By Blind Faith
KFaith2222@aol.com

Disclaimer: All the characters in the following story belong to Universal Studios and Renaissance Pictures. No copyright violations were intended. This story was written purely for entertainment purposes and not for profit of any kind.

Subtext notice: The following story is about two women who are deeply in love with each other. If you do not like to read this type of story, you should stop here and find a different one to read.

Violence warning: Yes, there's some violence and some bloodshed, but it's a work of fiction...and it's Xena. There's no way to avoid violence with the warrior princess around, and since I didn't want to remove her from the story, there's violence. ;-)

Xenaverse Historical Note: This story takes place shortly after the episode "A Family Affair" in the fourth season.

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It had been raining for days. The roads were flooded; the rivers were raging out of their banks. The meadows were not much more than muddy carpets lightly covered with grass, and a constant, gray fog had settled over the landscape. Gabrielle suppressed a shudder as her sodden clothing was struck by a blast of cold air, causing goose bumps to race across her skin.

She glanced up at Xena, who was huddled astride Argo, and what she saw brought a small smile to her lips. It must be true that misery loves company, she thought. The warrior truly looked as miserable as Gabrielle felt. The warrior had wrapped a dark, woolen cloak around her shoulders earlier that morning, but it was nothing more than token protection against the elements. The cloak was thin to begin with, and now it was also thoroughly soaked.

Xena's hair was plastered to her skull, and rivulets of water cascaded from the raven strands. Though the warrior hadn't complained all day, Gabrielle was sure that Xena was definitely not in the best of spirits. The furrowed brow and slumped shoulders were testimony to this fact. Of course, who could be cheerful in all this slop? She sighed disgustedly and refocused her eyes on the ground so she wouldn't slip and end up on her backside in this mess.

The heavy sigh emitted by the bard didn't go unnoticed by Xena. She cast a tender glance down at her determined friend. She could see that Gabrielle had mud caked on her leather boots so badly that it would probably take a week to get them clean again. However, the bard had refused to stop and had declined several offers to join Xena up on Argo's saddle.

Instead, Gabrielle had kept up a steady pace through the muck and the misery. The bard also had wrapped a thin cloak around her shoulders, and it was now soaked and molded to her slender form by the force of the wind. She was using her staff as a walking stick to help her maintain her balance on the malleable earth, and with each step she took, the water and mud sloshed out to the side.

Even now, I'm surprised some days that Gabrielle continues to follow me through the good times and the bad, Xena mused pensively. We should have stayed in that last village where it was warm and the room was dry. Damn this weather! Oh well, too late now to change that decision. Maybe somehow I can distract Gabrielle and take her mind off this misery.

"There's a village just around this next bend," Xena directed to the bard. "Would you like to climb up here with me and ride in on Argo?" This question was asked innocently, but if Gabrielle had looked up at that moment, she would have seen the mischievous look on the warrior's face.

Xena continued. "We wouldn't want everyone to think that I'm a bully for not letting you ride up here, you know." This last statement was accompanied with a smile and a raised eyebrow as she anticipated Gabrielle's reaction. She had just wanted to tweak the bard a little to get a response out of her partner. Plus, she was cold and it would feel really good to have Gabrielle's soft, warm body tucked behind hers on the saddle.

It worked!

"Xena!" the bard responded in mock exasperation. "Don't EVEN go there! By the gods, why would I hop up there now after all this time? After all, it's going to be obvious to all the villagers which one of us is the lazy one. Why would I want to ruin that impression?" Gabrielle regarded Xena with a broad smile and laid her hand gently on the warrior's chilled thigh. As she contemplated her partner's vivid, blue eyes, she began to rub her palm warmly up the muscular thigh, hoping to draw Xena's attention away from the verbal sparring. She was pleased with the results.

Xena attempted an intimidating glare, her left eyebrow arched under her rain-soaked bangs. However, Gabrielle could clearly detect the twinkle of humor and a deeper spark of passion in the hooded, blue eyes above her, so she added wryly with a calming pat on the warrior's skin, "Besides, I'd just get mud all over Argo's blanket. And you too, of course," she added judiciously.

"Gaabbrriielllle, " the warrior began in a threatening tone. "Do NOT make me stop this horse and come down there!" The intimidating act suddenly lost its effect as Gabrielle burst into giggles. Xena chuckled at the bard's reaction.

