to her lips. She stopped and looked at her. Gabrielle grasped her hand without saying anything. She picked up from where she was sitting and started walking with her. Xena was going to the place where Gabrielle took her without any reaction. They walked in silence for a while. They passed on the other side of the lake. When Gabrielle was sure that no one saw them anymore, she let go of Xena's hand. It was a nook surrounded by bushes. Xena wasn't sure what she was going to face, but she was already ready for anything that would come from Gabrielle.
"How could you do this to me?"
"…."
"You were alive and you left me alone."
Xena shook her head from side to side in the sense of no without saying anything.
"You come out after all these years like nothing happened and you expect me to forgive you."
Xena's face turned pathetic.
"Tell me, how did you leave me alone for years?"
"…."
"Do you not know what I have suffered while you have been away? How many nights have I cried until the morning. How many times have I wanted to die and come to you. Do you know, I've never laughed after you left? I've never been happy. I've never been the same cheerful, full-of-life Gabrielle I used to be. I've never loved anyone but you. I was destroyed when you left. Now you want me to accept you as if there was nothing, as if there was nothing that came to me 20 years later. And besides, you don't even deign to say a single word."
Gabrielle even suddenly screamed.
"Tell me if I am so unworthy in your eyes!"
Tears were starting to flow from Xena's eyes. She also wanted to tell about her longing for love with Gabrielle, what she had suffered all these years. But she couldn't do it. She could not speak. She wasn't supposed to talk. It was a deal.
3 MONTHS AGO THE REIGN OF YODOSHI
The reign of Yodoshi was in great turmoil. The earth was shaking and the sky was covered with black bullets. It was covered with a gloom as if it had been cursed.
Shahmaran, the king of the snakes, had fought a big battle with Yodoshi and Yodoshi had been defeated. Because of this defeat, his reign was invaded by venomous snakes of terrible size. Yodoshi hid in the most secret temple of the kingdom to save his life. When Shahmaran came to reign with the army of snakes, only one person knew where Yodoshi was. This person was none other than Xena, Yodoshi's special service slave. When Xena met with Shahmaran, the snake, she secretly conveyed this information to him.
"So you know where Yodoshi is."
"Yes, I know."
"Tell me, then."
"I also know that everyone here will be stung and destroyed by snakes."
"Yes, that's true." Shahmaran thundered.
He looked surprised that such a simple slave would get into an argument with him.
"I will tell you his place and his weak point, but you will also send me back to earth. I know that you are able to do this."
"Of course, my strength is enough. But I also know that if I send you to the surface of the earth, you will tell everyone everything that is happening here. Everyone swears not to tell, but they never keep their promises. I can't trust anyone."
"What can I do to make you trust me? I need to get back to earth. I left half of my heart there."
"Half of your heart?"
"Yes, can you live with half a heart?"
"Of course not."
" Then please allow me to complete myself."
"How can I trust you. But damn it, I have infinite respect for love. I've been down these roads, too."
"Then let me help you. Do it to me, too. Let me go. Let me go."
"Tell me first, where is the secret temple?"
"There is a door that opens from the garden of the palace to the secret passages. If you follow the tunnel, you will reach his secret temple. If you approach from the left side of his back and hit him, he will remain vulnerable and prevail."
"Oh yeah... So that's it. "
"Yes. Now please release me too. Let me go and get half of my heart back."
Shahmaran was brave enough to release her in the face of this valuable information. But he couldn't trust anyone.
He said, "All right. I will set you free. But in return for this, I forbid you to speak."
"How?"
"We'll make a deal with you. Yes, I'm freeing you. But if you say one word, you'll regret speaking it."
"Would I regret it? How?"
"Every sentence you speak so simply will stick like a knife into the body of your favorite person."
"A knife? I didn't understand anything."
"Then when you find er, try to talk and see."
Shahmaran found Yodoshi at the place Xena showed him and attacked and defeated him exactly as you described. And now it was time for him to keep his word. As promised, he allowed Xena to survive. When everything happened, the YOdoshi dynasty was plunged into darkness. But a path full of light opened out of that darkness. At that moment, Shahmaran's voice echoed.
"That's the way you've got to go. Follow the light. Go from there to wherever your heart takes you. I believe that you will complete your heart soon. But don't forget, from the moment you reach the earth, you can't speak a word. If you speak, your words will hurt the one you love."
"How can this be? How can I get along with her without talking? If I can't tell her how much I miss her when I go to him, what's the point of me showing up in front of her?"
"Well, you know. So you don't want to see her."
"No, I want to. I want it very much."
"You'll lose your words but you'll get your heart back isn't it worth it?"
"Of course it's worth it."
"All right, you can go now, then."
"Well, I want to ask you something."
"Of course you can ask."
"Isn't there a way to fix this?"
"There is... of course there is. But I'm not going to tell you that. Because I've been hit a lot by people I trust. They all ignored me. That's why I can't let you talk. I'm sorry. If you want to give up on this deal, you can give up now. Do you want?"
"no! Absolutely no. You cannot understand what I have been suffering for twenty years and waiting for today. That's why I'm accepting the deal."
"all right. Good luck."
As Xena walked towards the radiant hall, her heart was fluttering like a bird from excitement. She had come to the end of the road she had been waiting for to reach her beloved Gabrielle, and although she would never speak, she believed it would be worth it.
Gabrielle was still looking into Xena's eyes as if she was waiting for an answer.
"Why are you silent. You owe it to me to explain these things. You were dead. I've mourned you for years."
Xena was not lifting her eyes from the ground.
"Didn't I have a right to know that you were all right, even though you weren't near me? Have you never loved me? Didn't you love me enough to let me know you were okay?"
Xena made moves, stretching out her arms to calm her down and hug her.
"Don't touch me. I hate you. I hate you for leaving me, for making me suffer for years, do you understand, I hate you, mmm!"
Gabrielle was punching Xena's chest while saying these things. Xena closed her eyes with sadness. Tears trickled down her was hitting Xena as if she had lost control. When Xena continued not to respond, the white hawk couldn't stand it and intervened with Gabrielle.
"What the hell is this hawk?"
The hawk was trying to get her away from Xena.
Gabrielle began to swing her stick towards the Hawk. She seemed to be out of her mind with anger and sadness. Xena was afraid that Solan would get hurt. But she couldn't help it. Gabrielle was still struggling with the hawk. One of the two was going to get hurt. Xena jumped between the two in fear. She finally spoke for the first time in a deep voice.
"DON'T! STOP, THAT'S SOLAN!"