"Gabrielle, the sooner you get up here, the sooner we can get to the inn and dry off a little. Of course, we'll also be able to get something hot to eat. You know, homemade stew, warm nutbread, some warm....." The warrior's litany was abruptly cut off as Gabrielle lunged upward and grabbed onto Xena's upper arm to lever herself behind the warrior's strong body.

"Come on, Xena. What are we waiting for," the bard announced enthusiastically and then leaned forward to nibble lightly on the warrior's ear and nuzzle into her neck. She felt Xena's body quake in reaction to her body, and she snuggled even closer and wrapped her arms around the warrior. Gods, I love how safe I feel wrapped around her like this. It's like coming home and being wrapped in love, Gabrielle sighed happily.

Xena responded by looking back over her left shoulder and flashing her white teeth in a full smile and laughing out loud. "Gabrielle. You are sooooooo predictable." With that, she nudged Argo with her heels, and they trotted into the village. She hardly felt the light slap on the shoulder from her grinning bard.

The village was not really much to look at. There were about fifteen homes spread out along the narrow, muddy street. And though the homes were not particularly large, they were built sturdy and low to the ground. The wooden walls, faded to a pale gray from years of blistering sun and pounding rain, were covered with ceremonial masks and miniature sculptures carved from a dark wood that was common to this area.

Though the significance of these ornaments eluded the warrior at the moment, there was a more serious problem that drew her attention. There didn't appear to be any living thing in the village. No smoke was rising from the chimneys, and not a sound could be heard from any of the buildings. Not even the bark of a dog or the bleating of goats could be heard - just the pounding of the rain as it pelted the muddy path and splashed in the murky puddles around them.

"Xena, where is everybody?" Gabrielle asked in an uneasy whisper.

The warrior turned in the saddle and placed her fingers over the bard's lips. "Shhhh.....Something isn't right here, Gabrielle. Hop down and let's take a look." The warrior whispered this, even as her eyes were alertly tracking from building to building, hoping to spot danger before it spotted them.

After they had both dismounted in front of a building that appeared to be the local inn, Xena draped Argo's reins lightly over the wooden railing that ran along the front of the building. "Wait here, girl," she murmured warmly into the golden horse's ear as she lovingly combed her fingers through the damp hair on Argo's neck and then scratched behind her ear. A slight nod of the head and a soft snort was her answer. Reassured that Argo was fine for the moment, Xena softly grasped Gabrielle's right hand and pulled her along behind her as she entered the darkened doorway of the inn.

It was one of the eeriest sights that Gabrielle had ever seen. It was as if a magic spell had been cast over the inn, and all the people had simply disappeared, leaving the room in a state of disarray. There were half-emptied mugs of ale sitting along the counter on the left side of the room, and the flickering light from the still-burning torches created the illusion of warmth in the room, bathing the rugged furniture in a golden glow.

There were plates still laden with food scattered at the various tables, the utensils strewn haphazardly on the tables and on the dusty floor. The benches and chairs were pushed back from the tables in varying degrees of disorder. Some of the benches along the right wall had even been overturned violently, some of the wood supports nothing more than shattered wooden splinters.

"By the gods, what....? Gabrielle's ragged whisper was never completed.

An ear-shattering crash echoed across the village, and both warrior and bard jerked around to face the front of the inn, expecting Hades' own soldiers to come swarming inside. However, before the last echo of the crash had faded, desperate shouts could be heard in the distance followed by one long, blood-chilling scream.

With a quick, wide-eyed glance at Gabrielle's pale face, Xena drew her sword from its shoulder scabbard and raced out of the inn and into the driving rainstorm. Though momentarily stunned by the scream and Xena's abrupt exit, Gabrielle hesitated only a moment then adjusted her grip on her staff and bolted after the warrior.

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Xena could feel the slight strain of her tightened, cold muscles as she sprinted down the muddy path, following the continued shouts and screams. "Damn this weather," she cursed under her breath. "This is a perfect ending to a perfectly miserable day."

This thought was quickly replaced by a cold fear as she drew near the edge of town. Now, in addition to the screaming and shouting, she heard the furious roar of a flooded, raging river. The sound of its fury was nearly deafening, even from a distance.

She turned the corner of the last building in town and skidded to a quick stop. The sight that greeted her caused an almost superhuman burst of adrenaline to fire through her veins. Before she could react, she felt Gabrielle crash into her back and grab onto her leathers to keep from going down in the mud. The gasping breath from the bard's mouth warmed the skin on Xena's arm, but neither woman noticed. Their eyes were riveted to the scene before them.

What had once been a wooden bridge across a peaceful river was now a deathtrap for several women and children of the community. The bridge supports closest to the village had been totally washed away by the force of the rampaging water, and the severed end of the bridge was being whipped back and forth by the forceful currents.

The other end of the bridge had not yet broken loose from its supports, but the wood had already splintered in several places. It was too damaged to allow the women and children to cross to the other bank, and it was only a matter of moments before the whole thing would tear loose and be swept down the river, sending the women and children to their deaths.

Several men from the village were desperately trying to organize a rescue. Sturdy ropes were being tossed toward the stranded women, but the violent motion of the bridge wouldn't allow them to even release their hold on the railing for fear of being tossed into the foaming, swirling torrent below them.

There was no time to plan, only time to act. Xena and Gabrielle raced to the edge of the river, and the warrior grabbed the end of a rope and began tying a loop that she could secure over her head and one shoulder.

Meanwhile, Gabrielle knew what she had to do. She grabbed the other end of Xena's rope and headed over to the group of men huddled now by the bank of the river. She had to shout at the top of her lungs to even be heard. "Here," she shouted as she tossed them the loose end of the rope. " Hang on to this and don't let go!"

She then ran quickly back to Xena and frantically grabbed her arm as the warrior turned to face the river. "Xena," she shouted to be heard. As Xena turned to look at her, Gabrielle placed her hands on either side of the warrior's face and looked directly into her eyes. "Please come back to me," she pleaded. "I love you."

Xena's eyes softened with a sad understanding. She knew how Gabrielle felt about not being able to go with her into the danger. They had had more than one discussion about never leaving the other, even in death. She could see the emotions of fear, love, worry, and pride race through the green depths of Gabrielle's tear-filled eyes.

The pain that tore through the warrior's own heart was nearly unbearable, and she quickly reached over and grabbed Gabrielle and pulled her securely into her arms. She drew her head close to the bard's and spoke directly into her ear, " I love you, and I promise."

She tightened her arms one last time around Gabrielle and then released her. With a quick glance into the bard's eyes and a brief smile of reassurance accompanied by a wink, Xena turned and dove cleanly into the frigid water.

It was a mistake, and Xena immediately knew she was in trouble.

The icy water of the river sapped her strength with each stroke she took, and she could feel the trembling of her muscles as icy shafts of pain lanced her skin. And the added torture of the swirling debris from the river slamming into her body nearly caused her to black out.

The turbulence of the water made it impossible to control her direction and nearly impossible to see where she was going. She doubted that she could fight through the current to even reach the edge of the bridge, and she knew that she would have the fight of her life to keep her promise to Gabrielle. It was the thought that Gabrielle might have to watch her die that drove Xena's efforts for the next few moments. She knew what that loss would do to her lover, and she wasn't going to let that happen. Not today - and not ever -if she could help it.

Meanwhile, Gabrielle's emotions were being shredded as she was forced to watch helplessly from the bank. She could see Xena's powerful swimming strokes taking her closer and closer to the bridge, but now there was a new problem. The women, sensing that rescue was on the way, had crowded to one side of the bridge reaching out in Xena's direction. The combined weight of the women and children on that one side of the bridge was the final step to catastrophe.

Xena continued to struggle toward the bridge even though her body was beginning to shut down. And then she heard it - the sickening crunch of splintering wood. Oh Gods...I'm not going to make it!

As she lifted her head out of the water, she knew she had failed. The bridge was collapsing into the river.

With strength born out of desperation, she plowed through the water and dove towards the closest end of the bridge. With no time to worry about the consequences of her actions, she slipped the rope off her shoulders and tied the loop to one of the bridge’s sturdy beams. She was just about to climb up onto the bridge itself when the final support broke loose. The force of the bridge as it swung around through the current tossed the warrior roughly to the right. Her head struck the edge of the bridge handrail hard, and then her limp body was tossed into the roiling waters and drug under the surface by the deadly current.

Watching helplessly from the shore, Gabrielle felt her whole world stop in a frozen moment of horror. She briefly registered that the bridge wasn't being swept down the river because the men were anchoring it with the ropes from shore. Maybe there was still a chance to save the village women and children, but Gabrielle's heart was focused solely on the raging river and her partner. Her frantic gaze was locked on the spot where she had last seen Xena's body go under. With the villagers struggling to rescue their families, there was no one else to turn to for help. She was Xena's only chance. Even as these thoughts registered in her numbed mind, her legs were propelling her downstream, trying to keep pace with the racing currents.

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She was dimly aware that she was in trouble. She could feel the icy, raging river water as it hungrily lashed her body with its powerful force, tumbling her head over heels in the current. Her survival instincts had kicked in the moment she had entered the murky water, causing her to hold her breath and clamp her eyes shut even though the sharp blow on the side of her head had nearly knocked her senseless. She knew that she had to get to the surface soon to get another breath of air, but she couldn't even determine which direction to struggle towards.

Meanwhile, Gabrielle's chest was tight with worry and exertion as she raced along the shoreline. She thought she glimpsed a patch of leather near the surface once, but with so much debris in the water, she couldn't be sure.

And then she saw her. Xena was in big trouble. Her limp, submerged body was being propelled quickly down river in the current. Without a thought for her own safety, Gabrielle dove in and made a grab for her lover. In that split second, she knew with grim certainty that she would either save her warrior or die with her. It was that simple. She didn't want to live without Xena.

Her left hand grabbed a handful of leather, and she pulled hard on her soulmate's body to pull it closer to her own. She felt Xena's muscles contracting, helping her to fight through the current. The relief of knowing that the warrior was still alive was short-lived as Gabrielle struggled but was unable to pull Xena's face up out of the water so she could breathe.

Just as the bard got a secure grip on Xena's torso, she was swamped by a large wave and pushed under the surface. Though she couldn't get a clear sense of where she was, she began kicking hard in the direction where she thought the surface would be. Her oxygen was failing; she knew she was dying. Then, she broke the surface of the water and gasped in a sweet, lung full of air. Somehow she had managed to hang on to Xena despite the angry tugging of the current.

However, unless she could get Xena's face out of the water, there would be no way to save her lover. And then she saw it. A log nearly the circumference of her own body was barreling right at them. With a determination born from a refusal to accept defeat, Gabrielle dodged the ramming force of the log and managed to wrap and arm over the top of it, somehow maneuvering her own body and Xena's up out of the water slightly. Hanging on for their very lives, Gabrielle clung to the log and began the wild ride down the river.

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One part of her brain was dimly aware of the events occurring around her and was dispassionately recording Gabrielle's efforts. However, there was a large part of the warrior that was still fighting violently to survive. It was to this part that she called upon to find the energy to wrap her arm weakly over the top of the log. She managed to pull her face up out of the water and lean it against the deeply grooved bark. She gasped raggedly, battling to keep her head above water.

As she weakly blinked her eyes open and turned her head to the right, she met Gabrielle's wide-eyed, fear-filled gaze. The roar from the river and the physical buffeting of the waves was enough to overwhelm her senses and awaken a fear inside her own gut. She could see Gabrielle's lips moving as the bard tried to shout something to her, but the deafening noise of the river washed the words away before they could be heard.

When words failed to alert the warrior, Gabrielle released the grip of one arm from around the log and pointed frantically in the direction they were traveling. Xena's eyes tracked slowly back to the river and then widened in disbelief. Just ahead of them around a slight curve, the river ended - or at least it seemed to. A spray of water was shooting up from a waterfall as tons of water disappeared over the edge and onto the rocks below.

Damn, damn, damn, Xena cursed silently as she searched desperately for a way to escape the drop over the falls.

But there was no escape possible.

The current was too strong to swim against, and the riverbank was simply too far away to reach. She looked quickly around to see if there was a solid surface of a rock or a fallen tree that they could anchor to, but there was nothing at all, just the crashing avalanche of water going over the falls.

Her eyes met Gabrielle's for a single, timeless moment. She could see emotions shining from those green depths that she knew were reflected in her own - love, tenderness, sadness, determination. Xena flinched when she felt the jagged rocks near the edge of the falls rip into the flesh of her legs as she was dragged to the precipice, but she didn't lose eye contact with Gabrielle. She silently mouthed the words "I love you" to Gabrielle and saw the bard's lips move to form those same words in return. Then she felt the world drop out from under her and felt her body tossed through the chasm of space towards the rocks below. She released a hoarse battle cry into the oppressive, gray skies in defiance of her fate, fully expecting it to be the last thing she ever uttered. There was a rush of air and water, the blinding pain of impact, and then darkness as her consciousness was submerged in an inky blackness.

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The intensity of her struggle is what finally brought Xena back to an awareness of her surroundings. What?.........Where?.......... Her brain was foggy and confused. By the gods, what happened?

Without opening her eyes or moving, she began to reach out with her senses to try to figure out where she was, what had happened to her, and to try to make sense of the chaos scrambling her brain.

Though her thoughts were jumbled and foggy, her nerves were wide-awake and screaming. She could feel that she was lying face down in icy water, and her body felt as if a raiding warlord’s army had pummeled it. Her head and upper torso were resting securely in a shallow puddle of water on the muddy bank, but her legs were still submerged in the swirling waters of the river. As if that weren’t miserable enough, those parts of her body that hadn’t been protected by leather were scraped and bleeding. She groaned aloud as a sharp pain lanced through her skull, radiating from the side of her head that had cracked against the bridge railing. She didn’t think that any of her bones were broken, but her head had taken an additional impact against something hard at the base of the waterfall. She knew she had a fairly bad concussion because she couldn’t hang on to any one thought for very long, and the pain was nearly unbearable.

And even though the pain was blinding, another thought registered through the fog. Gabrielle! Where is she? The thought of her lover brought her fully awake. Her eyes blinked open and then squinted shut against the brightness that momentarily blinded her. Where is she? Xena whispered again desperately. She has to be here!

The desperation she felt was intensified because of the recent events in Potadeia. Having believed Gabrielle was dead and then discovering that she was alive was almost more than Xena could handle emotionally. The campfire they had shared that night after defeating The Destroyer and Hope had been so sweet. She could remember each moment of that indescribably precious night as if it had just happened.

Gabrielle had been very quiet all evening and had spent quite a bit of time building up the fire and then slowly feeding it stick after stick, all the while staring into the flames as if searching for answers. Xena had sat near the edge of the clearing, slowly running the sharpening stone along the edge of her sword. The sword itself had taken a beating, just as the warrior had. Its surface was gouged and roughened by the many blows it had received and given during the battles.

Xena wasn't in much better shape. Her shoulders and lower back were scored with vivid, purple bruises from being thrown repeatedly across the barn, and her left arm now sported a long line of stitches that were holding together a searing wound inflicted by the deadly claws of the creature.

There were dark circles under her eyes, only a small indication of the hardships she had endured after Gabrielle's fall into Dahak's pit. The weeks spent in search of Gabrielle had drained her usual energy reserves; there was nothing left. She had been very fortunate to survive this latest battle with Hope and her monster child.

She slowly stilled the sharpening stone's movement along the blade and gazed lovingly at Gabrielle. All the things she had experienced recently overwhelmed her. The pain of losing Gabrielle, the agony of traveling to the land of the Amazon Dead and dealing with those ghosts of her past, the physical effort and emotional pain of going back to Dahak's temple where she had lost her lover - the other half of her soul.

All of these by themselves would have been enough to weaken her, but together they were more than she could handle. There was only one thing, one person, holding her together right now, and that person was sitting across the fire and staring pensively into the flames.

The pain from all these moments washed over her, and she felt the tears as they coursed hotly down her cheeks. But she couldn't take her eyes off the bard. She was afraid...afraid that if she looked away she might lose her love again, and she knew that she would never survive that loss...not a second time. This last time had taken all she had....and more.

And then Gabrielle had looked up from the fire and had looked across the flames into the tearful blue eyes of her soulmate and had simply crumpled to the ground sobbing, holding her arms out to Xena. The pain of her ordeal was too much to bear - almost too much to share with her lover, but her mind knew only one thing: She needed Xena more than anything else in the world right now.

Though neither woman knew how to ease the pain of these past ordeals, their bodies knew that they needed the comfort of each other's arms. Seeing Gabrielle's collapse, Xena had thrown herself onto the ground beside the bard and had wrapped her arms around her partner's shoulders. Gabrielle had buried her head in Xena's shoulder and had wrapped her arms around the warrior's neck.

The night had passed by slowly. The rustle of the leaves in the branches and the snapping of the fire had been soul-soothing music to the two lovers as they had sweetly and passionately rediscovered one another, body and soul. The weeks of painful separation had slowly melted away in the passions shared. Even now, Xena couldn't remember a sweeter moment in her life than that shared night of love.

Taking a deep breath, Xena pushed these memories back so she could focus on the present. With a pain-filled effort that nearly caused her to blackout again, she crawled up to her hands and knees, pulling her lower body out of the freezing water, and began to search frantically with her eyes, scanning the shore for her soulmate's body.

By the gods, I cannot.....I will not lose her again! No....no....no.... The repetition of these thoughts pounded through her mind with each throbbing beat of her heart and each lancing pain in her skull.

The damp hair hanging over her eyes, combined with the dizziness from her head injury, made it difficult to get a clear view of the area around her. She could see that the river was not moving quite so quickly through this area because the banks widened to form a small lake before continuing the journey towards the Aegean Sea.

Xena's breathing stopped with what she saw next. There were several large boulders at the base of the falls that would easily smash anything or anyone unfortunate enough to land on them. If Gabrielle had landed on one of those rocks, then there would be no hope of finding her alive.

Desperation for her lover's safety finally drove Xena up from her kneeling position to sway unsteadily on her feet. She wrapped her arms around a nearby tree and took several deep breaths to give her weakened knees time to recover so they could support her weight as she continued to scan the area. She rested her head against the roughened bark of the tree, closed her eyes, and said a silent prayer.

"Artemis, you know that I don't ask you for much unless it has to do with my bard and your queen, Gabrielle. I know that I don't sacrifice to the gods or show the reverence I should, but I need for you to answer this prayer. Help me to find Gabrielle and please let her be all right. Please!" With this last whispered plea, Xena straightened her shoulders, gathered her remaining remnants of strength, and headed along the shoreline in search of her bard.

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Gabrielle wasn't sure how long she had been unconscious, but she did know exactly when she regained her senses because the searing pain in her lower back forced a whimper through her open lips. She was lying in a tangle of tree roots and branches along the riverbank. The raging water of the river was an inch or two beneath her torso, the white water crests just touching her chilled skin.

Where am I? What happened? She wondered. Then she remembered; all the terrifying details came flooding back. She remembered the last few seconds before going over the waterfall.

She and Xena had been hanging onto a log to protect them from being pulled under by the current, but even that had not been enough to save them from the drop over the falls. She could remember the sad, tender look that Xena had given her and the way the strong lips had mouthed the words " I love you." But her memories ended there.

"Well, whatever happened," she thought, "at least I’m still alive." Very tentatively she began to look around to take stock of her situation.

She could see that her position was precarious. She was lying on a tumble of driftwood near the bank of the river, but not close enough for her to jump to shore. The driftwood seemed to be tangled with some fallen trees that were still rooted in the soil, anchoring the logjam against the current. If the limbs shifted or the water surged in a different direction, she would be swept back into the white water. She knew she couldn't stay where she was for very long because the water was going to wash her temporary perch downstream before too much more time had passed, but she wasn't sure she could move either.

And where was Xena? Had she survived the fall? "Xena, where are you?" She whispered silently into the roar of the swirling current. The fear in her heart at the thought of losing her mate was too painful to consider for long, but since Xena wasn't here, she steeled herself to face this situation alone.

A sharp pain in her lower back drew a ragged gasp from her as she tried to shift her position on the logs. "Damn," she groaned. "This isn’t going to work. I can’t move." This knowledge filled her with a desperate fear. "Well, so much for helping myself," she cursed, laying her head back on the hard, knobby surface of the log behind her.

To help take her mind off the pain and her fear for Xena’s safety, she let her thoughts drift back to that wonderful moment in the forest when she had been reunited with Xena again after her fall into Dahak's pit.

She remembered that she had been walking somewhat dazedly through the woods, heading for her parents’ house. The weeks of recovery from her near fatal wounds had left her weakened and depressed. Xena had been gone when she had recovered her senses enough to climb out of the pit, and she had been forced to crawl for help. She didn't remember much of her early recovery period. Her mind would only register two things, the pain in her body from the fall and the pain in her chest from the absence of her soulmate.

Once she had been conscious enough to respond to the nurses and doctors in the hospice, she had begged them to send word so Xena would know she had survived. The messages had gone out, but no responses had returned. The hours spent in rehabilitation had dragged endlessly by as Gabrielle worried about the fate of her lover. She knew something had happened to the warrior because she would have responded to the messages otherwise.

And then she had stumbled through the woods, hoping that somehow Xena would survive and would return for her in Potadeia. The hope was dimming with the passage of time however, and her steps on the path had become slower and slower.

And then she had heard the endearing war cry and had heard the crashing noise of a body coming through the leaves and thickets. The moment their eyes met would be forever seared into her memory. She had known that Xena was about to strike her, but she hadn't been afraid. All the love and all the pain of separation welled out in the tears that rain down her face. Her heart, so very full of emotions, simply burst open and left her revealed and vulnerable to the warrior.

Xena had known immediately who she was. The look on the warrior's face and the quaking of her strong body were signs of her own overwhelming emotions. Gabrielle could follow those emotions simply by watching Xena's face. She could read the shock and disbelief of discovery, the horror of the near fatal identity mix up, the love, the pain, the joy, the relief....all these emotions had seemed to emanate from the warrior as they stood facing each other in the dense woodlands. The sword had dropped unnoticed out of Xena's numbed fingers, and then there had been no more time for observations because Xena had reached out and wrapped her in a loving embrace, sealing out all the horrors of the past weeks.

The memory of that embrace is what Gabrielle relied upon now to help bolster her courage. She knew to what lengths the warrior would go in order to protect her and find her. If Xena were still alive and breathing, she would be here soon, and Gabrielle was sure that Xena was still alive. Their souls were connected by the deep love that they shared, and she knew she would feel it if something had happened to the warrior.

However, since the warrior had not yet found her, it was time to see what she could do on her own. "Well, Gabrielle," she coached herself. "There's only one way to find out if you can get out of this, and that's to try to move again." She gathered in a deep breath and braced her arms against the tree roots and tried to push her shoulders forward so that she could maneuver into a sitting position. However, the lower muscles of her back clenched into a knot of pain so severe that she cried out and collapsed back onto the weakening branches.

"Well, so much for that, " she cursed to herself, gasping for breath.

The efforts were wasted. There was no possible way for her to move herself off the branches. She needed help.

As the tears of pain and frustration tracked slowly down her face, she began to call out for help. "Xena, where are you? Can you hear me? I need help," she yelled as loudly as she could. "Help! Can anybody hear me?"

After only a couple of attempts, she abandoned that course of action. The river noise was easily drowning out all of her attempts, and there was no way that anyone from the village would be able to hear her from this distance. Plus, the effort it was taking to call for help was quickly draining her strength, and she needed all of her energy reserves to help keep her from freezing to death in the icy rain.

She rested her head back against the branches and released a weary sigh of frustration and continued to scan the area with pain-filled, desperate eyes.

That's when she saw her on the opposite bank of the river! Xena! Gabrielle nearly cried with relief at the wonderful sight of the tall warrior working her way carefully along the bank. However, it was obvious to her that her partner was not walking with her usual athletic grace. Her steps were slow and stumbling, and she was leaning against tree trunks and fallen logs whenever possible to help maintain her balance. Gabrielle's relief turned to worry as she watched Xena's slow approach.

Just as Gabrielle was ready to shout and wave over to the warrior, Xena looked up and spotted her on the logjam. She could see the quick grin appear and then fade away, replaced by a look of serious concern on the warrior's face as she surveyed the situation.

Across the river from the bard, Xena's heart was racing with anxiety. She could see that Gabrielle's position was precarious at best, and the bard's face was pale and she appeared to be in pain. The branches under the bard were a combination of roots and broken branches from the river, not a very stable combination. Unfortunately, her own concussion was causing her to see three of everything, and she was struggling to distinguish between the real images and the duplicate ones.

Since communication by yelling was impossible, Xena signaled over with her hands, indicating that Gabrielle needed to move off of the logs and get to safety. Gabrielle's response was just what she had feared. The bard was injured and not able to move.

Clenching her teeth together, Xena turned determinedly to the surrounding trees, searching for the items needed to help her reach the bard. She spotted a sturdy vine high up in a nearby tree and began her climb to reach it.

On a good day the climb would have been a good challenge and a fun workout for the muscles. Today, the climb was torture. Xena's abused muscles protested every movement, and the scrapes and lacerations from being dragged down the river burned hotly when the sweat from her exertions ran into the wounds. Plus, the dizziness and distorted vision from the blow to her head was making the ground swim and her hands shake.

"This is just great! Come on, Warrior Princess," she taunted the weaknesses of her own body. "You've had it worse than this, and now Gabrielle's life depends on you. Keep moving!" Somewhere in the recesses of her mind, Xena wryly noted that she had resorted to talking to herself, but she couldn't take the time or give up the concentration needed to think about that for very long. Now she had to act, and quickly.

Finally, after a great struggle, she had the vine in hand. She braced her feet on a branch of the tree, attempted to calculate the distance to the other side, and then launched herself out over the river, holding tightly to the vine until just the right moment. Then she released her grip, somersaulted through the air, and landed on a dry patch of earth near the logjam. She was off balance when she landed, and the impact from the fall drove her to her knees. However, she forced herself to clamp down on the nausea and dizziness and stumbled over to the muddy edge of the river.

"Gabrielle, what happened? How badly are you....." Xena's question was never completed. The logjam shifted suddenly, and Gabrielle cried out as her body slid towards the muddy torrents.

Using instincts that were now driven by desperation, Xena jumped into the icy currents and reached out to Gabrielle. She was just able to grasp the bard’s upper arms and give a strong pull before the remainder of the logs broke loose and were pulled under the racing currents. The bard's body lifted into the air briefly and then settled into Xena's firm grasp.

The sudden movement caused Xena's feet to slip dangerously in the muck, and she knew her only chance for saving them was to try to jump from the waist deep water back to shore. If she tried to wade back with Gabrielle in her arms, she wouldn’t be able to keep her footing on the slick, uneven river bottom. However, the leap would be nearly as dangerous. Because her vision and sense of balance were not functioning normally, she would be lucky to make the leap back to the shore, and she would be even luckier to remain standing.

Even with these doubts swirling around in her head, she had to take action. The icy water was already numbing her lower extremities and causing her muscles to cramp. Taking a determined breath, she wrapped her arms firmly around Gabrielle and leaped with all the power she could muster.

She made it to the shore, but just as she had feared, she was unable to catch her balance.

The sounds of Gabrielle's squeal and a loud splash accompanied the fall down the side of the muddy bank. At the sudden and jarring stop at the bottom of the incline, a hissing, painful breath was released through the bard’s lips. Clamping down on the pain, Gabrielle cautiously opened her eyes and found herself looking at the tightly-shut eyes and furrowed brow of her lover.

"Xena? Are you all right? Where are you hurt?" She grasped the warrior’s shoulders with shaking fingers and then reached up with her right hand to push Xena’s hair behind her left ear and to gently cup the side of her face.

Xena slowly blinked open her eyes and focused on Gabrielle’s searching gaze, and Gabrielle found herself looking into the deep, blue pools of one chagrined warrior princess.

"Well, this isn't exactly what I had planned," deadpanned the warrior weakly with a twitch of her left brow. She then slowly closed her eyes and leaned slowly into the support of Gabrielle’s hand.

Gabrielle couldn't help it; a soft, bubbling laugh escaped from deep inside her to wash warmly over them. The laugh was a gentle acknowledgment of Xena’s attempt at humor even under these painful circumstances. She was also weak from the feeling of relief that coursed through her now that she knew that Xena was alive.

She wrapped her arms more tightly around Xena's torso and gave her a quick hug. "I knew you would come for me, though this isn't exactly what I had envisioned," she murmured happily as she lightly kissed the soft skin under Xena's jaw. She was rewarded by a slight shiver that passed through her partner's body.

The discomfort of sitting in the freezing mud and water was momentarily forgotten as they explored the softness of each other's lips and reveled in the warmth of their connection. The heat of their building passion sent warmth pulsing through their veins.

Xena was the first to pull back and take a deep breath. "Gabrielle, we've go to get up and find some shelter," she murmured, trying to slow her racing pulse. "Tell me where you are hurt."

Gabrielle let her head tilt back to rest on the warrior's forearm, her eyes blinking wearily. "It's my back. When I tried to move earlier, the pain was too much. I couldn't move on my own." Her voice was husky with emotion.

"Well, hang on tight, my bard," Xena whispered in her ear. "I'm going to find a safe, dry spot for us, and then I'll check out your back....and the rest of you too." This last was spoken in a seductive purr against the pulse in Gabrielle's neck.

"Ooooo...I like the sound of this already," laughed Gabrielle as she was lifted, cradled in strong, loving arms.

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Note: I hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it. I always welcome constructive criticism, and I can be reached at KFaith2222@aol.com. I would like to thank Missy Good for giving me permission to use her name and to write about the legend of Merwolf, and I would also like to thank Minka and Cathy for their strong encouragement and insightful suggestions during the creation of this story.

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